Back in the 1980s, at the height of Stephen King’s popularity, reviewers used to joke that the bestselling horror author could publish his laundry list and people would buy it. Hell, Stephen King used to joke that he could publish his laundry list and people would buy it.
You could also bet that said bill of items would then be turned into a movie - all of the major horror directors (Romero, Carpenter, Cronenberg) were turning their hands to adaptations - and, it seemed, everyone else was too, from Stanley Kubrick and Rob Reiner, who were expert filmmakers, to Fritz Kiersch and Paul Michael Glaser, who were not. Such was the scrabble that even King’s short stories were being optioned for features.
And yet - first published in the March edition of magazine in 1973, and then rounded up in 1978’s collection of King’s short fiction, - remained untouched. OK, so it was turned into a 28-minute short by Jeff Schiro in 1982, but the obligatory feature was not forthcoming. And for good reason: just 15 pages long, comprises a conversation between agitated patient Lester Billings and disinterested therapist Dr
