Guest Post by D. Melhoff
Why My Mother Loves
Stephen King and Hates Stephenie Meyer: A Look at Mainstream Fiction
By: D. Melhoff | November 19
My mother tried reading Twilight
back when it was all the rage, but stopped after the first thirty
pages.
To be fair, she’s never read Harry
Potter either. Or Lord of the Rings. Or The Vampire Chronicles. Or
Game of Thrones.
But what confuses me is that she loves
Stephen King.
In fact, she’s read more King than
anyone I know. She devours his new releases, she’s gone to hear him
speak, and she’s stalked him for autographs with almost Annie
Wilkes-like fervor.
So what’s going on here? How come
when I ask her if she would like a new vampire book for Christmas,
she tells me absolutely not, and yet she adored ‘Salem’s Lot?
Or why did she love The Shining and hate Hell House
and The Haunting of Hill House? She sailed through The
Stand (extended version) no problem, but couldn’t be bothered
by I Am Legend; and Carrie was completely fine, but try
taking her to see X-Men or Push and you’ll probably
get a slap across the back of the head.
I can point to a dozen other examples,
but we’re all busy and I don’t want to waste your time. The fact
is, my mother usually likes historical dramas, contemporary romances,
true stories, and crime fiction—anything that has or could
happen—but for some reason she always makes one exception. Stephen
King.
Is it just good
marketing? I don’t think so. If that were the case, she would’ve
given up on him long ago.
So what’s the secret ingredient? Does
King have higher concept ideas than other fiction authors? Or better
pacing? Or a stronger vocabulary?
Needless to say, I’ve always been
curious. So one day I asked her what she enjoys about Stephen’s
books so much, and her response was simple: his characters.
‘Alright,’ I thought, ‘that’s a little vague.’ But when I
asked her to elaborate, the follow-up was a lot more interesting. Put
on the spot, she started listing the first words and phrases that
came to mind—words like: ‘incredible backstories’, ‘strong
dialogue’, ‘his attention to detail’, ‘the humor’, ‘they’re
fun’, ‘they’re funny’, and ‘it’s so real’.
I think she hit a few nails on the head
there.
For her, King’s greatest strength is
his ability to build a world and populate it with characters that
feel as real—and have as deep of histories—as you and I. Along
the way, he’s able to convey these backstories as entertainingly as
possible and pair the action with sharp wit and a constant sense of
humor. The man can slay you with a well-timed aphorism, an astute
observation, or a comparison from his arsenal of seemingly endless
similes, and he does so at a prolific pace.
In his book On Writing, King
likens the process of storytelling to paleontology. He says:
"…Stories
are relics, part of an undiscovered pre-existing world. The writer's
job is to use the tools in his or her toolbox to get as much of each
one out of the ground in tact as possible. Sometimes the fossil you
uncover is small; a seashell. Sometimes it's enormous, a
Tyrannosaurus Rex with all those gigantic ribs and grinning teeth.”
In staying with this metaphor, I’d
say the reason my mother enjoys the “relics” in the Museum of
King so much isn’t necessarily because they’re the biggest
fossils on display, or the rarest. It’s because they’re so
exquisitely excavated and presented for visitors to see.
Sure, the Museum of Meyer across the
street is just as busy, filled with people who have come to see the
one lumbering T-Rex that was crudely jackhammered out of its resting
place and assembled with Elmer’s glue, but it’s not my mother’s
idea of an enjoyable afternoon, so she’ll skip it.
As a horror writer with my own
excavating to do, I’d have to say I’ve inherited my mother’s
taste for stories. If you’re looking for something to read, pick up
Come Little
Children and let me know which museum you think it belongs in.
D. Melhoff is the author of Come
Little Children, a new thriller about a family of morticians who
are connected to a string of paranormal murders in the secluded town
of Nolan, Yukon.
D. Melhoff
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Supernatural Thriller
Publisher: Bellwoods Publishing
Cover Artist: Carl Graves
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/nM0QAA607yo
Book Description:
The Nolan morgue is more than just an ordinary funeral home.
When their newest employee uncovers a supernatural conspiracy connected to a string of child murders, she must use every shred of her intelligence to stop a new breed of serial killer and escape the morgue alive.
About the Author:
D. Melhoff was born in a prairie ghost town located an inch above the Canadian-American border. He credits King, Poe, Hitchcock, Harris, Raimi, and his second grade school teacher, Mrs. Lake, for turning him to horror.
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