The Cannibals

[Bev Vincent]

For the first time ever, you will be able to read an excerpt from The Cannibals. This is the story which originally inspired Under the Dome. On September 15th, it will be posted on StephenKing.com

[Ari_Racing]

Ok...it seems September 15th IS the date!

The S/L edition, the excerpt. :)

Will this be the same excerpt that it's supposed to appear on Entertainment Weekly?

[mae]

No, sounds like an excerpt from King's unfinished novel The Cannibals, written in the '80s about people trapped in an apartment building.

[Bev Vincent]

That's right -- and it's a long excerpt, too. Far from the complete thing, but enough to give you a sense of how different it is from UtD.

Sept 15 represents the launch of other promotional activities from Scribner, so it's a good day to keep checking back at King's official web site.

[Ari_Racing]

isn't the 1st part of the cover be released as well?

[Bev Vincent]

The first aspect of the cover will be unveiled on September 21, followed by the release of additional images on September 25 and September 28, and culminating with the full reveal on October 5, when the world will see that everything is UNDER THE DOME.

[Ari_Racing]

Oh. :)

Well...I think I had a good decision when I choose to visit USA for the release of this book. I can't remember such a huge marketing campaign for a King book.

[mae]

This is pretty tremendous news, by the way. It's cause for celebration. When I first read about The Cannibals in 1998, in Stephen Spignesi's book, I had no idea I'd ever get to read a part of it. This represents a very positive, in my view, tendency of late, which started in 2007 I guess when King released Blaze, albeit a bit rewritten. In the past King was pretty secretive about his unpublished stuff, with some rare exceptions (like the small pieces that were released in the 1990s). This is leading me to believe we may soon have an honest to God official collection of King's uncollected and unpublished fiction. It would be an amazing volume, especially if King could write little intros to each piece.

[Ari_Racing]

Well...my thoughts exactly.

Now, considering that these last years we managed to read Blaze, now The Cannibals (yes...I understand it's a different book, but the idea it's based on this one), are we getting closed to see more of the "old" unpublished books mentioned in so many books?.

I don't expect to read "The Aftermath" (even when I'd love to!), but we already had the chance of reading a part of Sword in the Darkness...I can't help imagine that it'd be finally published someday.

[Bev Vincent]

The Cannibals is especially rare, because it was never archived at the University of Maine.

[Ari_Racing]

Bev,

Which unpublished work you think it might have the same luck Blaze and The Cannibals had?

[mae]

The Cannibals is especially rare, because it was never archived at the University of Maine.

I wonder what was the reason? Most everything is there, isn't it?

[Bev Vincent]

If you've read Lisey's Story, you'll have a fairly good notion of King's attitude toward this sort of ephemera and unpublished work. The Cannibals is a failed novel -- he never finished it, and it was written at a time when he was having a hard time finishing anything--the two years after he completed It. So I don't imagine he will ever complete it, and this excerpt may be all we ever see of it. Who knows? Blaze, at least, was complete and had received some favorable feedback from his editor at the time. The other books, well, some things are just meant to stay in the trunk.

[mae]

But plenty unpublished novels have been printed. Most recently, Nabokov's last novel, The Original of Laura. Morbid it may be, but I wouldn't want to wait until King's death to see these things published, when he could supply his own commentary and just oversee the project. Of course it's still unlikely that'll happen, but possible - given things like Blaze, Sword in the Darkness, and now The Cannibals.

[Ari_Racing]

Yes. I understand. And I remember reading somewhere (probably in Spignesi or Beahm books) that he refused to publish several ones. But in the end, Blaze saw the light, he allowed a big chapter of Sword in the Darkness to be published, now Under the dome continues the idea of The Cannibals.

What I meant is that, considering you probably are one of the few people that read several of the unpublished works, is there a particular book/story you think it might be published (corrected or not) in the near future?

[Bev Vincent]

No, not really. And there are some that have been republished recently that I think he should have left behind. The Cat From Hell didn't belong in Just After Sunset, for example. It's a mediocre story, and it felt out of place with the rest of that collection. And The Old Dude's Ticker is atrocious and should have been left to molder in NECON XX, where few people could be subjected to it!

[Ari_Racing]

Well....I think big part of Nightmares and Dreamscapes should have remain unpublished as well in that case :D

[jhanic]

No argument there! The Old Dude's Ticker was pretty bad.

