11/2/15

Stephen King hates laundry: a supercut

(NOTE: a version of this essay appeared as part of KEVIN GEEKS OUT a monthly video-variety show at Nitehawk Cinema; October's theme was Stephen King.) 

Like any prolific author, Stephen King has his recurring themes: psychic children, working writers, religious fanatics, even blue overalls. But there's also the laundry. 
 
Laundry shows up in the adaptations of IT, THE STAND, THE MANGLER, STAND BY ME, DOLORES CLAIBORNE, NEEDFUL THINGS and PET SEMETARY.  (See video below)

  Stephen King Hates Laundry from Kevin Maher on Vimeo.

In each instance laundry is associated with dread. There's more than just the mundane work of cleaning clothes -- it's seeing your working life stretched out in front of you or confronting something awful between the sheets. 

The use of spooky, ghostly laundry appears in other horror series, including HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13th.

But the theme seems more personal for King. 

Historically speaking, there's something quaint about laundry lines instead of electric dryers. Clothespins belong to a yesteryear that King revisits in his stories. 

Practically, we see people taking down their laundry before the rain arrives. "A storm's a'comin!" Indeed.

Or maybe it's that the wash is being done by honest workin' folk. Good Maine residents with big back yahds for hangin' sheets. The starched white fabrics reflect their innocence or purity perhaps. 

But here's the big one: Stephen King worked at an industrial laundry and called it "the worst job he ever had." The author spent summers at the New Franklin laundry in the early 1970s. (Earning $1.60 an hour, $60 a week.) During his stint at the New Franklin King got for the idea for "The Mangler" (a short story in NIGHT SHIFT, later made into a film by Tobe Hooper.) 
The New Franklin Laundry, 125 Fern Street, Bangor Maine (no longer there)

King told Suspense Magazine:
"twice a week (in summer) we used to get the table linen from Testa's of Bar Harbor. Testa's is a famous seafood restaurant, where the elite meet. But the elite never saw those napkins and tablecloths after a hot summer day in the back of a laundry pick-up truck. They stank, which was bad, and they were squirming with maggots. But I washed em, and by God they came out clean."

Meanwhile at his home, King set up a typewriter on a desk in the laundry room. When he came home from a long day, his writing was literally closely associated with laundry. 

So when you watch these film and see people folding sheets and sorting socks, there's a deep-seated terror behind it: maybe if this writing thing doesn't work out, King will have to go back to working in laundry. 

Now here's a Weird Al song dedicated to our pal Stephen King:
 
Okay, you can't really see this building any more. (This is a 2011 photo from Google street view.) It was torn down to make way for new housing in 2012. But before it was, King worked for a stint at New Franklin Laundry, an industrial laundry in the city's "tree streets" neighborhood. He called it the worst job he ever had, but it did inspire King the writer. "The Mangler," a 1972 story that was turned into a movie in 1995, features a possessed press (Say that three times fast!) King imagined while working at the laundry.


Read More: 10 Places Every Stephen King Fan Must Stop While in Bangor, Maine | http://z1073.com/10-places-every-stephen-king-fan-must-stop-while-in-bangor/?trackback=tsmclip




 *** RELATED LINKS *** 

This video appeared in KEVIN GEEKS OUT at Nitehawk Cinema. Details on the next show -- a Christmas special.

HORROR MOVIES A-Z poem.

Blue Overalls in the works of Stephen King.

RELATED:

3 comments:

couponcode said...

استمتع الان معنا مع افضل فريق من المتخصصون الان من افضل كوبون خصم نون التى تقدمة الشركة الان فى اقل وقت ممكن بواقل الاسعار الرائعة التى تقدمة الشركة الان لاننا نعمل على تقدم افضل كوبون نون التى تعمل على تقدم افضل العروض المختلفة الان من شركة نظافة في مكة الان وباقل الاسعار الرائعة التى تقدمة الشركة الانف ى اقل وقت ممكن من افضل خصم نون الان فى المكمكلة العربية السعودية

ounasscode said...

مع موقع اناس يمكنكم الحصول علي افضل الخصومات التي تصل الي 40% علي مختلف انواع المنتجات من خلال روابط تخفيضات اوناس 2019 يمكنكم الان التواصل مع كود خصم من اناس لـ الاستمتاع بـ افضل الخدمات

LiAn Gemstone said...

vòng tay đá đào hoa
Giới thiệu về đá đào hoa
Đá đào hoa hay còn có tên gọi khoa học là đá Rhodochrosite có nghĩa là hoa hồng, là 1 khoáng vật mangan cacbonat. Đá này thường có màu hồng đỏ với những hoa văn màu trắng độc đáo mà ai nhìn vào cũng đều mê mẫn.
Về mặt giá trị: đá đào hoa có độ đậm màu càng cao, càng ít tạp chất màu đen thì càng giá trị.
Công dụng mà sản phẩm mang lại
- Đá đào hoa - biểu tượng của tình yêu: viên đá màu hồng tuyệt đẹp này sẽ giúp thúc đẩy tình yêu của các cặp đôi thêm gắn kết, chưa có người yêu thì sẽ tìm được một tình yêu mới.
-Đá đào hoa là liều thuốc chữa bệnh tuyệt vời cho tim và lưu thông máu. Nó giúp kiểm soát huyết áp và nhịp tim của bạn.
- Tinh thể màu hồng xinh đẹp này cũng được sử dụng để làm giảm đau đầu do căng thẳng và đau nửa đầu
- Cải thiện chức năng tuyến giáp
- Loại đá phong thủy này mang các màu sắc tính Hoả nên rất phù hợp với người mệnh Hoả và mệnh Thổ. Với màu hồng đặc trưng của mình, Đá Đào Hoa thể hiện cho cung bậc cảm xúc lãng mạn, tinh tế đầy quyến rũ.