Stephen King Summer 2025 is HERE!!

Details, Schedule, and Merch for the 5th annual Stephen King Summer

The 5th annual Stephen King Summer starts JUNE 1!

Which means that it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Stephen King Summer is our annual book club where we focus on Laura’s favorite author of all time, STEPHEN KING.

Stephen King Summer is part of the Secret Stuff Book Club, which means that as a Secret Stuff monthly or annual member, you’re already in! You can take part in all of the Stephen King Summer selections or you can pick and choose which books and screen watchalongs you’re most interested in. (Full schedule below)

If you’re not interested in Stephen King at all, you’ll still get all the regular Secret Stuff content like Symposiums, personal episodes, etc. But we do hope you’ll give at least one piece of Stephen King Summer a try.

Why Stephen King?

Stephen King is one of the most prolific and best-selling authors of all time. He has changed the cultural and literary landscape. But a lot of readers (especially women) stay away from his work because they think it will be too scary. A lot of what King writes is, of course, scary, but probably not in the way that you're expecting. During Stephen King Summer we hope to debunk the myths and prove why he is the best storyteller alive.

CLICK HERE for the answers to frequently asked questions I get about Stephen King Summer.

CLICK HERE to listen to a BONUS episode I did on 10 Things To Tell You all about Stephen King Summer 2025

CLICK HERE to listen to Ep 121: Stephen King Starter Kit and Ep 222: Stephen King Starter Kit Part II (What To Read and What To Skip)

(all of the above podcast episodes can also be found by searching for 10 Things To Tell You in your podcast app)

THE SCHEDULE

Like previous summers, for Stephen King Summer 2025, we will be reading and watching a mix of some of his most famous work. We’ve picked two books, two movies and the first episode of a television adaptation. (Please note a few dates have changed from our original June schedule posting!)

Mark your calendars for all of the dates above! You can also always find the Secret Stuff full calendar in the nav bar at the top of the main Secret Stuff page. You might also want to adjust your Substack notification settings so that you never miss a zoom link or reminder info post.

We’re kicking off Stephen King Summer 2025 with a movie watch-along of the 1983 adaptation of Christine.

MOVIE WATCH-ALONG: CHRISTINE

Sunday, June 1 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET

This will be a movie watch along only. We’re kicking off SKS with a movie watch-along of the 1983 film Christine. We'll gather on Zoom while also watching this film adaptation on our own screens at home. (This is more fun and less confusing than it sounds, I promise. More details in a dedicated post before June 1)

Christine (titled onscreen as John Carpenter's Christine) is a 1983 American supernatural horror film adapted from Stephen King's 1983 novel of the same name. The movie follows the changes in the lives of Arnie Cunningham, his friends, his family, and his teenage enemies after he buys a classic red and white 1958 Plymouth Furynamed Christine, a car that seems to have a mind of its own and a jealous, possessive personality, which has a bad influence on Arnie. (Yes, it’s a movie about a supernatural car. But even if it’s all camp, that’s the fun of the movie watch-along: making fun of it in the chat.) Christine is available to rent for under $4 on many different streaming platforms, including amazon and appletv.

(A note on renting/streaming: sometimes you can find these movies free or cheaper with ads. Because we all hit play together so that we’re all watching the same thing at the same time, choosing an option with ads will get you off track from the rest of us. Just something to consider 😋)

BOOK CLUB: THE SHINING

Tuesday, June 24 at 5pm PT / 8pm ET

Our first book for Stephen King Summer will be The Shining. The Shining is a 1977 horror novel and King's third published novel and first hardcover bestseller. It centers on Jack Torrance, a struggling writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a position as the off-season caretaker of the historic Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies. His family accompanies him on this job, including his young son, Danny, who possesses "the shining", an array of psychic abilities that allow the child to glimpse the hotel's horrific true nature. Soon, after a winter storm leaves the family snowbound, the supernatural forces inhabiting the hotel influence Jack's sanity, leaving his wife Wendy and son in grave danger. We watched this movie together last summer and think it’s finally time for us to read this most significant of King’s successes together.

WATCHALONG: THE OUTSIDER (Episode 1)

Sunday, July 20 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET

There have been a number of television adaptations of King’s work recently and we thought it would be fun to start one of those series together. The Outsider is an American psychological thriller-horror crime drama television series based on the 2018 novel of the same name. It premiered on HBO on January 12, 2020. It has an all star cast including, Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, Bill Camp, Paddy Considine, Julianne Nicholson, and Jason Bateman (who also directed the first two episodes). The Outsider is available on Max.

We’ll only be watching the first episode together. You’ll then have the next six weeks to continue watching the series on your own and discuss with other Stephen King Summer participants if you want. (This is a great alternative for Secret Stuffers not ready to invest in reading the lengthy novels.)

BOOK CLUB MEETING: UNDER THE DOME: PART 1

(read through the end of the section titled “Feeling It,” which is through page 496 of the paperback)

Tuesday, July 22 at 5pm PT / 8pm ET

BOOK CLUB MEETING: UNDER THE DOME, PART 2

(from the beginning of the section titled In the Jug, which is page 497 of the paperback, though to the end)

Monday, August 11 at 5pm PT / 8pm ET

Under the Dome is a 2009 science fiction novel by King. It is his 58th published book, and 48th novel. The novel focuses on a small Maine town, and tells an intricate, multi-character, alternating perspective story of how the town's inhabitants contend with the calamity of being suddenly cut off from the outside world by an impassable, invisible glass dome-like barrier that seemingly falls out of the sky, transforming the community into a domed city. We chose this book because it was the one King self- nominated for the NYT best books of the 21st century list.

MOVIE WATCH-ALONG: DOCTOR SLEEP

Sunday, August 24 at at 4pm PT / 7pm ET

Doctor Sleep is a 2019 American supernatural horror film adapted from the 2013 novel by the same name which serves as a sequel to The Shining. The film stars Ewan McGregor as Dan Torrance, (Jack Torrance’s son Danny, all grown up) a man with psychic abilities and a drinking problem, who struggles with childhood trauma caused by the horrors at the Overlook Hotel.

We thought this would be a fun way to cap off Stephen King Summer after reading The Shining. Dr. Sleep is available to rent for under $4 on a variety of different streaming platforms, including amazon and appletv.

Lastly, we have Stephen King Summer merch!

Just for fun, not required in any way. There are t-shirts, sweatshirts, totes, and coffee cups to show your SKS love!

The t-shirts are available in a variety of colors, so pick your favorite.

CLICK HERE to browse the merch.

We can’t wait to celebrate Stephen King Summer with you! It’s one of the most fun things we do all year. Read along, watch along, or just join the meetings for the chat - it’s always a good time!

Stay tuned for more indepth information about each SKS book and movie selections. As usual, the Zoom meetings for the book clubs will be recorded so you can catch the live replays if you can't make it. (We do not record the movie watch alongs.)

QUICK REMINDER (again):

For those Secret Stuff members who aren't interested in Stephen King Summer, our regular Secret Stuff content will still continue. Personal episodes, Symposium (except for July), etc.

Hooray for Stephen King Summer!

Colleen (and Laura)