| "Red Screen" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by Stephen King | |||
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| Country | United States | ||
| Language | English | ||
| Genre(s) | Horror/science fiction short story | ||
| Publication | |||
| Publisher | Humble Bundle | ||
| Media type | ebook | ||
| Publication date | September 9, 2021 | ||
| Chronology | |||
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"Red Screen" is a short story by Stephen King, first published as an ebook by Humble Bundle in September 2021. It was collected in King's 2024 collection You Like It Darker .
As he prepares for work, Frank Wilson, an NYPD homicide detective, is chided by his wife Sandi for various mistakes such as leaving the toilet seat up. Wilson reflects that Sandi has been more critical over the past six to eight months, and wonders whether she has changed or he has become more forgetful.
While driving to work, Wilson is diverted to a crime scene in Queens. Several hours later he interrogates Leonard Crocker, a plumber who has confessed to stabbing his wife Arlene to death. Crocker claims that he did not kill his wife, but rather an alien being who had stolen Arlene's body one year prior, killing her in the process. Crocker claims that Arlene was taken over by one of the frontrunners of an invasion force of "pure mind" aliens that will eventually number in the millions, telling Wilson that he learned about the invasion on the dark web.
As Wilson - believing Crocker intends to mount an insanity defense - attempts to end the interview, Crocker claims that the personalities of people taken over by the aliens change to become more irritable and critical as a means of wearing down victims, enabling them to be taken over by other aliens. Before Wilson concludes the interview, Crocker makes an oblique reference to seeing a "red screen".
Upon arriving home that evening, Wilson is again chided by Sandi. While eating a reheated dinner, he receives a call from his captain, who informs him that Crocker has killed himself at the Metropolitan Detention Center. Following the call, Sandi comforts Wilson by cooking him a fresh meal, and later that night they have sex for the first time in several weeks. After Sandi states that she needs to tell Wilson something, he suspects that she will ask for a divorce. Instead, she tells him that her irritable behavior over the last few months has been due to premature menopause. As the couple prepare to go to sleep, the screen of Wilson's cell phone momentarily flashes red, and Sandi smiles in the dark.
"Red Screen" was inspired by Invasion of the Body Snatchers and similar works. [1] As recounted by King, "the first paragraphs of 'Red Screen' and 'Finn' existed weeks and months before I actually put them down. I could see every period and comma." [2]
"Red Screen" was originally published as a limited edition ebook by Humble Bundle in September 2021. The proceeds from sales of the story were donated to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a charity selected by King. [3] [4] It was the first "Humble Exclusive" story. [4] [5] The story was originally released on a "pay what you want" basis with a minimum price of $5 USD (equivalent to $6in 2023) for a period of one week. [6] The limited release was purchased 19,264 times, raising $149,772 (equivalent to $168,404in 2023) for the ACLU. [7] Ian Carlos Campbell noted King's collaboration with Humble Bundle as the latest example of King's "history of tinkering with different release strategies", similar to the publication of Ur as an exclusive to the Amazon Kindle 2 in 2009. [5] Similarly, Emily Burnham of the Bangor Daily News noted that "King has often been ahead of the curve when it comes to releasing his works in different formats", referencing the success of the ebook Riding the Bullet in 2000 and its impact on digital publishing. [8]
In 2024, "Red Screen" was collected in King's book You Like It Darker . [9]
Reviewing You Like It Darker for Bloody Disgusting, Jenn Adams described "Red Screen" and "Finn" as two of the less developed stories in the collection, stating that each "present[s] ominous ideas, but offer[s] little more than snapshots of larger terror". [8] [10] Also reviewing You Like It Darker, Ali Karim of Shots magazine described "Red Screen" as "less engaging [...] little more than a shrug." [11] Kirkus Reviews described "Red Screen" as a "misstep", [12] while SFX described it as "half-formed". [13]
A more positive review was offered by Mike Finn, who described it as "a fast, clever, Twilight Zone -style take on what the red screens that have appeared on some iPhones really mean", [14] and by Eoghan O'Sullivan (writing for the Irish Examiner ), who described it as "a particularly chilling reveal, the layers slowly peeling away and then just when you think you've found the centre, there's one more jump to come". [15] Sassan Niasseri (writing for Rolling Stone ) interpreted the story as having feminist themes, suggesting that "King is very clever here [...] if men knew their wife's body and mind better, they wouldn't have to believe in conspiracy theories in which she is a monster". [16]
Reviewing You Like It Darker, Justin Hamelin suggested that "'The Turbulence Expert' and 'Red Screen' would make for nice Creepshow episodes, with no overt gruesome horror but plenty of weird vibes." [17]
Stephen Edwin King is an American author. Widely known for his horror novels, he has been crowned the "King of Horror". He has also explored other genres, among them suspense, crime, science-fiction, fantasy and mystery. Though known primarily for his novels, he has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in collections.
