Davenport Library Partners With Stephen King Podcast on Zombie Barbie Event for Valentine’s Feb. 13
When you think of Valentine’s Day, you think of horror stories, Stephen King and Zombie Barbies, right? Right???
Derry Public Radio co-hosts Ben Graham, left, C.M. Alexander and Josh Kahn.
Well, the fine folks at the Davenport Public Library and the local King podcast Derry Public Radio sure do. They invite you to add a little blood to your heart holiday, as they’re hosting a free Zoom event Saturday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m., to make Zombie Barbies and talk about their favorite horror tales.
Amber Carlson, DPL youth services and programming librarian, first asked podcast co-host (and Stephen King fanatic) Joshua Kahn to recommend specific horror books for teens around Halloween 2020, but this is their first program with the podcast, which launched in 2018.
He picked eight King books for young readers, and other authors.
“It was such a great opportunity when Miss Amber e-mailed us about it,” Kahn said Tuesday. “It was like, ‘Man, why hadn’t we thought of working with a local library before? It was like such a perfect match of a book club and a library.”
The Saturday Zombie Barbie event will start at 2 p.m. and is free to register.
One book he picked was King’s “Firestarter” (1980), which has adult content and violence, but the protagonist is a child – made into a 1984 film starring Drew Barrymore.
“There are certain things you can get from the book as a teen, and reading it as an adult,” Kahn said.
Another King book he recommended was “Joyland” (2013), which is a memoir of “a guy who’s on a break from college and works at an amusement park and all the crazy things that happened at this amusement park, where a murder took place,” he said.
“We hear something cool and we think we can make it work, we love it,” Carlson said, noting the library often partners on programs with book clubs. “Then we get to promote something book-related, that’s local, all that fun stuff.”
Carlson and Kahn first discussed the horror doll craft activity in the fall, and didn’t wait to hold the event until next October.
“The teens have wanted to do Zombie Barbies for a while, but I could never figure out how to do an in-person program well, just because the time it would need for paint to dry and different layers,” she said. “Actually when I started thinking about a take-home, it’s kind of perfect,
C.M. Alexander with her copy of King’s “Needful Things.”
because if they don’t finish it during the event, it’s not that big a deal.”
The library had events scheduled through December, so Carlson looked to the next date that seemed cool, which was Valentine’s weekend.
“Teens always love to do kind of horror stuff on Valentine’s Day anyway, so it seemed like a good fit,” she said.
The library has sent out all available kits for free (about 20 registered by Tuesday), but people can buy their own materials and attend the event for free. They can see how zombie Barbie is made and make it later. Podcast co-host C.M. Alexander will also attend the Zoom.
In her bio on the podcast website (https://constantreaders.org/dpr), Alexander says: “I have an obsessive and probably unhealthy love of horror and science fiction. My favorites of the genres are Stephen King, George Romero, John Carpenter, and Ronald D. Moore. Oh! I also love Neil Gaiman, Dan Simmons, John Harrison, – (Editor’s note: We made her stop. She wouldn’t have done so on her own). When I’m not reading Stephen King or watching Star Trek: TNG, I’m working in a school as a Social Worker.”
Kahn performs improv comedy, hosts Bottoms Up Quad City Burlesque, and produces short films and web series with Two-Toms-Two Productions. You can see them at www.AgainsttheOddsSeries.com.
Joshua Kahn is host for Bottoms Up Quad City Burlesque.
He co-created Derry Public Radio (named for the fictional Maine town in which many Stephen King books are set) in 2018 after getting the suggestion from Ben Graham, who said he started reading “It” at 11.
“Let’s do this as an excuse to read everything Stephen King all over again,” Kahn said (Graham has co-hosted from the start). “I pulled in C.M. Alexander, because her and I had done some films together. She has King first editions, she has signed editions. She met Stephen King once; she’s a super fan.”
Kahn organized the podcast as a public radio station, and they report on the books as actual events that are happening. The super prolific King has written 63 novels (in nearly 50 years), as well as many short-story collections, TV and film screenplays and five nonfiction books.
