Entertainment
Stephen King's Underrated Haunted House Series Only Exists Because Of Spielberg
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Stephen King can pull a horror story out of anything. At one point in the book Faithful, where King and his friend Stewart O’Nan chronicle the 2004 Boston Red Sox season, he casually drops a potential horror plot based on watching a baseball game on TV. That it took him decades to develop a story based on a haunted house makes sense; it’s too obvious.
The 2003 miniseries Rose Red is his take on the classic horror setting, which embraces all the old tropes instead of The Overlook Hotel subverting them. King fans wouldn’t have that if not for Steven Spielberg outright asking the Master of Horror to write a story about a haunted house.
A Classic Haunted House Story From The Twisted Mind Of Stephen King
The Stephen/Steven connection had been simmering for years when they finally teamed up in 1996 and started hammering out the script for Rose Red. Originally, it was going to be a feature film, and as King has discussed in interviews over the last 30 years, the project fell apart when Spielberg wanted to take the script in a more upbeat, positive direction, and King wanted it to be a terrifying horror movie. Simple creative differences kept the movie from ever happening, but the idea was out there, and through Spielberg’s simple suggestion, King had his haunted house script.
Rose Red was broken down and rewritten into a miniseries, airing on ABC over the course of three days in January 2002, which is what television events were like back before streaming. The Rose Red of the title isn’t a person, it’s a mansion, think of the Winchester Mystery House if it were built on a large Native American burial ground. A professor specializing in psychic phenomena, Dr. Joyce Reardon (Last Man Standing’s Nancy Travis), assembled a team of academics and psychics (which includes the late Julian Sands, Yellowjackets’ Melanie Lynskey, and Bones herself, Emily Deschanel) to venture into Rose Red and unravel the mystery.
Over the course of the three episodes, we learn the hidden history of Rose Red, and in typical King fashion, its true nature is revealed because nothing can be only a haunted house, or only a killer clown, there’s more to it than what it seems on the surface. The different investigators all have their own special powers, from talking to ghosts to telekinesis, but that’s little comfort when going up against a cursed building that’s been haunting a family for generations. Watching the ways various members of the investigation die, from encounters with spirits to literally dying of fright, it makes you wonder how Steven Spielberg envisioned the original project.
The World Is Still Waiting For the Steven And Stephen Collaboration
Though it was considered middling by critics of the time, Rose Red pulled off an 8.5 rating and nearly 20 million viewers. It’s often overlooked today as it’s not the greatest King adaptation, but it’s also not the worst. It’s somewhere in that huge stretch alongside Sleepwalkers, IT: Part 2, and Doctor Sleep.
To this day, Stephen King and Steven Spielberg have yet to collaborate on a project together. They were close, again, when the Duffer Brothers were going to adapt The Talisman for Netflix. Spielberg happens to own the film rights to King’s series thanks to a sweetheart deal with Universal dating back to 1982. That deal has seemingly fallen through, with everyone involved moving on to other projects, but that’s what happened with Rose Red 30 years ago.
It could still happen, but for now, Ready Player One’s extended homage to The Shining is as close as we’re going to get. King’s next projects include a Cujo remake, while Spielberg is getting ready to rule the Summer of ‘26 with the alien blockbuster Disclosure Day.
Rose Red is available to stream on Hulu.
Entertainment
Apples excellent AirPods Pro 3 are back on sale for just $200 — a $50 savings
SAVE $49.01: The Apple AirPods Pro 3 are 20% at Amazon and Walmart as of April 22. Snag a pair for just $199.99 (normally $249).
$199.99
at Amazon
$249
Save $49.01
Our very own Stan Schroeder is fresh off reviewing the new AirPods Max 2, Apple’s updated over-ear headphones. While he thought their noise cancellation has improved since the last generation, they still can’t block out sounds as well as the AirPods Pro 3: “Wearing them on a busy street makes the outside noise vanish in a spectacular fashion,” he writes of the earbuds.
So, if you’re an Apple user looking for best-in-class ANC, stick with the AirPods Pro 3. Right now, they happen to be on sale for just $199.99 at Amazon and Walmart — that’s a savings of nearly $50 and one of their best deals to date. They briefly hit $184 on Amazon back in February, but never since. (And they were $219.99 everywhere last Black Friday.)
For comparison’s sake, the AirPods Max 2 are up to $350 pricier depending on the color.
