Carrie – Southwark Playhouse 16.05.15

A – for me – long anticipated piece of musical theatre. And, as one of the biggest Stephen King fans I ever came across, a must-see. I loved the book, and the movie is one of the scariest I can remember. So right from the beginning, it had a lot of expectations to fulfil for me. From the day it opened, the reviews I saw were raving about the show, had nothing but praise for it’s display, it’s actors, it’s songs…safe to say I was beyond excited.

The moment I came into the room where the stage was, the atmosphere had instantly captured me completely.

It was a very small, intimate room with not much seating, and the stage was set right in the middle, with no barriers anywhere – you could stumble and would be slap bang the center of attention. The surroundings were perfectly chosen: creepy sounds, like the whistling of the wind, creaking doors and whatnot surrounded the audience while they waited for the show to start. What was clear right from the start for me that due to the proximity to the stage and the play, it would be very easy for the ones close to the first two rows to really feel with everyone on stage, to feel even more captured and personally involved.

The show itself…what can I say that hasn’t already been said enough? It was brilliant. Absolutely mindblowingly, breathtakingly brilliant. What Gary Lloyd and his team have done out of the book and the movie left me absolutely speechless. The choice of songs that have been created – beautiful. “In”, right the first song at the opening of the show – it has such an immense power inside, the vocals carry you along with them, and their message tells you about teenagers with the fear of an unknown future. “Carrie”, the title song which has vocals that leave you in complete awe – power and heart in one song, all displayed by one of the most stunning voices.  “Once You See” & “Dreamer In Disguise”, two very short but deeply touching ballads who bring out the best in the two singer’s vocals. “Eve Was Weak”, a song that starts slowly and soon turns into a religious and “brutal” piece of music that doesn’t leave you even afterwards because it gets easily stuck in your head. “Unsuspecting Hearts”, which, for me, is one of the most powerful and beautiful ballads ever written for and sung in a musical – not only because of it’s message behind it, but mostly because of the person singing it, giving it not only a voice, but their heart, their everything. These songs, even the more scary ones, all in their own way blow life into the play like nothing else could, except for the actors, of course. They give the characters a voice even if there’s nothing to say. Which brings us to the biggest subject: THE ACTORS.

There’s no doubt that actors make a show/play their own by their acting and singing. There is the stage set, the music, the costumes, but when it comes to it, a show is nothing with its actors. And to be honest, Gary Lloyd did a hell of a job choosing THE perfect Cast for “Carrie”:

Evelyn Hoskins (Carrie White):
What can you say about her without feeling you haven’t said enough? That girl IS Carrie. It’s like she was born to play this role. When news got out who had gotten the role, it was clear that she would have massive shoes to fill – what with Sissy Spacek being Carrie for most people when they heard the name of the book/movie. But the shoes Evelyn has now put on are – in my unpopular opinion – way bigger than anyone could’ve filled them. She outdid herself, completely. Her talent is breathtaking, and her “Carrie” solo was something out of this world. She can hold notes like no one else, and in each of them, no matter how deep or high she has to go, the audience can hear her heart pouring out; everyone around feels that she gives that role and song her absolute everything. Her display of that scared, insecure, bullied young girl who turns into an uncontrolled killing machine was something that was much anticipated by me. If you have read the book as much as I did, you have a certain attitude towards her, and to be honest, I never had such a big compassion for Carrie while reading the story. There was always something that sort of repelled me, as if Stephen King didn’t want his readers to like Carrie. And even with Sissy Spacek I had my difficulties. But seeing Evelyn being Carrie – the instant she stepped foot on stage, head bowed, arms crossed over her books in front of her chest – I felt a rush of sympathy for that poor young girl. There was even some slight comedic talent in that otherwise very serious and sad role, like when Tommy Ross asks Carrie out. Evelyn Hoskins manages to draw the audience even more into all that High School life thing than she already did with just…being there. Her eyes may not be as scary as Sissy Spaceks, but there is a hell of a lot more depth in them.

