HoopyFrood
It's me! Hurrah!
I suppose I should just make a Spoilers Likely Warning first, just in case...
This is an idea I thought of while replying to another post in this here forum. At first I thought about doing it just for The Dark Tower series, but then decided, to hell with it, let’s do all of King’s work. Although seeing as I haven’t yet read every single one of his books (and also am likely to forget some of the links) feel free to add any and all links that you may have spotted. I may be taking on a little too much, here...hoy, boy. Here goes, anyway.
One thing that often links King’s books, of course, is their location, with many of the events happening in Maine, and the fictional places of Derry and Castle Rock. Another link is that ‘certain type’ of character that often makes an appearance – that is, the male, intellectual writer – who pops up in Bag of Bones, The Shining, Misery and The Dark Half, to name a few.
As to the books themselves:
Salem’s Lot – As Tower enthusiasts know, Callahan becomes a promient figure in The Dark Tower series from The Wolves of the Calla onwards.
The Shining – The Overlook Hotel, and its destruction, is mentioned by Anne Wilkes in Misery.
The Stand – Randall Flag has a starring role in this novel, who we know appears throughout the Dark Tower (where he is also known as The Man in Black, Marten Broadclock, Walter O’Dim...). Flagg also has major roles in The Eyes of the Dragon and Insomia. The flu-ridden world is also visited by Roland and his Ka-tet at the beginning of Wizard and Glass, the fourth Dark Tower book.
The Eyes of the Dragon – Flagg, as already mentioned. Also, Thomas and Dennis, who both leave at the end of this book to chase after Flagg, are mentioned very briefly in one of The Dark Tower books (I am tempted to say Wizard and Glass; please correct me if this isn’t so).
Misery – The fictional book of Misery, Paul Sheldon’s best-selling series, makes an appearance on Rose’s coffee table at the beginning of Rose Madder.
Gerald’s Game and Dolores Claiborne – I thought I’d put these two together, as they inextricably linked; King states that this was his intention. At one point, the two main women characters of the respective novels ‘see’ each other in a vision-esque occurance.
Insomnia – Clearly very much linked to The Dark Tower, with The Tower, the Crimson King, a young Andrew (who is the real important part of the story, considering his later involvement in The Dark Tower series) and even Roland makes the smallest of brief appearances. Also (although again, let me know with this one) I believe that one or two of the women from Rose Madder show up here.
The Dark Half – Set in Ludlow, the place in which Pet Semetary is set. Sheriff Alan Pangborn appears in this novel, and goes on to...
Needful Things – in which he has a main role. Also, he appears again in...
Bag of Bones – where Thad Beaumont from The Dark Half is also mentioned, and that he commited suicide after the events in this latter book. Ralph Roberts, the main character of Insomnia, makes an appearance in the book, ironically asking Mike if he suffers from insomnia.
Hearts in Atlantis – I haven’t read this, but I know that Low Men in Yellow Coats from this collection is a short story detailing the events of a side character from The Dark Tower series, when he leaves that world for a while (this disappearance being told in passing to Roland and et al).
Everything’s Eventual – containing the Little Sisters of Eluria, a short story about Roland before the events of The Dark Tower series kicks in. Also, the titular story of this collection containing Dinky, who goes on to have a brief role in The Dark Tower series.
Lisey’s Story – Michael Noonan, from Bag of Bones, is mentioned (Lisey’s sister saying that she has the tape of one of his books).
IT – The concept of the Turtle being a god-like being in opposition to evil is something that crops up in The Dark Tower.
I’ve tried to avoid looking on Wikipedia, going almost entirely from those that I can remember. Looking through the different novels on Wikipedia, I can see a lot more, much smaller details that I have missed – particularly the many links between the places in which events take place. But sometimes it’s just fun playing King-Bingo for yourself and seeing which ones you can spot.
The Dark Tower -- Of course, the one that really links all the books is The Dark Tower series. All paths really do seem to lead to that Tower. Especially the latter novels from King’s retinue; I guess at this point all symbolic stuff was really picking up in The Dark Tower series, and so was really leaking in the other books. A few examples (these are plucked from Wikipedia, I’ll say that now, because many are rather interesting...)
Cell-- A "half-constructed kiddie ride" at Kashwak is named Charlie the Choo-Choo, which is also the name of a plot-important children's book in The Dark Tower series. Also, the graphic novel that Clay sells prior to the Pulse is called Dark Wanderer, a story (as his wife puts it) involving "apocalypse cowboys." The story, and its characters, are likely a reference to The Dark Tower series and the gunslingers of King's apocalyptic fantasy world. Most notably, the protagonist of Clay's novel is named Ray Damon, who shares the initials of Roland Deschain, the hero of The Dark Tower Series. King frequently creates alter-egos of repeated characters with identical initials, such as Randall Flagg. There is also a recurring motif, in which many of King's villains are linked in one way or another: The Raggedy Man wears a red hooded garment, which mirrors one of the many forms of the Crimson King, who is the main antagonist of The Dark Tower series. The Raggedy Man wears a Harvard sweatshirt; Harvard's sports teams and daily newspaper are both nicknamed Crimson, another allusion to the Crimson King.
