King, Stephen Easter Egg - R.F.

Roland in the Dark Tower books is a hero. Any King fan knows his full name is Roland of Gilead. Another RF is Richard Fannin. And, the initials RF refer to the same evil character who links a bunch of King's books.

Actually, Roland's last name is Deschain. Roland Deschain of Gilead, Son of Steven. He is not evil, and the above comment is wrong.

I'm pretty sure that an R.F. is mentioned in the Dark Tower books as being responsible for the state of Rolands world. The scarcity of guns, presence of technology that no-one knows how to use anymore etc. He's only mentioned in passing in one of the first couple of books.

my mom showed me that...r is the 18th letter of the alphabet (divided out into 6, 6, 6) and f is the 6th letter of the alphabet...just an interesting add on for you xawie

It is Randall Flag whom Roland chases in the Dark tower series. Flagg, is also the name of the villian in Eyes of the Dragon.

OK, kiddos, here's how it goes: The RF (Randall Flagg, Richard Fannin, et al) are all the same person! If you've read the Dark Tower series, you'll note in "The Wastelands", when Richard Fannin (at the time) was talking to The Tick Tock Man, he mentions several of his aliases, although he denies being the one they called Maerlyn. ("...although I was never That one") It's interesting to note, after reading through his books, how often Flagg shows up, such as Eyes of the Dragon (Flagg), The Stand (the Walking Dude), The Dark Tower Series (The Man in Black), Insomnia (Brief Mention as a servant of the Crimson King), and a slew of others. If you read the notes in the back of one of King's books (Maybe "The Wastelands", I don't remember) he mentions that he has found room for everyone and every world in his Dark Tower series. You also realize from reading his books that the Dark Tower also plays a central role though most of his more recent stories, as, he describes it as, the central linchpin of all possible universes. (Something similar was referenced in "The Talisman", I haven't been able to figure out if they're related yet) Well, enough history, enjoy.

The initials RF aren't used to represent pure evil all the time. Take IT for example, Pennywise doesn't have the initials RF (although he might during the book sometime, I haven't read it in 3 years). Can anyone explain the significance of the Turtle? I know the story of the turtle holding up the world, but that's not very universal (or macroversal for that matter).

In IT the Turtle and Pennywise(IT) were the origional inhabitants of the universe...The turtle symbolizes everything good and IT everything bad...and IT is never reffered to as R.F. Also, King doesnt use R.F. to symbolize all that is evil in ALL of his books...Storm of the Century, IT, Langoleers, and Tommyknockers just to name a few that this allusion was not in. CANT WAIT UNTIL DARK TOWER 5!!!!! has anyone heard anything about its release date yet???

Is there even going to be a Dark Tower 5? I though SK couldn't keep his concentration for very long or something, after the car accident. Correct me if I'm wrong though (and i hope i am).

If you're a big Stephen King fan, like I am, you'll notice Flagg is discovered to be an obstacle in Roland's path to the Dark Tower in Wizard and Glass.

Go to the official Stephen King website and it states somewhere in the Q's and A' that the Dark Tower 5 will be ready for the shelf in 2001 or 2002 and the 6th and hopefully final chapter, will be released in 2003 or 04. Man...he better hurry up...I'm getting fidgety.

Ill be damned if i can find a villain in "Needful things" with the initials RF. The owner of the store is Leland Gaunt. Been quite a few years since I've read the story, but there might be one of the townspeople with those initials.

alright..... here it is children.... Stephen King is a master mind at webbing his stories to make up think... ive tried this technique and it works.... i think that Stephen King already as several books written... he is just teasing us.... jerk.. my theory is that he is tying all of his books together for a great big this-is-my-last-book .... book.... i hypothosize that this novel will be at least 3000 to 4000 pages long.. and it will sum up all lose ends and create a beginning point for a future Master Mind Novelist...... Dave

look friends i think you are missing just one point king one in dark tower entioned that RF(mearlyn,merlim,the dark man) is son of the devil . so maybe the beast is father of randall . ok? i know a lot about this story you cam e mail me for your questions

In IT, Pennywise had another name....Robert , and the last name was something that I can't remember....but the initials were carved on the trunk when Beverley went to visit her father but there was that old lady there instead..

I believe that IT was actually modelled after a Yucatan/Mayan demon loosely referred to in an RPG I play. When he was dying, he turned into a big spider that ran off...he also had the skull emblem on his abdomen. All of these, PLUS his behavior match the idea of the spider death weaver from Mayan mythology. S.K. is known to dip into obscure mythology to create his evil characters or their motivations. Hastur the unspeakable is mentioned in 'Gramma', and in the Amazing Stories television adaptation of the same story, the kid finds a copy of the Necronomicon, he also refers to the Necronomicon in 'I Know What You Want'. He also refers to a hand of glory in the Mangler, which, unless you're into occult horror or the occult itself, you want know of. In other words, not all of his evil beings are RFs. For that matter, The Shining, Christine, 'Salem's Lot (mentioned in a Fantastic Four comic once...The Thing was reading it (terrified) and when tapped on the shoulder, inhaled his cigar), Cujo, the Creepshow movies, Maximum Overdrive, and none of the Bachman books contain mention of Randall Flag. I don't believe that Desperation contains mention of him either (Tak!). Did anyone else notice the appearance of Christine in The Stand? Subjugator

i dont know wheter christine appeared in the stand but you should notice that in the christine owner of the car was named "Roland D(eschain). Lebay" is not it strange?

