Castle Rock (Stephen King)

Castle Rock, Maine is part of Stephen King’s fictional Maine topography and provides the setting for a number of his novels, novellas, and short stories. Built similarly to the fictional Maine towns of Jerusalem's Lot (featured in the novel 'Salem's Lot) and Derry (featured in the novels It, Insomnia, Dreamcatcher, and 11/22/63), Castle Rock is a typical small New England town with many dark secrets.

Castle Rock first appeared in the novel The Dead Zone, and has been used in several other King works since (see list below). King originally intended to stop using Castle Rock as the setting of his works after the novel Needful Things, although this was followed by an epilogue in the short story "It Grows on You". Castle Rock was later mentioned in works such as Riding the Bullet and as part of the setting for Bag of Bones.

Fictional history

Novels set in Castle Rock depict events affecting the town, some of which have a lasting impact and influence the plotline of later works.

In The Dead Zone, which is set in the 1970s, Castle Rock is introduced as a town gripped in fear by a serial killer targeting young girls. In 1980, the town is again put on alert when a local dog, Cujo, contracts rabies and kills several residents.

Geographical location

Population of Castle Rock was 1,280 by 1959 and around 1,500 as of its final chronological appearance in Needful Things. In Creepshow (1982), there is a sign at the end of "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" that puts Portland at 37 miles, and Boston at 188 miles (it should be noted, though, that "Weeds", the short story on which "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" was based, was actually set in New Hampshire). Geographically, this puts Castle Rock in the northern hemisphere of a 37-mile radius from Portland, Maine. This could include places such as Durham, Danville, Auburn, Lewiston, Bridgton and maybe even Sabattus. A map on King's official website places Castle Rock in Oxford County, in the vicinity of Woodstock. Yet the works in which Castle Rock appears place the town in the fictional "Castle County", which also includes such towns as Castle Lake, Castle View.

Influences

Castle Rock is influenced by the works of H. P. Lovecraft, who created a series of fictional small towns in New England called Arkham, Dunwich, Innsmouth and Kingsport. King has mimicked this idea of Lovecraft's with the towns of Jerusalem's Lot, Castle Rock, Derry, and – to a lesser extent – Little Tall Island and Haven. King has openly admitted being a great fan of Lovecraft, calling him the "20th century's dark and baroque prince".

Castle Rock may be based on King's home town of Durham, and Lisbon Falls, Maine, where he attended high school. Durham was the home of a 19th Century millenarian sect known as The Kingdom whose home, "Shiloh", was an imposing wooden complex on a hill, capped by a huge crown. The central portion of the Shiloh complex still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A town called Castle Hill exists in Aroostook County.

Works set in Castle Rock

• The Dead Zone
• Cujo
• "The Body" (novella from Different Seasons). As written, the story is set in Castle Rock, Maine. In Stand By Me (film based on the novella), the town is in Oregon.
• "Uncle Otto's Truck" (short story which appears in Skeleton Crew)
• "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" (short story which appears in Skeleton Crew)
• The Dark Half
• "The Sun Dog" (novella from Four Past Midnight)
• Needful Things
• "It Grows on You" (short story which appears in Nightmares & Dreamscapes)

Works referring to Castle Rock

• "Graveyard Shift" (short story which appears in Night Shift)
• Creepshow
• "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" (the narrator was a resident before his incarceration at Shawshank)
• Pet Sematary (refers to the events of Cujo which take place in Castle Rock)
• "Gramma" (short story appearing in Skeleton Crew)
• "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" (short story appearing in Skeleton Crew)
• "Nona" (short story appearing in Skeleton Crew)
• It
• Gerald's Game
• Sleepwalkers (Sheriff calls for backup from Castle Rock)
• The Stand
• Bag of Bones (significant portions of this story are set in Castle Rock, along with Derry, Maine and on TR90 at Dark Score Lake, Maine)
• The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
• Riding the Bullet
• Dreamcatcher (refers to the Castle Rock radio station)
• "The Man in the Black Suit" (short story which appears in Everything's Eventual)
• Kingdom Hospital (Television series)
• Lisey's Story
• "N." (short story appearing in Just After Sunset)
• Under the Dome
• "Premium Harmony" (short story published in the November 2009 issue of The New Yorker)
• 11/22/63

The first film adaptation of a Stephen King story to make reference to Castle Rock was Stand by Me (an adaptation of King's novella "The Body"), although that film's Castle Rock was moved to the state of Oregon. Rob Reiner, the film's director, later named his production company Castle Rock Entertainment. This company has produced several subsequent adaptations of King's work.

In the film adaptation of "The Mist", David Drayton reads a newspaper called The Castle Rock Times.

Other Castle Rocks

The name of King's town would eventually become famous enough that it was used for a few other products other than King's writings. A monthly newsletter about Stephen King called Castle Rock was published from January 1985 through December 1989. For most of this period it was edited by King's brother-in-law, Christopher Spruce, and later by his sister-in-law, Stephanie Leonard.

There are several real Castle Rocks in the United States, notably in southwest Washington and in Colorado, just south of Denver.

Castle Rock is also the name of a fictional mountain fort in William Golding's earlier 1963 novel Lord of the Flies. This was the source where King got the name "Castle Rock" from for the fictional town in his novels.

Other references

In Koushun Takami's novel Battle Royale, the town from which the ill-fated students hail is called Shiroiwa, which translates as "Castle Rock".

In a scene from Peter Jackson's alien invasion movie Bad Taste, a signpost is shown with two directions listed: one towards to Kaihoro, the other leads to a town named Castle Rock. This has been confirmed as a reference to King's creation.

Castle Rock is mentioned in One on One, a 1993 novel by King's wife, Tabitha King. In an afterword, she thanks "another novelist who was kind enough to allow me" to borrow the name.

External links

• Map of Maine from Stephen King's official website