Sarah McNicholas (Sue Snell):
Sue definitely is a character who one can have a very dichotomous opinion about. On the one hand, she takes part in all the bullying of Carrie in the beginning, but very soon, you realize who hard she fights with her better judgement inside. Sarah McNicholas did that in a way that left me in complete awe. You take one look at her and you know she’s not like all the other teenage girls; she’s a sensitive, caring and loving young woman who just hasn’t found her place in life yet, who desperately wants to fit in where it’s right to. Her solo, “Once You See” , that she sings right after she tries to talk to Carrie and is harshly pushed away, is truly emotional, and the vocals Sarah shows the audience are nothing but beautiful, because there is no doubt that she puts all her heart in what she does on that stage. She’s torn inside and with her performance, she lets every last audience member feel that inner conflict, makes everybody suddenly feel sorry for her – at least that was what was going on inside of me. I wanted to rush onto the stage and hug her, tell her she doesn’t need someone like Chris Hargensen to find the right place in life. The most intense thing about Sarah and her display of Sue was without a doubt her last scene with Evelyn/Carrie. For minutes, she cradles her, crying and sobbing, while the music starts playing again and the rest of the Cast sings the last song. If nothing else, that is definitely the one thing drawing the viewer in, letting them feel as if all of this was real, as if the entire show was more than just that – show.

Greg Miller-Burns (Tommy Ross):
Star of the football team, most popular guy in High School, gorgeous, intelligent – practically the dream guy of any girl in school. And here’s the biggest difference for me: Greg made Tommy seem way more human than how he was in the book or the movie. Right from the beginning, when his classmates tease Carrie after school, he goes up to her and gives her a sort of pep talk (“Hey, don’t listen to those clowns. They’re just messing around.”) And without a doubt – you buy it. You buy it that Greg is absolutely serious about that, that he truly believes that all of the teasing and bullying is just the joke of immature High School pupils. He has dreams, is a talented poem writer and so atypical to how you’d imagine him, and, to be honest, how I remembered Tommy to be. Greg makes the audience feel like they could trust him with whatever is heavy on their heart; and whenever Evelyn and him are on stage together, you feel the tension coming from Evelyn – she wants to believe as much as the next person that not everybody is bad, that there is hope somewhere, and that Greg/Tommy provides this hope. The way he and Sarah/Sue play together is very warm and heartfelt, a more than convincing relationship. You almost think that at the end of the show, they’ll leave the stage together, hands intertwined. His short solo, “Dreamer In Disguise”, just gives a hint of what he can do with his voice, the vocals he is capable of. They say actions speak louder than words, and in that special case, his vocals in this song and the look in his eyes whenever he talks to Sue or Carrie scream of warmth and love for the ones close to him and the ones who can’t defend himself. In my opinion, the audience can’t help but absolutely adore him like the High School Boy he plays.

Gabriella Williamson (Chris Hargensen):
Talking abouz intensity – WOW. Maybe the (for me) most anticipated role beside Carrie. You read the book – you hate her. You watch the movie – she absolutely makes your blood boil. You watch the play – you want to skin her alive (in a good way, I promise). Gabriella is probably THE new big star the West End has brought upon. I don’t even know where to start. Her enunciation and intonation are – BY FAR – the best ones I have heard in a very long time, maybe ever. The mocking undercurrent whenever she faces her teacher, Miss Gardner, or talks badly about Carrie behind her back (or to her face, for that matter) is exactly how most people would imagine a a very spoiled little brat who is used to get everything she wants to talk. And the evil within, that the character Chris has never hidden – holy mother, it’s like Gabriella has sucked it up with mother’s milk to prepare herself for that role for her entire life. I have never seen someone on stage who has such comprehensive aura, who is able to draw someone in in an instant, with nothing but a roll of her eyes or a change in intonation, who has such an intensity in everything she says or does. The scene just before the girls are pushed to apologize to Carrie for their mockery in the shower the day before is the best perfect for that: Miss Gardner gives them an ultimatum, and when Chris realizes that her best friend, Sue, isn’t being drawn in by her anymore, she loses it (“Why are you taking her side?” – “Well well, aren’t you getting to be the Joan of Arc around here…oh, wait, remind me: who was that in there, pitching with the rest of us?” – “Oh  God, you’re sorry! Oh, Little Miss Perfect is sorry!” Only to break out into a short childish chant to try and seem superior) – probably one of the most intense moments this play had managed  to built up. And it takes a hell of a lot talent to display such a horrible character as Chris Hargensen in such a convincing way that you sit there and can’t help but admire her, want to be like her, despite her terrible nature. The casting director did an amazing job with chosing the Cast for all the roles, but that one – if I could, I’d give him an Oscar for that. Right along with Gabriella.