The first podcast episode (they’ve recorded 79 so far) they did was on King’s first published book, “Carrie” (1974), with an intro to the effect of: “Chamberlain High is having its first prom in 50 years. All local fire departments have been notified.”
They dive into all the things in his books that make them so rich, Kahn said. He previously hosted a podcast with his childhood best friend (“KahnQuist”), for something to do.
Graham’s bio says he “once wrote an X-Men erotic fan fiction that made an audience member hearing it pee their pants a little. If you want a
Podcast co-hosts C.M. Alexander, left, and Joshua Kahn.
taste of his ability, listen to The Long Walk episodes on Derry Public Radio.”
The “Constant Readers” site (named for the term King calls his fans) is not only home for the podcast, but a hub to celebrate Stephen King and horror in general. “The website is our chance to share with you beyond the podcast and celebrate a much broader perspective,” it says. “It also gives us a chance to collaborate with several writers we admire.”
How horror and Valentine’s connect
King has never penned a Valentine’s-themed story, Kahn noted. You wouldn’t think romance and horror would go together, but they do, he and Carlson agreed.
“Because they both are geared toward making you feel something,” Kahn said. “So combining those two things – a great example, something I just recently found out about – and I’m gonna watch ahead of our stream because I’ve never seen it before – is ‘Return of the Living Dead Part 3,’ which is essentially ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ but zombies.”
“Absolutely perfect,” he said. “That story is about passion, it’s about romance, and you take one of the most logical steps in any romance story — is taking violence into it, because you heighten people’s emotions so high that violence usually happens. And it’s great when you add zombies in there, because death isn’t the end of the story then.”
Carlson also said Valentine’s Day and horror are connected since the holiday also is about broken hearts. It’s also Kahn’s favorite holiday.
“I’m a very expressive person; I don’t know if you know that about me,” he said. “I love having a day where I can tell my friends how much I love them and care about them, and it’s not weird.” (He and his wife Betsy are expecting their first child in July.)
The prolific author is 73 and has published 63 novels over 47 years.
“When I was in college, I went to Walmart and bought $50 worth of plush, big roses and took them to all of my classes, and I handed them out to people,” Kahn said. “It’s a way to make people feel loved.”
A twisted Stephen King love story (because, of course) is 1983’s “Christine,” which tells the story of a car (a 1958 Plymouth Fury) apparently possessed by malevolent supernatural forces.
In a podcast episode, they discuss how that car was based on a real one — a 1964 Dodge 330 Limited Edition that has since been dubbed “the most evil car in America.” It was responsible for at least 14 deaths over several decades.
“I just love that there’s a car witch out there,” Kahn said.
For Saturday, “Josh and C.M. are going to talk about some cool horror, zombie things,” Carlson said. “I’m a library, so even though it’s a craft program, I like to promote books and stuff at the same time. We’ll just go through step by step; they’ll have questions and we just kind of make it together.”
“I’m really excited that Josh and C.M. will be there, so it’s not just me talking by myself the whole time.”
One attendee is participating from New Jersey, Carlson said. Kahn said they’re happy to share their love of horror.
“I have a weak spot for zombie movies. That’s my favorite genre, is zombie movies. And C.M. is a big zombie fan. Her and her husband actually introduced me to Italian horror and Italian zombie horror is amazing. So, when all this came up, it was like getting a chance to – one, do something locally with Davenport Public Library. We had a great time, not doing the last thing, we didn’t get to interact. So this is a great
Amber Carlson is the library’s youth services and programming librarian.
opportunity to do something else.”
“We get to craft and make zombie Barbies and talk about zombie movies. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”
A bonus for Carlson is, she’s not a horror fan but admires King.
“I have a lot of teens who really love horror and I feel bad, because I have nothing to offer them. So that’s one of the reasons I first reached out to them, ‘cause I don’t have that. I can a little bit – I have like three that I’ve read and I recommend those over and over again.”
