During that interlude, he actually speaks with David in a sort of limbo, giving the boy instructions as to how to dispatch Tak. Marinville accepts God’s will. Entering the China Pit, he detonates enough explosives to reseal the mine, giving his life to save the others, a selfless act of redemption for a man who until then had rarely thought of anyone else.
STEVE AMES: Accustomed to working with rock stars, this Texan is hired by John Marinville’s publishers to guard him during his tour. Steve follows Marinville at a discreet distance, and thus is not close by when Marinville is abducted by Tak/Entragian. Marinville does contact Steve briefly on his cell phone, a clue that eventually leads him to Desperation. Accompanied by hitchhiker Cynthia Smith, Steve eventually links up with the group that escapes the Desperation town prison. Steve survives the encounter with Tak. He is last seen in the company of Cynthia Smith, driving down Route 50. His present whereabouts are unknown.
CYNTHIA SMITH: Cynthia is hitchhiking back home for a reunion with her parents when Steve Ames picks her up just outside Ely. Present when Steve gets his garbled message from John Marinville, Cynthia becomes embroiled in the trouble plaguing the town of Desperation. Cynthia survives, and departs with Steve Ames for destinations unknown.
RALPH, ELLEN, and KIRSTEN “PIE” CARVER: The members of the Carver family are the first victims of Tak/Entragian after he wipes out the population of Desperation. The Carvers are forced to stop on Highway 50 just outside of Desperation when their RV runs over a carpet of nails left in the road by the marauding policeman. There they are approached by Tak/Entragian, who makes them his prisoners.
The Carvers endure much tragedy over the next few hours. First, young Kirsten is brutally murdered by Tak, thrown down the jailhouse stairs. Ellen dies also, but only after suffering the indignity of being possessed by Tak. Ralph is terminated as he, his son, David, Mary Jackson, and John Marinville descend into the China Pit; he is executed by Tak, who has been forced to occupy the body of a vulture.
DAVID CARVER: Some say you cannot petition the Lord with prayer, but don’t tell that to young David Carver. A year before the events in Desperation, David faces another tragedy—his best friend, Brian, is critically injured after being struck by a drunk driver. Near death, Brian lies in the hospital as his distraught friend wanders the streets.
For some reason, David is drawn to the Bear Street Woods, where he and Brian often played. While walking in the woods, David hears the voice of God. At first scared, David begs God to help his friend, promising that he will be God’s servant in return. Shortly thereafter, God works a miracle on Brian, bringing the boy out of his coma.
David receives guidance from God through prayer; the faith instilled in David on the day Brian returns to health becomes deeper with each passing day. God instructs the boy to seek out Reverend Martin, the Methodist minister who eventually becomes his spiritual guide. The reverend tells David that he has been chosen by God. David feels that God is preparing him for something, but has no idea what.
When David’s family is captured by Tak, he quickly realizes it is no accident—God has sent him to do His work. After Tak kills his sister and imprisons his family, a divinely inspired David wriggles free from his cell and releases his fellow inmates. Later, David informs them that God has chosen them to battle Tak.
David mistakenly believes that God has called him to be the main architect of Tak’s return to his prison in the China Pit; he later learns that John Marinville is God’s chosen one. David survives his encounter with Tak—the battle leaves him without family, but with the conviction that his God is indeed a loving God, not the cruel, pitiless deity he has always perceived him to be.
David is last seen leaving Desperation in a car driven by Mary Jackson. His present whereabouts are unknown.
AUDREY WYLER: Visiting Desperation shortly before Tak/Entragian’s killing spree, Audrey unwittingly falls under Tak’s power. Posing as the last survivor in town, Audrey later makes an unsuccessful attempt on David’s life. Audrey, consumed by the power of a Can Tah, dies from injuries sustained in her struggles with the Collie Entragian Survivors Society.
TOM BILLINGSLEY: This retired veterinarian is one of the last survivors of Desperation; Tak throws him in a holding cell, then goes out to look for other potential hosts. Tom tells the group of Entragian’s rampage through town. Tom is killed by a panther sent by Tak to distract the group while Audrey Wyler makes her attempt on David’s life.