Jodie Jacobs (Miss Gardner):
Knowing Jodie from an earlier production, it was a very exciting thing to see her in something so asbolutely different from the 80’s Hippie she played in “Rock Of Ages”. And yes, she totally blew me away. As I already mentioned, I know the book, it’s one of my favourites. And just a few days back, I started reading it once again, and I realized how different Jodie’s Miss Gardner was from the one in the book (who had a different name, too). But it wasn’t a bad thing; in fact, it was the best thing that could’ve happened. The Miss Gardner in the book is pretty rough and harsh and not really someone you could feel any sympathy for. In fact, you want to shove her off the same cliffs that you’d shove Chris Hargensen down. But Jodie gave Miss Gardner warmth, heart and life. If you know Jodie, you know how much that role means to her, and there is not a doubt in the world that it’s the truth; she puts all her heart and emotions in every single scene, word and note. Her song with Evelyn Hoskins/Carrie, “Unsuspecting Hearts” – I have absolutely no words for that. She kills that song, her vocals are flawless, and together with Evelyn, you get the feeling they sing together for years instead for just a few weeks. And despite the overall horror theme of the play, it gives you an emotional heartbreak because Jodie’s display of Miss Gardner makes you feel like you’re Carrie, like you’re the one in desperate need of a friend, of love and appreciation. And she makes you feel sorry for her, because you want to help her help Carrie; you wish for her to be a real person, someone who really exists out there and who is there for all the weak and bullied and lonely people/teenager out there. If there ever has been a mother figure out there, it’s Miss Gardner in that play. And the fact that if you know the book, she’s not totally supposed to be that sort of very heartfelt woman makes it even more convincing and touching as it already is. So much that I can say: a gym teacher made me cry my heart out and I am very happy about that.

Dex Lee (Billy Nolan):
From the books, I had the impression and the imagination of Billy that he is crazy. Not just crazy, but absolutely insane. You just HAVE to be insane if you go and slaughter an innocent pig just because you want to pull a bad prank on one of your classmates, right? What Dex did was giving Billy a bit more human side; a teenager who’s just got too much testosterone, who has no clear view of his future and only cares about the next party. Dex also gave Billy a comedic side, like, when he topples over in his chair in a very serious moment. He doesn’t make the audience as scared as you might expect from knowing the movie, or especially the book, but despite his nature, there’s something about him that fits perfectly to Billy. And at the end, his jokes, puns and comedic timing even leaves a tiny spot open for you to actually sort of like him.

Kim Criswell (Margaret White):
The crazy, religious mother of Carrie, who raised her child far away from what most people would call “normal”. Kim Criswell is a goddess as Carrie’s mother. The evil within that she shows the moment Carrie opens up to her about her first period, the change from the kind, loving mother into the murderous God-worshipping lady – definitely one of the scariest changes and things such an intimate play can offer its audience. Her vocals are not from this world, and her songs – “Evening Prayers”, “And Eve Was Weak” and “I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance” are so similar and at the same time so absolutely different; Kim gives the audience every facet of her talent, no vocal sound like the next one, and she’s as convincing with her display of the role as anybody could ever be.

The rest of the Cast – Molly McGuire as Norma, Bobbie Little as Frieda, Emily McGougan as Helen, Eddie Myles as Freddy, Olly Dobson as Dale “Stokes”  & Patrick Sullivan as George – each and every single one of them were absolutely breathtaking. Considering that for most of them, “Carrie” is their first professional role in Musical Theatre or Theatre at all, it’s one of the most impressive things. I think Gary Lloyd and his team were very blessed when they found this bunch for their production; young, energetic and positive young people with their dreams all in front of them, and they get such an amazing chance to prove how mindblowingly talented every single one of them is. It fills my heart with warmth and love to still see and read all the raving reviews about the show and its Cast.

