The Kingcast

One of our greatest working character actors joins up for his first appearance on The Kingcast. You know Stephen Root from just about everything, from Office Space to King of the Hill to No Country For Old Men to Man In The High Castle and the recent hit horror/comedy show Widow's Bay.Root shows up ready to rock as we look back over his career, from working with George A. Romero on Monkey Shines to the prescience of Mike Judge's Office Space and Idiocracy, and his love of Stephen King, which started with The Stand and culminated in one of his favorite works: 11/22/63. Did you also know that Root appeared in a King miniseries? We talk about all that and more in this very fun episode.Widow's Bay is can be binged on AppleTV. It rules, go watch it.

Transcribed - Published: 3 June 2026

Obsession rules. It's the latest horror sensation to take over the box office and has the genre community abuzz with how good it is. So naturally we had to get two of the stars on the show to talk about their cool ass movie and their favorite Stephen King things.So, we're joined by Michael Johnston and Cooper Tomlinson and topics include their Stephen King origin stories, which King movie adaptations have influenced their work, and so much more. You will get talk about Stand By Me, The Shining, 11/22/63, Mike Flanagan, Pennywise, and even a little more Revival peer pressure from the Kingcast boys.Obsession is out now in a theater near you!

Transcribed - Published: 20 May 2026

University of Maine Professor (and the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, by the way) Caroline Bicks spent a year combing through King's original manuscripts at his own personal archive and that resulted in an essential book for King obsessives: Monsters In The Archives that gives us new insights into King's process and illuminates paths not taken on some of his most iconic stories, like The Shining, Pet Sematary, Carrie, Night Shift, and 'Salem's Lot.These bonus episodes are usually exclusive to The Kingcast Patreon, so if you want more of this make sure to sign up over at www.patreon.com/thekingcast.Also make sure to order your copy of Monsters in the Archives at your local bookstore or at www.carolinebicks.com. 

Transcribed - Published: 8 May 2026

Screenwriter Jeremy Slater (Moon Knight, The Exorcist, Mortal Kombat II) returns to The Kingcast to talk about... not Stephen King. Well, not directly, anyway. The topic up for discussion is Joe Hill's 2025 epic horror tome King Sorrow which contains many familial references and those don't just include his famous father. The story centers a group of college friends who uncover the ability to summon a dark force to combat their enemies, but like most dark forces this protection comes at a price.Hill tells this story over multiple decades and litters the narrative with nods to many King titles, from The Dead Zone to The Dark Tower.We discuss the book without spoilers for the first half of the conversation and dig into some of the more spoilery stuff in the back. Don't worry, make it very clear when we're transitioning to spoiler territory.Make sure to catch Mortal Kombat II written by our guest Jeremy Slater in theaters this weekend!

Transcribed - Published: 6 May 2026

The very funny Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney had never seen David Cronenberg's The Dead Zone, so naturally we had to make them watch it and report back. You know Nick & Brian collectively as BriTANiK from their sketch work at SNL, their writing on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and the two movies they have coming out this April: Pizza Movie, which they wrote and directed and is out now on Hulu, and Over Your Dead Body, hitting theaters this very weekend. So, what did they think of Cronenberg's film? Well, you'll have to listen and find out, but I will say that had just as many questions for Vespe and Breznican as the hosts had for them.

Transcribed - Published: 22 April 2026

William Sadler has been in some of the best Stephen King adaptations, including the Frank Darabont Trifecta of The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist and now he's on The Kingcast to discuss all that plus detours to his starring role in Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight, his oddly nude bad guy in Die Hard 2, Death in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, and his latest film, a tongue-in-cheek genre flick called The Yeti, which is out on digital April 10th.Sadler is one of our best character actors and has some great stories to tell about his time working in the business. Plus we find out he has a secret Stephen King performance that we never knew about!

Transcribed - Published: 8 April 2026

I hope you brought your sad tissues with you today because this episode gets emotional real dang quickly. Our guest is Wil Wheaton who is returning to The Kingcast to talk about all things Stand By Me and The Body as Rob Reiner's film celebrates its 40th anniversary and Wil steps behind the mic and into adult Gordy LaChance's shoes as he narrates a new audiobook of Stephen King's novella, The Body.We recorded this just two days after Wheaton appeared on stage at the Oscars for Rob Reiner's memorial and let's just say the emotions are still running strongly, but luckily for us Wil is very open about what he's feeling and what Rob meant to him as an artist and a father figure, the man who Wil believes was the first person to actually show him unconditional love and support as a young man.So jump in as Wil recounts some stories from the making of the iconic movie and gives us insight into the process of revisiting this classic 40 years later where he, not Richard Dreyfuss, gets to lead us through it.As a special bonus, Simon & Schuster have given us a preview of Wil Wheaton's reading of The Body, which is available for purchase now wherever you get your audiobooks. Make sure to stay to the end of the interview to hear a piece of Wheaton's narration.Copyright © 1982 by Stephen King. Audio excerpt courtesy of Simon & Schuster Audio from the audiobook The Body, read by Wil Wheaton, published by Simon & Schuster Audio, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Used with permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Transcribed - Published: 25 March 2026

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.