John

[mae]

It may not be very good, but it's interesting. At least from a historical perspective.

[Sam]

No, not really. And there are some that have been republished recently that I think he should have left behind. The Cat From Hell didn't belong in Just After Sunset, for example. It's a mediocre story, and it felt out of place with the rest of that collection. And The Old Dude's Ticker is atrocious and should have been left to molder in NECON XX, where few people could be subjected to it!

I really enjoyed The Cat From Hell Bev and didn't find it out of place. But that's just one opinion. As for The Old Dude's Ticker, haven't read it, and if it's that bad... I don't want to.

King is my favorite author by far, but he's far from perfect. The only author I can truly say I have enjoyed everything I've read that they wrote is Joe Haldeman, but I haven't read everything he's published either.

[mae]

Perhaps The Plant can unfurl its leaves once again?

[Bev Vincent]

It did -- you can get it by solving all the puzzles on The Office part of King's website. I doubt he'll ever go back to working on the story again, though. He's already given up on it twice.

[Ben Mears]

If you've read Lisey's Story, you'll have a fairly good notion of King's attitude toward this sort of ephemera and unpublished work. The Cannibals is a failed novel -- he never finished it, and it was written at a time when he was having a hard time finishing anything--the two years after he completed It. So I don't imagine he will ever complete it, and this excerpt may be all we ever see of it. Who knows? Blaze, at least, was complete and had received some favorable feedback from his editor at the time. The other books, well, some things are just meant to stay in the trunk.

I look at SK's unpublished works, especially his novels, as "demo tapes" that only his most loyal readers would be interested in "hearing". At one time SK felt that Sword In The Darkness was worthy of publication and I think there is a small group of his constant readers who would enjoy having an opportunity to read it. Novels like SITD, viewed in an historical context, could be released as small press/limited edition publications and not tarnish SK's legacy.

[herbertwest]

It did -- you can get it by solving all the puzzles on The Office part of King's website. I doubt he'll ever go back to working on the story again, though. He's already given up on it twice.

He gave up a few times as well for Cannibals ;-)

[mae]

Well I've had The Plant for a long time. I paid for each installment. I meant him finishing it finally. I think he may, one of these days. It's a rather uniquely written story, for King anyway.

[Bev Vincent]

The Cannibals (http://www.stephenking.com/library/unpublished/cannibals_the.html) is now available.

[mae]

The excerpt is out! :nana:

And it's a long one, at 61 pages. Also, it's a facsimile of the original typescript.

Whoa.

[Bev Vincent]

Check the page (http://www.stephenking.com/library/unpublished/cannibals_the.html) again -- a message from King has been added.

[Ari_Racing]

Yeap.

I noticed that the list of Unpublished also has The Aftermath.

Am I being too optimistic to think we'll see an excerpt of it someday?

[flaggwalkstheline]

mmm I just read it, quite engaging for a piece of writing so unpolished

[mae]

Q:


Ms Mod, do you think it will ever be possible for the ENTIRE Cannibals will be published, unfinished or not? I, for one, would be glad to have it.

Ms. Mod:


It's not something Steve wants to do at this time. When he was looking through the manuscript he was quite pleased with it, so who knows, maybe he'll decide to dust it off and edit it for publication. That's total speculation on my part, though. There are gaps in the manuscript, so he'd have to fill in the missing pages if he did.

[CyberGhostface]

Haven't read the excerpt yet, but wouldn't releasing The Cannibals be a bit redundant given Under the Dome is a reworked version of it? I know the two are quite different, but they probably have similar plots and themes?

[Bev Vincent]

Based on the excerpt, they're a LOT different. Totally different characters, for one thing. Consider the fact that The Mist has something of the same premise -- what happens when a bunch of people are trapped together for whatever reason.

[CyberGhostface]

Fair enough. I'll try reading the excerpt this week.

[mae]

Right, Under the Dome, the new one, is not so much a rewrite of The Cannibals, as just being inspired by it, or by its idea.

[flaggwalkstheline]

and it sounds like the cannibals was never quite finished

[lophophoras]

It was a good read.

Left me wanting to read more.

