Girl Gang: Stephen King Character Edition

Inspired as always by the brilliant Meghan Lightle and her Avengers Girl Gang, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the mighty female characters of Stephen King’s books. While some of his books are decidedly female-ccentric, it isn’t always the girls that get the glory. I’m here to round them up for my own personal girl gang needs.

Emily Perkins (1990) ~ Sophia Lillis (2017) ~ Annette O’Toole (1990)

Beverly Marsh

“I’m not afraid of you!”

Our Bev is a fighter and no mistake. A victim of childhood abuse at the hands of her father, she grows up to fulfill her creative dreams but still has to deal with the weak bullshit of men throughout her life. The only girl in the Losers Club, I feel like Bev could do with some girl power in her life, not that there’s anything wrong with the dynamic of that original squad (icky adolescent orgy aside).

Bev isn’t afraid to get stuck in when it comes to bullies nor stick up for what is right at all costs, and these are qualities you need in a friendship circle. Plus, she’s a ginger like me (in the book and most recent adaptation).

Timothy Hutton and Amy Madigan (as Elizabeth Beaumont) in George A. Romero‘s The Dark Half (1993)

Elizabeth Beaumont

In The Dark Half, Elizabeth is a plucky and resourceful character who has to deal with an awful lot of upheaval when her author husband Thaddeus takes on his supernatural killer twin, George Stark. Stark is best described as other-wordly and not altogether human, born of the page created by Thad himself. When she finds herself caught in all the drama of Stark’s ‘birth’ (read the book), Elizabeth remains level-headed and pragmatic. She’s a mother lion ferociously protecting her twin cubs (twins run the family, what can I say) and she doesn’t suffer fools.

In all of Thad’s scenes I wanted to read more about Elizabeth, who deserves more than just a supporting role. More female central protagonists please, Mr King!

Chloë Grace Moretz (2013) ~ Carrie cover ~ Sissy Spacek (1976)

Carrie White

“It was time to teach them All a lesson, time to show them… a thing or two!”

Okay, so Carrie is a little bit freaky deaky but she’s a talented telekinetic and how fun would that be? You could have her tip cups of coffee over mansplainers all day long with no come back.

Plus, how much did Carrie just need a damn good friend to stand beside her and say, You’re fine babe just as you are and these high school days, they mean nothing in the end? I’d take her under my wing and I’d just have to be sure I never upset her.

(Admittedly, the movie version of Carrie White seemed a little fluffier than the book version).

Shelley Duvall (1980) ~ Rebecca De Mornay (1997) ~ Wendy Torrance fan art

Wendy Torrance

Mrs T is slightly irritating but she’s also a damn survivor and that makes her okay in my book. She’s quick to pick fault in her husband Jack but to be fair he’s not the nicest dude (in the book more so – he breaks his son’s arm even before he goes insane in The Overlook).

I think we’d get on because I know what it’s like to be in a relationship that has you walking on eggshells (past, don’t worry) and I kind of dig her kooky wardrobe. She seems like fun when she’s not stressed out.

Who’s in your gang?

UPDATE: A friend on Twitter pointed out that she’d choose Rose Madder and Dolores Claiborne for not putting up with any shit from men and I realised I’d forgotten to add Rose to my list.

Dolores I’m sure is a worthy contender but I haven’t read her story yet, and can barely remember the film. So shout out to these two women who are welcome to join the gang anytime! 

Autumn Reading List 🍂

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Yep, Autumn reading season and I can’t wait to get stuck in.

Inspired by new podcast What Page Are You On, I’ve purchased some new books and added them to a few I already had queued up. Now I just need some chunky knitwear and some slightly cooler evenings, and I’ll be good to go.

Here’s what I’m planning on reading:

Carrie

I added this to my pile because of a conversation had on WPAYO podcast. Alice and Bethany discuss how fat characters are/have been portrayed in literature, and the subject of Carrie came up.

