The Tommyknockers

Frequently asked questions

• What is the novel about?

  Writer Bobbi Anderson uncovers a buried spacecraft on her rural Maine property, and as she excavates it, an alien influence begins to transform her and everyone in her small town. Neighbors become increasingly strange, developing crude inventions powered by alien technology, while their humanity erodes.

• What does the novel reflect about King's life at the time?

  King has been candid that The Tommyknockers—published in 1987—was written at the height of his cocaine and alcohol addiction. He has called it one of the worst books he has ever written and has said the alien influence in the novel functions as a metaphor for the way addiction produces a false creative boost before consuming the person. He did not remember large portions of writing it.

• What is the origin of the title?

  'Tommyknockers' were spirits in mining folklore—specifically the ghosts of dead miners said to knock in the walls of mines, either warning of danger or causing mischief. King took the word from a children's rhyme ('Late last night and the night before, Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers, knocking at the door') and repurposed it as the name for his alien beings.

• Was The Tommyknockers adapted?

  Yes. A two-part ABC television miniseries aired in 1993, starring Jimmy Smits and Marg Helgenberger. It received mixed reviews. The novel has not received a subsequent adaptation.