Of the many Stephen King adaptations that are currently in the works, easily one of the most exciting is Netflix's The Talisman, which is being produced by Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer as well as legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg. As of right now, we don't know for sure when we'll actually get to see the show (in part because of the on-going WGA strike), but there has been an interesting development that could impact the project in the big picture: King is apparently mulling the possibility of writing a second sequel to his 1984 novel, which was co-written by Peter Straub and previously inspired a follow-up titled Black House that was published in 2001.
Straub passed away last fall at the age of 79, but Stephen King has revealed on a new episode of the Talking Scared podcast that he is considering writing a book that would complete the trilogy that starts with The Talisman and Black House. The author brought it up unprompted when he was asked if he'll ever make a dense, large scale epic like The Stand, IT, Under The Dome or 11.22.63 again, and he suggested that the possible sequel would fit that description. Said King,
This one thing that I have sort of in the ‘active’ file… there are two books, The Talisman and Black House by me and Peter Straub, and before he died, Peter sent me this long letter and said, ‘We aught to do the third one.’ And he gave me a really cool idea and I had some ideas of my own. So that would be a long book, if I can actually muster up the energy to write it.
The two existing books in the potential trilogy are tremendously different, but they are tied together by a shared protagonist: Jack Sawyer. The Talisman centers on events when Jack is just 12 years old and desperate to save his mother, who is dying of cancer. With the help of a stranger named Speedy Parker, he discovers that he has the ability to "flip" to an parallel universe called The Territories, and he goes on a long quest seeking the titular token, which is promised to cure what is killing his mom.
Black House catches up with Jack as an adult, the protagonist having spent years as a Los Angeles police officer before taking early retirement and moving to a backwoods town in Wisconsin. As he tries to make a home for himself there, his peace is disrupted by a vicious serial killer known as The Fisherman – and while the psychopath at first seems like typical real-world evil, Jack discovers that he may have his own connection to The Territories (and the larger multiverse of the King canon).
It feels safe to assume that a third story would catch up with Jack Sawyer later in life and put him at the center of an adventure full of fantastical horror... but it's impossible to speculate beyond that with the information provided. Hopefully Stephen King will eventually get around to writing the book, but if not, we can at least keep our fingers crossed that he will eventually share Peter Straub's idea with fans.
While we wait for more news about a Talisman/Black House sequel, King is plenty busy writing other stuff. His new book, Holly, will be available in stores on September 5, and the Talking Scared interview includes announcements of two other titles: a 2024 collection titled You Like It Darker and a new novel called We Think Not (which, like Holly, will center on protagonist Holly Gibney from the Bill Hodges trilogy, The Outsider and "If It Bleeds.")
As for the Netflix adaptation of The Talisman, it's exciting to know that if the show winds up being a hit, King might end up providing the filmmakers with extra source material to work with in later seasons. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more updates about the developing streaming show.
