Drunken Fireworks

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Drunken Fireworks
Simon & Schuster Audio
Media typeAudio
Pages31 (in The Bazaar of Bad Dreams)
ISBN978-1-4423-8964-9
Publication dateJune 30, 2015
1:20:07 runtime

Drunken Fireworks is an

connected
". What starts as a friendly, competitive fireworks display competition escalates each year until it ends in disaster.

The story was later published in print form as part of King's collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams in November 2015.

Plot

At the Castle County police station, Alden McCausland, a blue-collar mechanic, recounts the events leading up to the night before. Years ago, McCausland's father purchased a cabin on Abenaki Lake as a second home. Being on the run-down west side, it was a

scratch-off
ticket. Over time they fixed up the cabin, left their jobs in town, and moved in permanently—as well as drinking more frequently.

The Massimo family had a mansion on the east side of the lake opposite the McCauslands called Twelve Pines Camp. Ma claimed that they were "connected" and real rich through ill-gotten gains instead of "accident rich" like the McCauslands. When Paul Massimo brought his family to town, they filled up their place. The Massimos knew how to have fun with cookouts, football games, singing and a fair amount of drinking themselves. One of the older boys in the family looked a little like Ben Affleck and carried a trumpet on his hip. He played the trumpet along with their songs, and closed each night by playing "Taps". Ma hated the trumpet and didn't think he was very good, once saying, "Dizzy Gillespie he ain't. Someone ought to dip that trumpet in olive oil and stick it up his ass. He could fart out "God Bless America.'"

The year 2012 was the start of what became the "Fourth of July arms race". Alden purchased some

cherry bombs from Pop Anderson at his local flea mart. After opening the Fourth of July celebration with some drinks, Alden and Ma lit up their sparklers and waved them around. The young Massimo children across the lake got excited and asked for their own sparklers, which seemed to burn brighter and longer than the McCausland's, prompting the trumpeter to blow out—wah-wah—seeming to boast the fact. This angered Ma, who wanted to set off their firecrackers to step up. The Massimos matched with even more firecrackers set off by all the children, followed by another trumpeted—"waah waah—Try again." Confident the cherry bombs would out-do them, Ma lit them off only to be outdone by a pair of M-80
booms, and another three blasts: "Waaaah ... waaaah ... waaaah." Ma and Alden looked at each other and agreed to get them next year.

Reception

The novella was reviewed by AudioFile,[1] Publishers Weekly,[2] Portland Press Herald,[3] Sarasota Herald-Tribune,[4] and Bev Vincent at Cemetery Dance Publications.[5]

Adaptation

At one point, a film adaptation was in development, optioned by

Rubicon Entertainment. The announcement came in June 2016, with James Franco set to star at the time.[6]

References

  1. AudioFile Magazine
    .
  2. ^ "Audio Book Review: Drunken Fireworks by Stephen King, read by Tim Sample. S&S Audio, 2 CDs, 1.5 hrs., $14.99 ISBN 978-1-4423-8964-9". Publishers Weekly. June 1, 2015.
  3. ^ Smith, Frank O. (July 12, 2015). "Audio Books: Stephen King's 'Drunken Fireworks' a good listen". Portland Press Herald.
  4. heraldtribune.com
    .
  5. ^ Vincent, Bev (July 3, 2015). "News from the Dead Zone #180: DRUNKEN FIREWORKS Review". Cemetery Dance Online. Cemetery Dance Publications.
  6. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (2016-06-03). "James Franco To Star In 'Drunken Fireworks'; Stephen King Short Story". Deadline Hollywood.
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