Wouldn't it be great if the man himself came and straightened everything out for good? Wouldn't it be funny if he didn't even coonsciencly realize the R.F. thing? Doubtful but hilarious!

In IT, several times It says It's name is Bob or Robert Gray. I know for sure this is right, because I'm re-reading the book right now and I have it opened to one page where It says this.

Hail! SK readers of the world. Well met.

I have read all but 3 King books (his 3 most recent ones.) He makes many references. From characters, to towns, to colors. He currently lives in Maine, and if you really want to know what is going on try going to www.stephenking.com. He has an internet book out... it is coming out in parts like the Green Mile. It is explained why on his site, he is doing it. Hearts of Atlantis is "part" of the Dark Tower series. It isn't listed as such but as you look through the site... you find it out. Any true fan can follow his books and knows most of these easter eggs.

The new Dark Tower book entitled Thunderclap should be out by the end of next year or early 2002. It will include the character Father Callahan from Salem's Lot. If you are wondering where he ends up after leaving the bus station, he winds up at the edge of Thunderclap. I think Flagg represents Stephen Kings version of the antichrist, so R.F. may have a biblical significance. In IT alias Bob Gray "BG" not "RF" represents everything we are scared of as children, "IT" is more of a symbol of pure evil than RF is. Flagg is a wizard whereas "IT" is a shape shifting alien entity based upon Indian folklore. Both are very common universal evils religious and mythical. In Stephen Kings world there is room for many demons and monsters, but the ultimate evil appears to be the Beast that is housed in the Dark Tower which lies at the heart of the realm of Thunderclap. Flagg and "IT" are but messengers of this evil as is the Crimson King from Insomnia. If you noticed in Stephen Kings latter books that they are dominated with references to the Dark tower, which leads me to believe that the story in his mind is nearly complete, its just a matter of him publishing them which should be seven books in all. In terms of symbolism Roland is human kinds last hope while the Crimson King is the evil standing in Rolands way, the Dark Tower is more or less the classic story of good versus evil. It is modern day Lord of the Rings written in a way that reflects our society. I could write about this forever.

Maybe there is no substantial link between the Dark Tower series and the rest of his books. Maybe the only link is the subconscious one created by King because he has more than one plot in his head at one time. Has anyone even considered that maybe there was no intention of making all his books seeming to revolve around Dark Tower? Think about it-if you have an idea stuck in your head it influences any thing you do while it's stuck there. He has had Dark Tower and all of it's components stuck in his head for a long time now, so as he wrote the books that have coincided with the creation of Dark Tower maybe those ideas subconsciously leaked over to his other books. Just a thought. Consider all the possibilities. They are without end.

okay here we go. Flagg is a demon named legion. he is called this in the stand andre linoge is also called legion in storm of the century. pennywise calls himself legion in it. they all have similar powers. in the stand, flagg wanted a kid. in SOTC, linoge wanted a kid. there is a lot of stuf going on in kings books , you just have to pay attention.

Well, first, I don't claim to be no Stephen King mastermind, but I do know this. In IT, Pennywise is not the real IT, it is more a figment of the characters imaginations brought on by the spider-monster. The monster is the real IT, a giant spider that hibernates but comes to feed every 30 years (or whatever the timing is, I forget). Pennywise does not turn into a spider, the spider was there all along. Pennywise was a side effect of whatever powers the spider has when it is coming to feed. Make sense? Probably not.

concerning the Necronomicon: If you know about Lovecraft, then you know that the Necro and its author (the mad Arab, can't remember the name right this second) were fabrications that Lovecraft used to connect the Mythos together. there is no "real" necronomicon, just some books that authors who write in the Mythos universe created to add to the series. thank you, linnea4

Everyone who has left a comment appears to know their stuff when it comes to Stephan King. But RF turns out to be Martin Broadcloak Roland's father's wizard and adviser. Who also had an affair with Roland's mother.

This is what makes him the King!! WE WANT MORE!

