302: Nightmares and Dreamscapes with Nat Cassidy

Horror author Nat Cassidy (When the Wolf Comes Home) has a new book of short stories coming out called I Know A Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours so it was only natural that we brought him back on the show to talk about one of King's most beloved short story collections: Nightmares and Dreamscapes.This is one of King's doorstoppers, so me, Breznican, and Nat all pick our three favorite stories and see what overlaps and what doesn't. Come of the talk of vampire urine, stay for the insightful chatter about how authors curate the pacing of short story collections.Nat's new book, I Know A Place, is available for pre-order now and hits shelves May 5th.

We have something of an academic detour for you with this episode. Listen along as we're joined by Professor Andy Hageman (Director of the Center for Ethics and Public Engagement at Luther College) who recently got access to the exclusive Stephen King Archive where he got hands on with King's original typed manuscripts and discovered something fairly interesting about King's process, particularly when it comes to The Dark Half.The Prof tells us what it was like to get that close to literary history as well as what it's like teaching King at a college level and what he thinks future scholars will teach when it comes to Stephen King.If you like what you hear, make sure to check out Hageman's essay on this experience for the LA Review of Books here: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/stephen-king-dark-half-revisited-archives-richard-bachman/

Director Natasha Kermani (Abraham's Boys, The Dreadful) is our guest this week and she picked a very interesting title to discuss: Stephen King's collaboration with his son Joe Hill titled Throttle. Kermani is no stranger to the work of Joe Hill, having adapted his story Abraham's Boys last year, and has some keen insights into both father and son's work, especially how both authors wrote about those very specific roles.  Kermani's latest film, The Dreadful, starring Game of Thrones's Sophie Turner and Kit Harington, alongside Mrs. Carmody herself, Marcia Gay Harden, releases in a theater near you February 20th.

Mr. Clarke himself, Randy Havens, joins The Kingcast boys to talk about the final Stranger Things season, the not-so-chill fans that showed up in its wake, working with Frank Darabont and looking back at Darabont's very first Stephen King adaption: The Woman in the Room. 

For those sensitive listeners out there, consider this fair warning: when our guest Mallory O'Meara (Girly Drinks, The Lady from the Black Lagoon) pops up on The Kingcast, things tend to get a little raunchy and this episode is no exception. She may be a James Beard award winning author, but she also hosts a podcast called Reading Smut.Mallory returns to the show to finally dive into some Dark Tower waters as the topic turns to Stephen King's novella The Little Sisters of Eluria, which takes place not too long before the first novel in the Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger.What does Pixar's Cars have to do with this story? What about a surprisingly extended conversation about what other bodily fluids can sustain a vampire? Well, you'll just have to listen to find out!

It is time to return to Mid-World in this final Kingcast episode of 2025 as indie horror star Graham Skipper (Re-Animator: The Musical, Almost Human, Beyond the Gates) joins Breznican and Vespe to discuss the fourth book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series: Wizard and Glass.  We break down the plot, underline how it weirdly mirrors the plot that George Lucas would later use for The Phantom Menace, and take a deep dive into how this book really plays to King's strength at mixing intricate character work and unbelievable world-building. 

Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were tragically murdered over the weekend and the film community is still reeling. Reiner was not only a kind man, someone dedicated to protecting the rights and freedoms of everybody, and a talented filmmaker, he was one of the very few filmmakers that understood exactly how to translate Stephen King to the big screen.Author Nat Cassidy (The Wolf at the Door) and film commentator Drew McWeeny (The Hip Pocket Podcast) join Beznican and Vespe to discuss the tragic loss of Reiner and celebrate his massive contributions to the world of cinema, from his King adaptations Stand By Me, Misery, and The Shawshank Redemption (which he produced for Frank Darabont) to the genre defining classics This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, and A Few Good Men.

If you're a fan of SCREAM then you're going to want to pay attention to today's episode featuring none other than Stu Macher and Billy Loomis themselves, Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich. They're appearing in the upcoming Five Nights At Freddy's 2 and they decided to stop by The Kingcast to talk about their love of King's work and specifically Frank Darabont's adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption. We also talk about their real life friendship, the stain that is toxic masculinity, working with Wes Craven on the original Scream, and even about Skeet's rather... interesting... appearance as a poster above Satan and Saddam Hussein's bed in South Park.

Peter Hall and Paul Gandersman, the writer/directors behind the upcoming genre flick MAN FINDS TAPE, join your intrepid Kingcast hosts to discuss one of Stephen King's underappreciated and as yet unadapted books: Joyland. Conversation jumps between their film, their deep cut Stephen King origin stories, some Dark Tower nerdiness, and why Joyland plays so well into King's strengths as an author. We even fancast our adaptation and do a damn good job at it, if we don't say so ourselves.

Pop culture experts and the hosts of HBO's It: Welcome to Derry Official Companion Podcast, Marc Bernardin and Princess Weekes, join Breznican and Vespe in the crossover event of the decade! What better place to land Marc and Princess than The Kingcast where we can talk through Stephen King stuff, the deeper themes at play in It: Welcome to Derry, and what it's like running the official HBO companion podcast for this series.