DESPERATION: TRIVIA
• The audio version of Desperation was read by actress Kathy Bates, a veteran of several King film and television projects.
• The words David uses to describe Tak recall those King employed to describe It in the 1986 novel of the same name. Tak is also referred to as an “outsider,” a word used to describe an evil being from beyond our reality that merges with the spirit of Sara Tidwell in the pages of Bag of Bones (1998). Can-tah and can-tak also show up prominently in the later books of the Dark Tower series.
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THE REGULATORS
(1996)
As mentioned in the previous chapter, The Regulators contains many connections to its companion novel, Desperation (1996). Some of the characters from the latter appear in major roles in The Regulators; others do not. People survive the events of one novel and die in the next, expire in both, or survive in each. Some appear as children in one book and adults in the other; one book’s shining hero may be somewhat tarnished in the other. The interplay is fairly complex: both texts are salted with insider jokes and pieces of similar-sounding dialogue, no doubt providing much grist for Stephen King enthusiasts to debate.
According to various published interviews with King, the idea for The Regulators came to him near “the three-quarter mark on Desperation.” He jotted down the idea, which consisted of a single word on a scrap of paper: it read “Regulators.” At the time, he only knew that his idea had something to do with “toys, guns, TV and suburbia.”
Soon thereafter, another thought burst forth. King decided to take the characters from Desperation and place them into The Regulators, using them “like the members of a repertory company acting in two different plays.” As the idea evolved further, King realized that what worked with the characters might work with the plot as well; that is, he could use many of the elements of Desperation in a different configuration, creating a kind of mirror world in the new book.
One last hurdle existed. Even though the books shared many elements, he didn’t want it to sound or feel as if the same writer had created both works. Then it occurred to King that he’d had the answer all along—his alter ego, the pseudonymous Richard Bachman, could write The Regulators. There was only one problem with this: King had already declared that Bachman had died of “cancer of the pseudonym” in 1985, shortly after the publication of Bachman’s breakthrough novel, Thinner.
King’s office bookshelf BETH GWINN
King’s solution was rather ingenious. An Editor’s Note at the beginning of The Regulators states that the manuscript was found in Bachman’s effects by his widow, Claudia Inez Eschelman. The manuscript was then validated by Bachman scholar Douglas Winter, Elaine Koster at New American Library, and Carolyn Stromberg, editor of the earliest Bachman novels. After making minor changes to correct for anachronisms (e.g. substituting the name of younger actor Ethan Hawke for that of performer Rob Lowe in the first chapter), E. P. Dutton editor Charles Verrill pronounced it fit for publication.
The tongue-in-cheek publicity materials stated: “Stephen King, who had an advance look at The Regulators manuscript, said: ‘The most interesting thing about The Regulators is that Bachman and I must have been on the same psychic wavelength. It’s almost as if we were twins, in a funny way.’” King continued to say in the PR materials that he had found similarities between The Regulators and his upcoming novel Desperation. “It’s a little bit like the similarities between Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. It’s like everything’s been turned on its head.”
The Regulators itself had a five-hundred-copy limited edition (selling at $325) published by Dutton, available on a first-come, first-served basis via phone order. Each copy contained a fake check signed by the non-existent Bachman, each made out to a friend or associate of King’s or one of his fictional characters. (For instance, one check was made out to The Overlook Connection, an independent bookseller specializing in “all things King.” Another was made out to Quitters Inc., the anti-smoking organization immortalized in King’s short story of the same name.) The book came in a cloth-covered box featuring artist Alan M. Clark’s conception of a Power Wagon—the vehicles driven by the Regulators.
The Regulators is dedicated to two “legendary shadows,” hard-boiled novelist Jim Thompson (1906–1977) and groundbreaking film director Sam Peckinpah (1925–1984). Although Thompson (The Grifters, The Getaway ) certainly influenced the Bachman style, he doesn’t cast a large shadow over The Regulators (he does, however, influence Desperation, which nods toward the Thompson classic The Killer Inside Me). The Regulators does, however, owe a deep debt to Peckinpah. The novel had its genesis in “The Shotgunners,” an original screenplay King wrote specifically for Peckinpah. Unfortunately, the film was never produced (it was in preproduction when Peckinpah passed away in 1984).