Hearing that most of the performances, and especially the last few ones, were completely sold out, just confirms what I, personally, thought and still think of the show: it’s one of the best pieces of Musical Theatre that the West End has brought upon in a long time, with songs that get stuck in your head instantly, and a story, set and Cast that just don’t let you go even weeks after you’ve seen it.

THAT’S what Musical Theatre and Plays are made for. For this kind of unforgettable experience.

THANK YOU, Carrie.

Book Review: Chris Carter – “One By One”

‘I need your help, Detective. Fire or water?’
Detective Robert Hunter of the LAPD’s Homicide Special Section receives an anonymous call asking him to go to a specific web address – a private broadcast. Hunter logs on and a show devised for his eyes only immediately begins. But the caller doesn’t want Detective Hunter to just watch, he wants him to participate, and refusal is simply not an option. Forced to make a sickening choice, Hunter must sit and watch as an unidentified victim is tortured and murdered live over the Internet. The LAPD, together with the FBI, use everything at their disposal to electronically trace the transmission down, but this killer is no amateur, and he has covered his tracks from start to finish. And before Hunter and his partner Garcia are even able to get their investigation going, Hunter receives a new phone call.
A new website address. A new victim. But this time the killer has upgraded his game into a live murder reality show, where anyone can cast the deciding vote.

Oh my sweet Lord.

Officially, this book isn’t even available in Germany yet, but as Chris Carter is one of my 3 favourite authors of all time, I couldn’t wait and already got it for my Kindle. And good God, am I glad I did.

It often happens that you’re reading a book that’s so gripping, has so much suspense that you feel like you just can’t put it away even for a second. I think a lot of people can relate to that. But has anyone ever read a book that was so gripping that you didn’t want to read it too quickly because then it would be over too soon?

“One By One” did this exact thing to me.

I will not be giving anything away by explaining the entire story here, but the three people that are being killed during this book are being tortured in the worst possible ways I have ever read about, and I have to admit, one of the killing methods gave me the absolute creeps.I still feel a shiver going through me when I just think about it. But if you are a person who loves these kinds of books, thriller with a lot of brutality – psychological brutality as well as physical – then this book is the best choice for you (just as it was for me). For the first time ever, Chris Carter even goes as far as enter the holy grounds of Carlos Garcia’s personal life, which was shocking and exciting at the same time – you read certain chapters and you read and read, because you just feel the physical need to know how it ends for him.

What I especially love about this book is the hidden message behind it. People are publicly voting for someone else’s destiny without any remorse. If that is possible nowadays (I know this is just fiction, but still, there are possibilities everywhere…the human mind can be cruel), the reader might be asking him-/herself how far the world has come, what big of an impact do social media websites and the internet in general have on everyone’s life?

And the end…wow. I had tears in my eyes at one certain of the last few sentences, and I felt a slight heartache throughout the entire last chapter, because from what is said, you have no idea how it will go on from there, if the damage that has been done will ever be fully repaired. And me as a huge lover of the Hunter/Garcia story/bromance, it’s almost impossible to wait for Chris Carter’s next masterpiece. In one of my earlier blog posts about my all-time favourite books I’ve already talked about their friendship (by the example of “The Crucifix Killer”), and I still think they are the best detective team I have ever read about. There is so much friendship, respect, humour and whatnot between them that you might actually forget that they are not even real, that they are just made up characters, and you just wish they were real, that you knew them. And the fact that in “One By One”, you get to see more of the serious sides of both of them is really interesting for a change, compared to all the witty, snippy comments and amicably banter that the reader gets to see in the other books.

All in all, “One By One” is one of the best thriller novels I have read in a very very long time. First time a book is so gripping I never want it to end and prolonged reading chapter after chapter. So I really hope Chris Carter doesn’t wait too long to publish a new thriller, even if it’s a big thing to wish for, considering this novel has just been published.

Well done, Mr. Carter. You and Mr. Stephen King now share one and the same step on my “That one author that will forever be my hero” podium. Congratulations.

 

Top 5 Books Of All Times

After my last post about the Top 5 books by Stephen King, I thought it might also be a good idea to do one about the Top 5 books ever – please note that this is just my personal opinion and what I think at this point of my life.

