| "The Little Green God of Agony" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by Stephen King | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| Language | English | ||
| Genre(s) | Horror short story | ||
| Publication | |||
| Published in | A Book of Horrors | ||
| Publisher | Jo Fletcher Books | ||
| Media type | |||
| Publication date | 2011 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| |||
"The Little Green God of Agony" is a short story by Stephen King. It was originally published in 2011 as part of the anthology A Book of Horrors.
Vermont billionaire Andrew Newsome, the world's sixth richest man, has been bedridden with chronic pain since a plane crash two years prior. Newsome is attended by a private nurse, Kat MacDonald, who privately believes that Newsome is too cowardly to undergo the necessary pain to rehabilitate himself but says nothing as she is being paid a handsome salary. Newsome receives a visit from Reverend Rideout, who claims that his pain is caused by a "demon god". Rideout offers to expel the demon god–a process that will place his life at risk–in return for a fee of $750,000 (equivalent to $976,000in 2022), which he intends to use to rebuild his church in Titusville, Arkansas, which has burned down.
After Newsome accepts Rideout's offer, a frustrated Kat accuses Newsome of being lazy and Rideout of being a fraud. Newsome initially fires her, but Rideout persuades him to allow her to watch the expulsion of the demon god, suggesting that Kat has become complacent to the suffering of her patients due to never having experienced severe pain herself. Rideout gives Kat a broom and Newsome's assistant Jensen a canister of pepper spray, instructing them to stun the creature and capture it in a specimen jar. The expulsion is also witnessed by Melissa, Newsome's housekeeper, and Tonya, Newsome's cook.
Rideout begins the expulsion, and a small, spikey, "bladderlike" green creature (which Kat likens to a Koosh ball) is expelled from Newsome, whose pain immediately ends. The strain of carrying out the exorcism gives Rideout a fatal heart attack. As the creature emerges from Newsome's mouth, a power cut throws the room into darkness before a backup generator activates; Jensen accidentally pepper sprays his own eyes, while Kat misses the creature with the broom. The creature attaches itself to Melissa's eye, causing her agonizing pain until Kat hits it with the broom and stamps on it. The story ends with the generator failing, plunging the room into darkness, with Kat then feeling the creature crawl onto her hand. [1]
According to King, "The Little Green God of Agony" is an attempt to provide closure in respect of lingering pain from his 1999 automotive accident. [2] King has also described the story as "a tribute to the classic monster and old dark house stories." [3] The story was originally published in 2011 as part of the anthology A Book of Horrors. In 2012, it was reprinted in the horror anthology The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Four . In 2015, it was reprinted in King's short fiction collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams . [4]
Rocky King described "The Little Green God of Agony" as "a rollicking tale which picks up pace rapidly towards the end and has a satisfyingly creepy ending." [3] Stephen Spignesi described the story as "superb". [5] In 2012, the story was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Novella. [6]
In October 2012, "The Little Green God of Agony" was adapted into a serial webcomic by artist Dennis Calero. [7]
In August 2020, it was announced that Lionsgate was developing a film adaptation of "The Little Green God of Agony", with the script being written by Ian B. Goldberg and Richard Naing. [8]
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Called the "King of Horror", his books have sold more than 350 million copies as of 2006, and many have been adapted into films, television series, miniseries, and comic books. He has also written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in book collections. His debut, Carrie, was published in 1974, and was followed by 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Stand and The Dead Zone. Different Seasons, a collection of four novellas, was his first major departure from the horror genre. The novellas provided the basis for the films Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption and Apt Pupil. Among the films adapted from King's novels are Carrie, Christine, The Shining, The Dead Zone, Misery, Dolores Claiborne, The Green Mile and It. He has published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman and has co-written works with other authors, notably his friend Peter Straub and sons Joe Hill and Owen King. He has also written nonfiction, notably On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
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There have been many books published about Stephen King and his works.
Skeleton Crew is a collection of short fiction by American writer Stephen King, published by Putnam in June 1985. A limited edition of a thousand copies was published by Scream/Press in October 1985 (ISBN 978-0910489126), illustrated by J. K. Potter, containing an additional short story, "The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson", which had originally appeared in Rolling Stone magazine, and was later incorporated into King's 1987 novel The Tommyknockers. The original title of this book was Night Moves.
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Gerald "Jerry" Neal Williamson was an American horror writer and editor known under the name J. N. Williamson. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana he graduated from Shortridge High School. He studied journalism at Butler University. He published his first novel in 1979 and went on to publish more than 40 novels and 150 short stories. In 2003 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Horror Writers of America. He edited the critically acclaimed How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction (1987) which covered the themes of such writing and cited the works of such writers as Robert Bloch, Lee Prosser, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, H. P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, William F. Nolan, and Stephen King. Many important writers in the genre contributed to the book. Williamson edited the popular anthology series, Masques. Some of his novels include The Ritual (1979), Playmates (1982), Noonspell (1991), The Haunt (1999), among others.
Ray Russell was an American editor and writer of short stories, novels, and screenplays. Russell is best known for his horror fiction, although he also wrote mystery and science fiction stories.
Robert Edward Weinberg was an American author, editor, publisher, and collector of science fiction. His work spans several genres including non-fiction, science fiction, horror, and comic books.
Dennis Calero is an American comic book artist and illustrator, known for his work on titles such as X-Men Noir, Spider-Man Noir, X Factor, Legion of Superheroes, and Kolchak.
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The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Four (ISBN 978-1-59780-399-1) is a horror fiction anthology edited by Ellen Datlow that was published on May 1, 2012. It is the fourth in The Best Horror of the Year series.
Flight or Fright is a horror anthology edited by Stephen King and Bev Vincent, published by Cemetery Dance Publications on September 4, 2018. All of the stories within the anthology are about flight-based horrors.
"Cookie Jar" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the spring 2016 issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review.
"The Turbulence Expert" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the 2018 horror anthology Flight or Fright. It will be collected in King's 2024 collection You Like It Darker.
"The Night of the Tiger" is a short story by Stephen King. Originally written in the 1960s, it was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in February 1978.
"I Was a Teenage Grave Robber" is a short story by Stephen King. It was first published in the fanzine Comics Review in 1965; a rewritten version was published in 1966 under the title "In a Half-World of Terror". It was King's first independently published story.
People, Places and Things is a short story collection by Chris Chesley and Stephen King, self-published in 1960.
