Greetings fellow CR's, I just discovered this site and I'm very impressed. I've never joined anything like this before (I've never had reason to) but I feel hopeful in that this could be the perfect medium for some delightful discussion and debate with like-minded freaks as myself. Stephen King has had such an inspirational (as well as personal) impact on my life in so many ways that I now feel it is time to share that impact with a few folken that will (hopefully) be able to relate. First, I want to pre-apologize if I make any errors in format as I am totally new to this, so sorry.
Anyways, let me start with a little personal time travel. I am a survivor of an extremely abusive child-hood. My father was a police officer in beautiful Compton, CA. Now, we didn't live in Compton (thank Gan for that) but in a much nicer part of So. Cal... Torrance (it was actually nice in the late 70's, not so much now I hear). One of the ways I was able to survive the abominable atrocities (you can fill in the blanks with your own imagination) I was subjected to was to retreat into the world of books. I was forbidden to have friends or any form of socialization, television was strictly controlled (not that there was much on anyway) video games were only available via coin-op, so what's a resourceful child left? The local library and the bookstore at the Del Amo Mall became my sanctum santorum. I could walk there after school or on weekends and hide in the stacks.
The Torrance library was amazing. It had an absolutely huge children's section. They had vinyl records that you could take to little pod-like listening stations and check out currant music without any adults giving you grief over what you were listening to. It was there that I discovered the bliss of AC/DC and KISS pumped directly to my pre-adolescent brain. However, the children's section had one major problem...it was always filled with other children. I was way too uncomfortable with that so I gravitated towards the adult stacks. Now I could become invisible. All I had to do was pull a book off the shelf and go sit in a corner and new worlds opened before me.
My book selections were based on TV shows or movies that I wasn't allowed to see. The Del Amo Mall had a multi-plex theater inside and since I never had the money or wasn't old enough to go in and see any of the films advertised, I would go get the book at the library based on the displayed movie poster. Basically, I read books way above my age. Not always understanding the nuances of literature, but just enjoying the escapism and the secret thrill of "getting one over" on my Dad. Since he would forbid me from seeing something, I would go out and read what he didn't want me to see, ha ha on him.
Which brings me to an advertisement that I clearly remember in the weekly TV guide of a snarling, bald-headed, purple vampire for an upcoming made for TV movie (that I knew I wouldn't be allowed to watch) called "'Salem's Lot". That ad haunted me, all the kids in school were talking about it. How cool the first episode was and what was going to happen next week, etc. I was pretty hurt not having seen it, I felt totally left out (not for the first time either, but dammit this time I could do something about it) so I went and checked out the book. My first Stephen King story and my first excursion into the world of horror fiction. I devoured that book and was blown away. Now, a little disappointed that Barlow wasn't bald or purple, but my God what a story. Not to mention that I now had something on my classmates in that I knew how next weeks episode turned out before they did without ever seeing episode one. Hee Hee for me. Never mind the nightmares that came that week about a floating boy tapping on my window, I was pretty used to having nightmares by that time without the vampire theme anyway, so nothing new.
I was officially hooked on horror and hey, look this guy Stephen King has other books and I knew that "Carrie" was one of the movies my Dad would never in a million years let me see, so that one came next. And with "Carrie" came my first crush on a fictional character. I was in love with her as I felt such a connection with her life and situation (minus the telekinesis, of course). I mean she was like me in the fact that we were both social outcasts. Unloved and unwanted at home or at school with no sense of identity. I guess I still kinda love her. Though I'm torn as to who did the better film version, Angela Bettis is damn hot and totally creepy and her film was truer to the novel, but the dePalma film is a classic and any movie in which Travolta dies is always a plus.
I'm sorry I didn't mean for this to be so long but it is kinda important to me. I must relate a little more as another interesting phenomenon began develop as I grew older. When I became an adult (subjective as that is) people (and I mean total strangers) would approach me and ask for my autograph. At first I was seriously taken aback and would ask why. The response would be "well, aren't you Stephen King?" What the hell? Me? Stephen King. I mean I know who he is, he is my favorite author but, why do think I'm him. The man has got twenty+ years on me. He's been writing novels since the 70's. I was born in 1970. His photo is on the back of his books, clearly I'm not him. But, still it continued to happen and it happened a lot. No matter what city I moved to, what particular job I was doing...just out of the blue, total strangers would approach and ask if I was Stephen King. It got to the point that after awhile, when asked, I would actually give my autograph and then people would be upset when they saw that I signed my real name and not Stephen's. "Hey, aren't you Stephen King" No, I'm not... do think Stephen King would be working here? But, I guess they did and do because they still approach even though I'm now a registered nurse working in a busy Las Vegas hospital. I even grew my hair long hoping that it would stop, but alas, not yet. So, I kinda reverse adopted my favorite author and have started to tell people that while no, I'm not Stephen King he is my uncle and they seem to be satisfied with that. I wish I could post a picture of myself and let you guys, the true fans decide if I bear resemblance in some sort of doppelganger way. I have never seen it, but others constantly do. Maybe, I should tell them I'm Jordy Verrell and have a nice meteor for sale.
