You are now listening to post-mortem with Mick Harris, where the most influential voices in horror cinema will spill their guts, literally.

To the renowned horror director, writer, and producer.

Now here's your host, Mick Garris.

I'm Mick Garris and this is post-mortem.

Okay, let's talk about Stephen King.

What is it that makes him so iconic so overwhelmingly and indisputably popular?

Why is there a constant and consistent stream of books turned into movies and television?

I contend that it's his voice, his humanity, the warmth of his approach to the coldest, darkest of subjects. You can spot King's work from the very

first page. The adaptations that get it right embrace that voice, that humanity, that concentration

on the depth of the characters.

It's no huge revelation that we identify with the characters in a king book,

but it does make them unique,

the way that Richard Matheson did it in the 50s and in the 60s by humanizing the monstrousness that surrounds

us.

I've been lucky enough to be involved in several King adaptations myself, starting with

sleepwalkers, then the stand, the shining, his short story

chattery teeth in Quicksilver Highway, Michael Jackson's Ghosts, riding the bullet,

desperation, bag of bones, and hopefully more to come.

King speaks to us.

His fears are our fears, his passions are ours.

His voice is the people's voice.

The comparisons to Charles Dickens are numerous numerous and his reach into our collective

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