The world of Stephen King’s The Stand will be explored in an anthology later this year, with many well-known horror writers contributing to The End of the World as We Know It. The upcoming collection marks a surprising first for King, as the author has not allowed other writers to contribute directly to his canon until now. While King himself isn’t editing or writing for the anthology, it will ideally answer questions about the aftermath of The Stand. In this way, it could fix one of the biggest problems with The Stand‘s ending: how abrupt it is.
If it proves successful, The End of the World as We Know It could also open the door for more projects based on King’s works. King has no shortage of great books, many of which could easily be expanded on. It’s no secret that some of King’s endings have left readers wanting more. And even his strongest books offer opportunities to dig deeper into their lore and characters, making them ideal contenders for an anthology like The End of the World as We Know It.
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Carrie (1974)
Carrie’s Media Clippings Hold Potential
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Carrie is King’s first novel, and it remains an impressive debut decades after its release. However, there are parts of Carrie that leave something to be desired — namely, all the discussions of other telekinetic kids and the destruction they could cause. The media clippings discussing “the Carrie incident” allude to other children like her, and they tease the aftermath of Carrie‘s explosive ending. With Carrie’s massacre having such a massive impact, it’s likely the government stepped in to prevent something similar from happening again.
An anthology could serve as a sequel of sorts, exploring what becomes of Carrie’s world after her powers destroy a town.
This sort of aftermath could be outlined in an anthology, as could the future of survivors like Sue Snell and Miss Desjardin. While Carrie touches upon these things, it doesn’t go nearly as deep as it could. An anthology could serve as a sequel of sorts, exploring what becomes of Carrie’s world after her powers destroy a town. Some stories could even take readers back into the past, shedding more light on the characters who pushed Carrie to this point, like Margaret White.
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The Shining (1977)
The Overlook & Its Ghosts Lend Themselves To More Stories
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The Shining is among King’s most satisfying books, and Doctor Sleep covers what happens to Danny after his traumatic time at the Overlook Hotel. However, this setting lends itself to more storytelling, as the Overlook and its ghosts are intriguing figures in their own right. It would be amazing to see the ghosts’ backstories expanded on in a horror anthology akin to The End of the World as We Know It. Such a project could also explore the origins of the Overlook Hotel, which aren’t really explained in King’s other novels.
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With The Shining being one of King’s best and more recognizable stories, there’s little doubt an anthology based on it would do well. It would be able to answer some major questions from King’s 1977 novel, and it would return readers to a story that has so much more potential. There’s really no need to even touch on the Torrance family, though an anthology could add further layers to their characters as well.
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The Institute (2019)
There’s Room To Explore This World Before & After The Main Story
The Institute is another King book that could be turned into an anthology, and there are a number of directions writers could take with such a project. For one, The Institute‘s ending is fairly open, leaving readers to wonder whether the surviving children ever expose what’s on the USB stick. Even if they don’t, there are so many questions about what happens to them after escaping the facility where they spend most of the novel. Their trauma and how it impacts their futures could be investigated in stories set after the 2019 book.
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Of course, we also know from The Institute that there were other facilities operating around the world, all of which were supposedly destroyed after the book’s uprising. An anthology could take readers into the past, revealing how these Institutes came to be, as well as how they differed from the one where the main book is set. Overall, The Institute leaves a lot of room to explore its world before and after its main narrative.
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The Tommyknockers (1987)
The Lore Surrounding The Aliens Could Be Further Fleshed Out
The Tommyknockers features one of King’s less satisfying endings, as the devastation that unfolds throughout the book is resolved too easily — and many questions about the aliens that cause all the destruction are left unanswered. An anthology centered on The Tommyknockers could fix this, offering a more satisfying resolution than the 1987 novel currently does. Like The Stand anthology, a Tommyknockers collection could take readers into the future, showing what becomes of Haven after Gard’s last heroic act.
A collection about The Tommyknockers could also give more details about the spacecraft that starts the book’s central conflict, as well as the aliens found on it.
A collection about The Tommyknockers could also give more details about the spacecraft that starts the book’s central conflict, as well as the aliens found on it. There’s a lot of lore in The Tommyknockers that could be further fleshed out, and an anthology of stories would be the perfect way to accomplish this.
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It (1986)
An Anthology Could Dig Into Pennywise’s Background
Another one of King’s best-known and most beloved novels, It is a great read all on its own — but an anthology based on the 1986 novel would be a welcome development. While It has a satisfying ending, it would be interesting to see Pennywise’s antics before the villain is confronted by the Losers Club. It would also be intriguing to learn more about Pennywise’s species and dig into where they came from.
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With theories that not all the eggs in It were destroyed, it’s also possible to expand on the aftermath of the novel. This could be done in a sequel, though it would be risky and need to be handled with care. Even so, there are ways to explore Pennywise’s species in more depth in a collection based on Stephen King’s story. And returning to such a successful novel would be a great way to honor King’s career and satisfy fans.