Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide (Illustrated Movie Guide) [Illustrated] [Paperback]

The work of Stephen King has always enjoyed a rather rocky relationship with Hollywood and Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide chonicles all the big and small screen adaptations of his novels and short stories. No stone is left unturned in Stephen Jones exhaustive documentary of the great, the okay and the just plain awful movies, some so bad and so far removed from King's original concept, such as Lawnmower Man, that the author has fought to have his name removed from the credits. It's clear from this that producers and directors see King's work as a way of making a quick buck, but for every Graveyard Shift (based on a short story) there is a Shawshank Redemption (another short story originally called "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption"). Jones provides critical commentary and plenty of trivia on every entry but the real meat comes from King's own thoughts on the movie adaptations. He's heavily critical of some, delighted by others and it is made quite plain that in Hollywood, no one really gives a damn about listening to the author after they've signed over the movie rights. This is an interesting and thorough examination of one of the biggest brand names in horror movies and although a tad pricey and probably only for King completists, makes for a great insight into the inner workings of Hollywood and trials of bringing a book to the screen. --Jonathan Weir

From award-winning author Stephen Jones comes this definitive illustrated guide to all 50-plus film and television productions taken from the work of master storyteller Stephen King. The book will include in-depth coverage of classic films like Stand By Me, The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, Carrie, The Shining, Dolores Claiborne and Misery, through fan favourites such as Salem's Lot,The Dead Zone, and Christine, to a comprehensive round-up of enjoyable direct-to-video movies like Sometime They Come Back...Again, TV work (The Stand and Storm of the Century), and even the inside story of Maximum Overdrive, the film King directed himself. Featuring exclusive commentary from Stephen King (drawn from Jones' extensive interviews with him).

STEPHEN JONES is a leading expert on horror and is the author of the Illustrated Movie Guide series. He has won numerous awards, including two World Fantasy Awards and three Horror Writers of America Bram Stoker Awards.