Fans of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series are in for a creepy treat this holiday season: The horror writer has created a real-life version of the fictional children’s book, Charlie the Choo-Choo. The disturbing picture book is available for pre-order on Amazon and is slated to be released on November 22, as io9 reports.
If you need a quick refresher, Charlie the Choo-Choo made an appearance in the third book of the series, The Waste Lands. Jake Chambers purchases the book, along with Riddle-De-Dum! Brain-Twisters and Puzzles for Everyone!, at the bookstore The Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind.
Now, King has decided to transport the book from The Dark Tower universe and bring it into the real world. The work will still keep its original author, Beryl Evans, although King jokingly added a blurb: “If I were ever to write a children’s book, it would be just like this!” As io9 points out, the author is also a character in his own story, so hypothetically he could have endorsed the book fictionally as well.
While the synopsis of the book makes it sound like a cheery tale—”Engineer Bob has a secret: His train engine, Charlie the Choo-Choo, is alive … and also his best friend”—the unsettling illustrations by Ned Dameron tell a different story.
[h/t io9]
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October 26, 2016 – 3:30pm