Transcribed - Published: 11 March 2026

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/

Transcribed - Published: 4 March 2026

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.

Transcribed - Published: 11 February 2026

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. 

Transcribed - Published: 28 January 2026

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!

Transcribed - Published: 14 January 2026

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. 

Transcribed - Published: 31 December 2025

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.

Transcribed - Published: 17 December 2025

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.

Transcribed - Published: 4 December 2025

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.

Transcribed - Published: 19 November 2025

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.

Transcribed - Published: 14 November 2025

At long last director Edgar Wright finally makes an appearance on The Kingcast and he brought some friends along. Wright stops by to talk about his current Stephen King adaptation, The Running Man, and it just so happens that his cast was also promoting the movie so you're going to get Stephen King Origin Stories (TM) from stars Glen Powell, Lee Pace, and Josh Brolin before a lengthy chat with Edgar about constructing this particular adaptation, Stephen King's reaction to it and notes along the way, the Richard Bachman of it all, and King's adoration of Shaun of the Dead.

Transcribed - Published: 5 November 2025

The Kingcast's Eric Vespe and Anthony Breznican are doing their own watch along show as HBO's It: Welcome to Derry rolls out. Check out this exclusive feed drop as they dive into episode 1 of the Pennywise prequel show from the creators of the It films. If you like what you hear make sure to subscribe to Watching It: Welcome to Derry to hear Brez and Vez discuss each episode week to week!

Transcribed - Published: 27 October 2025

The day is here! Andy and Barbara Muschietti, the creative duo behind the It films and the upcoming prequel series, have finally come on The Kingcast to talk all about dat boy, Pennywise. Or is it dat girl, Pennywise? This is one of many topics brought up as Andy and Barbara discuss their love of King's work, the challenges of adapting for both the big and small screen, and even share some never before revealed details about a massive scene cut from It: Chapter One.

Transcribed - Published: 22 October 2025

Upcoming genre directors Chris Stuckmann (Shelby Oaks) and Mercedes Bryce Morgan (Bone Lake) join Vespe for a very special live recording from this year's Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX. This broad King conversation hones in on a couple of specific titles, including the recent The Long Walk adaptation, Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep adaptation, and someone insane tries to defend Secret Window starring Johnny Depp.

Transcribed - Published: 18 October 2025

Clark Collis returns to The Kingcast to discuss a very specific moment in horror cinema: the '90s through the early 2010s. His new book, Screaming and Conjuring, takes us through that era of many hits, twice as many misses, and a genre that was feeling lost as it whiplashed between generic studio remakes, found footage ripoffs, and torture porn. King's genre work was getting some pretty bad adaptations in this era, too, and we discuss that, King's own film criticism work at Entertainment Weekly, and his support for the genre even when it was down and out.

Transcribed - Published: 8 October 2025

You know him as young Ben Hanscom in the recent It films and now Jeremy Ray Taylor is all growed up. He's a married man and works with cars, but he still acts and has a new project out in theaters, an action comedy by the name of London Calling where he co-stars with Josh Duhamel as a nerdy kid forced to tag along with a lousy hitman by his mobster father in order to toughen him up some. We talk about that movie as well as his experiences working on It: Chapters 1 and 2, before we dive into his chosen topic: 2019's Pet Sematary remake. Why this one? Turns out, Jeremy is a bit of a horror scaredy cat and this is the movie that helped get him into the genre.

Transcribed - Published: 24 September 2025

This past July, Vespe and Breznican moderated the San Diego Comic-Con panel for The Long Walk. Now you get to hear the audio from that panel as well as a post-panel discussion with Mark Hamill, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, screenwriter JT Mollner, and producer Roy Lee. You'll never guess the two very distinct connections between Star Wars and Stephen King that Hamill reveals, plus you get to hear everybody's Stephen King origin story.

Transcribed - Published: 19 September 2025

Two of the stars of The Long Walk jump on the line with Brez and Vespe to talk about their Stephen King adaptation, their favorite King things, and so much more. Ben Wang plays Hank Olson, the motor-mouthed smartass of the group, and Garrett Wareing plays Stebbins, the odds on favorite to win the deadly game. Listen as Wang talks about an impactful viewing of The Shining on an airplane of all places, and as Wareing breaks down the process of shooting a film like The Long Walk and what kind of prep goes into such a physically demanding role.

