Connections, connections, connections! *spoilers*

[dwalters]

I just finished Under the Dome, and holy cow what a great story.

One of the things that amazed me most while reading it was how many connections/nods there were to Sai King's other works. I know he likes to throw those around a bit from time to time, but it just seemed like there were a TON in this story.

Some examples:

- Big Jim's uncanny similarity in speech style to Annie Wilkes' from Misery with all the "non-cursing" (cotton-picking, rhymes-with-witch, gosh-darned, etc)

- The symbol on the "box" being identical to the symbol on IT's tiny door

- At one point the expression "Mortimer Snerd" from Carrie being used by... I think it was Dodee? Angie McCain? One of them...

Honestly I can't think of any others off the top of my head and the story is too big to just take a glance at to find more, but it seemed like there was something every 30 pages or so that came from one of his other novels. I know I saw something from Rose Madder, The Dark Tower, Gerald's Game I think, and a whole lot more. Did anyone else notice this or am I just crazy?

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

You are NOT crazy!

Yup, lots o' them.

Long days and pleasant nigjhts

[themadone06]

I did not realize the connection with It!

[RandomMan]

That is one of the many reasons that I enjoy King. I kept looking for a "God Bomb!" to be dropped by Chef till the very end. I love when you read a word of a phrase and get that, "Hang on a second, where did that come from?" Then you remember and it just makes sense...it is all connected! I think that is GENIUS!!!!!

[wally wonder]

yes! there's other connections, as well.

more than one that blew me away! an others in It, too!

[randallFlaggfan1]

I may be a little dense, but I didn't recognize any connections whatsoever.

[PMcVries]

This might have already been brought up, but did anyone else notice the combination to Rennies safe added up to 19?

Just found this forum and joined, and have to say this is very well done. Love it!

[Srbo]

* Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: Junior Rennie inwardly expresses his desire not to go to Shawshank Prison after committing murder.
* Cycle of the Werewolf, Needful Things, and Cell: Chester's Mill is frequently mentioned as being near Tarker's Mill, Castle Rock, and TR-90 (or Kashwakamak), major locations in Cycle of the Werewolf, Needful Things, and Cell, respectively.
* Lisey's Story and Dreamcatcher: The Deep Cut Road, a major setting in the two stories, can be seen on the map of Chester's Mill at the beginning of the novel.
* The Dead Zone: Dale Barbara reflects on how much he dislikes the sound of the phrase dead zone.
* The Talisman and Black House: Barbara also references his desire to get out of town as attempting to "light out for the territories," a phrase borrowed from Mark Twain, which was used frequently in both The Talisman and the sequel Black House.
* Joseph McClatchy reads a discussion online in which the Dome is referred to as a scientific experiment, "like in that movie The Mist." The Mist was based on King's short story of the same name from Skeleton Crew, and was filmed by director Frank Darabont, helmer of the King adaptations The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.
* Two police officers (Jackie and Linda) find a scrap of paper (while investigating Coggin's church) that has the number "1693" written on it. 1 + 6 + 9 + 3 = 19, a number of great importance in King's mythology, especially in The Dark Tower cycle. The number occurs on page 316. 3 + 16 = 19. Later in the story, a young boy named Aidan is wearing a used Shawshank State Prison shirt as a nightshirt. The Prison I.D. number on the shirt is 9091. 9 + 0 + 9 + 1 = 19. This occurs on page 658. 6 + 5 + 8 = 19. Also, when Jim Rennie is at the hospital, it is mentioned that he is in room number 19. The school bus used on Visitor's Day is bus number 19. Also, as a preamble, King uses the phrase "I want you to see this. See it very well," which is a chapter-opening frequently used during the Dark Tower series. The moon appears as a "pink grapefruit" through the dome's surface, a possible reference to "Maerlyn's Grapefruit" from the "Dark Tower" series.
* The alien artifact found in the story, with help from the Geiger Counter, gives off regular flashes of purple light, just as the car does in From a Buick 8, one of King's more recent novels. It also contains a symbol in it that had previously appeared in IT.
* The name Myra Evans, originally a supporting character from Needful Things, also appears as a very minor character in Under the Dome.
* Roger Killian, a chicken farmer and accomplice to Big Jim Rennie's meth-dealing, has a large group of sons. Two have the names, Roland and Randall, are both prominent characters in The Dark Tower series. Randall helps begin the looting of Food City, while Roland is stranded on the outside of the Dome. He also shares a name with Dan Killian, the main antagonist of King's earlier novel The Running Man (published as Richard Bachman).
* TR-90 is mentioned several times in Bag of Bones (Mike Noonan's summer home).
* The town of Haven, Maine was surrounded by an invisible barrier in The Tommyknockers.
* Officer Henry Morrison's elderly parents live in Derry, the main location of It.

[ginapenn]

I am probably the only person to catch this one but the phrase "See anything green" is mentioned in both Under the Dome and Christine.

[dwalters]

Wow, great catches. And thanks for the detailed rundown, Srbo! As I was reading through the story I kept thinking I wish I had kept a notepad handy for any time one of these things popped up.

A couple of others I also remembered recently:

- One of the old-timers (can't remember his name) had a Boston Post cane, which was awarded to the oldest person in town. The same thing was done in Bag of Bones. And of course TR-90 was where that story took place.

- At some point, I want to say it was Julia, considered how great it would be to be a novelist and ride a motorcycle across the country doing talks. Basically this is what Johnny Marinville did in Desperation.

If you remember any others please keep 'em coming!