It seems that King also drew inspiration from Peckinpah’s classic western, The Wild Bunch (1969), which also almost certainly inspired King’s fictional Western film The Regulators, a movie that plays a key role in the plot of the novel. The Wild Bunch gained almost instant notoriety for its bloody, almost poetic action scenes. Set in 1913, the plot centers on a group of aging outlaws who, realizing that time is passing them by, decide to retire after one last score. The Regulators features a character named Major Pike, after the role played by William Holden in The Wild Bunch.
Another fictional precursor is Jerome Bixby’s classic 1953 short story, “It’s a Good Life,” a tale that was adapted for both The Twilight Zone television show (in 1961) and for the feature film Twilight Zone—The Movie (1983). This narrative, about a small boy who controls reality, is evoked within The Regulators when suburban Poplar Street is transformed by Seth Garin into a surreal Western landscape, a panorama that resembles a child’s cartoon-influenced perception of the old West.
As King has noted, The Regulators is also a sly commentary about “the god of suburbia, television.” The author was most assuredly commenting on the influence TV has on children, especially recent broadcast phenomena like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which were extremely popular at the time the book was first published. In this case, the Power Rangers/Turtles analog in the Bachman book is MotoKops 2200, an ultraviolent cartoon that captures young Seth’s imagination.
The book begins innocently enough. It’s summertime and, as the old song goes, the living is easy. On Poplar Street, a paper boy delivers this week’s edition of The Wentworth Gazette. People are barbecuing, washing their cars, throwing Frisbees. But up the street, right where Poplar intersects with Bear Street, sits a futuristic-looking red van with what looks like a radar dish on top. Soon it will start its deadly journey down Poplar Street, changing the lives of its residents forever.
THE REGULATORS: PRIMARY SUBJECTS
POPLAR STREET: Poplar Street is located in Wentworth, Ohio. It’s abutted on its northern end by Bear Street and by Hyacinth Street on the south. There are eleven houses and an E-Z Stop convenience store on the street, odd-numbered houses on the west, even-numbered on the east. On the afternoon of July 15, 1996, Poplar Street is cut off from the rest of the world and transformed into a surreal killing ground, a combination of the Old West as it exists on TV and movies (the homes on the block change into log cabins and adobe haciendas; buzzards, wolves, and wild boars, looking as if they are created by a child, roam through back yards) and a place called the Force Corridor, which only exists in a TV cartoon version of the twenty-third century. Poplar Street returns to normal after the death of Seth Garin, whose young body serves as a vessel for an ancient demon named Tak.
CARY RIPTON: Cary is the local paper boy and, unfortunately, the first to fall victim to the Regulators on the fateful day of July 15, 1996. Cary is shotgunned to death by the occupants of a red van.
THE GARIN FAMILY: A Toledo family of five, they are the victims of a senseless drive-by shooting while vacationing in San Jose, California. Killed in the July 31, 1994, incident were William Garin, his wife, June, and two of their three children, John and Mary Lou. The only survivor is six-year-old Seth, who was playing in a sandbox behind the home where the shooting took place. Witnesses reported seeing a red van in the vicinity shortly before the shooting, with what looked like a radar dish on the roof.
SETH GARIN/TAK: At the age of six, autistic, telepathic Seth Garin is possessed by a demon named Tak who, sensing the boy’s hidden abilities, lures him to an abandoned mine located in Desperation, Nevada. After Tak kills his family (see above), Seth goes to live with his aunt and uncle, Audrey and Herb Wyler, at 247 Poplar Street. Tak has an odd kind of symbiosis with Seth, both augmenting and feeding off the little boy’s latent powers.
Tak also seizes on the boy’s preferences in animated cartoons, combining Seth’s devotion to MotoKops 2200 with his own love of television and movie Westerns to create the futuristic Regulators who terrorize the Poplar Street residents. This symbiosis is not total, however. Tak, disgusted by the human’s need to void its bowels, departs his unwilling host whenever the boy goes to the bathroom.
