There aren’t many people out there who know horror like the back of their hand to the same extent as Stephen King, but even at that, the undisputed legend of all things scary can still decide to draw a line somewhere.
One of the many recurring habits of the author’s Twitter feed – besides decimating Republicans with dripping bouts of sarcasm – is either recommending or shouting out film and television titles that he either wants the world to know he has a deep affinity for, or wants them to check out for themselves on his request.
Taking that sentiment several steps further than usual, though, King decided to demand a creature feature marathon on TCM that would show all of his favored classics in one wall-to-wall bonanza of endearingly unconvincing effects and much pointing and screaming at a looming offscreen menace.
However, there’s one suggestion he wouldn’t even consider, and it’s ironically the most wholesome and non-terrifying of them all. 1972’s Night of the Lepus focuses on – and we’re not making this up – scientists injecting rabbits with chemicals, which forces them to grow to enormous size, escape from a medical facility, and then start killing every person they lay their eyes on.
King is all for giant spiders and various other assorted anthropomorphized menaces terrorizing small town America, then, but for some reason the mere thought of gigantic rabbits turning townsfolk into mincemeat has forced him to put his foot down. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t written any tales of rogue lagomorphs wreaking havoc somewhere in Maine.