1. Stephen King – Pet Sematary

What a surprise. You can read my full opinion here https://dreamtraveler86.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/top-5-books-by-stephen-king/ where this book has also the first place in my favourite Stephen King reading list. Basically, no matter how much my taste in books will shift in the future, this one will be always be the biggest book love of my life, because it’s the one that started my madness for King and reading in general.

2. Cody McFadyen – Shadow Man

What can I say about this? If you generally love horror movies and books that are brutally detailed and cruel – Cody McFadyen is your man. This was the first books he ever wrote, and the 2nd one that I read (after “Face Of Death”) – and boy, I will never regret it. For me, there are barely really compelling books out there, books that grab you, pull you into their story and don’t let go until you’re finished with the last page of it – this book did that with me. And more importantly, it was the moment I started writing on my own book a few years back because I was so inspired by McFadyen’s writing skills and his ability to reach out to his readers in ways not many authors nowadays are able to.
I absolutely love the story behind Smoky Barrett in general: she has been tortured, her face has been scarred for life, and a psychopathic murderer killed her husband and daughter, leaving her no other option than shooting him in cold blood. Nevertheless, she stood up again, walked back to her job and did what she does best, and that’s quite inspiring for me (even if I would never wish the horrors her character has been through, or other characters in McFadyen’s book for myself), because behind all the layers of gruesome, bloody and life-scarring proceedings, all the fall-backs Smoky and her colleagues/friends are facing through the story, they all never give up. Combined with the suspense that never leaves the reader with this book – what more can you wish for?

3. Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games Trilogy

I know this isn’t just one book mentioned, but when mentioning “The Hunger Games”, you can’t just go with one of them, can you? My favourite by far is the first one – first book I read in less than a day because I just couldn’t put it away (don’t ask me how I was able to work 8 hours that day and managing my own household). Suzanne Collins had me from the first moment I started reading, and I absolutely admire her writing skills, her passion (that you feel in every sentence), and her seemingly inexhaustible imagination. Sadly, I was a bit…”deprived” of imagining the looks of Katniss and all the characters or the districts because I only started reading the books when the first pictures of the first movie were released, but I think I can easily get over that, because it didn’t diminish the joy and excitement I felt while reading. Or, for that matter, the joy and excitement I feel whenever I re-read them over and over again.

4. Chris Carter – The Crucifix Killer

When the body of a young woman is discovered in a derelict cottage in the middle of Los Angeles National Forest, Homicide Detective Robert Hunter finds himself entering a horrific and recurring nightmare. Naked, strung from two wooden posts, the victim was sadistically tortured before meeting an excruciatingly painful death. All the skin has been ripped from her face – while she was still alive. On the nape of her neck has been carved a strange double-cross: the signature of a psychopath known as the Crucifix Killer. But that’s impossible. Because two years ago, the Crucifix Killer was caught and executed. Could this therefore be a copycat killer? Or could the unthinkable be true? Is the real killer still out there, ready to embark once again on a vicious and violent killing spree, selecting his victims seemingly at random, taunting Robert Hunter with his inability to catch him? Hunter and his rookie partner are about to enter a nightmare beyond imagining. (Source: amazon.com)

When I read this description on the back of the book while I was strolling through a book store while waiting for my bus home – I was instantly in love. I have never experienced that already the back of a book gripped me so tight and screamed “BUY ME! BUY ME!” loudly into my ear.
And Chris Carter definitely didn’t disappoint me. What I especially love about the book is the beginning: it begins at the end. I can’t say much to not give away the story, but the reader is already sucked into the world of Robert Hunter and Carlos Garcia, his partner when you read the first paragraph; it’s like you are fast-forwarded to the end of something and feel the constant need to know how on earth the two main characters got themselves into their mess. Plus, the little puns between Hunter and Garcia are highly entertaining, and they pull you out of the horrors that they are facing every day with just some teasing comments about Hunter not having problems in hustling women and Garcia being kind of “prudish”. This is what makes this book one of my favourites and Chris Carter definitely one of the best crime-fiction writers that are out there – in my opinion.