Transcribed - Published: 10 September 2025

The Lawnmower Man himself finally makes an appearance on The Kingcast. Jeff Fahey's career is impressive just by itself, but doubly impressive for us Stephen King nerds when you realize he's something of King royalty, popping up in adaptations of The Institute, Under the Dome, and, yes, The Lawnmower Man. We discuss all three, plus talk about his latest film, The Final Run, out in select theaters and on demand right now.

Transcribed - Published: 27 August 2025

Not only is Ben Barnes well-spoken, professional, and ridiculously good-looking, he's also the star of a currently running TV adaptation of Stephen King's The Institute. We talk about his process working on that show, what he took from King's writing, his history with genre (from playing Prince Caspian in the Narnia films to appearances in Westworld and Black Mirror), and share a laugh over cat buttholes. In short, this is just the nerdy conversation you need this week.

Transcribed - Published: 13 August 2025

Legendary writer/director Chuck Russell (The Blob, Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors, The Mask) joins The Kingcast boys to talk about his career and his new film, a reimagining of the '80s cheeseball classic Witchboard, and his early days working with Frank Darabont. Get the inside scoop on Chuck's front row seat to Darabont getting The Shawshank Redemption made as well as genre insights and lots of talk of the occult.

Transcribed - Published: 31 July 2025

Celebrated novelist and comic book writer Benjamin Percy joins Breznican and Vespe to discuss Stephen King's Cycle of the Werewolf and its bonkers film adaptation, Silver Bullet. He has an ulterior motive showing up around these parts as well and that's to reveal that Stephen King himself is taking part in his next project, a post-apocalyptic story that will be released monthly in old school newspaper format.  Most of the material will be written by Percy, but King decided he wanted a column in "The End Times." To find out more about that and how to pre-order, visit https://badhandbooks.com/preorders/the-end-times-digital-subscription. We talk about the end of the world a little bit as well as monthly storytelling against the backdrop of Cycle of the Werewolf.

Transcribed - Published: 16 July 2025

Model, actor, and former adult film performer Cam Damage joins Vespe and Breznican to nerd out about all manner of things, from VHS collections to notable Bangor locations to Stephen King's work on the whole. We do focus primarily on King's recent outing, Fairy Tale, a work that isn't exactly beloved by most of his constant readers, but a story that means a lot to Cam.

Transcribed - Published: 2 July 2025

Writer/Director duo David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano (I Don't Understand You) join Vespe and Breznican to talk all about their new movie as well Stephen King's The Stand, with a focus on the 1994 Mick Garris mini-series adaptation.  Unexpected topics of conversation this episode: hilarious film commentaries, birds being a-holes, '90s footwear, the perfect choice for Randall Flagg being poo-poo'd by King, and questionable strip club stories from Miguel Ferrer. I Don't Understand You is available on digital platforms June 24th

Transcribed - Published: 18 June 2025

Life of Chuck stars Karen Gillan and Tom Hiddleston sat down with us to talk about their Stephen King origin stories, the film adaptations that moved them, and everything that went into their roles in the most recent Stephen King adaptation.

Transcribed - Published: 11 June 2025

The Life of Chuck is based on Stephen King's novella of the same name from the If It Bleeds collection and is a story told in reverse featuring dancing, death, a haunted cupola, and the end of the world. You know, the basics for a good yarn.

Transcribed - Published: 6 June 2025

Mike Flanagan's adaptation of The Life of Chuck starts hitting screens this weekend. It's about a lot of things: the end of the world, the impact a single person can have on the universe, the importance of math, and the joy of dancing. It's hard to explain what this movie is, but it is large and, much like the title character, contains multitudes. 

Transcribed - Published: 4 June 2025

The Outsider is the book where King's current obsession, Holly Gibney, takes a full step to the forefront as she helps investigate a particularly interesting case where a man arrested for the brutal killing of a child has proof that he wasn't anywhere near the scene of the crime despite a mountain of eye-witness, surveillance, and DNA evidence to the contrary. Is there something deeper at play here? Perhaps something supernatural? 

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2025

Rose Red is the rare mini-series that Stephen King wrote directly for the screen and is essentially his stab at playing in Shirley Jackson's Hill House sandbox. With a wild cast that includes both Nancy Travis and Julian Sands and Melanie Lynskey and a story that feels like a Greatest Stephen King Hits compilation, Rose Red is a fascinating one to look back on.

