In the Deathroom

Last updated
"In the Deathroom"
Short story by Stephen King
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s) Horror
Publication
Published in Secret Windows ,
Blood and Smoke (1st release),
Everything's Eventual
Publication type Anthology
Publisher Book-of-the-Month Club
Media typePrint (Paperback) & Audiobook
Publication date 2000

"In the Deathroom" is a horror short story by American writer Stephen King. It first appeared in the 1999 audiobook Blood and Smoke . In 2000, it was first published in written form in Secret Windows . In 2002, it was collected in King's collection Everything's Eventual .

Contents

Author's note

Stephen King included this note with the story in Everything's Eventual: "This is a slightly Kafka-esque story about an interrogation room in the South American version of Hell. In such stories, the fellow being interrogated usually ends up spilling everything and then being killed (or losing his mind). I wanted to write one with a happier ending, however unreal that might be. And here it is."

Plot summary

Fletcher, a former reporter from The New York Times , has been captured by members of a South American dictatorship. The story begins as he is brought into the titular "deathroom" for interrogation about an allegedly communist insurgency, which he has been supporting due to the government's killing of a group of nuns which included his sister. Fletcher realizes that his captors, despite their promises to the contrary, will not let him leave the room alive.

During the course of his interrogation, Fletcher manages to keep calm, and hatches a desperate plan to escape, which, to his surprise, actually works. He fakes an epileptic seizure and, in the captors' struggle to save him, steals a gun. After killing three of his captors and maiming one, he escapes the deathroom. Fletcher, having no way of knowing if the gunfire was heard, starts up the stairs to see if he can escape.

The story ends with a man, almost certainly Fletcher, buying a pack of cigarettes at a newsstand kiosk in New York.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Different Seasons</i> 1982 collection of Stephen King novellas

Different Seasons (1982) is a collection of four Stephen King novellas with a more dramatic bent, rather than the horror fiction for which King is famous. The four novellas are tied together via subtitles that relate to each of the four seasons. The collection is notable for having three out of its four novellas turned into Hollywood films, one of which, The Shawshank Redemption, was nominated for the 1994 Academy Award for Best Picture, and another of which, Stand by Me, was nominated for the 1986 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

<i>The Eyes of the Dragon</i> Novel by Stephen King

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.

<i>Riding the Bullet</i> 2000 novella by Stephen King

Riding the Bullet is a horror novella by American writer Stephen King. It marked King's debut on the Internet. Simon & Schuster, with technology by SoftLock, first published Riding the Bullet in 2000 as the world's first mass-market e-book, available for download at $2.50. That year, the novella was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction and the International Horror Guild Award for Best Long Form. In 2002, the novella was included in King's collection Everything's Eventual.

<i>Dolores Claiborne</i> 1992 novel by Stephen King

Dolores Claiborne is a 1992 psychological thriller novel by Stephen King. The novel is narrated by the title character. Atypically for a King novel, it has no chapters, double-spacing between paragraphs, or other section breaks; thus, the text is a single continuous narrative, which reads like the transcription of a spoken monologue. It was the best-selling novel of 1992 in the United States. The story introduced the fictional community of Little Tall Island, which Stephen King later used as the setting for the original TV mini-series Storm of the Century.

<i>Conspiracy Theory</i> (film) 1997 American political action film by Richard Donner

Conspiracy Theory is a 1997 American political action thriller film directed by Richard Donner. Starring Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts and Patrick Stewart, the original screenplay by Brian Helgeland centers on an eccentric taxi driver who believes many world events are triggered by government conspiracies, and the Justice Department attorney who becomes involved in his life. The film was a financial success, but critical reviews were mixed.

<i>Misery</i> (novel) 1987 novel by Stephen King

Misery is an American psychological horror thriller novel written by Stephen King and first published by Viking Press on June 8, 1987. The novel's narrative is based on the relationship of its two main characters – the romance novelist Paul Sheldon and his deranged self-proclaimed number one fan Annie Wilkes. When Paul is seriously injured following a car accident, former nurse Annie brings him to her home, where Paul receives treatment and doses of pain medication. Paul realizes that he is a prisoner and is forced to indulge his captor's whims.

<i>Rage</i> (King novel) 1977 Stephen King novel

Rage is a psychological thriller novel by American writer Stephen King, the first he published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. It was published in 1977 and then it was collected in the 1985 hardcover omnibus The Bachman Books.