5. Laurence Rees – Auschwitz-A New History

Now how does this book possibly fit into this line of great story-telling books? For starters: Laurence Rees is telling a story, the story of Auschwitz, about what was really going on behind the scenes of this Nazi killing machinery. Never has a book about the Third Reich sucked me in as much as this one; especially the part about the poor french, jewish children that were taken away from their parents and had to suffer in more than one concentration camp, just to end up in Auschwitz anyway. Rees is definitely not soft-pedaling in the way he describes all the horrors in the almost 4 years Auschwitz existed, and for me, this is the exact right way to handle this subject – because there are still way too many people out there who think the Holocaust was just a huge lie put up by the enemies of the Nazi-Regime. Also, the book contains not only interviews with survivors of Auschwitz, but most importantly, interviews with former members of Hitler’s circle of murderous, faithful subjects. It seems inconceivable to read about these people describing how they perceived the entire situation, how less sympathy they feel for their victims. You’re tend to feel so much hate, but at the same time, Laurence Rees tries explaining the reasons for their behaviour, which, for me, makes it even more interesting. If you’re as interested in the entire Holocaust History (and the 3rd Reich in general) like I am, you always crave to finally understand all the real motivations behind the Nazi-Regime and their concentration camps – and this book definitely helps a bit with that. For me, the best book about this subject I’ve read so far.

There are a lot of other books that should be in here – “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn, for example, or one of the amazing books by Karin Slaughter, – but the ones in this post inspired me the most. If you have read them or not, if you plan on reading them or not, that is totally up to you, because, above all, do what makes you happy. And read what you enjoy the most.

Top 5 Books by Stephen King

Everyone who knows me at least a little bit knows that Stephen King is my absolute hero in the large pool of authors, so it’s just natural that I had to do this. Let’s go.
(If you want a description about each book, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King_bibliography (click on the book titles to read the summaries)

1. Pet Sematary (1983)

Please don’t confuse the book with the movie. The difference basically is: the movie is shit. Not as bad as other book adaptions of Stephen King that made it onto the big screen, but…not good. Thankfully, I have discovered the movie AFTER I read the book.
I just love this novel to pieces. It was the first book that I remembered almost swallowing while reading, and the first one I read more than once. Over the past years, I have to admit that I lost count of how many times I actually re-read it, because hands down – I do that a lot with this one.
What I love about the main character, Louis Creed, a doctor and family father with a beautiful wife and two adorable little kids, is, that it is easy for the reader to understand his motives for the things he does in the story. The decisions he makes may seem odd to a normal mind, but if you think about it further, you see that all he does results out of his undying love for his family. I think it’s a lovely message (despite the horror Louis gets himself into).
The biggest reason why this book is my all-time favourite by him is the end. It has the absolute best end/epilogue in the entire world, there are no other words for it. It’s not always easy to have a situation that is described in a book so vividly that you see a certain situation right infront of your eyes, giving you goosebumps. Surprise: “Pet Sematary” did exactly this to me, and still does whenever I re-read it, though I know it by heart.

2. IT (1986)

I don’t think I have to say much about this one; I think everyone has at least heard about the story where a monster in form of a psychopathic, murderous clown terrorizes a group of young kids who pit themselves against him/it twice in their life. Again, please don’t compare this book to the absolute awful movie where almost everything is completely different to the written story – apart from Tim Curry as Pennywise, the Clown, it’s pretty much the worst movie ever.
Personally, I think this is one of the best books of all time, because although it’s quite long (1200 pages, approx.), the story never gets boring, because it switches between the kids’ childhood and their adult life. Plus, I love the message behing the story: if you stick together with your friends and believe you can defeat your worst fears – you can do it. For me, the times I have read this novel (yes, more than once, what a shocker), it was more than difficult to put it away for more than a few hours; it’s absolutely compelling in every way.

3. Under The Dome (2009)

This is one of the few newer books of Stephen King that are absolutely worth their money. Before reading the end of this book, I had only cried once while reading: during the end of “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows”. Plus, this book is the only one of him that I don’t only own in german, but also in english – that has to have a higher meaning.
I adore the story about a mysterious “something” that cuts off an entire town, leaving the people inside fight for their life. Secrets are surfaced, and the longer the Dome is staying, the harder the fights inside it are getting. And just when you think everything goes to hell, the secret is lifted. I had a really hard time when to the end, it was clear that one of my favourite characters would die – even if he died being some kind of hero. Tears shed right there, I can tell you, and it was the first time I was pretty mad at Mr. King for killing a character.
Because I was in such awe about the book, of course I was excited for the TV show based on it that was released in 2013 – I wasn’t entirely disappointed (though the writers changed almost all characters way too much for my taste), but I’d say it has potential. And it’s finally a book by Stephen King that has made the screen that doesn’t suck as much as the earlier movies. High Five to that. Still, the book is one of his best, in my opinion.