As a side note, someone help me out – am I getting confused between the beginning of Wizard and Glass and Cell…because I’m tempted to say that there’s a Crimson Eye painted along the road that Clay and et al walk. But it could very well be a road along which Roland and et al walk, instead…
Lisey’s Story -- Lisey compares her resurfacing memories to events happening "on some level of time's great tower," and also mentions "Gilead" (a location in the series) as a nearby town. The phrase "Bool! The end!" appears in Wizard and Glass. Lisey's license plate number for her BMW is 5761RD. The numbers in the plate add up to 19, and RD are the initials of Roland Deschain.
Duma Key -- Edgar's email address is EFree19, the number 19 played a large role in King's The Dark Tower. The number 19 is also referenced in Pam Freemantle's address, Pamorama667 (6+6+7=19). Edgar Freemantle makes a reference to Ka in a metaphor, mentioning that life is like a wheel.
The idea of Ka is something that pops up in books quite early on. In Rose Madder, for example: In the tenth section of the book, Rosie Real, Rosie wonders if her Bill will drink the Pepsi with the "liquid amnesia". "Either he'd drink it or he wouldn't. Ka, she thought, and then, What?" And even earlier, in The Tommyknockers: The book mentions that Jim Gardener is being driven by his "ka".
From a Buick 8 -- Although Buick 8 is a self-contained story, the novel is widely considered to be part of King's Dark Tower mythos. Cars similar to the Buick are described in The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower as well as Hearts In Atlantis' short story: Low Men In Yellow Coats as belonging to the Can-toi (or "Low Men"), and the creatures that emanate from the car are similar in description to both the creatures in The Mist (also part of the Dark Tower mythos) and the "Todash monsters" described in the later books of the Dark Tower series.
We could, of course, go on endlessly about the many, many links in King’s books…I’ve only really just brushed the surface here, and hardly gone into the Dark Tower at all, and taken up this amount of room with it. But I thought it would make an interesting topic for a thread, which can be added to as and when people Spot The Links…
This is an idea I thought of while replying to another post in this here forum. At first I thought about doing it just for The Dark Tower series, but then decided, to hell with it, let’s do all of King’s work. Although seeing as I haven’t yet read every single one of his books (and also am likely to forget some of the links) feel free to add any and all links that you may have spotted. I may be taking on a little too much, here...hoy, boy. Here goes, anyway.
One thing that often links King’s books, of course, is their location, with many of the events happening in Maine, and the fictional places of Derry and Castle Rock. Another link is that ‘certain type’ of character that often makes an appearance – that is, the male, intellectual writer – who pops up in Bag of Bones, The Shining, Misery and The Dark Half, to name a few.
As to the books themselves:
Salem’s Lot – As Tower enthusiasts know, Callahan becomes a promient figure in The Dark Tower series from The Wolves of the Calla onwards.
The Shining – The Overlook Hotel, and its destruction, is mentioned by Anne Wilkes in Misery.
The Stand – Randall Flag has a starring role in this novel, who we know appears throughout the Dark Tower (where he is also known as The Man in Black, Marten Broadclock, Walter O’Dim...). Flagg also has major roles in The Eyes of the Dragon and Insomia. The flu-ridden world is also visited by Roland and his Ka-tet at the beginning of Wizard and Glass, the fourth Dark Tower book.
The Eyes of the Dragon – Flagg, as already mentioned. Also, Thomas and Dennis, who both leave at the end of this book to chase after Flagg, are mentioned very briefly in one of The Dark Tower books (I am tempted to say Wizard and Glass; please correct me if this isn’t so).
Misery – The fictional book of Misery, Paul Sheldon’s best-selling series, makes an appearance on Rose’s coffee table at the beginning of Rose Madder.
Gerald’s Game and Dolores Claiborne – I thought I’d put these two together, as they inextricably linked; King states that this was his intention. At one point, the two main women characters of the respective novels ‘see’ each other in a vision-esque occurance.
Insomnia – Clearly very much linked to The Dark Tower, with The Tower, the Crimson King, a young Andrew (who is the real important part of the story, considering his later involvement in The Dark Tower series) and even Roland makes the smallest of brief appearances. Also (although again, let me know with this one) I believe that one or two of the women from Rose Madder show up here.