It is actually a long term goal that Stephen King has had to pull ALL of his "places" together. Ever since the original The Stand was published he had a dream to pull every story from the Langoliers to Sun Dog to the Regulators all into the World he has created in The Stand and The Dark Tower Series. These are the two main focal points. If you want to see what HE (Stephen King) means read the ORIGINAL The Stand (uncut) and the Dark Towers series in order. The Wizard (last Dark Tower book) really pulls it all together for the readers (you see Flag(from the Stand) as the Dark Man) He stated that he will start to write the new book this month (Jan -01) YEAH!!!!!! and it will pull it together even more. This was all revealed in an interview I saw on I think A&E or something and his official Website

What about other characters in The Dark Tower series (ie:Freddy, Susanah) and other SK books? Also consider other books that SK wrote under his alias (ie : Richard Bauchman), any eggs there? hmmmmm

Subjugator (and linnea4, for that matter), Indeed, the Necronomicon was invented whole-cloth by Howard Phillip Lovecraft, and so was Hastur the Unspeakable. Recall that King basically grew up reading Lovecraft, and look for references to Lovecraft's work in the earlier post-pseudonym short stories, especially in the _Night Shift_ collection (I'll even give you "Jerusalem's Lot" and "I Know What You Need" for free). I don't think, however, that any of the villains in question had the initials R.F.; I rather believe that only one of King's bad guys does have those initials, and happens to appear in many of King's books using different identities.

Ah, friends, remember...most of the villains whose names are not variations on "RF" appeared in THE CASTLE ROCK STORIES. Needful Things ended that series, and Dark Tower became the link to a new series.

I don't think all the characters that are evil have those initials. What about The Shining, or IT? They both have very evil characters (Jack T., the clown) and they don't have those letters at all.

There are very few books in which there are a character of pure evil. I think the dark tower series, needful things and the stand are basically it. The initials of the devil in Needful Things is L.g. Leeland Gaunt, not R.F. and to all you people who think Pennywise is pure evil King is quoted in It as saying "He is what every child fears, but adults have no notice of him" so he can't be pure evil, maybe a division of it.

Also worthy of mention : In the first story from Hearts in Atlantis (Low men in yellow coats) the low men are the servants of the Crimson King, the man that the child in INsomnia says hates Roland (he's standing on the tower in little Patrick Danville's picture) and the old man (in atlantis, i forget his name) was a breaker, a man forced by the Crimson King to break the beams. These are the beams that are generated from the kiosk that the Bear guards. Of course, at the end of insomnia, we learn that that the kid who gets saved (patrick danville) dreams about roland, and when he doesn't die, its says "...in a desert that was the apothosis of all deserts, a man named Roland turned over in his bedroll and slept easily again underneath the alien constallations" which, of course, shows that the entire book of Insomnia was just an offshoot to Dark Tower. Email me if you wanna talk some more about King's masterpieces, i Love this stuff.

For those familiar with Lovecraft and the Necronomicon, you might like to know that King actually wrote his on story to add to the Cthulhu mythos. I believe it was called "Couch End," and it appears in several Mythos compilations. It also interesting to note that Lovecraft was also a master at tying all his stories together. Indeed, Lovecraft created his own mythology (ie. the Elder Gods) and his own dream world. Nearly all Lovecraft's stories revolve around his dream world and mythology, which can only be fully pieced together by reading his entire collection. Perhaps King was inspired by Lovecraft's intertwining techniques and is likewise trying to revolve all his books around a common theme?

Roland's last name is Deschain, the reason I know this is because his father's last name is Deschain, and in Wizard and the Glass it says Roland son of Deschain, or something to that effect. At least I think so, its been awhile since I read the book. Roland of Gilead is just a title.

Also King's character's are never truly good or evil. They are often in between. From what I have gathered from reading his books is that every person has both good and evil in them. Such as Bobby from Hearts in Atlantis (I haven't finished it yet, but just commenting on what I have read so far), is that Bobby, though innocent in the beginning turns out to get himself into a lot of trouble, and doing 'bad' things. Roland is another person who is both good and evil, in his youth he bought a prostitute (and is viewed in many societies as wrong or bad), it also seems that he kills without remorse, and feels everything he does is just. In Insomnia, I forget the man's name, the one who was the wild card and beat his wife, well in the end before he did what he was going to do, he had a picture of his wife and child, and he was crying. I have also read quite a few more (which I cant remember at the moment) that the characters are both good and evil. Not just black and white, but gray. What is so great about King's writings is that the characters are so real. Not just pure good and pure evil, but a mixture of the two. Take the Dark Tower itself for example, even though bad stuff is happening BECAUSE of it, if it is destroyed all is doomed. So we need that constant balance, and right now it seems as if the balance has been shifted to the 'darker gray' side of things.

There will be a total of 7 books for the Dark Tower Series. From what I have heard King has them all in mind and is just writing them on paper. He also wants to get 5 and 6 out soon, but I have also heard that he will release his final book of the series after his death. So don't expect that one too soon. Also hasn't anyone noticed the connection with the name Bobby or Robert?