4. Christine (1983)

You just have to love Dennis, the main character’s best friend, who’s the narrator for the first half of the book. The way King has written these chapters is pretty amazing, because they are absolutely vivid, funny and compelling, and you don’t have the feeling that you as a reader are completely on the outside – the first-person narrator sucks you in and makes you a part of it, in some kind of way (not that I ever want to be part of something where a psychopath car goes on a killing spree). Plus, the story about an outsider who just wants to belong and be liked is pretty chastening to me and one of the reasons why this one of King’s best and one of my favourites.

5. Carrie (1974)

Who does NOT know this one? I’m pretty sure it’s even as popular as “IT”, maybe even more. Whenever I hear that name, I instantly have this creepy girl infront of my inner eye, the insane look in her wide eyes and the horrible music in the background when she sends her Highschool mates straight into hell. Of course, that’s the movie speaking out of me – which is not entirely crappy, but actually pretty good. But the book even tops what was put on screen all these years back; the story is absolutely well-written – although it’s one of his shortest novels. What I like about it is that the story is kind of…”stalling” the reader with Newspaper Articles between the single chapters, which makes you keep on reading, getting past them and wanting to know how the story goes on. The fact that on one hand it’s partly written in such cruel details that you want to put it away and throw up, but at the same time, so compelling that you can’t even think about closing it for more than a few hours is probably the reason why it was the one book that helped Stephen King make good as an author – and god, I am grateful it did!

As you might’ve noticed, 4 of these 5 books were written in the 80’s. Fact is: the books he wrote in that decade where his best, that was the time when, obviously, he was at his most creative point in life. And for me, the books that he wrote back then will forever be my favourites and something no other writer (in my opinion) will ever be able to reach.

Sometimes the muse that visits you is an old man.

And my old man is Stephen King.

Since I can think, I always loved reading and writing. Short Stories, fanfictions, anything that came to mind. When I was young, I used to make up a lot of stuff that evolved around the “Star Wars” universe, and wrote it down. Or my stories were set in the “The Tribe” universe (a series I mentioned on here once, if you have kept your eyes open). I’m not saying I was a good writer – god knows there are people out there that are way better than me, and there always will be – but I guess I had a lot of time as a kid.

I wasn’t allowed to watch TV most of the time since I was 13, so I started burying my head into magazines, books, newspapers, everything I could get my grip on. Thank God for that. And one day, I think I was 10 or 11, while I was home alone, I stumbled upon a certain DVD my mother’s husband owned: “IT” by Stephen King. I had heard about it, that it was about a creepy, murderous clown, and since I somehow always had been into Horror Movies alot (I hear the psychiatrists scream in terror about what a disturbed child/teenager I was), I put the movie into the DVD player at 1pm and secretly sat infront of the TV. And what can I say: the movie kind of scared the shit out of me. I say “kind of” because I didn’t switch it off and was afraid to be home alone, or kept the doors locked or even had nightmares about it. First thing I thought during the scene where the little boy, George, gets pulled into the drain by Pennywise was: “Damn, too bad that scene is rated!” Oh yes, I definitely might have been disturbed, thinking that there was not enough blood in that scene. Anyways. That movie impressed me as the first Horror Movie I’ve seen. If you know it, you know how bad it actually is, compared to the book. And there is my transition. I’m a genius.

The book is written by the King of Horror himself, Mr. Stephen King. And from the moment I watched that movie, he kind of was my hero. I immediately tried to get my hands on a lot of his books, which was difficult, considering I never had a lot of money and no one in my family has ever been interested in reading! First book I got of King, I think, was “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon”, which I got for Christmas a year or two later. It’s a bad book (sorry, Stephen), most of it is boring and you wait for the big, murderous ending. Surprise: there is none. But as soon as I got my hands on that book, I was under Mr. King’s spell. Soon after I had finished it, I spent the little money I had on my first self-bought book of him: “Dreamcatcher”. And that was the moment there was no going back for me from the King of Horror.