:drool:

[mae]

and it sounds like the cannibals was never quite finished

King wrote about 450 pages of it and got stuck. Hopefully he'll give it the Blaze treatment.

[Bev Vincent]

Some pages missing from the manuscript, too, that he'd have to go back and fill in.

[shnnrc01]

i liked it a lot. it left me wanting more,which is a good thing. i hope he does tackle it again at some stage.

[mae]

I love King's sense of humor. His novels are often peppered with witty lines. The Cannibals is no exception. This one really made me break out in giggles:


FARTS ON JUPITER had been scrawled below the peephole with a pocketknife blade or a key. The letters straggled and draggled. Maybe it’s Thomas Pynchon and that’s the title of his forthcoming novel, Tom thought.

:excited:

[mae]

You know I'm reading this and it's dawning on me that King could have written this in 2009. Sure the language is pure '80s. But the ideas and images could apply to now just like they did in the late '70s and early '80s when King wrote this. Like the description of the urban desolation and Pulaski's thoughts about "knee-jerk liberals, who wanted to take away his guns." I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

[mae]

By the way, if anybody wants it, I have created a text file for myself where I incorporated all the corrections to make the text more readable. You can PM me for the PDF file. I doubt there's anything wrong with doing that; this is just to facilitate reading, as the original typescript - a great historical document as it is - is not very easy on the eyes.

[SkippyD023]

MS MOD. just posted a question asking if we would like to see another 60 or so pages of The Cannibals. We might get to read a little more!!!!:dance::thumbsup::rock:

[Ari_Racing]

Where's it posted?

I can't find it. Can you provide the link?

[SkippyD023]

Sorry for not including the link. Here it is...

http://www.stephenking.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14920

[lophophoras]

That would be cool!

[Ari_Racing]

THanks for the link!

Well guys...head over to the site and say YES! :)

Time to get movin'! ;)

[mae]

Maybe King will just release the complete unfinished typescript as is on his site. That is, if he doesn't want to get down and dirty and tidy up what was written in the '80s.

[jhanic]

Here's the link:

http://stephenking.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14920

John

[Brice]

I downloaded the first segment and the file wouldn't open. :( I tried multiple times...but nothing. Also for some strange reason I can't post at sk.com...and I don't mean like the moderated posting thing. I have no box to reply on my screen. :unsure:

[LadyHitchhiker]

Me neither, Brice. I thought I had just pissed someone off too much and was taken off of my rights to post.

But I did get the file, if you want me to send it to you. I didn't read mine yet, though, but I could e-mail it to you.

Just pm me if you want :)

[Brice]

Thanks! :)

[jhanic]

Brice, don't forget that often when the moderator isn't there, you can't reply to anything. Go back to the main message board page and look at the active members near the bottom of the page. If the moderator isn't there, often you can't post anything. It's actually rather frustrating.

John

[Brice]

John, that's what I meant by the active moderation, but shouldn't there still be a reply box so your posts go to the mod? I don't even have that.

[gsvec]

You can't even submit a post when there's not a Mod on. :( Business hours only, and it's IRRITATING.

ETA: I'd love to post more often and become a more active "member of the community" but unfortunately I work for a living and can very rarely get there during the day. That's why I think I only have 1 post (if that!!)

[jhanic]

John, that's what I meant by the active moderation, but shouldn't there still be a reply box so your posts go to the mod? I don't even have that.

That's the way it is when the moderator makes herself not available. I don't like it either. But, in her defense, can you imagine the number of posts she would have to go through after a week-end, especially given the number of members? I can't really blame her too much.

John

[SkippyD023]

According to Ms. Mod another 60 pages are on their way. We should see them posted by the end of the week!!:rock:

[Ari_Racing]

Yeap. I saw that and was about to post it :)

You beat me.

[mae]

YES! :panic:

[Bev Vincent]

Update:


It might not be until Monday. It's been a busy week so I still have to get the manuscript out of the locked cabinet after getting the key to the cabinet out of the locked safe, scan it, upload it to the server, Jordan does his magic with it, and then it gets posted to the site.

Sounds like Fort Knox!

[mae]

Drool!