The Dark Half – Set in Ludlow, the place in which Pet Semetary is set. Sheriff Alan Pangborn appears in this novel, and goes on to...
Needful Things – in which he has a main role. Also, he appears again in...
Bag of Bones – where Thad Beaumont from The Dark Half is also mentioned, and that he commited suicide after the events in this latter book. Ralph Roberts, the main character of Insomnia, makes an appearance in the book, ironically asking Mike if he suffers from insomnia.
Hearts in Atlantis – I haven’t read this, but I know that Low Men in Yellow Coats from this collection is a short story detailing the events of a side character from The Dark Tower series, when he leaves that world for a while (this disappearance being told in passing to Roland and et al).
Everything’s Eventual – containing the Little Sisters of Eluria, a short story about Roland before the events of The Dark Tower series kicks in. Also, the titular story of this collection containing Dinky, who goes on to have a brief role in The Dark Tower series.
Lisey’s Story – Michael Noonan, from Bag of Bones, is mentioned (Lisey’s sister saying that she has the tape of one of his books).
IT – The concept of the Turtle being a god-like being in opposition to evil is something that crops up in The Dark Tower.
I’ve tried to avoid looking on Wikipedia, going almost entirely from those that I can remember. Looking through the different novels on Wikipedia, I can see a lot more, much smaller details that I have missed – particularly the many links between the places in which events take place. But sometimes it’s just fun playing King-Bingo for yourself and seeing which ones you can spot.
The Dark Tower -- Of course, the one that really links all the books is The Dark Tower series. All paths really do seem to lead to that Tower. Especially the latter novels from King’s retinue; I guess at this point all symbolic stuff was really picking up in The Dark Tower series, and so was really leaking in the other books. A few examples (these are plucked from Wikipedia, I’ll say that now, because many are rather interesting...)
Cell-- A "half-constructed kiddie ride" at Kashwak is named Charlie the Choo-Choo, which is also the name of a plot-important children's book in The Dark Tower series. Also, the graphic novel that Clay sells prior to the Pulse is called Dark Wanderer, a story (as his wife puts it) involving "apocalypse cowboys." The story, and its characters, are likely a reference to The Dark Tower series and the gunslingers of King's apocalyptic fantasy world. Most notably, the protagonist of Clay's novel is named Ray Damon, who shares the initials of Roland Deschain, the hero of The Dark Tower Series. King frequently creates alter-egos of repeated characters with identical initials, such as Randall Flagg. There is also a recurring motif, in which many of King's villains are linked in one way or another: The Raggedy Man wears a red hooded garment, which mirrors one of the many forms of the Crimson King, who is the main antagonist of The Dark Tower series. The Raggedy Man wears a Harvard sweatshirt; Harvard's sports teams and daily newspaper are both nicknamed Crimson, another allusion to the Crimson King.
As a side note, someone help me out – am I getting confused between the beginning of Wizard and Glass and Cell…because I’m tempted to say that there’s a Crimson Eye painted along the road that Clay and et al walk. But it could very well be a road along which Roland and et al walk, instead…
Lisey’s Story -- Lisey compares her resurfacing memories to events happening "on some level of time's great tower," and also mentions "Gilead" (a location in the series) as a nearby town. The phrase "Bool! The end!" appears in Wizard and Glass. Lisey's license plate number for her BMW is 5761RD. The numbers in the plate add up to 19, and RD are the initials of Roland Deschain.
Duma Key -- Edgar's email address is EFree19, the number 19 played a large role in King's The Dark Tower. The number 19 is also referenced in Pam Freemantle's address, Pamorama667 (6+6+7=19). Edgar Freemantle makes a reference to Ka in a metaphor, mentioning that life is like a wheel.
The idea of Ka is something that pops up in books quite early on. In Rose Madder, for example: In the tenth section of the book, Rosie Real, Rosie wonders if her Bill will drink the Pepsi with the "liquid amnesia". "Either he'd drink it or he wouldn't. Ka, she thought, and then, What?" And even earlier, in The Tommyknockers: The book mentions that Jim Gardener is being driven by his "ka".
From a Buick 8 -- Although Buick 8 is a self-contained story, the novel is widely considered to be part of King's Dark Tower mythos. Cars similar to the Buick are described in The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower as well as Hearts In Atlantis' short story: Low Men In Yellow Coats as belonging to the Can-toi (or "Low Men"), and the creatures that emanate from the car are similar in description to both the creatures in The Mist (also part of the Dark Tower mythos) and the "Todash monsters" described in the later books of the Dark Tower series.
We could, of course, go on endlessly about the many, many links in King’s books…I’ve only really just brushed the surface here, and hardly gone into the Dark Tower at all, and taken up this amount of room with it. But I thought it would make an interesting topic for a thread, which can be added to as and when people Spot The Links…
