Any other big fans of The Tommyknockers?

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MadmaxofDerry

Well-Known Member
Jan 31, 2018
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I agree. Ruth and (her husband? Forgot.) Butch are the best of the townies. I liked Ev Hillman's story and his grandsons' story, too.
I think this book would have been scarier without the sometimes cartoonish characters but maybe it was a necessary ingredient to allow for the zanier happenings in Haven. As King does in Needful Things, he delivers the scares with big laughs. In both books he satirizes the Maine denizens he knows and loves and pokes fun at them with more than a little glee. I like both novels better than when I first read them because it shows his range as a writer. Either way you slice it the laughs dull the axe blade of horror, but The Tommyknockers is closest to true horror. It gave me nightmares.

At the end it reminded me of old school alien encounter stories. You know the really cheesy stories that were a 30 minute episode of the Twilight Zone, or a 100 page, 25 cent book you'll find at the flea market. He took a simple premise and blew it up, it is very well written. I didn't get a scare, or a fright, more of a tingle in my spine of the creeps. Some of the parts gave me a chuckle, and others I had to put down to laugh without losing my place. I haven't yet come to Needful things, so I cannot comment. Yet.
 

Doc Creed

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Nov 18, 2015
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At the end it reminded me of old school alien encounter stories. You know the really cheesy stories that were a 30 minute episode of the Twilight Zone, or a 100 page, 25 cent book you'll find at the flea market. He took a simple premise and blew it up, it is very well written. I didn't get a scare, or a fright, more of a tingle in my spine of the creeps. Some of the parts gave me a chuckle, and others I had to put down to laugh without losing my place. I haven't yet come to Needful things, so I cannot comment. Yet.
That's a great comparison. I think King said he was inspired by old sci-fi novels and movies of the forties/fifties, the alien invasion trope. Yeah, the book scared me in a slow, creeping, seductive manner. The idea of trying to withstand "group think" or a hive mentality is frightening, to me, and there was something about
that shed. The green glow, the washing machine sounds, and the way that the victims were kept alive but were in constant pain. It's a very bizarre and hellish image. I like how there is a slow build up to the reveal of what was in the shed...or, I should say, whom was in the shed; Peter, the beagle, for one.
 

MadmaxofDerry

Well-Known Member
Jan 31, 2018
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The whole mind bonds that the town had is unnerving. Really sets in the paranoia, I've read and seen depictions of a character putting shields up to prevent their thoughts being read and I never understood how until it displayed Gard doing so.
A great Alien invasion story on a biological level. He compared the story as an addiction, it slowly works it's way into your system and grabs a hold. You still think that you have power, but it was given up long ago.
 
May 1, 2018
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I probably don't have a place here since I haven't finished reading the book yet, but I found something that's quite scary about it. It's a personal experience that's one of the strangest things I've known yet. I love the book so far, but one of the parts that caught my attention was the description of Altair-4, the planet that David is sent to by his brother. In a sense, I can relate to this. A few years ago, maybe even last year, I had a nightmare that was like a mix between Dreamcatcher and The Tommyknockers. There was that feeling of having to escape something bad, and it involved a lot of running away. I remember that there was a snowy setting, and there was some very advanced snowmobile. I think that was what reminds me of The Tommyknockers, because I knew that the technology shouldn't be that advanced on anything. Sometime later, I was transported to some other location. This was because of some of that advanced technology from before. What I saw in my dream was shockingly similar to King's description of Altair-4. There was a dark landscape with some very bright stars, and almost no air to breathe. When I read the description in the book, I already knew what it looked like simply from that dream. That was the end of my dream, so I don't know if I'd died in my dream or not. I had this dream before I even knew of The Tommyknockers, much less the planet. I talked to some friends about it, and realized that another similarity is that my name is also David. I just hope that I'm not that character, and hope that I don't ever get stuck somewhere like that. Anyone else have interesting experiences like this?
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I probably don't have a place here since I haven't finished reading the book yet, but I found something that's quite scary about it. It's a personal experience that's one of the strangest things I've known yet. I love the book so far, but one of the parts that caught my attention was the description of Altair-4, the planet that David is sent to by his brother. In a sense, I can relate to this. A few years ago, maybe even last year, I had a nightmare that was like a mix between Dreamcatcher and The Tommyknockers. There was that feeling of having to escape something bad, and it involved a lot of running away. I remember that there was a snowy setting, and there was some very advanced snowmobile. I think that was what reminds me of The Tommyknockers, because I knew that the technology shouldn't be that advanced on anything. Sometime later, I was transported to some other location. This was because of some of that advanced technology from before. What I saw in my dream was shockingly similar to King's description of Altair-4. There was a dark landscape with some very bright stars, and almost no air to breathe. When I read the description in the book, I already knew what it looked like simply from that dream. That was the end of my dream, so I don't know if I'd died in my dream or not. I had this dream before I even knew of The Tommyknockers, much less the planet. I talked to some friends about it, and realized that another similarity is that my name is also David. I just hope that I'm not that character, and hope that I don't ever get stuck somewhere like that. Anyone else have interesting experiences like this?
That was quite the dream - no - never had anything that interesting in my dreams.

