Key Takeaways:
– Stephen King once conceived a horror story too frightening even for him.
– The tale, involving a ladies’ restroom at an airport, was left unfinished.
– King believes authors deserve more credit in film and TV adaptations.
Meet the Spine-Chilling Story That Even Frightened Stephen King
Fans worldwide laud Stephen King as the undisputed maestro of horror fiction. His novels and short stories, notorious for causing chills and scares, have gained massive popularity and made a significant impact on television adaptations. However, even the king of horror experienced fear in conceiving a story so dreadful that he had to abandon it.
The Dismaying Flight Delay
In 1995, Stephen King revealed a decommissioned story plot in a conversation with Conan O’Brien. The narrative revolved around a couple waiting to catch a flight from Denver’s Stapleton Airport. The woman disappears into the ladies’ restroom, not to the return.
As time passed, her worried husband finds himself in increasingly bizarre circumstances. More women disappear into the restroom, leaving their partners behind in fear and uncertainty. Ultimately, the inexplicable incident draws the attention of law enforcement and the state militia.
An Unresolvable Riddle
The story had potential, and the narrative’s progression was naturally alarming – a classic Stephen King trait. However, the true horror lay in the unexplainable disappearances. Without an answer to “what the hell was going inside” the restroom, King found the storyline too frightening to continue. Although the unfinished novel could have been a hair-raising successor to ‘The Shining,’ it remains undeveloped.
Ensuring Authors Get Due Credit
Throughout many film and television adaptations of King’s work, he has emphasized the importance of authors getting their due recognition. In an interview with Deadline, he expressed his desire for authors to have a voice in screenwriting, directing, and casting decisions.
This sentiment perhaps stems from his dissatisfaction with Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of ‘The Shining,’ where he believed the character of Jack Torrance lost his plot arc. King expressed that the tragic struggle with sanity, portrayed in his novel, did not translate onto the screen, diminishing the character’s change and subsequent sorrow.
Despite the differences, the film continues to instill fear in its viewers and is available today to stream on Max. Reflecting on this, one remembers that even the real-life human named Stephen King, the architect of countless dread-inducing tales, once found a story too petrifying to finish. It is a fascinating reminder that even the maestros of horror are not exempt from fear.
