BLACK HOUSE
(2001)
At the end of 1984’s The Talisman, the then-thirteen-year-old Jack Sawyer had just successfully completed his quest to save his dying mother’s life by obtaining the Talisman, the axis of all possible worlds. There ended, as the coauthors of that book indicated, the history of Jack the boy, as he had just taken the first steps on the road to becoming a man.
Over the next several years, fans often raised the topic of a sequel, but answers about Jack’s life subsequent to 1984 were not forthcoming until April 1999, when Stephen King and Peter Straub met to begin outlining a new Jack Sawyer adventure. Although plans to commence the writing of the book were interrupted by King’s accident in June 1999, the duo was able to begin writing in February 2000. Black House was finally published in the late summer of 2001, four days after 9/11.
Structurally, Black House is more reminiscent of Insomnia than The Talisman because of its slow movement from the “real” to the fantastic, and in the fact that its characters (who, like Ralph Roberts and Lois Chase, face off against King’s major villain, the Crimson King) are merely pawns in a much larger cosmic chess game. It also differs from The Talisman in that the writing is more seamless—the authors have stated publicly the great lengths they went to to conceal their specific contributions to the text, and it shows. The book also has the advantage of being written by two more mature,
more seasoned authors. Despite their already immense talents, and their considerable success, they continued to mature as writers. A good example of this is their use of an omniscient narrator for certain portions of the book, another tip of their hat to Charles Dickens’s Bleak House—somewhat distracting at first, it turns out to be a wise choice, even providing the authors with a chance to engage in some self-deprecating humor.
Although serial killers in Wisconsin are squarely in Straub territory, it’s clear that the book is set in the Stephen King universe. (Per publicity materials, the ties to the Dark Tower novels were Straub’s idea.) Besides the Crimson King, there are mentions of Breakers and of Ted Brautigan, a concept and character introduced in King’s Hearts in Atlantis. Interestingly, a link is forged between King’s and Straub’s realities when Milton Wanderley, brother of Don Wanderley from Straub’s novel Ghost Story, is mentioned in passing. So Black House settles some questions about continuity in the Stephen King universe, and raises others.
Might another sequel be in the offing? Well, Peter Straub has said that “Given the tendency of fantasy novels to parcel themselves out in units of three, it would be entirely reasonable to propose a third part to the Talisman series.” Indeed, Straub has publicly expressed his willingness to work with King on a third book. Whether such a book will appear in the future seems to depend mainly on King’s desire to tackle such a project.
BLACK HOUSE: PRIMARY SUBJECTS
JACK SAWYER: Although still drawn to adventure, the Jack Sawyer readers first encounter in Black House remembers nothing of the time he spent in the Territories—a true child of the seventies and eighties, the adult Jack has thoroughly repressed all memories of his harrowing adventures in that strange land. In the ensuing years, Jack has become, to use his own term, a famous “coppiceman,” an LAPD detective whose exploits have garnered him considerable attention in the national press. At several points in the novel, it’s made clear that his success has everything to do with the time he spent in the Territories, and with his experiences with the Talisman itself.
One of Jack’s greatest professional triumphs occurred in the small Wisconsin town of French Landing, where he uncovered a killer who had slaughtered a prostitute in Los Angeles. Jack’s visit to the town left a deep impression on him, so deep that he retired there shortly after the case was
solved. Jack looked forward to a peaceful retirement, but, alas, that was not to be.
French Landing is being terrorized by the Fisherman, a serial killer who preys on young children, dismembering and cannibalizing them. Baffled by the lack of leads, local law enforcement asks Jack for his assistance. Initially reluctant, Jack is finally convinced to help by an innate sense of responsibility and by the prodding of his friend Henry Leyden, a blind DJ who fills the role of Jack’s guide and mentor in the physical absence of The Talisman ’s Speedy Parker. Immersing himself in the case, Jack realizes that the killings are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the evil present in French Landing. Discovering this, he once again finds himself involved with the Territories, where the Fisherman, who serves the cosmic villain known as the Crimson King, disappears with his victims. Jack’s quest leads him to the mysterious Black House, a portal to the Territories, where he will embark on the next phase of his life.
LILY CAVANAUGH: Jack’s mother, actress Lily Cavanaugh, has been dead for several years as of the time the events described in Black House occur. Jack’s musings in the novel reveal that Lily died approximately five years after the events described in The Talisman, from a relapse of her cancer.
