The Science of Stephen King

R. J Huneke: “That’s an interesting question. Most of the time when I read a book I do not find inaccuracies in portraying modern technology, and I think that is because when you read a really good book and the world-building is done right, your disbelief is suspended, and you are more invested in the characters’ story than all of the nuances. I think about some of the greats, like Bradbury who wrote about reality TV, virtual reality without goggles, and giant screen televisions in the walls. He was very much ahead of his time in portraying modern science. Works like The Expanse (2015–), both on TV and the books (2011–), that rely on hard science and accepted theory and the use of gravity boots, for instance, make it so that there is enough real science and cutting-edge tech that you can get away with stretching some of the things out on the science-side a bit and not having the reader and/or viewer suspect something is amiss. I cannot tell you how often I am like, ‘where is the explanation of how these spaceships have gravity,’ because without boots holding them to the floor, these people should be floating all over the place. I will not name shows, movies, or books, but you know them. I recently read comments from a few people about an article on William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984) and how it was a good read, but dated, because it was written in the eighties.”

Meg: “William Gibson wrote a very tech-based episode of our favorite show, The X-Files!”

R. J Huneke: “I have read the book multiple times and it remains one of the most innovative uses of language in world-building that I have ever come across and the sense of realism, while being surreal, is just so damn good. I love the book. It has never crossed my mind that Gibson, who coined the term ‘cyberspace’ and ‘the matrix,’ has technology in the book that has proven not to work out perfectly in the way modern technology has advanced in society. The noir thrill ride through the future that is Neuromancer, for me at least, sets up an entirely plausible and extremely visceral story that leaves a deep mark on the reader.”

Meg:“The character of Brady Hartsfield takes advantage of technology to wreak havoc, particularly in the King novel End of Watch, in which he employs an addictive game app to subliminally convince people to commit suicide. Tell us your thoughts on this modern form of murder. Have you witnessed subliminal messaging in tech? How realistic is End of Watch?”

R. J Huneke: “I think End of Watch is very realistic, because subliminal messaging is proven to have stark effects on us, and if you are not buying into the unknown science of the brain with Brady’s telekinetic abilities, we know more about space than we do the brain, and we know oh so little about space. You can still buy the story itself due to the magic woven in the world-building. King is a master storyteller who uses fully-fleshed characters of all walks of life and puts them on paper so that we can feel their breath on our faces when we get close to them. Before my first novel was picked up by a publisher I wrote a book about subliminal advertising and the research I did introduced me to things that blew my mind. The Exorcist (1973) employed CIA-tested techniques of subliminal sound messaging, for example, so that at tense moments sounds of swarms of bees or pigs being slaughtered are spliced into the soundtrack to further unnerve, disorientate, and scare the hell out of the viewer. McDonald’s was caught some years back when someone noticed that when the program on the Food Network went to commercial break, there was a red blip on the screen. After hours of attempts a frame was freezed upon and the Mickey-D’s bold red—the strongest of colors in advertising for getting attention—and the golden arches were shown with the message “I’m lovin’ it” and that stood on the screen. The scariest thing about End of Watch is that it could really happen. I see a McDonald’s commercial and, although I stopped eating most fast food years ago, I still crave that tasteless, salt-saturated poison and I have no idea why.

Meg: “Maybe that explains why my kids want McDonald’s so often!”

Kelly:“Mine, too! Can you give us any cybersecurity tips to avoid being victims of real life villains like Brady?”