| "The Gunslinger" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephen King |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| Published in | The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction |
| Publisher | Mercury Press |
| Media type | Print (Magazine) |
| Publication date | October 1978 |
| Preceded by | "The Little Sisters of Eluria" |
| Followed by | "The Way Station" |
"The Gunslinger" is a fantasy novella by American writer Stephen King, originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in October 1978.[1] In 1982, "The Gunslinger" was collected with four other stories King published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction as The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. "The Gunslinger" formed the first chapter of the book, and was slightly revised for the inclusion.[2][3]
Plot summary[]
The story begins with the sentence, "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." The gunslinger comes across a hut in the desert owned by a farmer named Brown, who has a pet raven named Zoltan. The gunslinger stays the night and, at Brown's urging, tells him the story of what happened to him the last time he came across people.
He had been traveling through Tull, the last town before the desert began. He made his way to the local saloon and learned from Allie, its bartender, that the town drunk Nort had died from eating narcotic devil-grass. The man in black (calling himself "Walter O'Dim") brought Nort back to life and told Allie that if she said a particular word to Nort, he would tell her everything he saw and heard during his time in the afterlife. Sensing that Walter had laid a trap for both him and Allie, the gunslinger warned her never to say the trigger word in Nort's hearing.
He next met and interrogated Sylvia Pittston, a fanatical preacher who believed that the man in black had impregnated her with the offspring of the Crimson King. She warned her congregation to beware of the gunslinger, referring to him as a malicious "Interloper," and eventually stirred the entire town to attack him. Even Allie joined the mob, having fallen into Walter's trap and gone insane from Nort's revelations. The gunslinger killed all 58 residents of Tull, then headed out into the desert.
After telling Brown his story, the gunslinger fills his water skins and continues across the desert, in pursuit of his quarry.
Among other minor additions and deletions made by King for the 2003 revised version of the novella, the word "parsecs" in the opening paragraph was changed to "eternity," and the story of Tull is expanded by King to include an additional exchange between Allie and Walter.[4]
See also[]
- Short fiction by Stephen King
References[]
- ↑ "Bibliography". The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger". StephenKing.com. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Peckham, Matthew. "The SF Site Featured Review: The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (2003)". SF Site. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "The Gunslinger: A Side by Side Comparison". The Dark Tower.net. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
{{cite web}}:
| Stephen King | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main | Bibliography • Short fiction • Unpublished and uncollected • Awards and nominations | |
| Novels | Stand-alone | Carrie (1974) • 'Salem's Lot (1975) • The Shining (1977) • The Stand (1978) • The Dead Zone (1979) • Firestarter (1980) • Cujo (1981) • Christine (1983) • Pet Sematary (1983) • Cycle of the Werewolf (1983) • The Talisman (1984) • It (1986) • The Eyes of the Dragon (1987) • Misery (1987) • The Tommyknockers (1987) • The Dark Half (1989) • Needful Things (1991) • Gerald's Game (1992) • Dolores Claiborne (1992) • Insomnia (1994) • Rose Madder (1995) • The Green Mile (1996) • Desperation (1996) • Bag of Bones (1998) • The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999) • The Plant (2000; unfinished) • Dreamcatcher (2001) • Black House (2001) • From a Buick 8 (2002) • The Colorado Kid (2005) • Cell (2006) • Lisey's Story (2006) • Duma Key (2008) • Under the Dome (2009) • 11/22/63 (2011) • Joyland (2013) • Doctor Sleep (2013) • Mr. Mercedes (2014) • Revival (2014) • Finders Keepers (2015) • End of Watch (2016) • Gwendy's Button Box (2017) • Sleeping Beauties (2017) • The Outsider (2018) • Elevation (2018) • The Institute (2019) |
| The Dark Tower series | The Gunslinger (1982) • The Drawing of the Three (1987) • The Waste Lands (1991) • Wizard and Glass (1997) • Wolves of the Calla (2003) • Song of Susannah (2004) • The Dark Tower (2004) • The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012) | |
| Richard Bachman novels | Rage (1977) • The Long Walk (1979) • Roadwork (1981) • The Running Man (1982) • Thinner (1984) • The Bachman Books (1985) • The Regulators (1996) • Blaze (2007) | |
| Short fiction collections | Night Shift (1978) • Different Seasons (1982) • Skeleton Crew (1985) • Four Past Midnight (1990) • Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993) • Hearts in Atlantis (1999) • Everything's Eventual (2002) • Just After Sunset (2008) • Full Dark, No Stars (2010) • The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015) | |
| Non-fiction | Danse Macabre (1981) • Nightmares in the Sky (1988) • On Writing (2000) • Secret Windows (2000) • Faithful (2004) • "Guns" (2013) | |
| Screenplays | Creepshow (1982) • Cat's Eye (1985) • Silver Bullet (1985) • Maximum Overdrive (1986; also director) • Pet Sematary (1989) • Sleepwalkers (1992) • A Good Marriage (2014) • Cell (2016) | |
| Teleplays | "Sorry, Right Number" (1987) • Golden Years (1991) • The Stand (1994) • The Shining (1997) • "Chinga" (1998) • Storm of the Century (1999) • Rose Red (2002) • Kingdom Hospital (2004) • Desperation (2006) • "Heads Will Roll" (2014) • Lisey's Story (TBA) | |
| Comics | Heroes for Hope (1985) • American Vampire (2010) | |
| Musical collaborations | Michael Jackson's Ghosts (1997) • Black Ribbons (2010) • Ghost Brothers of Darkland County (2012) | |
| Anthologies edited | The Best American Short Stories 2007 (2007) • Six Scary Stories (2016) • Flight or Fright (2018) | |
| Worlds and concepts | Dollar Baby • Fictional books • Fictional locations in Maine (Castle Rock • Derry • Jerusalem's Lot) • Multiverse (All-World) | |
| Family | Tabitha King (wife) • Joe Hill (son) • Owen King (son) | |
| Related articles | List of adaptations • Bibliography of works on Stephen King • Rock Bottom Remainders • Philtrum Press • Six Stories • Stephen King Goes to the Movies • Charlie the Choo-Choo • Hearts in Suspension | |