All right guys, you're looking for references to Randall Flagg in SK's books. Here is what I can remember RF first appeared in either The Stand or The eyes of the dragon. He has since appeared in The Stand: Uncut, The Dark Tower, and a slew of others. He is the man in black, and the walking dude. linoge is also an incarnation of him. look at his mannerisms and the way he plays with all on the island. those are the trade marks of the Walking dude. And, yes I remember him referring to the Crimson King. The evil of the Crimson King and of RF are similar. he is a true pawn. Gaunt, too, is older than time, if he is not RF then he is probably a pawn of his. His M.O. is the same as RF, take, kill, destroy. RF, i believe is also mentioned in a few of SK's short stories, but I am hard pressed to remember them by name. RF's name may be legion and we can see he is many, but another name for him is Evil, for that is what he is. As for the Necro. From my research it did exist, and the Mad Arab wrote three others before it. Though not directly related to RF, this is an odd bit of trivia. Blessings, Korendil.

Yes, Stephen King DOES connect many of his books, Randy Flagg is in the Wastelands - he says to the tick tock man that he MUST say to him, "My Life For You!" as Trashcan Man did in The Stand. Lets see... Tommyknockers mentions: Pennywise the Clown; Two teens are sent to Derry for batteries, the boy, Tommy Jacklin sees the clown. The shop is mentioned. Dead Zone mentions Carrie Dolores Clairborne and Geralds game are directly linked. Insomnia - the Dark Tower is mentioned, as is Roland. Mike Hanlon and Ben Hanscom (IT) are mentioned. So is IT "You don't know it, human, but shape changing is a time honored tradition in this town" KA, Ka-tet. Ludlow - Ralph and Lois in Doc #'s den find Gage Creed's shoe. Chris Nell, Officer A. Nell's grandson. ALSO, this one kills me because I can't remember the last name.. Ed. WTF is his last name. Anyway, in Drawing of the three, a man named Andrew, same last name as Ed, gives Jake his first riddle in the bookstore. Why can't I remember the name? Needful Things - Cujo, Frank Dodd, George Bannerman, Thad Beaumont, basically anything Castle Rock related, Needful Things/Cujo/Dark Half/Dead Zone Bag of Bones - Ralph Roberts, Thad Beaumont, Castle Rock, Derry Gunslinger Series - Randy Flagg, Trashcan Man There's sooo many. Check out http://www.acay.com.au/~normab/king/king-1.htm It's an excellent source.

I remember noticing the Flagg relationship back when The Stand came out but there was no connection to the one in eyes of the dragon that I could see. With him bringing RF back for The Dark Tower though I think he is a regular character. But one thing to notice...in the Dark Tower they reference Randall Flag from the Stand ('my life for yours'...trashcan man's mantra) but they also mention two people chasing a one eyed wizard in the first Dark Tower book. This is a reference to the Flagg from Eyes of the Dragon. Also, I believe in Rose Madder, when Rose goes into the world of the painting, she's actually going into the Dark Tower world as it makes references to 'ka'. The sequel to The Talisman is supposed to have some new stuff on The Dark Tower, Flagg, and The Crimson King though. Also...does anyone remember the book IT mentioning a UFO crashing in prehistoric times in the area of Derry? That might reference The Tommyknockers as they take place near eachother.

Here's a juicy tidbit that not many people know about. There is another Dark Tower story out there that Steve didn't let us know about. I have it. It's set before we meet Roland in the Dark Tower, but after all his friends are dead. It's called "The Little Sisters of Eluria". Where can I read this story? you say. It's found in a compilation of famous writers a book called 'Legends Volume 1'. Edited by Robert Silverberg, copyright 1998.

Most hard-core fans will recognize that the reason all his evil characters have the initials R.F. is because....they are all the same man, just with a different name each time. Stephen King obviously intends there to be some sort of theme connecting most of his books together, which all tie in with his Dark Tower Series. I think the Dark Tower books are going to be the pinnacle of his career...when they're done, so is he, folks.

I've only recently read the dark tower series (yes, I agree, I should have read them much earlier). It makes everything make sense. I noticed someone mentioning the UFO crashing in Derry in the prehistoric time, this effect was due to the gradual decay of the world, which messes with time. Once our group of gunslingers reach Topeka and destroy Blaine (something seems very familiar about him, is there anyone like him in any of King's other books) they see that the Topeka they are in is the topeka in the where and when of the stand. This fact is affirmed by them finding a car with a note saying that the black woman in their dreams is in nebraska and that the walkin dude is in Las Vegas. As for the matter of Roland being a true hero, this is very untrue, King demonstrates in The Dark Tower series that he is very "gray" as it was put. The reason for this above all is his obsession with the tower, which causes him to let Jake die for the first time. Could the end of Wizard and the glass (Roland crying, expressing raw emotion for the first time) signify a weakness in his gunslinger-ness? I've been reading Kind since I was in 5th grade and he is the best modern author alive today, can't wait for dark tower 5. "Then go; there are other worlds than this one"

All of you that are reading this or major Stephen King fans all need to pick up & read "THE Stephen King Universe" by Stanley Wiater, Christopher Golden, & Hank Wagner. It explains & points out all the connections in the SK universe up to but not including Dreamcatcher. This book uncovers all the major connections plus all the real little ones. I'm a major reader & collector of SK & it pointed things out to me that I missed! Plus the new book by King & Peter Straub "The Black House" (A sequel to the Talisman.) coming out on Sept. 15th, has major connections to the Dark Tower series & the 1st story in "Hearts Of Atlantis". According to King it can almost be considered a Dark Tower book.

