DT 4.5

So how far out of the loop have I been when it comes to horror? How about this: I totally spaced off Stephen King's latest Dark Tower novel: THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE. My wife and I went out for my birthday - we happened to be browsing through a Barnes & Noble while waiting for restaurant reservations - when she says: "Do you have this book?" Pretty incredible, seeing as I'm as big of a Dark Tower fan as you're likely to find.

However, with that said - I'm not completely sold on this DT "4.5" concept. The series ended perfectly with the seventh and last book. Did we really need these two extra tales of Roland and his ka-tet? I guess I'm sort of looking at it like J.R.R. Tolkien's approach to Middle Earth, which he visited from several different perspectives (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Silmarillion, and others). While it's always nice see our old friends, Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy - even though we already know their ultimate fate - the opening chapters kind of smack me as "Dark Tower Lite."

Strangely, I don't mind revisiting Roland and company once in awhile in short story format (as King did with "The Little Sisters of Eluria" in his book EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL.) Perhaps a full review is in order once I read the complete book. For now, check out Stephen King's newly revised Dark Tower website to learn all about THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE!

www.stephenking.com/darktower