Under his autistic shell, Seth has a more “normal” personality, one that is considerably more alert and mature. Able to communicate with his Aunt Audrey on a psychic level, Seth conspires with her to rid himself of the demon, an act they accomplish at the cost of both their lives. Although his body is dead, it appears that Seth and Audrey’s spirits live on, inhabiting a gazebo at the Mohonk Mountain House in New York State.
BRAD and BELINDA JOSEPHSON: The owners of 251 Poplar, they are the only African-American family living on Poplar Street. Brad is gored by Seth/Tak’s cartoon version of a wild boar, but both he and his wife, Belinda, survive the Regulators’ attack. It is presumed that they still reside at 251 Poplar Street.
JOHN MARINVILLE: The owner of 250 Poplar, Johnny Marinville, winner of the National Book Award for his adult novel, Delight, got rich in the 1980s writing children’s books about a character named Pat the Kitty-Cat, a feline private detective, then “retired” to Wentworth. Johnny is the first resident of Poplar Street to put together the available clues, realizing that Seth, a wild fan of MotoKops 2200, must somehow be behind the strange events. Johnny is at the Wyler home when Tak is defeated. It is presumed that he still lives at 250 Poplar Street.
GARY and MARIELLE SODERSON: Thought of as the Poplar Street Bohemians, the Sodersons of 249 Poplar are an odd couple. Gary is a helpful soul, though he drinks too much. The neighbors do not think as kindly of Marielle. She loses an arm in one of the Regulators’ early attacks, and later dies from the trauma. Gary is killed by a cartoonlike gila monster later that same day.
THE CARVERS: The residents of 248 Poplar, the Carver family is composed of David and Kirsten “Pie” Carver; their daughter, Ellen “Ellie” Margaret; and her little brother, Ralph. Ellie and Ralph are orphaned by the Regulators; their present whereabouts are unknown. Their father, David, is killed in the Regulators’ second attack; their mother, Kirsten, is wounded in a subsequent assault, and expires shortly thereafter.
AUDREY and HERB WYLER: They live at 247 Poplar. William Garin’s sister, Audrey Wyler, takes Seth Garin in after his family is slaughtered in a drive-by shooting. Audrey and Herb, who come to love Seth as if he were their own child, conclude that something is desper
ately wrong with him as Tak emerges from hiding. First, Seth/Tak drives their neighbors, the Hobarts, from Poplar Street. Then he takes control of their very lives, forcing Audrey to injure herself and draining the life force from Herb as if he were a human battery.
Herb eventually commits suicide, leaving Audrey at the mercy of Tak. Although he keeps her alive (Seth wouldn’t let him eliminate her), he makes her life a living hell. Audrey retains her sanity by mentally retreating to the past, to a time when she and a friend visited the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York. Audrey is killed when Cammie Reed fires on Seth, whom she is holding at the time.
Audrey’s spirit lives on, however, and is often seen haunting a gazebo at Mohonk. Audrey is not alone, however. She is accompanied by a little boy, presumably the spirit of Seth.
TOM BILLINGSLEY: The owner of 246 Poplar, this retired veterinarian is forced to treat Poplar Street’s wounded, but is largely ineffective due to the severity of their traumas. Tom survives the onslaught, but it seems unlikely that he remains a resident of Poplar Street.
THE REED FAMILY: The neighbors residing at 245 Poplar, Charlie and Cammie Reed, have twin sons, Jim and Dave. Although Charlie is not present on Poplar Street on the fateful day of July 15, 1996, his wife plays a key role in the action. During a lull in the carnage, Mrs. Reed sends her two sons out for help from the outside world. While on this trek, a shaky Jim accidentally shoots and kills Collie Entragian. The distraught Jim subsequently kills himself, an action precipitated by Tak. A shaken Cammie later tries to avenge his death by shooting Seth and, incidentally, Audrey Wyler. Tak, robbed of his host, tries to possess Cammie, but her body is not strong enough to contain his life force. Cammie dies in this attempt. Unable to contain the power of Tak, her body literally explodes.
The Complete Stephen King Universe Page 48