Roland's last name is Deschain. And in "The Eyes of The Dragon" The magician is only called Flagg, with no first name. Also, in that book, it says Flagg used different names in the past that didn't have the RF rule. Randall Flagg also appeared in the 4th Dark Tower book

That is a very good observation. I would like to comment on Stephen King's choice of the initials, R.F. Roland could very well end up being a villain. This wouldn't be the first time that he has taken this approach. In Dolores Claiborne, the woman who is a good person, does something really bad, though King justifies it. In Misery, the woman who saves the protagonist, ends up being pretty evil, crippling the poor man. Also, Roland, in the Wizard, has a vision that all of his friends die. I wouldn't be surprised if after all of these adventures, he ended up having to sacrifice all of his friends for the dark tower, this egg makes it possible to have many different twists for the ending of the series.

All right, all right. R.F. is not in every S.K. book, but Flagg is in quite a few. I believe each RF is the same person, reappearing in different times, places, worlds and books. At the end of the Stand, Flagg (the Walkin Dude) wakes up on an island, not really remembering anything. This shows the constant balance between good and evil. Flagg is never really destroyed, just displaced somewhere else. Has anyone else noticed that Christine and Cujo are in the first couple of minutes of Cat's Eye?

R.F. is called Legion in The Stand. Legion is also in Storm of the Century, which CrimsonFreak mentioned. Legion is a demon from the bible, it inhabited a herd of pigs which Jesus drove into a lake & killed, Legion mentions that it goes by many names. Legion has been used in many a story I believe, The Exorcist , possibly Del Del by Viktor Keller and definitely Red Dwarf episode ;]

In "Eyes of the Dragon" Flagg prepares the poison to be put into Roland's drink and travels to the tropthy room. To quote: "On the night Flagg took the poisoned wine to Roland, he first made himself dim." SK tells us that since invisibility is not possible, dim is the most that Flagg can do. In "Hearts in Atlantis," in the final chapter Bobby says he did not see Denise/Carol at Sully's funeral. To quote: "'I'm good at not being seen,' she said. It's a trick someone taught me a long time ago. The trick of being dim.' She shuddered a little." What do you think, my friends? Did Carol meet someone she should not have? Is there a part of Flagg's history that SK has not told us yet? Please feel free to write me about these kinds of connections.

RE: "The Little Sisters of Eluria." I could not find the book that was referred to in a previous post. However, by serendipity, just today I found the audio book of "Everything's Eventual." It contains five of the stories of the book, including "The Little Sisters..." The story should be good, as it is 3 CDs long! Y'all should not have too much trouble finding this audio book, it has just been released. Thanks, Rick

Hey,guys. Roland of Gilead's last name is actually Deschain (his father being Steven Deschain [DT IV]). And Randal Flagg isn't the son of the devil. Actually, according to Tom Cullen's trance in The Stand, he is a demon named Legion. There is a biblical reference to Legion when Jesus drives his spirit from a man and into a herd of swine, who then drown themselves. (This should be in one of the gospels, maybe Mark). Anyway, King also said in the Afterword of DT IV that it was sort of turning out that all of his stories took place in Roland's universe. And when Roland, Eddie and Susannah and Jake (and Oy) get off Blaine in Topeka, it's around 1987, but in the Stand, Captain Trips doesn't get loose until 1990. They're slighly different universes, denoted by the strange fast-food restaraunts and car brand names. Anyway, my theory is that in all the billions of different universes, the "Worm" [DT III] in the tower manifests in different ways- either Gilead Moving on, or It being under Derry and the turtle dying- and I also think Captain Tripps getting loose is just our world moving on. It all comes back to the Tower, Baby. Read the poem if you can find it- it's awesome. Also, there's a fairy Tale called Childe Rowland, and he goes to the Dark Tower in Elfland to retrieve his sister, Burd Ellen. In that book he is the son of King Arthur and Queen Gwenevra, and King Alludes to that in DT IV and Eyes of the Dragon- Both Rolands are succeeded from Arthur Eld. And that's not in Browning's version. Pretty cool, huh?

