"The Ten O'Clock People" | |
---|---|
Short story by Stephen King | |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre(s) | Horror short story |
Publication | |
Published in | Nightmares & Dreamscapes |
Publication type | Anthology |
Publisher | Viking Adult |
Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
Publication date | 1993 |
"The Ten O'Clock People" is a short story by American author Stephen King, published in the Nightmares & Dreamscapes collection. Unlike many of King's stories which take place in fictional places like Castle Rock, Maine, "The Ten O'Clock People" takes place in Boston, Massachusetts. A film adaptation has been announced.
Pearson, a Boston office worker, inadvertently discovers that people of authority, including many police officers and political figures, including the Vice President of the United States, are bat-like inhuman monsters disguised as people. While on his 10 o'clock smoke break, Pearson perceives the bat-like creatures through their disguises. Noticing his reaction, a young black man named Dudley "Duke" Rhinemann stops him from screaming and calms him down. Rhinemann explains that if Pearson wants to live, he must go about his day as usual and meet him at 3 o'clock after work. Pearson does as he is told and discovers that his boss is also one of the "batmen". He leaves work a bit shaken, meets Rhinemann and goes to a bar with him. Rhinemann explains that a unique chemical imbalance caused by nicotine withdrawal is the only way to see the creatures and invites Pearson to a resistance meeting.
Shortly after arriving, the leader of the group says he has "big news" for them all, but then launches into a never-ending, pointless speech. Pearson realizes the man is stalling for time and gives warning. The treacherous resistance leader desperately insists the batmen have promised amnesty as batmen ruthlessly storm the building. Many die, including Rhinemann. Pearson, along with two others, escape the meeting. The trio flee to Omaha and form a new resistance group of Ten O'Clock People. This group successfully kills many "batmen", and Pearson notes that their war against the batmen was a lot like quitting smoking: "...you have to start somewhere."
Several of King's other stories, most notably Low Men in Yellow Coats and The Dark Tower , feature malevolent creatures called Can-toi, which bear a resemblance to the "batmen" of The Ten O'Clock People. [1] Servants of the Crimson King, the Can-toi are vaguely humanoid beings with large rodent heads, which they hide beneath masks in order to infiltrate human society. King references Raymond Chandler in the story as, to disguise the real reason of the meeting, the resistance claim to be Raymond Chandler enthusiasts.
In Nightmares & Dreamscapes's ending notes, King states that he intended "The Ten O'Clock People" as a Jim Crow analogy about how mainstream society sequesters smokers from the general population:
I hope ["The Ten O'Clock People"] says something interesting about a wave of change which has, temporarily, at least, re-created some aspects of the separate-but-equal facilities of the forties and fifties. [2]
It has been noted that the plot of King's story also resembles the premise of John Carpenter's movie They Live , made in 1988, which itself was based on the story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson. [3]
George Beahm wrote in his encyclopedia of King stories that plot summaries can not do the story justice and that it must be read to appreciate the bizarreness. He further compared it to Invasion of the Body Snatchers . [4] In The Essential Steven King, author Stephen J. Spignesi called it is a complete horror film told in 50 pages that begs for a film adaptation. [5]
In May 2011, Making Ten O'clock Productions acquired the rights to adapt "The Ten O'Clock People" into a feature film starring Jay Baruchel. The film's plot is a modernization of King's original story and will be directed by Tom Holland. [6] It was announced in July 2015 that the new title of the film is Cessation. [7]
In February 2021, it was reported that a television adaptation of "The Ten O'Clock People" was being developed by Fabel Entertainment. [8]
There have been many books published about Stephen King and his works.
The Eyes of the Dragon is a fantasy novel by American writer Stephen King, first published as a limited edition slipcased hardcover by Philtrum Press in 1984, illustrated by Kenneth R. Linkhauser. The novel would later be published for the mass market by Viking in 1987, with illustrations by David Palladini. This trade edition was slightly revised for publication. The 1995 French edition did not reproduce the American illustrations; it included brand new illustrations by Christian Heinrich, and a 2016 new French version also included brand new illustrations, by Nicolas Duffaut.
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.
Night Shift is Stephen King's first collection of short stories, first published in 1978. In 1980, Night Shift won the Balrog Award for Best Collection, and in 1979 it was nominated as best collection for the Locus Award and the World Fantasy Award.
