“Survivor Type” was originally released in the 1982 horror anthology “Terrors,” but was re-released in King’s 1985 short story collection “Skeleton Crew.” The story follows the diary of surgeon Richard Pine, a.k.a. Richard Penzetti, that has fallen from grace. Dr. Pine becomes marooned on an island in the Pacific while trying to smuggle a bunch of heroin into the U.S. from Thailand… is anyone else thinking about Damon Lindeloff or Eddie Dean? Just me?
The story is written from the perspective of this survivor’s diary. I really enjoy this writing style which also makes me think of the end of “Carrie” and the “Jerusalem’s Lot” short story (the precursor to “Salem’s Lot”) from “Night Shift.” The diary acts as a chronicle of a man’s descent into insanity as he begins to cannibalize himself to stay alive, using the heroin he was smuggling as an anesthesia for his self mutilations.
As I said, there is currently a short film adaptation in the works, and you can see the trailer for it at the top of this article. The production team is using IndieGoGo to try to raise funds for this project, so please contribute to this project, if you can. They are only trying to raise $1500.00, and they are already over half way there!
“Survivor Type” IndieGoGo Page
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Stephen King Fancast 