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Date of Release: July 2002 |
Publisher: Hodder Headline |
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A mysterious and haunting spirit lurks within the walls of Rose Red. Built on a Native American burial ground (naturally!) in early 20th-century Seattle, the mansion which is constantly under construction sets the scene for a multitude of inexplicable disappearances and ghastly deaths. While moody oil tycoon John Rimbauer refuses to acknowledge that the house has a mind of its own, his young wife, Ellen, dramatizes these eerie events with great detail in her diary, often personifying the house as if it were a living being.
While the evolution of Ellen's character from innocent and submissive to frighteningly powerful is a slow process, the language and questioning nature of her entries entice the reader as the mystery of Rose Red is brought into full bloom. Ellen also reveals frustration and disappointment with her marriage namely her husband's unfaithfulness and alarmingly frequent involvement in voyeuristic activities as well as a growing confusion about her sexual identity and attachment to her friend and African handmaid, Sukeena. In addition to extensive dialogue (that is waaay too long for a diary), Ellen's entries are accompanied by a handful of explanatory notes put in by the "editor" and supposed professor of paranormal studies, Joyce Reardon. The people mentioned in the diary, as well as Reardon, are all characters in Rose Red, which was created directly for television by King.
But by far the most interesting thing about the book is to follow the link given in the book which points to a working web site that purports to be that of the college that "Professor Reardon" works at. It's cute but is obviously not a real university site. However, that has not stopped dozens and dozens of extremely gullible and not-too-bright folks from writing reams of e-mails arguing about whether the Diary (which was originally published without Stephen King's name appearing anywhere) and the movie itself were real or not. Get the book. Follow the links to related sites and see for yourself. If you have some time to kill, this is well worth the price of admission.