Carrie White was apparently written as fat but has been represented in every screen adaptation as slim (because, Hollywood). I thought this was interesting, so I want to read it for myself.

Stephen King: On Writing

You’ll notice a pattern within this post, as this is the second of three books I was influenced to buy by the above mentioned source. On Writing has been on my radar for years and is meant to be a great read – now is as good a time as any, right? (Definitely having a SK revival/love-in after It, which I loved).

Dumplin’

This is a YA book but it sounds amazing and I’m looking forward to meeting Willowdean (AKA Dumplin’), a fat Texan teen who enters a beauty pageant to annoy her mother. Right? Break me off a piece of that.

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye

I only learnt about this new release this week and snapped it up immediately. Another chance to spend time with Lisbeth? No brainer. Plus, Ms Salander’s currently in a prison situation, which sounds brilliant.

Nocturnal Animals

I enjoyed the film adaptation of this but the book is, as expected, much better. I have the last chapter to go but I’ve loved it so far. The story within a story framing is interesting, as we witness Susan Morrow reacting to her first reading of ex-husband Edward’s debut novel. The tale is dark, both in ‘real time’ and within Edward Sheffield’s book – and there’s something really pleasant about the writing.

This was on my Winter Reading List last year but I kept putting it off because I thought it would be too heavy and kind of dull. I was wrong.

What are you guys reading? Let me know!

On Reading IT for the First Time

I’m finally reading Stephen King’s IT. Yes, aged 39, I have finally decided to dip my toe in Pennywise the Clown’s rancid world.

Although, it should be said that I no longer have one foot poised precariously over the swamp that is the town of Derry. I am now fully submerged, head and all.

Stephen King’s novels were not part of my childhood. I’m quite sad about that, especially when I hear people I love talking excitedly about his stories and how they built a foundation for their love of horror during their formative years.

I was more of a Jackie Collins’ kind of girl, getting all my sex ed from Hollywood Wives. As I developed a love affair with books, my tastes became much darker and I read a lot of Dean Koontz, Shaun Hutson (Slugs, anyone?) – Stephen King style writers, basically. But not actual Stephen King. Where’s the sense in that?

I watched a lot of his films though (including 80’s IT) and maybe there’s a clue there. Maybe watching was easier for me, so I didn’t feel the need to pick up the paperbacks. I’ve corrected that in adulthood but I’ve still only read a handful. It was running joke in our house for years that Glynn would always ask me, “Have you read Pet Cemetary/Thinner/Dark Tower?” and I’d be all, “You know I’ve only read Needful Things.” Now I’ve added Rose Madder, The Shining, Doctor Sleep and almost IT to the list.

(So far I think IT is the most powerful, though I loved The Shining too. Oooweee!)

Back to this story though. IT is the tale of a maniacal clown sure, one who can manifest himself into anything horrifying that frightens a person (there’s even a shark in the novel, who swims serenely up the river past a terrified secondary character). It’s about a rotten to the core town where things turn evil and twisted, every 25 years or so.

But at its heart it is also about friendship, grief, letting your freak flag fly, overcoming fear and bullies – about getting out of an awful situation and then going back because you made a pact when you were twelve.

It’s about hope for a better day, one without evil. Man, sound familiar?

I wanna be in their gang

This is not a review. I haven’t finished the book yet, and I dread the day I do. I’m 800 pages in and there are nearly 1400. It’s a wild, detailed terror ride, for real. Like, who knew your own imagination could be churned into such a frenzy by a few words?

I’m beside myself for the new film adaptation and Pennywise but more importantly, I can’t wait to meet the kids. I’m getting major Stranger Things vibes from the trailers, not least because of Finn Wolfcastle’s involvement. And that can only be a very good thing.

I can’t wait to hang out with Ben, Stanley, Mike, Big Bill, Richie, Beverley and Eddie again, and I haven’t even left them yet.

So, please excuse me while I go back to my book and my new friends. Damn I wish I’d known them when I was a kid.