Well, thank you if anybody actually read this far. Like I said at the beginning, this is new to me and I hope to have many wonderful discussions and learn lots of new things. I'll be around.
Long Days and Pleasant Nights y'all
Anyways, let me start with a little personal time travel. I am a survivor of an extremely abusive child-hood. My father was a police officer in beautiful Compton, CA. Now, we didn't live in Compton (thank Gan for that) but in a much nicer part of So. Cal... Torrance (it was actually nice in the late 70's, not so much now I hear). One of the ways I was able to survive the abominable atrocities (you can fill in the blanks with your own imagination) I was subjected to was to retreat into the world of books. I was forbidden to have friends or any form of socialization, television was strictly controlled (not that there was much on anyway) video games were only available via coin-op, so what's a resourceful child left? The local library and the bookstore at the Del Amo Mall became my sanctum santorum. I could walk there after school or on weekends and hide in the stacks.
The Torrance library was amazing. It had an absolutely huge children's section. They had vinyl records that you could take to little pod-like listening stations and check out currant music without any adults giving you grief over what you were listening to. It was there that I discovered the bliss of AC/DC and KISS pumped directly to my pre-adolescent brain. However, the children's section had one major problem...it was always filled with other children. I was way too uncomfortable with that so I gravitated towards the adult stacks. Now I could become invisible. All I had to do was pull a book off the shelf and go sit in a corner and new worlds opened before me.
My book selections were based on TV shows or movies that I wasn't allowed to see. The Del Amo Mall had a multi-plex theater inside and since I never had the money or wasn't old enough to go in and see any of the films advertised, I would go get the book at the library based on the displayed movie poster. Basically, I read books way above my age. Not always understanding the nuances of literature, but just enjoying the escapism and the secret thrill of "getting one over" on my Dad. Since he would forbid me from seeing something, I would go out and read what he didn't want me to see, ha ha on him.
Which brings me to an advertisement that I clearly remember in the weekly TV guide of a snarling, bald-headed, purple vampire for an upcoming made for TV movie (that I knew I wouldn't be allowed to watch) called "'Salem's Lot". That ad haunted me, all the kids in school were talking about it. How cool the first episode was and what was going to happen next week, etc. I was pretty hurt not having seen it, I felt totally left out (not for the first time either, but dammit this time I could do something about it) so I went and checked out the book. My first Stephen King story and my first excursion into the world of horror fiction. I devoured that book and was blown away. Now, a little disappointed that Barlow wasn't bald or purple, but my God what a story. Not to mention that I now had something on my classmates in that I knew how next weeks episode turned out before they did without ever seeing episode one. Hee Hee for me. Never mind the nightmares that came that week about a floating boy tapping on my window, I was pretty used to having nightmares by that time without the vampire theme anyway, so nothing new.
I was officially hooked on horror and hey, look this guy Stephen King has other books and I knew that "Carrie" was one of the movies my Dad would never in a million years let me see, so that one came next. And with "Carrie" came my first crush on a fictional character. I was in love with her as I felt such a connection with her life and situation (minus the telekinesis, of course). I mean she was like me in the fact that we were both social outcasts. Unloved and unwanted at home or at school with no sense of identity. I guess I still kinda love her. Though I'm torn as to who did the better film version, Angela Bettis is damn hot and totally creepy and her film was truer to the novel, but the dePalma film is a classic and any movie in which Travolta dies is always a plus.
I'm sorry I didn't mean for this to be so long but it is kinda important to me. I must relate a little more as another interesting phenomenon began develop as I grew older. When I became an adult (subjective as that is) people (and I mean total strangers) would approach me and ask for my autograph. At first I was seriously taken aback and would ask why. The response would be "well, aren't you Stephen King?" What the hell? Me? Stephen King. I mean I know who he is, he is my favorite author but, why do think I'm him. The man has got twenty+ years on me. He's been writing novels since the 70's. I was born in 1970. His photo is on the back of his books, clearly I'm not him. But, still it continued to happen and it happened a lot. No matter what city I moved to, what particular job I was doing...just out of the blue, total strangers would approach and ask if I was Stephen King. It got to the point that after awhile, when asked, I would actually give my autograph and then people would be upset when they saw that I signed my real name and not Stephen's. "Hey, aren't you Stephen King" No, I'm not... do think Stephen King would be working here? But, I guess they did and do because they still approach even though I'm now a registered nurse working in a busy Las Vegas hospital. I even grew my hair long hoping that it would stop, but alas, not yet. So, I kinda reverse adopted my favorite author and have started to tell people that while no, I'm not Stephen King he is my uncle and they seem to be satisfied with that. I wish I could post a picture of myself and let you guys, the true fans decide if I bear resemblance in some sort of doppelganger way. I have never seen it, but others constantly do. Maybe, I should tell them I'm Jordy Verrell and have a nice meteor for sale.
Well, thank you if anybody actually read this far. Like I said at the beginning, this is new to me and I hope to have many wonderful discussions and learn lots of new things. I'll be around.
Long Days and Pleasant Nights y'all