u/OGWhiz

Jk I’m not gonna have any

On Friday, June 5th, 2026, we will have the absolute pleasure of hosting an AMA with Caroline Bicks!

Caroline Bicks is the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine. Her academic books include Cognition and Girlhood in Shakespeare’s World and Midwiving Subjects in Shakespeare’s England; her popular writing has appeared in the Modern Love column of the New York Times and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and includes a humorous Bard-themed cocktail book, Shakespeare Not Stirred. She is the co-host of the Everyday Shakespeare podcast.

After Caroline Bicks was named the University of Maine’s inaugural Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, she became the first scholar to be granted extended access by King to his private archive, a treasure trove of manuscripts that document the legendary writer’s creative process. She spent a year exploring King’s early drafts and hand-written revisions, and speaking with him about those changes, in pursuit of one question: Why does his writing continue to haunt us after we’ve closed the book?

Caroline will be joining us June 5th from 10am - Noon (EST, GMT-4) to answer your questions! Monsters in the Archives is just one of her many projects, so I invite you all to participate with us and ask her anything about her career!

I’m stoked!! I hope you are too.

Check out my Bookstagram @HellfishBookish as well, where I’ve been reviewing every book I read.

Monsters in the Archives by Caroline Bicks is a must read for any Stephen King completionist, collector, and purist. Caroline holds the “Stephen King chair” in the @university.of.maine literature department. A feat in itself, but then she got@in contact with Sai King himself and was invited to access his archives in his famous home in Bangor, Maine. This archive holds climate controlled locked collections of King’s many manuscripts, edits, types and handwritten notes, communications with publishers, etc. and in this book, we get to read passages of early copies of the earliest and most famous works of King. Carrie, The Shining, Pet Semetary, Salem’s Lot, and the Night Shift short story collection which includes greats such as The Boogeyman (my personal favourite) and Children of the Corn.

While this might not be interesting to all readers of fiction, for someone like me who is borderline obsessed with Stephen King’s work, getting inside access to some early and unreleased content from some of these early books was like getting dvd commentary and deleted scenes. So me? I absolutely loved it. It’s not just about the stories, either. We’re getting a look at these stories through the lens of the English language and getting comparisons to other great works throughout history.

So stoked to have been selected to review something so closely related to my favourite author, so I have some thanks.

Thank you so so so much to @hogarthbooks, @randomhousebooks and @carolinebicks for this complimentary copy!!

Popped up on my wife’s mav. When she opened it, it just says “coming soon” or something. It’s on my mav too, but hers has a notification symbol. Anyone know how to clear the notification? It’s driving her nuts.