11-22-63 Welcome.JPG
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
I know that the majority of readers and SK himself don't particularly like this book, but to be honest, this is one of my absolute favorites. I love how much the town of Haven becomes a character itself, it's a very similar feelings to how much of a character Derry is in It. I think the feeling of dread and unknown throughout this book is incredibly powerful and it's one of the few SK stories to truly terrify me the whole way through.

Anybody else have positive feelings towards this story?
Prince um no.jpg
I didn't care for it on the first read but liked it better years later when I did a re-read. I just didn't care about either of the two main characters, they just didn't 'gel' with me at all like King's other characters normally do.
 

doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
6,946
25,119
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dublin ireland
I probably don't have a place here since I haven't finished reading the book yet, but I found something that's quite scary about it. It's a personal experience that's one of the strangest things I've known yet. I love the book so far, but one of the parts that caught my attention was the description of Altair-4, the planet that David is sent to by his brother. In a sense, I can relate to this. A few years ago, maybe even last year, I had a nightmare that was like a mix between Dreamcatcher and The Tommyknockers. There was that feeling of having to escape something bad, and it involved a lot of running away. I remember that there was a snowy setting, and there was some very advanced snowmobile. I think that was what reminds me of The Tommyknockers, because I knew that the technology shouldn't be that advanced on anything. Sometime later, I was transported to some other location. This was because of some of that advanced technology from before. What I saw in my dream was shockingly similar to King's description of Altair-4. There was a dark landscape with some very bright stars, and almost no air to breathe. When I read the description in the book, I already knew what it looked like simply from that dream. That was the end of my dream, so I don't know if I'd died in my dream or not. I had this dream before I even knew of The Tommyknockers, much less the planet. I talked to some friends about it, and realized that another similarity is that my name is also David. I just hope that I'm not that character, and hope that I don't ever get stuck somewhere like that. Anyone else have interesting experiences like this?
I probably don't have a place here since I haven't finished reading the book yet, but I found something that's quite scary about it. It's a personal experience that's one of the strangest things I've known yet. I love the book so far, but one of the parts that caught my attention was the description of Altair-4, the planet that David is sent to by his brother. In a sense, I can relate to this. A few years ago, maybe even last year, I had a nightmare that was like a mix between Dreamcatcher and The Tommyknockers. There was that feeling of having to escape something bad, and it involved a lot of running away. I remember that there was a snowy setting, and there was some very advanced snowmobile. I think that was what reminds me of The Tommyknockers, because I knew that the technology shouldn't be that advanced on anything. Sometime later, I was transported to some other location. This was because of some of that advanced technology from before. What I saw in my dream was shockingly similar to King's description of Altair-4. There was a dark landscape with some very bright stars, and almost no air to breathe. When I read the description in the book, I already knew what it looked like simply from that dream. That was the end of my dream, so I don't know if I'd died in my dream or not. I had this dream before I even knew of The Tommyknockers, much less the planet. I talked to some friends about it, and realized that another similarity is that my name is also David. I just hope that I'm not that character, and hope that I don't ever get stuck somewhere like that. Anyone else have interesting experiences like this?
Welcome. The first time I read The Stand I dreamed I was in charge of a large group of people and had to lead them out of somewhere and to another place. Tommyknockers was never a favorite, but after a recent re read I enjoyed the build up more than the end.
 

Bobby Sawyer

Member
Oct 22, 2018
24
79
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New Jersey
I really enjoyed it. It had the interesting elements of how it was constructed, taking you seep in with Bobbi then out to Gard then them together and then shoved them out of tour head for a long bit. You have to shift from ridding alo g thinking Bobbi is the narative force only to be pulled into Gard.

It would be an extreme joy to me if King would have written a side by side book from Bobbi's perspective during the 3rd part of the story.

It was reminicent of IT the way it jumped around to tell the whole story and had the pet semetary feel of that pull towards an almost certin end point. From the first trip its established that whatever is in the ground is gonna come out. But the path that seems straight forward has a lot of bends.

As almost always though the great story races to that appex moment but you can never end up fully satisfied beacuse there is no great ending to a tale like this. Your strapped into the rollercoaster that climbs higher in the sky then imagined all the time thinking how intense the drop on the other side has to be to match the accent and then it just coasts to the finish and glides to an end.

There are few tidbits for thought in the conclusion though. Did Gard acctually save Bobbi? Was her fate better if he didnt show up? Do the Dallas police have anything to stop them now, and can they be just as dangerous with the scraps.

Its a fun back and fourth between worst possible outcomes as opposed to clear good guys and bad guys.