<i>Creepshow</i> 1982 horror comedy anthology film by George A. Romero

Creepshow is a 1982 American horror comedy anthology film directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King, making this film his screenwriting debut. The film's ensemble cast includes Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Leslie Nielsen, Carrie Nye, E. G. Marshall, and Viveca Lindfors as well as King himself. The film was primarily shot on location in Pittsburgh and its suburbs, including Monroeville, where Romero leased an old boys' academy to build extensive sets for the film.

"Survivor Type" is a psychological horror short story by Stephen King, first published in the 1982 horror anthology Terrors, edited by Charles L. Grant, and included in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew. The Robinsonade follows a shipwrecked drug-trafficking surgeon who, left with only a large amount of drugs and no food or resources, resorts to self-cannibalism.

"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.

<i>The Talisman</i> (King and Straub novel) 1984 novel by Stephen King and Peter Straub

The Talisman is a 1984 fantasy novel by American writers Stephen King and Peter Straub. The plot is not related to that of Walter Scott's 1825 novel of the same name, although there is one oblique reference to "a Sir Walter Scott novel." The Talisman was nominated for the Locus and World Fantasy Awards in 1985. King and Straub followed up with a sequel, Black House (2001), that picks up with a now-adult Jack as a retired Los Angeles homicide detective trying to solve a series of murders in the small town of French Landing, Wisconsin.

<i>The Pillowman</i> Martin McDonagh play

The Pillowman is a 2003 play by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. It received its first public reading in an early version at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995, also a final and completed version of the play was publicly read in 1998 and then finished and released as a book in some places in 1999. Production started in 2000 for the eventual 2003 performance. It tells the tale of Katurian, a fiction writer living in a police state, who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a number of bizarre child murders occurring in his town. The play received the 2004 Olivier Award for Best New Play, the 2004-5 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best New Foreign Play, and two Tony Awards for production. It was nominated for the 2004 Evening Standard Award for Best New Play.

"1408" is a short story by Stephen King. It is the third tale in the audiobook collection Blood and Smoke, released in 1999. In 2002, "1408" was collected in written form as the 12th story in King's collection Everything's Eventual. In the introduction to the story, King says that "1408" is his version of what he calls the "Ghostly Room at the Inn", his term for the theme of haunted hotel or motel rooms in horror fiction. He originally wrote the first few pages as part of an appendix for his non-fiction book, On Writing (2000), to be used as an example of how a story changes from one draft document to the next. King also noted how the numbers of the title add up to the supposedly unlucky number 13.

<i>Everythings Eventual</i> (novella) Novella by Stephen King

Everything's Eventual is a fantasy novella by American writer Stephen King. It was originally published in the October/November 1997 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. In 2000, it was included in the game Stephen King's F13, and in 2002, in King's collection of the same name.

"Lunch at the Gotham Café" is a horror short story by American writer Stephen King. It originally appeared in the 1995 anthology Dark Love. It won the 1995 Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction. In 1997, it was published in the limited-edition collection Six Stories. In 2002, it was included in King's collection Everything's Eventual, with a scene from the story featured on the cover of the collection's first edition dust jacket.

"The Death of Jack Hamilton" is a short story by American writer Stephen King. It was originally published in the December 24/31, 2001 issue of The New Yorker magazine. In 2002, it was published in King's collection Everything's Eventual. This true crime story is based on the death of Jack Hamilton, a member of John Dillinger's first gang.

<i>The Pretender 2001</i> 2001 TV series or program

The Pretender 2001 is an American made-for-television action drama film and the first of The Pretender franchise of movies to air after the series was cancelled by NBC. It was originally released on American cable channel TNT on January 22, 2001, written by Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle, directed by Frederick King Keller and starring Michael T. Weiss.

<i>The Orphan Masters Son</i> 2012 novel by Adam Johnson

The Orphan Master's Son is a 2012 novel by the American author Adam Johnson. It deals with intertwined propaganda, identity, and state power themes in North Korea. The novel was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

<i>Deadly Class</i> American comic book series by Rick Remender

Deadly Class is an American action comic book series written by Rick Remender, illustrated by Wes Craig, colored by Jason Wordie, and lettered by Rus Wooton. Deadly Class is set primarily in the 1980s and follows students enrolled at King's Dominion Atelier of the Deadly Arts, a secret boarding school in San Francisco, as they train to become the next generation of top assassins for crime families across the globe.

<i>Billy Summers</i> 2021 crime novel by Stephen King

Billy Summers is a crime novel written by American author Stephen King, published by Scribner on August 3, 2021.

References