You thought the off-the-wall fantasy of dear old Unknown Worlds
and the grand early years of Anthony Boucher's Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
were gone and buried. You were wrong. You reckoned without Darabont, the Academy Award–nominated director of the films adapted from Stephen King's The Green Mile
and The Shawshank Redemption
. Darabont reveals another side of his talent in his first book, "a truly silly story," as he refers in his introduction to this fast, funny novella about hack writer Howard Walpuski, a devil-dealing typewriter-repair geezer, and a bloodthirsty demon who epitomizes the dreams of anyone hoping to become another King. All one need do is sit back and feed paper into the hungry machine, which spews forth bestsellers. Unfortunately, the demon-possessed typewriter becomes hungry for more than paper. Just when you are afraid the author is about to succumb to the most tired if hallowed of demon-killers, the sacred implements of the Church, he's smart enough to throw them in your face. You needn't be a Boucher or even a King to know where the story is going, but it doesn't matter. Horror stories this unself-conscious are rare treasures. (Sept.)