I know King said (via Ms. Mod) not to expect more of this manuscript until the next year if at all, but all this overwhelmingly positive reaction to the first excerpt is again confirming that authors are not the best judges of their own work. We obviously don't know how or why King abandoned this novel, but these things are leading me to believe he did so mistakenly. Does anyone agree? Just from these first pages you can tell it's vintage '80s King, and would've been an excellent tense novel akin to Cujo or something, which was also sort of "on one note", as King put it. I'm hoping King realizes this and puts a few finishing touches on The Cannibals and publishes it like he did Blaze. I know there are sections missing and there's no end, but these first pages read very well for a first draft. With minor editing he could publish it as is.

It's great to see King warming up to his earlier unpublished and uncollected stuff. In Nightmares & Dreamscapes he wrote that he gathered all the stories he wanted in these collections up to and including N&D, and if anything he left out it was because it wasn't very good (paraphrasing here, obviously). But again, we know that authors aren't the best judges of their own work, so perhaps the distance of time has allowed King a fresh look on these things. I think that's great, especially for crazed collectors such as myself who want to read everything.

[Ari_Racing]

Actually IMO N&D isn't the best example... I think a very low percentage of the stories of that book are actually good enough.

[Darkday]

The second extract is now online!
http://www.stephenking.com/library/unpublished/cannibals_the.html

[jhanic]

Thanks!!!

John

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

Thanks Stephen king for the The Plant Cannibals Pt 2

[johnsmith87]

Thanks!

I wasn't expecting it until at least tomorrow so that's a nice surprise. :rock:

[lophophoras]

LOL...and I am once again left wanting more.

:drool:

[jhanic]

Again, Ms Mod:


Steve gave me the okay to scan another 60 pages which I will do and have posted by the end of the week but he also said not to expect any more until at least next year --or possibly not at all.

John

[lophophoras]

:thumbsup:

[Clacke]

The second section of The Cannibals is now available for download:

http://www.stephenking.com/library/unpublished/cannibals_the.html

Bringing it up to page 122. :dance:

Edit: Whoops, beaten to it by a day!!!

[Darkday]

I'm having trouble with some of King's handwriting. Maybe someone of you could help me out?

p. 83, top right: split ... head. The handwritten word could be "Ronnie's", but that doesn't make much sense, Eddie is the one with the gun.

p. 95, middle: had gone off in Rinaldi's ...: It suppose either "head" or "mind" was cut off here, wasn't it?

p. 100, top right: ... at least temporarily? affecting ...

p. 108, lower third, left: Benton Nervey? Nerveg?

p. 110, top right: a second can of ...?

[Bev Vincent]

I'm having trouble with some of King's handwriting. Maybe someone of you could help me out?

p. 83, top right: split ... head. The handwritten word could be "Ronnie's", but that doesn't make much sense, Eddie is the one with the gun.

p. 95, middle: had gone off in Rinaldi's ...: It suppose either "head" or "mind" was cut off here, wasn't it?

p. 100, top right: ... at least temporarily? affecting ...

p. 108, lower third, left: Benton Nervey? Nerveg?

p. 110, top right: a second can of ...?

100: at least temporarily affecting everyone in the building

108: I read it as "Harvey"

110: Stroh's (a brand of beer)

[Darkday]

Thanks a lot, Bev!

[mae]

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/06/27/stephen-king-manuscript-or-just-something-else/

An Auburn bookstore manager believes he may have a working copy of a Stephen King manuscript that eventually became “Under the Dome,” a novel that was turned into a TV series.

Walter Lantz, who manages Artios Books, said the text, which is a copy of an original typed manuscript, appears to be pages from a never-published King book called “The Cannibals.” It includes hand-penned editorial changes that Lantz said could have been made by the famous Bangor horror writer himself.

The text surfaced last month in a collection of Stephen King books sold to the store by an Auburn woman who was raising money to pay for a relative’s funeral. Lantz said the collection included a number of lesser-known King titles, such as “The Colorado Kid,” in their original shrink-wrap. Lantz said the woman didn’t know how the text came to be in her collection.

Lantz said the manuscript numbers 122 pages. Lantz said if it turns out to be what he thinks it is, he will probably sell it and give the collector a commission, up to 20 percent depending on how much it is worth. But first he wants to talk to King.

“I need to talk to him to know what I have,” said Lantz.

Lantz said Marsha DeFilippo, King’s assistant, visited the store Friday and took about 20 photographs of the work.

“She was very excited,” said Lantz.