The AirPods Pro 3 actually have the same H2 chip as the AirPods Max 2, so they support the same suite of smart features like Adaptive Audio and Live Translation. On top of that, they come with a built-in heart rate monitor that “worked perfectly,” per Mashable contributor Adam Doud. (Read his full review.)
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On their own, the AirPods Pro 3 will net you up to eight hours of battery life per charge with their ANC enabled. Their included charging case adds an extra 24 hours of use.
I can personally assure you that you won’t find the AirPods Pro 3 on sale for anywhere cheaper — even if you go for a used pair. In new condition, they’re $239.99 at B&H Photo and full price at Best Buy and Target. Then there’s Best Buy’s open-box AirPods Pro 3, which are are $204.99 in fair condition. Pass.
Entertainment
LA public schools pass screen time limits for students in a first
Los Angeles public school students may be returning to the age of college-ruled notebooks and Scantrons, following a Tuesday school board vote that will limit the use of computers, laptops, and tablets in classrooms.
Titled “Using Technology with Intention,” the new resolution mandates the creation of grade-level and subject-specific screen time limits across Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools, including a complete ban on device usage for kindergarten and first grade. The use of one-to-one devices, like individual Chromebooks, will be discouraged for second through fifth grades, as well.
Revised guidelines will also address video-aided lesson plans, access to video streaming platforms like YouTube, and expanded restrictions on gaming and social media platforms.
District staff must present the revised tech use policy by June, which will go into effect for all LAUSD students beginning with the 2026-2027 school year. Guidelines will be reevaluated every year, and schools are tasked with tracking and sharing student screen time numbers with parents.
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The resolution cites increasing concern about the effect of screen time on young minds and alleged screen addiction, including recent Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studies that show a correlation between high screen time and adverse health effects. The board was unanimously in favor of the tech restrictions, with one recusal.
“We know that tech is not going away and can be a powerful tool in the classroom. This is not about going backwards. This is about rethinking school time and screen time in schools to ensure we are doing what actually helps students learn best,” board member Nick Melvoin said during Tuesday’s meeting.
“This is not about going backwards. This is about rethinking school time…”
Advocates, parents, and even students have spent the last year lobbying for greater tech restrictions following the passing of a 2025 bell-to-bell cellphone ban restricting the use of personal devices during school hours. Schools Beyond Screens, a national classroom tech safety coalition founded by LAUSD parents and teachers, helped craft the resolution in collaboration with board members and co-sponsors Melvoin, Karla Griego, Tanya Ortiz Franklin, Jerry Yang, Kelly Gonez, and Rocío Rivas.
“Now is the time for a safe and science-backed approach to classroom technology, one that is not guided by Big Tech talking points like screen value over screen time,” the organization wrote in a press release following the decision.
“There is much work to be done, and this is only the beginning, but today, we are proud, grateful, and – for the first time in a long time – hopeful. Our kids may yet have the kind of public education that they deserve — one that is proven effective and free of undue digital distraction, harmful content, and corporate exploitation.”
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Entertainment
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Bluetooth speaker is at the lowest price weve seen all year
SAVE $75: The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Bluetooth speaker is on sale for $224 at Amazon, down from the standard price of $299. That’s a 25% discount.
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at Amazon
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Save $75
Packing up for an adventure means figuring out how to bring along a soundtrack. A trip to the cabin or a lakeside campground all deserve to be experienced with a great playlist. If you could use an upgrade before summer to get a waterproof Bluetooth speaker, check out this deal at Amazon.
As of April 22, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Bluetooth speaker is on sale for $224 at Amazon, marked down from the normal price of $299. That’s a 25% discount that takes $75 off the price. It’s also the lowest price we’ve seen at Amazon so far this year.
A compact speaker with a scratch-resistant aluminum shell is exactly what we should be packing on adventures. With an attached carabiner, the B&O Explore speaker is designed to clip onto your backpack when you hit the trail. Or you can utilize the rubber base to set it on a rock or even in the sand. It’s both waterproof and dustproof, adding to the durability.
Bang & Olufsen notes this model gets up to 27 hours of playtime before it needs to recharge. It weighs under 1.5 pounds, so it won’t add much bulk to your gear. It takes about two hours to recharge the Beosound Explore.
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Before summer kicks into high gear, add the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore speaker to your pack. It’s ready for any adventure you have planned.
Apples excellent AirPods Pro 3 are back on sale for just $200 — a $50 savings
Red Bulls' struggling defense clashes with woeful D.C. offense
