Still the King. The Return of the King. The once and Future King. King-dom Come. Everything is coming up King. There are so many potential headlines for this piece. Since his "retirement" several years ago, Stephen King has been turning out one best seller after another, and he's collected at least three Bram Stoker Awards. Some retirement, eh? Last month, the Sci-Fi Channel - er, SyFy - aired a not bad, if overly padded, remake of CHILDREN OF THE CORN, which is now available on DVD. Two days ago, J.J. Abrams announced he was giving up on his plans to adapt THE DARK TOWER series - and King revealed that he will write one more book in the career stretching tales of Roland. I find this last bit especially intriguing given the reactions to the previous "last" book. On top of that, no less than three books adorned with King's name are now available:

UNDER THE DOME is King's return to mega-novels after slimming down for his last bunch of books. It's also a book that he started and stopped several times over the years, so it might honestly be "vintage" King. What do I mean by that? Well, I was in high school when I read King's best books - CARRIE, SALEM'S LOT, THE SHINING, NIGHT SHIFT, THE STAND and THE DEAD ZONE. I loved them all. With FIRESTARTER, I thought he was repeating himself. I enjoyed both IT and MISERY, but that's pretty much where I left the King. I probably skipped a dozen of his books, disliked BAG OF BONES (although others assure me it's a modern classic), and found INSOMNIA and LISEY'S A STORY (another HWA winner) unreadable. With my limited reading time, it would probably take me a year to read UNDER THE DOME, so I'm hesitant to get it. And yet, I'm vaguely interested, and am awaiting others' reaction to it. Let them venture into those deep waters first! Regardless, I predict it will be King's best selling book in a decade, and I'm certain it will score another Bram Stoker Award.

In addition, two new books in which King is the subject are now available. Long time King biographer Bev Vincent has provided the text for THE STEPHEN KING ILLUSTRATED COMPANION, which is available in bookstores across the country and is selling well on Amazon, and Rocky Wood and Justin Brooks have collaborated on STEPHEN KING: THE NON-FICTION, which is a limited edition book published by Cemetery Dance. I've not read any of THE STEPHEN KING ILLUSTRATED COMPANION yet, but I have seen samples of its layout, and it's an attractive book. I'm reading STEPHEN KING: THE NON-FICTION right now, and I'm happy to report that this book is FASCINATING. Anybody who's read DANSE MACABRE or King's ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY column knows the man knows how to report on pop culture and politics as if he's spinning a yarn, and this exhaustively researched book (600 pages!) collects King's nonfiction dating back to college. What an amazing look inside the mind of the world's most successful author! I highly recommend it.

So it's not only a banner year for King and his legion of fans, but a really busy month!