“I love that the teens will be able to talk to people that actually can share some of the horror stuff, and I can sit back and like, ‘I’ve seen Zombieland’,” she said.
While there are undead elements in “Pet Sematary,” King usually writes more about ghosts than zombies, Kahn said. “But undead’s undead,
A sample zombie Barbie doll.
right?”
As a librarian, Carlson loves King’s 2000 nonfiction book, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” which can apply to any literary genre, including nonfiction.
She didn’t expect to like “On Writing,” thinking it would be about writing horror, but it was fascinating to her.
“It’s just about crafting writing in general, and everybody who’s in the book world sees Stephen King like a god,” Carlson said. “He’s written so much, he’s so prolific. It seems even though he has one that isn’t well-received, he bounces back.”
“I still admire him and would recommend him to other readers,” she said.
That writing book is useful for young writers to learn how to overcome obstacles and see that even he had a hard time at the start, she said. “Carrie” was his fourth book, but the first one to be published.
Why re-reading books is great
Like certain movies, TV and certainly music, people often come back to re-read favorite books. We enjoy returning to them first for comfort, knowing what will happen, Carlson said.
“Also, I think with books, they like to see how they respond to it at different ages – which is something you’re excited about, but also fear,”
C.M. Alexander with her copy of King’s “Needful Things.”
she said. “Sometimes they say, I don’t want to re-read this; I want to remember the way it made me feel when I was 10, and re-reading it when you’re 20 can sometimes be a disappointment.”
“People have certain books they read every single year, and it’s just a memory thing — they can put themselves back in the spot when they first read a story,” Carlson said.
People also re-discover details they have missed originally, she said. The Harry Potter series (for example) also has different effects on kids versus adults, and parents, Carlson said.
Kahn just did a podcast on “Needful Things” (1991), which was his first Stephen King book – a 690-page tome he read when he was a Sherrard High senior at 18.
“It’s a crazy one to start with, because it’s a Stephen King epic. It is a massive story and a lot of Stephen King’s books tie into each other,” he said. “ ‘Needful Things’ is the final Castle Rock book.”
“Now, when I re-read it, it was like ‘Holy crap – this adds so many new layers to how these characters are interacting and what’s happening,’” he said.
On the podcast, they ask guests about their “Stephen King moment,” that always sticks with someone. In “Needful Things” for Kahn, it’s when two older women attack each other on a street corner in broad daylight, with a butcher knife and an axe.
“It’s a scene I remembered my whole life, and reading now as an adult, the way you experience empathy changes so much the older you get, because you’ve lived more life,” he said. “All the things that happen to these characters, when I first read it as an 18-year-old, this was crazy, this is super cool, I didn’t know books were allowed to do this. But as an adult, you see all the things that happen to these two women that build them to this location and just think – if one thing had gone differently…”
King’s first novel, “Carrie,” came out in 1974.
“You root for them to not make these mistakes, but as a kid you were like, yeah, fight,” Kahn said.
On their website, he wrote of “Needful Things”:
“There are moments that are seared into my memory and other moments that mean so much more now that I have the additional context of other books to fill out this world. It’s made me realize that I am not typically a re-reader. I know that seems insane to so many of you but it’s true.
“Once I’ve finished a book, I tend to let it live in my memory, however strongly or loosely that may be. However this reread of ‘Needful Things’ may change that for me. The richness and heightened experience coming back to this years later makes me wonder what I’m missing in the other books that I call my favorites but haven’t reread since I first discovered.”
Reading horror has the same thrill as scary movies – staying safe at home while these things happen, Kahn said. Readers also sometimes identify with horror protagonists.
Graham talked about “The Stand” (1990) on the podcast, and how Harold Lauder is an angry, angsty teenager, and how Graham related to him as a teen. Now, he wondered how he related to that insane character.
“Pet Sematary” (1983) is about processing grief, Kahn said. “You want to see how people take care of each other and it inspires you in a dark place,” he said.
Adaptations of the master
Kahn loves King so much that in October 2019, he merged his twin passions of the books and burlesque, by organizing and co-hosting Bottoms Up’s annual Halloween show, “Stephen King Halloween,” at The Speakeasy.
