Stephen Grimsley

They should have named this show “Derry” and not castle rock. After years and years of immersing ones self in King novels you become familiar with the places and people that you go back to time and time again to visit. I love the concept of the show, but in making the town such a malevolent, in your face place of doom and dread, they have taken away what truly makes the town frightening. This is why I say they should have called it Derry. Derry was always the town that felt wrong the minute you stepped foot in it, Castle Rock, on the other hand was the John Wayne Gacy of towns. Putting on its makeup and going to entertain sick children, while in the meantime bodies rot just beneath the floorboards. Annie is nothing like her character in the novel. Yes, while she was as decidedly crazy as the proverbial loon, she was also cold, calculating and always in control and able to completely fool those around her. This Annie is off the rails, scare your kids coming out of the supermarket crazy, barely capable of day to day life, let alone the ability to remain cool and calm while hobbling her favorite author to keep him bedridden in her own home. This is the hometown of Pennywise, not Gordon, Teddy, Vern and Chris. Which is not to say that it is bad, it’s just not what I, and any other constant reader, hoped it would be. It’s just not Castle Rock.