Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence, co-hosts behind one of my favorite podcasts (Horror Rewind) and who have previously explored The Science of Monsters and The Science of Women in Horror turn their attention to Stephen King in their latest book. The Science of Stephen King essentially takes you through the highlights of Stephen King's muli-decade long career while exploring the science behind some of his most terrifying creations. The interviews Meg and kelly conduct with experts are always fun and informative. Whether you're new to King or a constant reader, there is much to learn and to chew in within the pages of this book. And many books I would have dismissed by King, I'm now very eager to read.

I look forward to Meg and Kelly's next book: The Science of Serial Killers! ( )

This book sounded interesting from the title and was obtained cheaply so I decided to give it a try. It is organised into decades of production of Stephen King's works and within that, a chapter per book. At the beginning of his career it covers the iconic ones such as his first published novel, Carrie, plus Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Stand etc. As it goes forward in time, naturally it is far more selective and mentions some works in passing or not at all.

Each chapter considers the 'science' behind the book's theme, sometimes not actual science at all as when it covers urban legends and the like. Various interviews are featured although sometimes they aren't really connected to King's work at all such as one with a person connected with a TV series I'd never heard of. The interviews conclude by asking the person which is their favourite King work.

There are a few snippets here and there regarding where King got the inspiration for particular works. I knew the story of how his wife Tabitha fished out the partly written draft of 'Carrie' from the rubbish bin and persuaded him to carry on with it, but other things were new to me. It was especially interesting to read that King had written 'The Tommyknockers' while in the throes of cocaine addiction and thought it was a bad book. Interesting, because it was the first of his books that I didn't like.

The book is a fairly superficial skating through the scientific background of the books - for example, it only talks about monorails when considering the Dark Tower sequence - and for me lacked sufficient material about the author or how he wrote the stories. I suppose it isn't meant to do that from the title, but ultimately it is a quick read and for me just an 'OK' 2 stars. ( )

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/1LtIS8ZSXCQ

Enjoy!