The Ten O'Clock People and...Low Men in Yellow Coats??
Psychotropic Agent
"Regulators," "Insomnia."
Two things, before we start. First of all, if this topic has ever been
covered on this NG, please excuse me. (Although it's based on such an
obscure little story, I doubt it! ;-) )
Secondly, yes, whenever I reread a Stephen King story, I now look for
passing ties to the ever-lovin' DT, but hey.
One of my favorite stories from the King short story collection
"Nightmares & Dreamscapes" concerned the one about light smokers who
ended up seeing monsters that appear human, monsters that surround them
in their everyday lives, "The Ten O'Clock People."
In the afterword, King called this story a "light amusement," but is
there such a thing in the post-"Wizard & Glass" collection vis-a-vis
Stephen King?
Here are some details, great and small, that made me pause and think
after having just finished rereading this story:
1a. In "Insomnia," which has clear, strong ties to the DT (and IMHO shed
more light on the DT series than all the DT novels combined), Ralph
begins to see the Little Bald Doctors after having been sleep-deprived
for over a week. The LBD's later explain that it was done to heighten
his consciousness.
b. In "Ten O'Clock," Brandon Pearson begins to see through the facade of
the monsters he calls the bat-people when he kicks his cigarette habit
only to pick it up again, smoking no more than ten a day. His friend and
compatriot, Duke, explains that while none of them knows why this
happened, it might have something to do with the nicotine affecting
their minds and consciousness.
Could Brandon's experience be similar to Ralph's? And what of it? After
all, they are seeing two separate entities.
But what if the bat-men and Little Bald Doctors are separate but
related? Different agents of the Crimson King and/or the Tower?
2a. Brandon Pearson has a very small touch of what Carol Gerber in "Low
Men" called "the winkle" and what SK calls "The Shining" in the novel
with the same name. Pearson seems to know what Duke will say or do
moments before Duke proves him correct. And most importantly, Pearson
gets his strongest flashes of "intuition" moments before the bat-men
ambush his group in the bookstore.
b. In "Low Men," Ted Brautigan has extraordinarily strong "psychic"
powers which he shares with Bobby Garfield and Carol Gerber. Is this the
same "Shine" that appears in so many SK stories?
Even if it is not, characters sprinkled throughout SK's stories
sometimes have some form of a psychic power which helps them in whatever
conflict they are involved in.
Finally, in "The Waste Lands," Susannah brought up the idea of the
Shine, but might have called it a different name. I don't remember.
3a. Brandon at least twice remarks how "bright and vivid" everything
looks after seeing the bat-men for the first time.
b. This experience has been chronicled by Bobby ("Low Men"), Ralph
("Insomnia"), and what's-his-name from "The Talisman." There could be
even more, but they slip my mind at the moment.
4a. The leader of the Low Men, what Bobby Garfield calls the Regulators
(another novel with ties to the DT a la Tak), is named "Cam."
b. Moira Richardson (Little Miss Red Miniskirt) from "Ten O'Clock" has a
boyfriend named Cam. (He's the janitor in the building where she works.)
At this point, you might be asking, So what? So what is this:
"Regulators" and "Desperation" allowed King to show us that from time to
time, when places or names cross over from one novel to another, he
might be telling separate, but related, stories. And the integral part a
character plays in one novel might mean a small, bit part in another
novel where his or her character is entirely different.
What if the leader of the Low Men/Regulators in Bobby's world is merely
a janitor and freedom-fighter in the "Ten O'Clock" world? A stretch, but
I'm beginning to think nothing's a coincidence when it comes to SK's DT.
5a. Brandon, Moira, and Cam move to Omaha, Nebraska, to make their stand
against the bat-men.
b. Omaha, Nebraska, has powerful, strong ties to the DT -- it's the home
of Mother Abigail from "The Stand" (another novel with strong ties to
the DT) and also one of the more easily recognizable names in Blaine the
Mono's run from the Cradle of Lud past the Waste Lands. (That last part
could be a slip of memory on my part, but I'm pretty sure nonetheless.)
Now that I've had my say, what do you all think? Let's palaver! ;-)
Signed,
PA
Christopher Hill
Psychotropic Agent <who_rider@-NO-SPAM-hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:38b5...@excalibur.gbmtech.net...
I don't think any of us are King wearing his Randy and the Rockets mask, so
any links between novels are little more than a guess or a stretch of the
imagination. One that occured to me after reading Low Men was the statement
about the Breakers. One escaped (Ted), one died and one went mad. My
thought was that our little pal Flagg (in all his guises) may have been the
nutty Breaker.
The sprinkling of DT is all King is one of the great continuing storylines.
Give us more.
Kevin Gormley
this little thing. In my copy of IT, on pg 474 and line 12 (try it, you might
have the same copy) it says "an abysmal painting of lobsermen in yellow
slickers" struck me at first as being rather strange as I remember HIA bit on
"Low men..." seemed like it, but I am probably just being over imaginative (if
their is such a thing ; ¬ ) )
Kevin Gormley