Who's Who in Stephen King-Land Quiz

Answer: End of Watch

In King's novel "Mr. Mercedes" a man drove into a crowd of people at a job fair, killing eight and injuring many more. Bill Hodges, a recently retired, depressed police detective, received a taunting letter from the man. Hodges decided to pursue him. This story turned into a trilogy, chasing the killer through the books "Finders Keepers" and "End of Watch".

In the process he met a young woman, named Holly Gibney, who assisted him; they eventually opened a private investigation firm together. In "End of Watch" the killer plotted to finally destroy Hodges, while Hodges dealt with problems of his own.

Answer: Sleeping Beauties

This story was written by King and his son, Owen. A women's correctional institute in America's Appalachian region was the setting for the story about a strange sickness that caused women to fall asleep and be encased in cocoons. Norcross, the facility's psychologist, noticed an increase in the sickness when a woman named Evie Black was admitted.

The sickness had been spreading worldwide and there appeared to be an otherworldy dimension to it.

Answer: The Institute

In suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, intruders broke into the house of twelve-year-old Luke Ellis, who had some telekinetic ability, killed his parents and kidnapped him. He ended up in a facility known as "The Institute" in the forests of Maine. Other children were there who had various telepathic abilities.

They seemed to have their abilities channeled to nefarious ends. Luke managed to escape but that wasn't the end of the story.

Answer: Holly

"Holly" was a novel about Holly Gibney, who first appeared in "Mr. Mercedes". Now the owner of the Finders Keepers private investigation agency, she was approached by a woman named Penelope Dahl, who wanted Gibney to find her daughter, Bonnie, who had been missing for several days.

As Gibney followed clues she found that other people had gone missing and it looked like a retired couple of college professors might be implicated.

Answer: Gwendy's Button Box

Gwendy's Button Box" was co-written by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. It was the first book in a trilogy about Gwendy Peterson, a 12-year-old school girl in Castle Rock, Maine. One summer day, while in a park, she met a man named Richard Farris, who entrusted her with a small wooden box with six buttons and two levers.

He gave her some brief instructions about what powers the box had and then left her. The story centered on what she did for the next ten years with the box, which had the potential for much destruction.

Answer: Fairy Tale

Charlie Reade was a high school student who was looking after an elderly neighbor and his aging dog. The old man died, leaving Charlie a gun and a set of keys to a locked shed in his back yard. The shed covered a stairway to a magical world which contained a sundial that could reverse aging. Charlie and the dog descended the stairs to find more than just a sundial.

Answer: Mr. Harrigan's Phone

"Mr. Harrigan's Phone" was a novella from King's "If It Bleeds" collection of four stories. A boy named Craig befriended an old man named Mr. Harrigan. Craig agreed to read books to him and do some house cleaning. Harrigan gave him a lottery ticket which proved to be a winner; Craig bought Mr. Harrigan a cell phone with some of his winnings. Harrigan died after a while and Craig, missing him, left messages on the old man's cell phone.

When he started leaving messages about problems in his life strange things began to happen.

Answer: The Outsider

Evidence at a murder scene pointed to teacher and coach Terry Maitland as the killer, though he had evidence that he was in another city at the time. On the day of his arraignment, Maitland was shot and killed by the victim's brother, who was then killed by police. Two police detectives and private investigators, including investigator Holly Gibney, looked into the evidence which pointed to what may have been a supernatural being.

Answer: Elevation

Scott Carey, a Castle Rock, Maine resident, came down with a mysterious sickness which made him lose weight steadily without looking any different. While wondering about this, he got new neighbors, a lesbian couple who wanted to open a restaurant in town. Most of the townspeople refused to patronize their restaurant. Disliking the women at first, Carey found himself reappraising life as it looked like his would end and decided to stand up for the women. Eventually the people come around and Carey prepared for the day when his weight would be reduced to zero.

Answer: The Answer Man

A novella in King's 2024 collection "You Like It Darker", "The Answer Man" was a story about Phil Parker, who, at the beginning of the story, in 1937, was a recent law school graduate. Staying at his parents' summer home in Curry, New Hampshire to figure out what to do with his life, he saw a handmade sign beside the road advertising the "Answer Man". Curious, he pulled over and met a man with a table set up who said for $25 (a lot of money back then) he would answer questions for five minutes. After talking with the man he decided to live his life in Curry.

He lived a prosperous life, meeting the Answer Man (who never seemed to age) twice more in his lifetime, getting answers that didn't always pan out the way Parker would have expected. At their last meeting Parker received some cryptic answers about the end of life and drove home to contemplate them.