Much of the compulsion I felt while writing The Stand obviously came from envisioning an entire entrenched societal process destroyed at a stroke. I felt a bit like Alexander, lifting his sword over the Gordian knot and growling, ‘Fuck untying it; I’ve got a better way.’ And I felt a bit the way Johnny Rotten sounds at the beginning of that classic and electrifying Sex Pistols song, Anarchy in the U.K.  He utters a low, throaty chuckle that might have come from Randall Flagg’s own throat and then intones, “Right . . . NOW” we hear that voice, and our reaction is one of intense relief. The worst is now known; we are in the hands of an authentic madman.

–  Danse Macabre, Stephen King

As a child, I was obsessed with villains.  Maleficent will always be my favourite Disney character, the Grand High Witch (from Dahl’s The Witches) is still deliciously scary today and I always found myself rooting for the “bad guys” in the faerie tales I read.

I was firmly entrenched in pro-villain territory by the time I had my first encounter with Randall Flagg.  I was 9, and I don’t even remember if I read Eyes of the Dragon or The Gunslinger first – my uncle handed them both to me on the same day – but I was POSITIVE that the Man in Black was Flagg, even if King hadn’t spelled it out for us at the time.

The notion of an incredibly long-lived wizard who came back again and again to bring about ruin and destruction?  Well, he immediately captured my attention.  If it weren’t for Randall Flagg/Walter o’Dim/Marten Broadcloak, I probably wouldn’t be the Stephen King fan I am today.

I read The Drawing of the Three shortly after devouring my first two King novels, and was tickled to see Roland recall “a creature that pretended to be a man and called itself Flagg” being pursued by Dennis and Thomas.  Young sj would have fistpumped, if that was something she knew about then.  When I was 12, he reappeared in Lud at the end of  The Waste Lands.  That wasn’t enough for me, though (and King wasn’t putting out Dark Tower novels quick enough for me) so I started to read (and in some cases) re-read Uncle Stevie’s work (I was comfortable calling him that by that point) searching for clues – much like Mandy was doing while she was embarking on her own King adventures, even though she and I hadn’t met yet (and wouldn’t for years to come).   A coincidence (but is it, really?) that King – with all of his talk of ka and ka-tets – would nod and smile at, I’m sure.

Johnny’s girl Sarah lived on Flagg Street  in Dead Zone and of course he had a HUGE part in The Stand.  Years later, there was no doubt in my mind that Raymond Fiegler from Hearts in Atlantis was just another of Randy’s pseudonyms.  I still believe that Andre Linoge (from Storm of the Century) was my good buddy Flagg – they both refer to themselves as Legion, after all.

Finally getting more of his backstory in The Dark Tower…after all those years of waiting, I’m not ashamed to admit that I sobbed.  Learning what made Flagg into the monster he became was probably more of a punch in the gut (for me, YMMV) than all the other deaths in the series.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, I gave up on the comics after reading the changes to his story.  Sorry, not interested.  Maybe it’s canon, but it’s not my canon.

Mix Tape

Since I’ve spent more than ¾ of my life reading and searching for hints and clues to his nature, I’m fairly confident I’ve come up with a playlist he’d enjoy.   It has 19 songs (which should at least bring a smile to the faces of my fellow Tower Junkies), includes stuff like Robert Johnson and Bob Dylan, but also The Deftones and Primus.  You can find it here.  I hope you’ll all enjoy it as much as I do.

Top Five

I wrote Stephen King a letter once (that I was actually too cowardly to send) asking for more information about Flagg and compiling all the little tidbits that were already known – I’m kind of glad I didn’t send it, though.  If I had (and he’d actually ZOMG answered me) I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of discovering all the connections on my own.   With this Top Five, I’d like to send a gigantic THANK YOU to Sai King on/near his birthday.  He created one of my favourite villains, and gave me something that I loved to lose myself in for many years.  I know that he loves music as much as I do, and really – some of his song choices influenced young sj’s musical tastes.

Top Five Songs Referenced in Stephen King Works

1. The Beatles - Hey, Jude  (Come on, with all this Dark Tower talk, did you really think I wouldn’t?)
2. The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop  (I can not hear this without thinking of Pet Sematary)
3. Glenn Miller and His Orchestra - In the Mood  (even though 11/22/63 isn’t my favourite [by a long shot] I still had this song in my head throughout most of the book)
4. Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues  (forever and ever belongs to the summer I read IT for the first time)
5. Blue Öyster Cult - Don’t Fear the Reaper  (yes, The Stand comes first THEN Christopher Walken demanding more cowbell)

Honestly, there are probably a billion more songs I’d like to include (hyperbole intentional), but I had to keep it down to just FIVE.  Sorry Tom Waits (<3), Human Beinz, Elton John, ZZ Top and Elvis.

What about you?  What would your Top Five be?

Flagg art commissioned from my incredibly talented buddy David Boehmke.  He’s done tons of other Stephen King related fan art.  You can find more of his awesomeness by clicking here or here.