There was also a Roland in Christine, who was the original owner of Christine, wasn't he? Did King give Roland a chance to redeem himself in the Tower series? Are they alter egos in different realities?

OK -- I'm not by any means a big SK fan... I enjoy the movies but haven't read more than one or two of the books. In fact the only reason I'm here is cuz it's 3:30am and I'm an incurable insomniac but it occurs to me that RF, IT, and RG (Robert Gray from IT or Roland Gilead) do have one thing in common -- if you take the numerical values of their initials and multiply them together then add the digits of the product the sum equals 9. example: R F = 18 6 18*6=108 1+0+8=9 Now to any of the mathematically inclined out there, it should be apparent that this is cuz R=18=9*2 and I=9 and multiples of 9 will add up to multiples of 9 (9*123454321=1111088889).... and of course this doesn't work with SK or Leland Gaunt (who seems to be the odd man out no matter how you play it)... Hmm... actually L^G sums to a multiple of 9.... and that would work with R^F, I^T, and R^G too... and the occultists out there could take three sixes and get nine if they wanted.... and speaking of the occult i dont wanna start a flame war about the origins of the necronomicon (HPL made it up though -- with some basis in real texts) but the proper name of the supposed author (the 'mad arab') is Abdul Alhazred or any number of slight variations.... OK it's 4am now and I'm gonna take some sleeping pills and prolly never see this website again -- have fun all!

Roland's last name is Deschain.

Meep, sorry to get off-topic a wee bit, but in reply to what katwoman posted.. You can also find "The Little Sisters of Eluria" in another book, a collection of short stories written by Stephen King. It's called "Everything's Eventual". Just a crappy side note.

To Celeborn and anyone else who cares: Stephen King was not making it a big secret that Carol Gerber met Flagg (or whatever evil he represents) in Hearts In Atlantis. In fact, they tell us pretty much right out. In the part of the book where Blind Willie is looking at his newspaper clippings in his memory book about Carol, it is stated that the leader of the anti-war organization Carol was a member of was Raymond Fiegler. Raymond Fiegler, RF... you get it.

I believe the Turtle is one of the eight anchors for the beams in the Dark Tower. Also, an observation I just made, and I haven't seen anyone else mention it... Not only is Andre Linoge figuratively legion, but Linoge rearranged actually SPELLS legion... On a side note, the Heavy Metal band ANTHRAX released a song about Randall Flagg. "Among the Living." - "I am the walkin' dude, I can see all of the world, grip your mind with fear, I'm the man with the power, Among the Living, follow me and die..."

Randall Flagg surely first (chronologically in Stephen's mind) appeared in "Tears of a Dragon" , as a direct reference to the evil one. He had already been mentioned him, in "Real Time" with "The Stand" (Book One - this was set in 20th Century as opposed to Medieval Times). "Tears of a a Dragon" was his Genesis (Book Zero) because after "The Stand" he is the "Dark Man" in the "Dark Tower" series referring to "Tears of a Dragon" as how he debauched Roland's Mother, which for some strange reason pissed off Roland, knowing that Roland would pursue him. SK has recently said "Thunderclap" concludes the Dark Tower series leaving many to think why he has left it at five books instead of seven. I suggest that he has purposely brought round his latest book as the final tome in his story of Roland (Browing is excellent) and the Dark Tower (although Roland is not in "The Stand") to an end. Moore worrisome is iven his eye condition maybe this is THE END

Now, finishing reading the third of the Dark Tower series, found your RF you've been looking for. His name's Ricard Fannin. Found his name near the end of the book (Page 547 or thereabouts). So far, I believe he's gonna get the Tick-Tock Man to do something to Roland but "good ole Ticky" isn't a giant, he's like a kid. Being a kid, he's still big since he is in this line of giants. Oh well, that's my two cents.

In The Stand, Randall Flagg is also referred to as Legion(by Tom Cullen), so if you take R,L, and F and put them in alphabetical order, they are exactly six letters away from each other

I believe that all the villains in SK books are either Randall Flagg, or being influenced by his evil.

The villain on Needful Things is Leland Gaunt. I finished it yesterday, so I'm very sure of this.

Regarding the Necronomicon: Written by the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred (really H.P Lovercraft). Many of Lovecraft's stories reference Miskatonic University and/or the town of Arkham (both in Massachusetts) I wonder if SK may have adopted the habit of using the same fictional places from HPL. One of my books even has an SK quote refering to HPL as the greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale.

