The Science of Stephen King

Kelly:“Can you describe the first time you realized you had a unique ability?”

Bonnie Macleod: “I was twelve or thirteen years old and was lying in my bed, wide awake, when suddenly a face appeared in my face almost nose-to-nose, and smiled at me and slowly faded away. I did not feel scared but rather peaceful and calm. I got out of bed and opened my bedroom door and at the same time my mom opened hers, and we looked at each other for a moment and then she said, “You saw him too, didn’t you?” And I said, ‘yes, who was that?’ And she said, ‘that was your grandpa.’ My grandpa passed away when I was only a year old. That was the first time that I remember the experiences starting, although I’ve had an irrational fear of the dark since childhood so it’s possible I had earlier experiences.”

Meg:“Why have you chosen not to monetize this trait like many have?”

Bonnie Macleod: “After my first experience, many people have appeared to me. I’ve also had many experiences telling people about their deceased family members who I never met and shouldn’t have known about. It happened so many times and so often that when I reached my twenties, I decided to try to accept that part of myself instead of feeling like a freak that people would judge. Although I am not religious now, I had not been to church for a good number of years, but in order to accept this gift completely, I found myself needing to be sure it wasn’t something that made me ‘evil’ or ‘corrupted’ in any way. I picked up the phone and called the preacher of the church I had attended in my childhood to ask him if he thought this gift made me evil in the church’s eyes. He said that in his opinion one cannot be a true Christian and not believe that such gifts are given by God to some of his children and that it’s human corruption and greed that have led some people to see these gifts as evil. He went on to say that he knew I had these gifts because of some things I had said to him as a child. He told me to use them to help people, as that’s how they are intended to be used. I then decided that help is just that, help. Not profiting from pain, not profiting from need. So, I knew I could not profit from this gift.”

Kelly:“What reactions do you get when people learn about your gift?”

Bonnie Macleod: “I’ve gotten mixed reactions, as one might expect. People doubt what they can’t comprehend. I will say though, for those I have helped, they believe and know without doubt. I don’t ask questions, I just simply tell them what comes to me. My sister calls it my ‘scary stuff!’ My mother isn’t surprised, it runs in the women in my family (not all of them). My dad had an experience with me after I had a surgery and was starting to wake up that brought him to tears and he never doubted it was true. I was not aware of what I was saying and told him of talking with his deceased brother, giving him details and a message that I shouldn’t have known. A lot of people doubt the existence of life after death and I accept that. My response is that I know it exists because I experience it. No one can tell me otherwise!

Meg:“There are many types of telepathic and telekinetic abilities portrayed in media, Stephen King’s work included. InCarrie, Carrie White can move objects, Charlie McGee spreads fire inFirestarter, and many of his characters have communed with the dead fromThe ShiningtoPet Sematary.How do you feel the media, Stephen King, and others, have treated those like yourself?”

Bonnie Macleod: “I think that King demonstrates a fairly good balance of both the good and bad things of being a medium. I think one of the best examples of my experiences is in Pet Semetary, the example of the main character’s dead patient coming back to give him a message. He is portrayed as scary and devious but is actually trying to help, not hurt the family. Perhaps the very best example of my experiences and abilities is in The Dead Zone (1979). That book is a very good representation of how things actually occur for me. The ‘flashes’ I have are much like in old movies when they would flash 3, 2, 1 on the screen before the movie starts. Images flash like that to me at times and at times it’s the actual person I see.”