IT

Maya sits down with her buddy Matt Hartman, who does not like dark or upsetting things, to discuss The Running Man, one of Stephen King's most dark and upsetting novels. Listen to learn all about the origin of King's alter ego Richard Bachman, the different kinds of horror, and whether audio books or physical books are better for humanity. There was also a lot of president talk in this episode, which thankfully got mostly cut out. Sorry if we accidentally left in anything about presidents.  Links you might want after listening: The difference between inevitable, inexorable, and ineluctable: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-inevitable-inexorable-and-ineluctable Matt's podcast, TLDR Daily: https://anchor.fm/tldrdaily

You've probably noticed that there's kind of a lot of Stephen King movies happening right now... but this is the one you should actually watch. Join Maya, her husband, and special guest The Wolfman as they discuss The Flanopticon (that's what we call the cinematic universe of director Mike Flanagan), the many connections Doctor Sleep has to The Shining (both movies AND both books), and all the reasons why if you think this wasn't a good movie you are wrong.  Some more things for you: Proof that Maya's mom invented slash fiction: fanlore.org/wiki/The_Halkan_Council Love Erik? Check out his podcast at anchor.fm/frankanderik. Love The Wolfman? You can find his movie reviews at thewolfmancometh.com.

It's unclear whose idea it was to read this particular book, but Maya and her pals Ana (a writer, and also a Stephen King first-timer!) and Duncan (a normally reasonable person who unforgivably quit The Dark Tower halfway through) read it, and now you have the chance to learn a lot about everything from baseball to shit weasels. Plus, as it turns out, this story is much more than a coming-of-age story about a little girl lost in the woods... or is it?  Sidenote: duh, tragic endings, how could I forget about Running Man!!! Let me know if you can think of any other good ones! You can always email me or send in a voice message at anchor.fm/derry-connection.

Buzzfeed's Louis Peitzman recently decided to watch EVERY single Stephen King adaptation and rank them all in order of worst to best. He patiently explains his strategy and defends his decisions to Maya, who has a lot of questions and, predictably, some unsolicited and uneducated opinions. Look, if nothing else we can all agree that Shawshank is the greatest movie ever made. Right? WE CAN'T?! All 60 Stephen King adaptations ranked: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/louispeitzman/stephen-king-movie-adaptation-ranking The Stephen King musical: http://www.ghostbrothersofdarklandcounty.com/ Louis's interview with Stephen King earlier this year: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/louispeitzman/stephen-king-the-outsider-donald-trump-resistance-twitter

Maya gets to watch a few episodes of the new Hulu series CASTLE ROCK early and review them with her pal John, a Stephen King megafan and editor at Den of Geek. Listen to find out about the many, many connections hidden in this show – and why you should stick it out through the first couple episodes to get to the good stuff. You can read John's review at http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/castle-rock/274797/castle-rock-episode-1-review-severance-spoiler-free!

Maya's friend Kris hates scary stories, so Maya attempts to recommend a non-scary Stephen King book. This does not go as smucking planned. http://derryconnection.com

Maya and her friend Joe discuss the Stephen King short story collection Night Shift, which includes such gems as The Lawnmower Man and The Mangler. Joe tries to wrap his head around how Stephen King was writing connections into his stories before he wrote any of his books, and Maya spreads some Stephen King propaganda, and makes up some lies about Owen King's childhood. Also, lots of rats. 🐭

Maya discusses the underwhelming Netflix movie 1922 with Erik, Will, and her mom. Will tries really hard to make #langoliers happen.

Maya discusses the new Netflix film Gerald's Game with acclaimed movie critic The Wolfman, who ignites a feud with director Mike Flanagan and obsesses over the Spooky Buddies Cinematic Universe.

Maya's husband Erik, a world famous podcaster, joins the show to talk about all the phallic imagery only he saw in the hit new horror movie, Stephen King's IT. Chapter one. The loser's club.