Today, when I think back, it’s not even a very challenging book; there is a lot of scatology in it, unnecessarily. But it had a lot of blood and killings in it, and that was the reason I absolutely loved it. Something about King’s writing style completely took hold of me; despite the bad language in it at times, he wrote like some little man next door, like someone who might be living in my neighbourhood. He used an easy language, a language everybody could identify with (that sounds so wrong, but I can’t help it). He didn’t just sugarcoat anything to be liked and get good critics, no. He didn’t give a crap about what anyone might think. He didn’t give up after his first few stories were a flop, when “Carrie” was rejected the first time he had sent it in, back in the ’70’s. He didn’t give up after his horrible accident where he had been run over by a car. He kept going, came back to life, and he still did his thing without a care what others might think about his writing.

And wow, did that impress me. I started writing even more short stories, got my hands on as many books as possible and simply spent every free minute I had on writing or reading. The ideas just flew into my head, and my motivation was on a level that was higher than anything I had ever experienced.

A few years passed, I started my apprenticeship when I turned 18, finally moved out into my own flat, forgot about my own writing skills and instead, my collection of King’s books grew. Among the books I got was also his autobiography “On Writing”. Safe to say barely a book has enchanted me like that one has. I absorbed every little advise about writing books that there was, I read passages over and over again, thinking about them over and over, and slowly began to fully understand the process of writing. Until today, it is the only dog-eared book I own, and to all the pages I keep going back to every now and then. Because that book – among all I had read of him over the past 15 years – was my one true inspiration. I started to get ideas for my own book, for a short story, and I thumbed through his autobiography over and over, because, hands down – I am a damn perfectionist. I wanted to do everything right, like King had “shown” me.

The result of it was a story that was everything else but short:  a thriller, 15 chapters written so far, the end of the book was already in the making a few years back. I had researched quite a few things about a coroner’s work in the US, police investigations, weather informations in the east of the US, etc. I even had found a few internet pages that gave me addresses to sent my story to, for a chance to be published. I wanted to do it right.

Then unfortunate things happened to me. And I stopped writing. I ran out of ideas and motivation. And I don’t think I will ever be able to pick up where I’ve left off; I know that as soon as I’ll start re-reading everything, I will start correcting alot, seeing the flaws in my storyline, realizing that I’m not even close to be a good, successful writer, and eventually throw it away. And although I don’t owe anybody anything with that story, I hate myself for letting myself down like this. I feel like I owe it to Mr. King to try and keep going.

And then, a few days back, I was told by a friend that my blogs on here were amazing, well-written and simply touching. It was like kind of a wake-up call. I suddenly felt the old electric feeling inside my stomach again, that feeling I got when I was about to start writing again. Motivation. Then my best friend who lives about 4,5 hours away from me told me on November, 21st, that my mentor, my inspiration, my one true hero, Mr. Stephen King himself, had been in her hometown for a public reading at their Congress Center. First I was shattered to the core; it was his first time ever in Germany and I knew I’d never get such a chance again to see my idol in person. Then something stirred in me again, and I spontaneously decided to post a part of one of my fanfiction stories on here (if you’re interested, take a look at the post before this one), to see what people think, to see if I was still able to write after all these years. I haven’t heard back from anybody yet, but I know true and honest opinions take time – no one wants half-hearted reactions. And after all, I’m writing for myself, as kind of an escape, not for some attention-whoring, to be noticed or become a star.

I’m still very far away from where I once used to be, and I will take baby steps at writing again. But I feel that a bit of the old fire has started to rise inside of me again. Maybe I will read Mr. King’s autobiography once more. Because I trust him to be my inspiration again. When I was a kid, a teenager, his books, his stories, the things he had to tell to the world, were my escape. They showed me that even the smallest person, the most hurt person is able to reach their goals, if they are willing to put all of their heart into it and don’t care how many times they get rejected or how often bad criticism is trying to get the better of them.

So yes, after drifting far off with this, I can proudly say: Mr. Stephen King is my muse. For others, he might only be a simple writer, an old man. But for me, he is way more.

He’s my hero. And he will always be.