Shadowgrounds is a top-down shooter for Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, developed by Frozenbyte. The game takes place on a space colony on Ganymede which is being attacked by aliens. It was released for Windows on November 17, 2005, in stores in Finland and Germany, and in April 2006 in the rest of Europe and North America.
Alien is a science fiction horror and action media franchise centered on the original film series which depicts warrant officer Ellen Ripley and her battles with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred to as the Alien ("Xenomorph"), and the prequel series following the exploits of the David 8 android and the aliens referred to as the "Engineers".
Owen Philip King is an American author of novels and graphic novels, and a television film producer. He published his first book, We're All in This Together, in 2005 to generally positive reviews, but his first full-length novel, Double Feature, had a less enthusiastic reception. King collaborated with his father, writer Stephen King, in the writing of the women's prison novel, Sleeping Beauties and the graphic novel of the same name.
Shadowgrounds: Survivor is a top-down shooter game developed by Frozenbyte as the sequel to Shadowgrounds. It features three new playable characters, a new "Survival" mode, graphics enhanced from its predecessor, and an integrated physics engine.
Humble Bundle, Inc. is a digital storefront for video games, which grew out of its original offering of Humble Bundles, collections of games sold at a price determined by the purchaser and with a portion of the price going towards charity and the rest split between the game developers. Humble Bundle continues to offer these limited-time bundles, but have expanded to include a greater and more persistent storefront. The Humble Bundle concept was initially run by Wolfire Games in 2010, but by its second bundle, the Humble Bundle company was spun out to manage the promotion, payments, and distribution of the bundles. In October 2017, the company was acquired by Ziff Davis through its IGN Entertainment subsidiary.
Outlast is a 2013 first-person psychological survival horror video game developed and published by Canadian game studio Red Barrels. The game revolves around a freelance investigative journalist, Miles Upshur, who decides to investigate a remote psychiatric hospital named Mount Massive Asylum, located deep in the mountains of Lake County, Colorado.
"On Slide Inn Road" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the October/November 2020 issue of Esquire. It was collected in King's 2024 collection You Like It Darker.
"The Fifth Step" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 2020 issue of Harper's Magazine. It was collected in King's 2024 collection You Like It Darker.
"Laurie" is a short story by Stephen King, first published as a free download on his website on May 17, 2018. It was collected in King's 2024 book, You Like It Darker.
"The Turbulence Expert" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the 2018 horror anthology Flight or Fright. It was collected in King's 2024 collection You Like It Darker.
The Boogeyman is a 2023 American supernatural horror film directed by Rob Savage from a screenplay by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Mark Heyman, and a screen story by Beck and Woods. Based on the 1973 short story of the same name by Stephen King, the film follows a family that becomes haunted by the Boogeyman after a troubled man visits and inadvertently brings the creature to them. The ensemble cast includes Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, and David Dastmalchian.
Rattlesnakes is a novella by Stephen King, first published in 2024 as part of King's collection You Like It Darker. It is a sequel to King's 1981 novel Cujo, reintroducing the character of Vic Trenton.
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Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream is a novella by Stephen King, first published in 2024 as part of King's collection You Like It Darker.
"Red Screen" is a story that owes a lot to Invasion of the Body Snatchers and stories of that ilk (and King directly acknowledges this in the work)
