Summer is short and entertainment is vital. Therefore, make sure you take advantage of this June's suggestions. Would I steer you wrong? Hell, no! So here they are:

1. Fangoria's anniversary issue, on sale now.
2. Bruce Springsteen's Seeger Sessions.
3. James McMurtry's Just Us Kids. Real alt-country rock and roll.
4. Apple pies from Checkers. They come rolled in cinnamon. Yum!
5. Waffles and eggs at Waffle House. Hash browns loaded with cheese optional.
6. Monster Truck Jam (as long as you root for The Gravedigger to lose.)
7. Ride the Boulder Dash wooden roller coaster in Bristol, CT.
8. Listen to the entire Metallica catalogue. Then get your ears checked. You know you've been meaning to do it.
9. Go to the beach on a motorcycle with your honey.
10. Read Nobody Move, by Denis Johnson.
11. Read Gone Tomorrow, by Lee Child.
12. Read Look Again, by Lisa Scottoline.
13. Read The Way Home, by George Pelecanos.
14. See Drag Me to Hell, directed by the incomparable Sam Raimi.
15. Play AC/DC in your car with the windows rolled down and the volume all the way up.
16. Root for the Red Sox to bury the Yankees.
17. Pray for Big Papi (David Ortiz).
18. Wear your sunglasses at night.
19. Watch for an excerpt from Under the Dome in Entertainment Weekly.

See them here first -- three new illustrations from The Talisman comics.

We've received permission to release the official copy from Simon & Schuster for the plot synopsis for Under the Dome. Here's your first peek at the story line:

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when—or if—it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens—town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing—even murder—to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t just short. It’s running out.

Marvel has released a five page preview of the next arc in the Stand series, American Nightmares. You can use the link below to download the preview of in PDF form.

Read the Five Page Preview
(10MB Download)

Amazon has decided to release Stephen’s new novella, “Ur”, ahead of schedule. Kindle users can now purchase it for immediate download to their Kindle devices.

More information

Marvel has announced that The Stand: Captain Trips Premiere Hardcover will be available exclusively at comic shops and TalesOfWonder.com. The highly anticipated collection includes all five issues of the first arc.

To celebrate, Marvel is offering visitors of StephenKing.com a complimentary digital version of the complete first issue. This download also includes the Captain Trips Sketch Book. - A must have file for The Stand's constant readers.

More Information

Download Issue #1

Published by arrangement with The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. This comic series is produced under license from The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group and Stephen King.

The Stand Release Log

Our long awaited Flash application titled "The Office" went live on Thanksgiving morning. This experimental web app offers users the means to virtually step inside Stephen's business office in Bangor, Maine. While inside, users can browse memorabilia and current points of interest. User can also take part in The Office Quiz Game. -Which as we hear, has become an obsession for many of our dedicated MB users. Be sure to check out Phase One of The Office and let us know what you think on the Official Message Board.

Enjoy!

-The StephenKing.com Team

Click here for The Office Landing Page

Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. has announced that the long-awaited limited edition of The Little Sisters of Eluria is anticipated to begin shipping on December 15th.    This volume includes the revised and expanded version of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger and the companion Dark Tower story, The Little Sisters of Eluria.  It is illustrated by Michael Whelan who also illustrated the first and last volumes of The Dark Tower series.   For more information about this edition and to find out how to order a copy, please visit Donald M. Grant Publisher’s web site.

 

It is now official that Scribner will be publishing Steve's new novel, Under the Dome, in the fall of 2009!

Always wondered what Steve's favorite books are? He lists three of them in this month's Barnes & Noble Review.