OK, just to clarify on this R.F. thing, well i dont know if you have noticed but King is a big fan of rock music, well the Crimson King is taken from a very popular prog rock band called King Crimson; which King is a big fan of; well the founder of the band is the guitarist mastermind Robert Fripp, hence the R.F., there's nothing biblical about it, its just a play on words.

hey man. hope this is u that posted that comment re: RF and the use of it in stephen king's works. i'm an avid reader of king (favorite is koontz tho) and i'm just now picking back up with the tower series at V with Wolves... i know i'm slack.....but i love how king alludes to RF (and so many other characters) in all of his stories. it used to be that people would refer to crossing stories as the Castle Rock series, then overtwined with the dark towers, then it just got befuddled. well, i'm a writer myself, kinda....looking to get published. i mostly write poetry, but my novels and short stories are king/koontz inspired (knockoffs). when i write a poem, i usually write it from start to finish w/in 10-20 mins and let it be; however, on this one, i did some research. i wanted to write a poem about satan taunting man and how he has given clues to his potential defeat, but no one will will recognize much less discover because of man's self-righteous state of mind. it's entitled I Am 18 and Six. Doesn't take long to figure that one out....... I wanted to to reference as many RF's as i could to prove or back up "his" argument. i came up with my favorite old argument: Nicolae Tesla's obsession with Radio Frequency. Also, the mind-robbing toy of the children in the "old days" which was just a wagon, but now reviled as much more....the Radio Flyer. i then came up with more "stars" that have captivated us in the recent years with sports...such as the A's wicked hurler Rollie Fingers, and the dominant tennis star Roger Federer. Also, are the captivating poet Robert Frost, and the diabolic yet brutaly honest comedian Redd Fox. kinda goes to show anyone can make a mountain out of a mole-hill, huh?.................awesome insight on your comments tho!!!......

