Ending of the Regulators? (spoilers)

[Jasonbobdude]

I just read The Regulators, it was great (especially after reading Desperation). I was a little confused on the letter at the very end, where Patricia Allen talks about seeing ghosts (Audrey and Seth) at a hotel in New York. The sightings started over a decade before they actually died? And is there any significance to the hotel location, because it seemed kind of random? My theory is that it's just a third alternate universe.

I have to admit, the ending not making any sense DID actually make the story a little better, since it makes you wonder what it all means.

[wally wonder]

guess i should pay more attention to time in stories. don't believe i caught that time thing, jasonbobdue. so i guess everything made sense to me. i get hung up on other stuff, like names. audry wyler. anie wilkes. annemarie whistler. the folk to whom sk dedicated rage.

[Lencho_of_the_Apes]

My memory of that detail is fuzzy, but I think that what I understood at the end was that that hotel was the 'happy place' where Audrey hid when Tak was throwing its weight around. The incidents of ghosts appearing at the hotel happened at the same time as Audrey & Seth's mental visits to that place. If you check back, you may find that that makes sense.

We all float down here.

[Battery55]

I believe I can answer that. Sorry for the late reply. Just finished it about 10 minutes ago. I'm assuming that in 1986 (when the letter was written) Patricia Allen (writer of the letter) was staying at the Mohonk resort. When Audrey went to her safe place in her mind, it was the resort, with her friend Jan. I'm thinking that her safe "when and where" was around this time period, and the letter was suggesting that she and Seth went to this "safe when and where" prior to their death (in spirit and mind). If you read the Dark Tower series you begin to understand how SK puts a twist on the concept of "when and where". Consider the famous line from The Gunslinger by Jake Chambers "Go then, there are worlds other than these." Hope this helps to clarify a little bit. Reply with your thoughts.

[Battery55]

Sorry lencho, just realized that you had already addressed this.

[michal]

To me the ending added quite a lot to the story itself, even if somewhat confusing. And yes, as stated several times in the DT series, time is just a face on the water, and it is in certain places thinner and more flexible than others.

[epthnation]

Yeah, it's definitely the happy place and time Audrey remembered, the place Seth made for her in her mind. They both "go there," right before they get killed. Seth gets there through the door at the end of the mind-hallway at the end, and tells Audrey to go right after he tells Cammie Reed to shoot. Love that ending.

[The Outsider]

I just finished, had to re-read the letter and stuff, but here's my theory. Or theories, I guess. People have already said them but I'll rephrase them.

My first thought was that, oh, that was when Audrey and Seth would mentally "escape" from Tak, and instead of just being lost in intense memories, if you wil, Audrey and Seth actually did journey their, albeit in another plane (maybe they appeared in the parallel universe from Desperation?!)

But then, I thought, with some inspiration from this thread, that they had simply gone there after dying as to preserve their mind and spirit, and that they were seperate from time? Idk. Maybe they went to Desperation's universe instead?

Well, that's my two cents.

[Adrian]

Yea,
I love Bachmann.
RIP .

[lillamis]

Thank you for asking that question - I had completely forgotten about that ending. I think all of you are right, who think that the hotel is Audrey's Happy Place.
I think I have to read the Dark Tower series as you all (also in other threads) keep referreing to it....