C.M. Alexander joined Josh Kahn for a Bottoms Up Quad City Burlesque show in August 2020.
The show was a stunning tribute to the legendary horror writer’s characters (including the twin girls from “The Shining,” Annie Wilkes from “Misery” and the Gunslinger from “The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger”).
“I think Stephen King is one of the best storytellers alive,” Kahn said in fall 2019. “If you read ‘Carrie’ right now, if you take the fact of telekinesis out of that book, what you’re left with is a story about bullying people, which is relevant now. The core of stories are relatable years after they’re written.”
“Also, he’s a darker storyteller, now we have darker content. Edgy storytelling is accessible,” he said. “People want to feel those things.”
“Stephen King is more popular now than he’s ever been,” Kahn said, noting the “It” films — based on the sprawling 1986 novel — are huge. The 2017 and 2019 horror flicks have grossed a combined $1.1 billion worldwide, with the first the highest grossing film in history.
“ ‘It’ just such a great story; you can’t go wrong there,” he said Tuesday. “Of all the adaptations, I think ‘Christine’ – which is one of my least favorite books – might be one of my favorite adaptation movies.
The Stephen King Halloween burlesque show was Oct. 12, 2019 at Circa ’21’s Speakeasy.
“It’s John Carpenter; you can’t go wrong with John Carpenter,” Kahn said of the director. “The stunts are great; the acting is great; the characters are great. That one might be one of my favorite Stephen King movies – and it’s also about love and jealousy, so it all works.”
“He sure writes madness well,” he said of King. “Plus, the man’s led a life. He’s got plenty of demons that he’s faced down.”
“He has a foot in that world, of what being out of control feels like,” Kahn said. “A lot of stories, when you boil it down, a lot of them come down to addiction, in one way or another. Every book has a character that has an addiction-related issue, and he writes that masterfully.”
For the podcast, they record every other Sunday. Since Covid, they have taped 14 episodes over Zoom. The three of them usually are in the studio in Alexander’s home, recording while masked and distanced.
Their next episode will be number 80, and King is releasing two new books this year. “Keep ‘em coming; I could do this forever,” Kahn said.
“Later” – a new novel about a son of a struggling single mother – is due March 2, the third King has written for Hard Case Crime. Both of the previous two, “The Colorado Kid” and “Joyland,” were New York Times bestsellers.
Stephen King commented, “I love the Hard Case format, and this story — combining a boy who sees beyond our world and strong elements of
King’s new “Billy Summers” will be published in August.
crime and suspense — seemed a perfect fit,” according to https://stephenking.com/upcoming.
Another new novel, “Billy Summers,” is to be published Aug. 3. Its synopsis says:
“Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?”
King’s next novel, “Later” is due to be released March 2.
Kahn recently finished King’s son Joe Hill’s “20th Century Ghosts,” and he called it “a fever dream.” The collection of short stories was published in 2005.
“The apple did not far all from the tree there,” Kahn said. Born Joseph Hillstrom King, 48, his work includes the novels “Heart-Shaped Box,” “Horns,” “NOS4A2,” and “The Fireman.”
Joe’s father is not only astoundingly prolific – but many of his books are marathons. “It” (1986) was 1,138 pages long; “The Stand” (1990) was 1,152 pages, and “Under the Dome” (2009) was 1,074 pages. By contrast, the iconic “Carrie” (turned into a classic 1976 flick by Brian De Palma) was a slim 199 pieces of paper.
King, 73, is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to the American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts.
For the Saturday DPL event, you can register at http://bit.ly/dpl-zombiebarbies. You can keep up with the library virtual programming on the Virtual Branch Calendar of Events at https://davenportlibrary.libcal.com/calendar/virtual.
You can find Derry Public Radio on Apple, Spotify, Soundcloud, and www.stitcher.com/show/derry-public-radio-a-stephen-king-podcast. Learn more at https://constantreaders.org/dpr.