"The End of the Whole Mess" is a short science fiction story by American writer Stephen King, first published in Omni Magazine in 1986. It was collected in King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes in 1993 and in Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse in 2008. The story is written in the form of a personal journal, and tells the story of an attempt to cure humanity's aggressive tendencies.
"Suffer the Little Children" is a horror short story by American writer Stephen King. It was first published by Cavalier in 1972, and was later collected in King's book Nightmares & Dreamscapes in 1993.
"The Night Flier" is a horror short story by American writer Stephen King, first published in the 1988 anthology Prime Evil: New Stories by the Masters of Modern Horror, and then in King's own 1993 Nightmares & Dreamscapes collection.
"Rainy Season" is a short horror story by Stephen King, first published in Midnight Graffiti in 1989, and later collected in King's book Nightmares & Dreamscapes in 1993.
Needful Things is a 1991 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It is the first novel King wrote after his rehabilitation from drug and alcohol addiction. It was made into a film of the same name in 1993 which was directed by Fraser C. Heston. The story focuses on a shop that sells collectibles and antiques, managed by Leland Gaunt, a new arrival to the town of Castle Rock, Maine, the setting of many King stories. Gaunt often asks customers to perform a prank or mysterious deed in exchange for the item they are drawn to. As time goes by, the many deeds and pranks lead to increasing aggression among the townspeople, as well as chaos and death. A protagonist of the book is Alan Pangborn, previously seen in Stephen King's novel The Dark Half.
"Autopsy Room Four" is a short story by American writer Stephen King. It was first published in King's limited-edition collection Six Stories in 1997 and appeared in the anthology Robert Bloch's Psychos later the same year. In 2002, it was collected in King's collection Everything's Eventual. It was adapted into a short film in 2003. It was also part of TNT's Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King series in the summer of 2006.
"Gray Matter" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the October 1973 issue of Cavalier magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.
Richard Christian Matheson is an American writer of horror fiction and screenplays, the son of fiction writer and screenwriter Richard Matheson. He is the author of over 100 short stories of psychological horror and magic realism which are gathered in over 150 major anthologies and in his critically hailed hardcover short story collections Scars and Other Distinguishing Marks, Amazon #1 bestseller Dystopia, and Zoopraxis. He is the author of the suspense novel Created By. He also authored a magical realism novella set in Hollywood titled The Ritual of Illusion, and was the editor of the commemorative book Stephen King's Battleground. Matheson also adapted the short story which was made into an iconic episode of the TNT series Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King and won two Emmys.
"My Pretty Pony" is a short story written by Stephen King and illustrated by the artist Barbara Kruger. It was the sixth publication in the Whitney Museum of American Art artist and writer series. An original limited coffee table book edition of 250 was published in 1988 and was an oversized fine press slip-cased book with stainless steel faced boards and digital clock inset into the front cover. A trade edition of 15,000 was later published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1989. In 1993, the story was included in King's collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes.
The Dollar Baby was an arrangement in which American author Stephen King would grant permission to students and aspiring filmmakers or theater producers to adapt one of his short stories for $1. King retains the rights to his work, but as he began to experience commercial success, he decided to use the Dollar Baby to help the next generation of creatives. The term may be used to refer to both the adaptation itself and the person adapting it; for example, "The Sun Dog" was made as a Dollar Baby and filmmaker Matt Flesher became a Dollar Baby upon adapting it.
"Popsy" is a horror short story by American writer Stephen King, included in his short story compilation Nightmares & Dreamscapes, published in 1993.
"Home Delivery" is a short story by American writer Stephen King. It was first published in the zombie anthology Book of the Dead (1989) and later included in King's short story collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993).
"Dedication" is a short story by Stephen King first published as part of the 1988 short story anthology Dark Visions and reprinted in King's 1993 short story collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes.
"The Fifth Quarter" is a short story by American author Stephen King, originally published in the April 1972 issue of Cavalier and later collected in King's 1993 collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes. It was filmed as an episode of the TNT miniseries Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King.
Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King is an eight-episode anthology miniseries that aired on TNT, based on short stories written by American author Stephen King. It debuted on July 12, 2006, and ended its run on August 2, 2006. Although most of the stories are from the book collection of the same title, some are from different collections by King. A trailer confirming a DVD edition of the series was released in October 2006. The series was filmed entirely in Melbourne, Australia.
People, Places and Things is a short story collection by Chris Chesley and Stephen King, self-published in 1960.