Remember the curfew 🤡🤡🤡

Three Films I’ve Recently Watched – Mini-Reviews

I thought I’d condense this trio of celluloid offerings into the same post and keep them short n’ sweet, just for the sheer hell of it. I’m not always up for a massive waffle about what I’ve seen but each of these are so different from the other that I thought the contrast between them would be fun. This is what I’ve been watching:

Interstellar (2014)

Director: Christopher Nolan

Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain

Well. I admit that I didn’t watch this on the big screen and I knew when I started talking about how I didn’t get why people were raving so much about it, that they would spit back that it was because of this. Poppycock! Sure, something is lost in the visuals when you watch at home but it was the hodge podge of ideas in Interstellar that surprised me, not the underwhelming space scenes (I’m being harsh, they were totally fine).

I didn’t hate this film by any means. I love Christopher Nolan and I like the concept of this film. I also very much appreciated the horrible dilemma McConaughey’s Cooper finds himself in when he’s called to choose between saving his family, or all mankind. It’s heart-wrenching in all the right places but it is also dull at times, over long and jerky. It feels like a big pot of ideas all thrown together, where previously Nolan has presented us with exquisitely crafted pieces, intricate and fine to the last detail.

I think it’s definitely worth a look, particularly for any Nolan fan, but it’s not perfect and is a little messy, honestly. I enjoyed the ending, which was surprising clear-cut (looking at you Inception/The Dark Knight Rises) and I loved the most Nolan-esque scene, which occurs about two-thirds into the film, you’ll know it when you see it. All in all, okay but not stellar. (GEDDIT?)

What We Do In The Shadows (2015)

Directors: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi

Stars: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jonathan Brugh

Sorry, what? A mockumentary from the makers of Flight of the Conchords, starring Jemaine (Marry Me Now) Clement, about vampires? Where do I sign?

Written by Clement and Taika Waititi (best name ever), who also penned one of the greatest films of all time, Eagle Vs. Shark (2007), this is just a joy from start to finish. Honestly, it’s joyful and funny. And clever, good clean fun funny which sometimes you just need. I think that’s the beauty of the Conchords, that it’s witty but delivers a nice, happy humour.

The gist of Shadows: three vampires, Viago, Deacon and Vladislav share a house with Petyr, the oldest of them all and are struggling with modern life. Hundreds of years old each, the friends must get to grips with very ordinary tasks such as the household chores, paying rent and getting into nightclubs.

Along the way they make new friends, revisit old loves and learn to play well with others. Eventually. It’s just the best. Please see it.

Clown (2014)

Director: Jon Watts

Stars: Eli Roth, Peter Stormare, Laura Allen

I love shitty shitty horror more than is healthy, I think. I’m happy to spend my time on a B-Movie with no budget and no real integrity, as long as it does just one thing: entertains me.

A friend posted the trailer for this on his FB wall this week and I thought, OMFG a film about a possessed clown suit, I am so in, when can I watch? ‘Presented by’ Eli Roth was sort of a draw, he’s been alright in the past, let me down a few times (Hostel (2005), I hate you) but I thought we could be gentlemen about this and see where it went.

Ugh. I haven’t even finished this steaming pile of *poo emoji* because, while there are plenty of killings and the gore factor is turned up to max, it’s just plain boring. B-O-R-I-N-G! B-Movies are meant to be atrocious but never boring and this is where I zone out, I’m afraid.

I don’t know if Peter Stormare ever helps the main dude get out of his suit. I don’t know if Clown (main dude) slaughters the rest of the bullies terrorising his son (kind of love this bit) and I certainly don’t know if he ever gets that damn rainbow fright wig off. In short, I no longer care. Plus, a dog gets killed and that usually messes up the whole movie for me. Avoid like the plague and maybe watch It (2009) again, instead.

So that, movie fans, is me. Vampire house shares and Mr Clement with a Dracula pompadour have been the highlight of this week, film wise.

What have you been watching? Do share!

All alternative movie posters via Google.