Talk:The Dark Tower (series)

Intertextual Refs - Sources Needed
Intertextual References was tagged for lacking sourcing since mid-2009. In that time no sources were added, and it's unclear how much of this might be original research. While direct and explicit refs might be appropriate to include without sourcing, it seems unlikely that that applies to the entire list, and I believe there may be a fair amount of cruft (or even outright inaccuracies) here. Please feel free to readd with appropriate sourcing or where the reference is made explicit...though at that point there should be context provided, not just a list of items.

{{Collapse|1=Intertextual references As with most of Stephen King's novels many elements of real life popular culture are mentioned in each of the Dark Tower novels including other books, poetry, songs, and movies. These works may be mentioned in passing or often as important plot devices.

Included here is a list of such references. All works mentioned below occur within the books' narrative and do not include any mention in the foreword or afterword of the books:

Books

 * Shardik by Richard Adams (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands and The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
 * The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * The Stand by Stephen King (The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass)
 * The Plague by Albert Camus (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Browning by Robert Browning (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands and The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass)
 * Lord of the Flies by William Golding (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * You Can't Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 *  ' Salem's Lot by Stephen King (The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla and The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
 * The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling (The Dark Tower V: Wolves of Calla)
 * Watership Down by Richard Adams (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower III:The Waste Lands)
 * The Door into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein (The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla)
 * Carrie by Stephen King (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
 * The Shining by Stephen King (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower II:The Drawing of the Three)
 * Peace Like a River by Leif Enger (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
 * Insomnia by Stephen King (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * The Collector by John Fowles (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * The Magus by John Fowles (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * It by Stephen King (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)

Poetry

 * The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel T. Coleridge (The Dark Tower II: The Drawing Of The Three)
 * Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came by Robert Browning (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * The Black Riders and Other Lines by Stephen Crane (The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla)

Movies

 * The Shining (The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three)
 * Halloween (The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three)
 * The Terminator (The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three)
 * The Last Starfighter (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * The Dark Crystal (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * Journey to the Center of the Earth (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * War of the Zombies (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * Hud (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * RoboCop (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * Wizard of Oz (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands and The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass)
 * Seven Samurai (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
 * The Magnificent Seven (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
 * Flash Gordon (Serials) (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
 * Phantasm (The Dark Tower V: Wolves of Calla)
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (The Dark Tower V: Wolves of Calla and The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * Rebel Without a Cause (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * Blood Work (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * Child's Play (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * Cujo (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * Westworld (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * The Lost Continent (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * Stalag 17 (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * Forbidden Planet (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)

Songs

 * "Calling Dr. Love" by KISS (The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger)
 * "Hey Jude" by the Beatles (The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger, et al.)
 * "Shall We Gather At The River?" by Robert Lowry (The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger)
 * "Ease on Down the Road" by Charlie Smalls (The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger)
 * "Oxford Town" by Bob Dylan (The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three)
 * "America" by Simon & Garfunkel (The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three)
 * "Velcro Fly" by ZZ Top (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * "Careless Love" by Odetta Holmes (The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass)
 * "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" by Elton John (The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla)
 * "19th Nervous Breakdown" by The Rolling Stones (The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla)
 * "Man of Constant Sorrow", traditional (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
 * "Honky Tonk Woman” by The Rolling Stones (The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla)
 * "Hang on Sloopy" by The McCoys (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
 * "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again” by Bob Dylan (The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah)
 * "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * "Bad Company" by Bad Company (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * "What Child Is This?" (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * "She Loves You" by the Beatles (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * "Drive My Car" by the Beatles (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)

Other

 * "Hand in Glove", a short story by Robert Aickman (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * Maverick, the television series (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * Christina's World, the painting by Andrew Wyeth (The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower)
 * "The Lottery", the short story by Shirley Jackson (The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands)
 * "William Wilson", a short story by Edgar Allan Poe (The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three)
 * 2=Unsourced and possible OR}}

Discordia game currently not usable
I tried to play the Discordia online game. First I was able to register and watched the introduction. Later I tried to log on again, and that was not possible. A query to the webmaster at stephenking.com resulted in this reply:

"Discordia account creation and login are not currently working. The game is currently being rewritten for the modern web, and a new version should be out in the next month or so."

Is that worth noting in the tiny section about Discordia? And if so how - a private email is not exactly a good source. RenniePet (talk) 04:53, 4 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Find a reliable source that's mentioned it? DonIago (talk) 21:09, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

Film adaptation mention in the introduction seems mistaken
The introduction states: "A film based on The Gunslinger and also serving as a sequel to the events of The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower due to the nature of said book's ending was released in August 2017." However, there is no evidence in the link provided or in the movie itself that it is a sequel for the novels. Has anybody seen this stated anywhere or is it just bogus?

77.254.100.234 (talk) 23:46, 6 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Here you go. DonIago (talk) 00:37, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Shouldn't this be marked as a spoiler? The article linked itself is a spoiler clearly marked in the middle (even if the title of the article is also a spoiler). I think it's unnecessary to provide such detail to mention this book is the "next iteration" of Roland. Should be only mentioned as sequel or even canon to the series. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.113.115.2 (talk) 20:38, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20161222121831/http://www.mtv.com/news/2440221/dark-tower-hbo-brian-grazer// to http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/10/25/dark-tower-hbo-brian-grazer/

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Unsourced information
Below information had been tagged for needing sourcing since 2018. Feel free to reinsert with appropriate references. DonIago (talk) 18:45, 11 June 2019 (UTC)

English
Setting 197.229.142.111 (talk) 18:10, 7 September 2021 (UTC)