Transcribed - Published: 7 May 2025

"A Death" is a lesser-known Stephen King short story from The Bizarre of Bad Dreams. Set in the Old West times, a young girl is killed and the town rounds up a likely suspect who proclaims his innocence upon deaf ears. Is this man a murderer or is he innocent, like he claims? 

Transcribed - Published: 1 May 2025

Larry Hama not only worked on GI Joe, he also dabbled with Wolverine, Nth Man, and Elektra. His work on Joe didn't end with the comics, either. He also penned the majority of the dossier files on the back of all the toys. 

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2025

Both The Mist and our guest's latest film, Drop, are contained pot-boilers as a small group of people share the same small common area as wild stuff is happening outside. One involves creepy cell phone drops, the other tentacled monsters, but go with us with this comparison.

Transcribed - Published: 9 April 2025

Carrie is the novel that started everything for Stephen King, a runaway success that set him up to be the master of horror for going on 5 decades now. It tells the story of a sheltered, awkward girl who just so happens to be telekinetic and when she's pushed too far... well, she makes her wrath known to the entire town.

Transcribed - Published: 26 March 2025

Christine tells the story of Arnie Cunningham and his disturbingly close relationship with his car. What does this story have to say about toxic masculinity? How hard is it to film automotive mayhem? And what's with all the wiener grabbing? All these questions and more are asked and answered in today's episode.

Transcribed - Published: 19 March 2025

Eyes of the Dragon sees a small kingdom completely upturned thanks to the murder of their King. An innocent prince is framed for his father's murder and is locked away in a tower while his younger brother takes the thrown, the unwitting lapdog of the evil wizard Randall Flagg. Thanks to our sponsors this week: Lumi Gummies and A24's Opus

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2025

Director Osgood Perkins is most famous for the recent genre smash, Longlegs, and he brings his unique point of view to The Monkey, which is out in theaters now from Neon and James Wan's Atomic Monster. Make sure to check out the movie and read Kingcast co-host Anthony Breznican's wonderful Vanity Fair profile on Osgood Perkins.

Transcribed - Published: 26 February 2025

James Wan is famous for Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring, and Aquaman, but he's also produced a few Stephen King adaptations, including The Monkey, which is being released February 21st. We talk a lot about working with Osgood Perkins, how perfectly horror and comedy can work together if crafted correctly, his version of The Tommyknockers which never made it off the ground, and his love of Stephen King's It.

Transcribed - Published: 13 February 2025

King drops some news about his current novel, The Talisman 3, and fields a variety of questions ranging from the adaptations of his work (stuff like the upcoming The Life of Chuck, The Long Walk, and The Monkey, and classics like Cujo and Maximum Overdrive) to nerdy deep dives into his craft, his relationship with Tabby, the new Holly Gibney novel coming this May called Never Flinch, Mike Flanagan, and just what the hell is up with all the corn in his work. This episode is sponsored by Neon's The Monkey, an adaptation of King's short story of the same name directed by Osgood Perkins (Longlegs), and starring Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, and Elijah Wood, coming to theaters February 21st.

Transcribed - Published: 29 January 2025

The Kingcast returns from hiatus next Wednesday, January 29th, with a brand new permanent co-host. Anthony Breznican has signed up for this new tour of duty for the show and before we hit the ground running next week I figured I would post this episode where you can get to know Brez a little bit.  This episode was previously only available on The Kingcast Patreon (www.patreon.com/thekingcast, sign up now!).

Transcribed - Published: 24 January 2025

Chaos reigns as Bill Skarsgard and Willem Dafoe talk with Vespe about their current flick Nosferatu as well as all their favorite Stephen King things. Both actors have King connections. Bill's is obvious, Willem will be a deep cut for King nerds. 

Transcribed - Published: 25 December 2024

Stephen King's The Mist is a novella about the residents of a small Maine town stuck in a grocery store as an unnatural mist rolls into town concealing all sorts of Lovecraftian horrors. Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) made a very divisive, but hugely effective, adaptation in 2007.

Transcribed - Published: 18 December 2024

Originally published by Cavalier in 1972 and re-published in King's 1993 short story collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Suffer the Little Children is one of his nastier tales about an old schoolmarm who is becoming convinced her 3rd grade class is slowly being taken over by mischievous dopplegangers. 

Transcribed - Published: 11 December 2024

Silver Bullet focuses on young Marty Coslaw (Corey Haim), a boy in a wheelchair who is the first to figure out that the mysterious deaths in his small town are the work of a rogue werewolf. Based on a novella by King, illustrated by the late, great Bernie Wrightson, this '80s movie is one that holds up more than a lot of its contemporaries.

Transcribed - Published: 4 December 2024