CHARLES BURNSIDE: Also known as “the Fisherman,” “Burny” is an aging serial killer who resides in the Maxton Elder Care facility in French Landing. Although infirm, the killer is imbued with new vigor and talents when he is possessed by Mr. Munshun, a servant of the Crimson King. One of these talents is teleportation, which allows Burnside to leave Maxton undetected in search of his chosen prey, young children whom he kidnaps, dismembers, and devours.
Through Munshun, Burnside finds himself in the employ of the Crimson King, who is always in the market for breakers, children whose wild talents can be used to weaken the beams of the Dark Tower. Burnside finds a particularly powerful breaker in French Landing, a young man named Tyler Marshall. Burnside’s kidnapping of Tyler causes Jack Sawyer to become more involved in the Fisherman murders, ultimately leading to Burnside’s demise. Burnside manages to wreak a good amount of havoc before he passes on, however; he is responsible for the deaths of several children, and for the murder of Henry Leyden.
HENRY LEYDEN: Alias George Rathburn, alias the Wisconsin Rat, alias Henry Shake, alias Symphonic Stan, Leyden is a blind man with an affinity for music of all kinds. He also is Jack’s best friend in French Landing. Henry is a parental figure for Jack, filling the roles formerly played by Jack’s mother, Lily, and Lester “Speedy” Parker, Jack’s mentor from the Territories.
Henry, who encounters Charles Burnside when he DJs an event at the Maxton Elder Care facility, eventually realizes that Burnside is the killer after listening to a tape of the killer’s voice provided to him by Jack. Henry is killed by Burnside, but not before he wounds the killer. Ty Marshall later exploits that wound to dispatch Burnside in a truly grisly manner.
DALE GILBERTSON: The chief of police of French Landing, Dale is Henry Leyden’s nephew. Dale becomes friendly with Jack after working with him on the Thornberg Kinderling murder case, eventually selling him his family homestead when Jack decides to settle in French Landing. It is partly a desire to help Dale, who is in way over his head, that draws Jack into the Fisherman case.
JUDY MARSHALL/SOPHIE: In Jack’s world, Judy Marshall is the distraught mother of Tyler Marshall, the Fisherman’s last kidnapping victim. Judy is being driven crazy by her son’s disappearance, and by her connection to her twinner in the Territories, Queen Sophie, successor to Queen Laura DeLoessian. Trying to warn Judy, Sophie has instead brought her to the brink of insanity.
When Jack first meets Judy, he is strangely drawn to her; when he meets her twinner, Sophie, he instantly falls in love with her. As Black House concludes, Jack is convalescing in the Territories under the care of Sophie and Speedy Parker.
TYLER MARSHALL: Tyler is perhaps the most powerful Breaker ever to live, perhaps even more powerful than the legendary Ted Brautigan. His kidnapping by Charles Burnside, a serial killer possessed by a minion of the Crimson King, attracts Jack Sawyer’s interest, ultimately leading to the downfall of the Crimson King’s plans to use Tyler to break the Beams that hold reality together.
Ty proves very resourceful, eventually bringing about the demise of his captor despite being shackled.
THE HEGELIAN SCUM: A gang of highly educated bikers, also known as the Thunder Five, who live on the outskirts of French Landing. They become involved in the Fisherman case when the madman kidnaps the daughter of one of their number, Armand “Beezer” St. Pierre. The gang loses one of its members, Mouse, when they assist Jack in his assault on the Black House.
THE BLACK HOUSE: In Random House’s promotional materials,
Peter Straub says, “As Shirley Jackson would say, Black House is not sane.” Like the Black Hotel from The Talisman, the Black House is a portal to other worlds. The house is located on the outskirts of town, but is not easily located unless one is looking for it. Even then, it is difficult. Fortunately, Jack Sawyer and the Thunder Five locate the house, which they come to realize is a doorway to the reality where Mr. Munshun has taken Ty Marshall.
THE CRIMSON KING: Also referred to as Abbalah in Black House, the Crimson King is the force behind the effort to bring down the Dark Tower.
It is revealed in Black House that the king has spent the last two centuries gathering a massive group of “Breakers” (i.e., those who display wild talents such as precognition, telepathy, and telekinesis) together. The king uses them to hasten the destruction of the Beams that hold reality together. In Black House, the king seeks to secure the cooperation of Ty Marshall, potentially the most powerful Breaker besides Ted Brautigan.
BLACK HOUSE: TRIVIA
• Speedy Parker, Jack Sawyer’s old friend and mentor, is revealed to be a gunslinger from the world of Roland of Gilead.
• Black House was heavily influenced by Charles Dickens’s Bleak House, from which Jack reads aloud to the blind Henry Leyden at one point in the novel.