I've been on an audiobook jag as of late and I am just finishing up my favorite King novel "IT". As I listened I noticed a few things that I had not noticed before. I first read "IT" in 1990 around the time the miniseries came out, this was the first Adult novel I had read. I was 9 years old. Having read many of Mr. King's books since then I now appreciate the references that I missed the first time around. One of the first things to pop out at me was the use of Mr. Dick Hallorann. You may remember him as the African American chef at the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining". He appeared when Mike Hanlon's Father was telling the story of the fire at the "Black Spot" in 1930. He was in Mike's Father's Army unit and saved his life during the fire (by knowing to get out through a window instead of the door-- a bit of the Shining, perhaps? There was another interesting connection. That being MR. Robert Gray. Bob Gray. I had recently watched "Dreamcatcher" (sadly, I have not read it.). Much of "Dreamcather" takes place in Derry. The 'monster' in "Dreamcatcher" was an alien named, Mr. Gay (found to be Mr. GRAY.) There was, as mentioned prior, a part in "IT" wherein RichieTozier and Mike Hanlon are in the "smoke hole" and have a vision of the coming of "IT" to Maine. It was described as a sort of spaceship (but NOT a spaceship) that comes crashing to prehistoric Earth in the area of what would become in a million years or so better known as "the Barrens" and Derry, Maine. The "IT" character, throughout the book, mentions it's name as being Mr. Robert (Bob) Gray including the scene where Bev goes back to her old apartment and meets it's "daughter" who "explains" quite a bit about "IT". Though the character "it" dies at the end of the book there are hints that it may not have died after all or at least has spawned a new generation of creatures (eggs layed.) "It" having been, after all, a female.). The Character Gary Jones, under the influence of Mr. Gray, is looking for the Derry Standpipe (Quabbin Reservoir in the movie. a real place. and beautiful to boot.) and sees a statue commemorating "The Losers" on the base is spray painted "Pennywise LIVES!!". The characters in "Dream catcher, as children, meet for the first time in the parking lot of Tracker Brothers Shipping on Kansas St.--tracker bros depot in 1958. This is also where Eddie see's pennywise again as an adult for the first time after returning to Derry. There are more than a few references to "Shawshank prison" from the story "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" and of course the movie "The Shawshank Redemption". There happens to be a brief, though important, appearance of the 1958 Plymouth Fury (Butch Bowers dream car.) The Fury is none other than the car from "Christine" (which also appears in "The Stand"). There are plenty of other references in this book and in the book "Insomnia" including places, events and people ("Insomnia" characters Ralph Roberts and Joe Wyzer are also both in King's "Bag of Bones"). Butch Bowers, Henry Bowers' (the bully) father, is mentioned in recollection by Ralph's mom. Mike Hanlon is the town Librarian in "Insomnia", along with mentions of Ben Hanscomb designing the Derry Civic Center (Which the Crimson King-villain of the Dark Tower series,-- tries to have blown up by Ed Deepneau, flying a plane full of c4 kamikaze style into it. not to destroy it but to kill Patrick Danville--another main character in the Dark Tower series.) and Officer Nell, the Irish cop who catches the Losers flooding out the Barrens. There are also mentions of The Black spot fire, The Standpipe, Juniper Hill Asylum (Where Henry spent his adult life until. escaping with the help of "It" and going after the adult "Losers", Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes thrift store (Where Bill buys back his bike "Silver", The Barrens, The Aladdin Theater (where Richie, Ben and Bev see "I was a teenage werewolf" and barely escape Henry and his gang. There is a mention of the death of Adrian Mellon (one of "It's" first victims in the 1985 cycle), The Paul Bunyon statue (The same that tried to kill Richieafter escaping from Henry and his goons.), the flood of 1985 (The one that destroyed much of Derry when "The LLoser's battled "IT".) Ralph also sees an aura coming from a manhole cover (the home of "it") along with experiencing "the Deadlights" (the closest the characters get to seeing "it's" true form.) These are only connections with "Insomnia" and "The Shining". There are connections with other works. The Dark Tower series not only has a character named "Stuttering Bill" (a robot, Not Bill Denbrough) but a major allusion to "The Turtle". this "turtle" appeared numerous times throughoutthe novel "It", starting with Georgie Denbrough falling into a sort of trance as he got the paraffin for the paper boat Bill was making him. He saw the turtle graphic on a can of Turtle Wax and lost himself in a half remembered vision of it. "The Turtle" is the guardian of the porthole in book 3 of the Dark Tower series (And possible deity who created the universe though there is mention of "The Other" being perhaps the creator of both "It" and "The Turtle"). Apparently "It" killed the "Turtle" by feeding it galaxies, hence the line "The turtle can't help us" repeated several times throughout the novel. "It" was a creation from the void in and around the universe (The Macroverse). Similar to the Todash Darkness in "The Dark Tower". There are other smaller connections. The mention of Ben being near Gatlin, Nebraska when he get's Mike's phone call. Gatlin is the setting for "The Children of the Corn". As an adult Den lives in Hemingford Home, Nebraska ("the nearest town to Gatlin" as mention in "CotC"). This is where Mother Abigail lives in "The Stand" and where the "good" characters are called to in the book. This is also the home of Larry and Katrina in "The last rung on the ladder" a King short Story. It is also in King's "Full Dark, No Stars" in one of the four novellas. in Mike references a town in Texas with a statistically low crime rate. A reference to "The end of the whole mess", a King short story. a mention in "Grey Matter" by an old man , talking about there being dark corners in the world beyond our human comprehension and as an example talks about a friend who was a sewer worker. He abruptly quits his job because he saw a huge spider in the sewers. The story "The Library Policeman" bears a striking similarity to that of "It" as both are about a shape shifting creature that feeds on fear. In "suffer the little children" Eddie walks up to the door of Witcham Church where is emblazoned "suffer the little children that come unto me". Beverly mentions a "...Crazy cop who killed all those women in Castle Rock, Maine." a reference to the character Frank Dodd in "The Dead Zone". in the novel "Duma Key" a some lyrics are used and written is "Permission to use lyrics from 'Dig' by Shark Puppy (R. Tozier, W. Denbrough)" (Richieier and Bill Denbrough) also, in "The girl who loved Tom Gordon" is an ackaacknowledgmentics from 'Gotta Get Next To Next You (Jus' Slip Me A Taste)' by Richie 'Records' Tozier, copyright 1998 Soul Fine Music. Used by permission". A Doctor in "Firestarter" shares a name with Patrick Hockstetter, the boy who dies in the old fridge at the town dump as Bev watches. in "Misery" writer Paul Sheldon remembers being neighbors with Eddie Kasprack.k.k. The novel "The Tommy knockers" shares several similarities plus a couple of direct connections with "It". The town of Haven is near to Derry. One of the characters, driving through the town of Derry, see's a ..."clown, with silver dollars for eyes, holding a bunch of balloons" waving at him from a storm drain. In King's most recent novel "under the Dome" there is a symbol on the box that controls the dome, this symbol is the same as the symbol on "It"'s lair. Derry, Maine itself first appeared in King's "The Bird and the Album". Derry jetport is refereed to in the Bachman book "The running man". I'm sure I could go on and on with this but instead here is a list of stories and novels which concern or mention Derry: "Autopsy Room Four" Bag of Bones The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower Dream catcher Insomnia It Pet Sematary The Tommy knockers The Running Man Needful Things "The Road Virus Heads North" "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" "Uncle Otto's Truck" Secret Window, Secret Garden Lisey's Story Mute The Night Flier Derry is also mentioned in One on One, a 1993 novel by King's wife, Tabitha. In an afterword, she thanks "another novelist who was kind enough to allow me" to use the town's name. King's oldest son, under the pen name Joe Hill, also used Derry in "Horns" his 2010 novel. King, of course, crosses characters over in nearly all of his works. One interesting example is that of his novel "desperation" and his Bachman book "The regulators" which mirror each other in many ways. I'm sure, given the time and energy, one could write an entire book on the subject of King's overarching theme or story contained within his collected works. Maybe someday he himself will do so. These are just the very basic , top layer connections and is by no means a comprehensible list. Just some interesting information for fans, like myself, of Mr. King's work and the Tolkienian'Lovecraftian scope of it.