Slade (Stephen King)
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| "Slade" | |
| Author | Stephen King |
|---|---|
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Western parody |
| Published in | "The Maine Campus" (journal) |
| Publication type | serial short story |
| Publication date | June through August 1970 |
| Preceded by | Graveyard Shift (in Night Shift) |
| Followed by | The Blue Air Compressor (unpublished)' |
"Slade" is an early short story (about 5,200 words) by Stephen King. In 1970, he originally published it in eight installments in a student paper (The Maine Campus). It's a Western parody about gunslinger Jack Slade, who protects a damsel in distress against some outlaws.
[edit] The story
Gunslinger Jack Slade comes to Dead Steer Springs, called upon by Sandra Dawson, whose farm is threatened by the outlaw Sam Columbine – he wants to sell the land to the railroad. But in fact, everything is a sham: Sandra turns out to be Slades ex-girlfriend – who he believes dead. She couldn't get along with Slade anymore and connived with Columbine to kill Slade. Both, however, didn't take into consideration that Slades is prone to wearing bullet-proof blue underwear (with nice flowers). Slade, playing possum after a duel, shoots both conspirators. Then he needs a joint, before he sets out for future adventures.
[edit] Connections to The Dark Tower
Even though Slade is, of course, a much shallower and most of all much less serious character than King's later creation Roland Deschain, Slade can be considered a first test run for the famous gunslinger:
- Like Slade, Roland pines for his lost love (Susan Delgado).
- Both smoke whenever possible.
- Both always hit what they shoot at.
- Both only speak when necessary and are used to journeying alone.
- Like the gunslingers in The Dark Tower (see especially Wolves of the Calla), Slade feels the obligation to help if called upon.
- Near the end of the Dark Tower-series, Roland must find out that he is only a fictitious character conceived by Stephen King. Slade is aware of that, too, but doesn't make a fuss about it. When Sandra exclaims that he arrived in time to save her, he says, "I always do. Steve King sees to that."