He has not heard back from DeFilippo. She could not be reached for comment Saturday.

King wrote about the metamorphosis of “The Cannibals” into “Under the Dome” on his website. He said he started the project in 1978 but lost that 70-page manuscript. Several years later he took another stab at it, this time under the working title “The Cannibals.” He got about 500 pages into it before hitting a wall. “Under the Dome” was a partial rewrite of “The Cannibals.” King said he thought that “The Cannibals” manuscript had been lost as well until it resurfaced in 2009, battered and missing a few pages.

The first 60 pages are available on the Stephen King website.

Lantz said he hopes he can get to the bottom of the mystery soon.

“Either Stephen King did this or someone took a copy of it to proofread it for him,” said Lantz.

[EXPLORER]

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/06/28/stephen-king-manuscript-just-a-copy-says-his-assistant/

Stephen King manuscript just a copy, says his assistant
Marsha DeFilippo said the manuscript sold to Artios Books in Turner was downloaded from King's website.
BY BETH QUIMBY STAFF WRITER
bquimby@pressherald.com | @QuimbyBeth | 207-791-6363
Share facebook tweet email print print Comment
Stephen King’s assistant has solved the mystery of a manuscript that an Auburn bookstore manager hoped was a working manuscript that eventually became “Under the Dome,” a novel turned into a TV series.

Marsha DeFilippo, King’s longtime assistant, said Sunday the manuscript that was sold to Artios Books last month was definitely a copy of the manuscript, an earlier version of “Under the Dome” entitled “The Cannibals,” which now sits in the author’s office. She said the copy was downloaded from King’s website.


“I think the mystery is solved,” said DeFilippo.

Walter Lantz, manager at Artios Books, believed he had a working copy of an original King manuscript. But DeFilippo said the 122 pages in Lantz’s possession were downloaded from King’s website.

“We scanned in original pages with Stephen’s handwritten edits. There are two pdf documents that match exactly the 120 pages he had,” said DeFilippo.

Lantz said the pages were part of a Stephen King collection sold to the store by an Auburn woman trying to raise money to pay for a relative’s funeral.

DeFilippo said King, who has penned more than 50 novels and hundreds of short stories, has lost manuscripts from time to time.

“Some of them got lost over the years between their moves and I am sure in the early days he may not have kept everything he ever had,” said DeFilippo.

Nevertheless she said it would have been very unusual for a King manuscript to land in a bookshop in Maine.

“I would say it is uncommon, which is why it triggered my curiosity,” said DeFilippo who talked with Lantz by phone on Friday.

DeFilippo said King has donated many of his original papers to the Fogler Library at the University of Maine in Orono.

“Most of it is already at the University of Maine,” she said.

[Merlin1958]

Very informative. Thanks for posting, Jim!!

[Cwalker]

Edit:This is in reference to the news story mentioned in post #76
Acording to that, he knows what he really has...

So i was in Artios today (only live 20 min away).
usually I give his shop a miss because of a personal matter that arose 5 or 6 years ago when i did some work for him. He didn't seem to remember me though (so maybe i made more out if it than he did...woudn't be the first time for me. :). )

So after looking things over for a few minuets, he asked if i was a King fan. I said ayuh and he pointed out The Cannibal folder. The writing on the folder said something like "The Cannibals, an unfinished manuscript reworked as Under The Dome"
Price $175
All of which is i guess technically true.

What he said though was that he had what he believed was"the only copy known to exist, not even the university of maine has a copy. King dosen't even have a copy". He then said that there was "another copy but it was all ripped up and was destroyed". He then made note that "the other copy only had 80-somthing pages but that his had more than 120 pages"

He was giving evey indication that this was a one-and-only bona fide item. I told him it was nice but that $175 was out of my price range.

Caveat Emptor

I did get a very nice Black House 1/1 for $6 though...

[Kingfan24]

That guy sounds like a slime ball.

[needfulthings]

:wtf: ONE OF A KIND?
YES!.... In every collection that downloaded it from the internet.:doh:
http://imageshack.com/a/img909/5514/ksZA0e.jpg

[Cwalker]

This one wasn't even bound, just loose pages in a folder by the looks of it.

[needfulthings]

Next time you are in the shop ask him... Are you SURE that you didn't leave off the decimal point?
$1.75