Stephen King: Which Character From His Novels Would He Least Want to Quarantine With?
Being stuck in quarantine due to COVID-19 is hard enough, but imagine being trapped with one of Stephen King’s characters! We’re not talking about the lovable misfits from The Losers’ Club or the good-humored kids from The Body. We’re exclusively referring to the author’s most nightmare-inducing villains. During his interview on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the master of horror answered which of his book characters would make the worst quarantine-mate.
Stephen King is handling the pandemic ‘like everyone else’
When Colbert asked how the author was handling his time during quarantine, King said that he was handling it like everyone else. He added that he’s spending most of his time at home, while washing his hands as often as possible.
Longtime fans of King are quite familiar with his 1978 novel, The Stand. The story centers around a virus that kills off 99% of the population. During this pandemic, people keep coming up to him while saying behind their masks, “I feel like I’m in a Stephen King novel.”
Coincidentally, CBS was in the process of filming an upcoming miniseries for The Stand, but they had to quit filming due to the coronavirus.
Go figure.
The series about the deadly virus will star James Marsden as Stu Redman, Amber Heard as Nadine Cross, and Alexander Skarsgard as the villainous Randall Flagg. Funnily enough, Alexander is not the first Skarsgard to portray one of Stephen King’s most terrifying villains. His brother, Bill Skarsgard, masterfully played the role of Pennywise the Clown in the IT movie franchise.
The Stephen King character the author would least like to quarantine with
There are so many options to choose from here!
The guy who is responsible for making you wet the bed at night has an abundance of characters who would make terrible quarantine-mates. So which character from his fictional works did the author choose? Was it Jack Torrence from The Shining who likes to swing around bloody mallets during his free time? Was it Pennywise the dancing clown from IT who has a bad habit of eating children alive? Perhaps Randall Flagg from The Stand who represents all things evil?
Turns out, it was none of these fictional monsters. Have any final guesses?
Stephen King said that the character he would least like to quarantine with is Annie Wilkes from his 1987 novel, Misery. It was the role that made Kathy Bates the brilliant scream queen that she is today. For anyone unfamiliar, Annie Wilkes is a character who ends up kidnapping her favorite author. The way she behaves throughout the novel is enough to make anyones stomach turn, so it’s no wonder King chose Wilkes as his first pick.
King’s humble beginnings
Ever since the 70s, King has been regarded as one of the most well-known authors of all time. Yet before his rise to fame, he had to face numerous hurdles in a simple effort to survive. Prior to his world wide success, King was living in the “armpit of America” according to his autobiographical novel, On Writing. He lived in a cramped trailer park with his wife and two kids, dreaming of one day getting to write novels in order to make ends meet. When he wasn’t busy working as a school janitor or a bus boy, King could be found clinking away on a typewriter in his jam-packed laundry room.
The author’s big break came from his 1974 novel, Carrie, about a young woman with telekenetic powers who seeks revenge on her school bullies. King was discouraged by his original manuscript, and ended up throwing it in the trash. One day, when his wife Tabitha was emptying out the garbage, she found the manuscript for Carrie and decided to give it a skim.
Curious as to what would happen next in the story, she convinced her husband to keep on writing. Now, Stephen King has over 70 published works, is consistently making the New York Times best-selling list, and is casually getting interviewed by the likes of Stephen Colbert on a regular basis.
It’s safe to say he has come a long way.
