In promotion for his new “The Shining” sequel “Doctor Sleep,” Stephen King has taken to commenting on some of today’s most popular book series. For those wondering, he’s not a Twihard.
In a recent (and rare) interview, he admitted to reading “Twilight” but wasn’t a fan.
“I agree with Abra’s teacher friend (in ‘Doctor Sleep’) who calls ‘Twilight’ and books like it tweenager porn,” King said. “They’re really not about vampires and werewolves. They’re about how the love of a girl can turn a bad boy good.”
He also wasn’t crazy about “The Hunger Games,” which is seeing its second movie premiere on Nov. 22.
“I read ‘The Hunger Games’ and didn’t feel an urge to go on,” he told the Guardian. “It’s not unlike ‘The Running Man,’ which is about a game where people are actually killed and people are watching: a satire on reality TV. ”
“The Running Man” is King’s 1982 book that inspired a 1987 movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was relatively easier on E.L. James‘ much-buzzed-about BDSM series “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
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“They call it mommy porn, but it’s not really mommy porn. It is highly charged, sexually driven fiction for women who are, say, between 18 and 25. But a golden age of horror? I wouldn’t say it is.”
King’s new book “Doctor Sleep” centers on Danny Torrance, the young psychic from the original, in his adulthood. His mother, Wendy, is dead, and he’s haunted by the memory of his alcoholic father, Jack, who was played by Jack Nicholson in the movie adaptation that King openly disliked.
The story of Jack hits close to home for King, as he was formerly an alcoholic but has been sober since an intervention in the ’80s.
“The only thing is to write the truth,” he said. “To write what you know about any particular situation. And I never say to anybody, ‘This is all from my experience in AA,’ because you don’t say that.”
“Doctor Sleep” arrives on bookshelves Tuesday.
