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The Plant by Stephen King
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About the author
Stephen King
2,615 books886k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 11, 2025
http://looneybooks79.blog/2025/11/11/...
A publisher of a small New York publishing house is sent a manuscript about magic and demonic infestations. Included with the manuscript are pictures that are very disturbing, among them a picture where a man is sacrificed. John Kenton, editor for Zenith House, is appalled by the manuscript and contacts his friend and colleague, Roger who recommends John to decline the manuscript (which John does with a rejection slip) and to contact the police. John does so but the author, Carlos Dettweiler, is not happy when he hears this and is out for revenge on the publisher. He sends a mysterious plant to Zenith House, to John.
This unfinished novel was written in epistolary format, through letters, memos and diary fragments we follow the events where the publishers are coming under the spell of a vine that overtakes the publishing house and has a hunger for more than just water!
And I have to admit, I knew it was unfinished so when I started it I never expected a story that would have a clear ending. But due to the history of the story it feels very confusing and weird sometimes. There are points within the story I was completely lost at what was happening... Of course, as I said, due to its history (and it has a long and a bit of a weird history) this is not all too crazy and was to be expected... maybe.
Stephen King started The Plant as Christmas gifts, as little chapbooks in 1982, 1983 and 1985 which he sent to a few of his close friends. So the first three chapters in this novel date from the early eighties. Then it was left behind for a long time. With the rise of the internet and e-books, and after he tried a similar thing with 'Riding the Bullet', a novella that was published in 2000, he wanted to continue this story as a serial story. Every month people would be able to pay a certain fee and they would get access to the new installment of the story. He published parts 1 through 3 in the summer of 2000 and continued the next three months with the following chapters. But the interest declined and less and less people payed for the new installments. The storyline changed somewhere in the middle as well as the form (the epistolary style was somehow left behind more and more) and I think people were fed up with the serial publishing. So the experiment, which it was for Stephen King, was abandoned. Later King would offer the story for free, in its entirety, on his website to download. (where it's still available so if you want to read it, go look for it).
The story had/still has a lot of potential and I'm sure that it would make a great book if it were finished (and maybe tweaked here and there) but with King recently saying he might only write two more books (the now finished third Talisman novel and another Holly book) I don't think it will ever happen. Unless he doesn't like unfinished business, like me. Fingers crossed!
So, I can easily say this is definitely not King's best work. And a lot has to do with it being unfinished and with the sudden change in tone midway the story. And in case you might wonder, I thought the second half of the story was the better half. The first three chapters feel rushed and not really like a coherent story.
A publisher of a small New York publishing house is sent a manuscript about magic and demonic infestations. Included with the manuscript are pictures that are very disturbing, among them a picture where a man is sacrificed. John Kenton, editor for Zenith House, is appalled by the manuscript and contacts his friend and colleague, Roger who recommends John to decline the manuscript (which John does with a rejection slip) and to contact the police. John does so but the author, Carlos Dettweiler, is not happy when he hears this and is out for revenge on the publisher. He sends a mysterious plant to Zenith House, to John.
This unfinished novel was written in epistolary format, through letters, memos and diary fragments we follow the events where the publishers are coming under the spell of a vine that overtakes the publishing house and has a hunger for more than just water!
And I have to admit, I knew it was unfinished so when I started it I never expected a story that would have a clear ending. But due to the history of the story it feels very confusing and weird sometimes. There are points within the story I was completely lost at what was happening... Of course, as I said, due to its history (and it has a long and a bit of a weird history) this is not all too crazy and was to be expected... maybe.
Stephen King started The Plant as Christmas gifts, as little chapbooks in 1982, 1983 and 1985 which he sent to a few of his close friends. So the first three chapters in this novel date from the early eighties. Then it was left behind for a long time. With the rise of the internet and e-books, and after he tried a similar thing with 'Riding the Bullet', a novella that was published in 2000, he wanted to continue this story as a serial story. Every month people would be able to pay a certain fee and they would get access to the new installment of the story. He published parts 1 through 3 in the summer of 2000 and continued the next three months with the following chapters. But the interest declined and less and less people payed for the new installments. The storyline changed somewhere in the middle as well as the form (the epistolary style was somehow left behind more and more) and I think people were fed up with the serial publishing. So the experiment, which it was for Stephen King, was abandoned. Later King would offer the story for free, in its entirety, on his website to download. (where it's still available so if you want to read it, go look for it).
The story had/still has a lot of potential and I'm sure that it would make a great book if it were finished (and maybe tweaked here and there) but with King recently saying he might only write two more books (the now finished third Talisman novel and another Holly book) I don't think it will ever happen. Unless he doesn't like unfinished business, like me. Fingers crossed!
So, I can easily say this is definitely not King's best work. And a lot has to do with it being unfinished and with the sudden change in tone midway the story. And in case you might wonder, I thought the second half of the story was the better half. The first three chapters feel rushed and not really like a coherent story.
October 9, 2025
it's not finished
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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