Stephen King 2025 read-along discussion
This topic is about
Firestarter
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Firestarter's synopsis is as follows: "The Department of Scientific Intelligence (aka "The Shop") never anticipated that two participants in their research program would marry and have a child. Charlie McGee inherited pyrokinetic powers from her parents, who had been given a low-grade hallucinogen called "Lot Six" while at college. Now the government is trying to capture young Charlie and harness her powerful firestarting skills as a weapon." - stephenking.com
In July and August 1980, two excerpts from the novel were published in Omni. The novel entered the New York Times' Best-Sellers List on August 24, 1980. In 1981, Firestarter was nominated as Best Novel for the British Fantasy Award, Locus Poll Award, and Balrog Award. The book is dedicated to author Shirley Jackson: "In Memory of Shirley Jackson, who never needed to raise her voice."
Firestarter was adapted into a film of the same name in 1984. It was directed by Mark L. Lester and starred Drew Barrymore as Charlie, David Keith as Andy, and George C. Scott as Rainbird. It also starred Heather Locklear as Vicky and Martin Sheen as Cap. This adaptation was met with mixed reviews but I would say remains overall a semi-cult classic. The 2022 adaptation on the other hand...was not. It was directed by Keith Thomas from a screenplay by Scott Teems and starred Zac Efron as Andy, Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Charlie, and Michael Greyeyes as Rainbird. This adaptation is currently sitting at a 10% on Rotten Tomatoes. There was also a shortly lived miniseries that not many people talk about in 2002 called Firestarter: Rekindled starring Marguerite Moreau as a grown-up Charlie and Malcolm McDowell as Rainbird that served as a sequel to the original story. You can stream the 1984 version on Hulu, the 2022 version on Hulu, Youtube TV, and FuboTV, and I'm at a loss as to where to watch the miniseries. Apart from owning it physically I don't think you can watch it anywhere.
Firestarter DEFINITELY influenced many pop culture things today, namely the Netflix hit show Stranger Things as well as Stephen King's later work via The Institute. There are definite winks and nods to the Shop in that story.
Who else is excited to get started on a hot read as the temperature starts to rise? As always, we're so happy to have you here! Chime off in the comments down below!