Rose Red

Yes.

Stephen King's 2002 three-part television miniseries, Rose Red.

Our core mission today is to unpack why this specific project, which was undeniably constrained by, like, the limitations of early 2000s network television-

Very constrained, yeah

... is actually an incredibly ambitious masterclass in the haunted house genre.

And to chart this course, we are drawing heavily from a brilliant retrospective piece by Lindsey Romain.

It was published on Nerdist, and it argues that Rose Red is a deeply underrated classic.

It really is a fantastic article.

We are going back to the early 2000s to look at two major television milestones that proved King's thrillers could dominate the small screen.

We're talking about The Dead Zone, which ran from 2002 to 2007, and the massive country stopping miniseries event Rose Red from 2002.

Let's talk about The Dead Zone first.

I have always thought this show was deeply underappreciated and deserved so much more credit in retrospective conversations about great television.

If a major broadcast network like ABC announced a massive three-night original miniseries, it became a communal national event.

The entire country would tune in to watch it in real time, and you would discuss it around the water cooler the next morning.

Rose Red perfectly belongs to that specific massive broadcast monoculture era.

And it had incredible, unparalleled pedigree behind it to ensure that it became a must-watch event.

But still.

Ooh, someone texting in Rose Red.

I'm not sure what that one is.

I'm gonna Google that.

That is terrifying.

Yeah.

Uh, Rose Red was a television miniseries.

Oh, okay.

It was an excellently made film about, uh, paranormal activity in a famous haunted house.

Kinda like, you know, decades later, uh, Stephen King, who, like I said, was inspired by Richard Matheson, wrote, uh, Rose Red, which I'm sure he had Hell House in mind when he wrote it 'cause if you ever watch both of them, there's a comparison.

And I'm not saying that Stephen King did anything wrong.

I mean, I borrowed stuff from him too, but shh.

Um, but everything that I'm writing from this moment on will be under Allison Church, 'cause that is my, my chosen name, and it's the name that suits who I am in the world.

So what should we expect next from Allison Church?

I am writing a, a paranormal, uh, book in the same tradition of Rose Red and, um, Hell House that's called Battle Not With Monsters, and it's gonna be a story of a paranormal organization which I hope to turn into a series itself because I have some lovely characters in it.

Okay.

Yes, 100%.

Um, uh, I've mentioned, uh, Rose Red before, which I really like, which is the miniseries.

Mm-hmm.

Um, of course this one.

Anyway, now we've tangented off of that.

Uh, in terms of Stephen King films, I've seen most of them.

I have not seen "Rose Red." Technically, it's a miniseries, but still, I've not seen "Rose Red." Uh, I have not seen...

Uh, I'm trying to think if there's anyone's, other ones that I haven't seen film or TV-wise.

TV movie.

She was in Quints, and she was in the TV movie, uh, like, what was it called? It's, like, a Rose Red, and she played, like, an autistic, like, psychic child.

[laughs]

And, like, she was... [laughs] I love that movie so much.

... s- you know, st- Stephen King adjacent.

You know? Like th- like Stephen King books, like Rose Red, uh, this one, and, uh-

Salem's Lot

...