I am currently working on my book chapter on film adaptations, literary geography, and King’s Maine. The first half explores movies that were filmed (in whole or in part) in Maine, while the second half examines films where the setting takes center stage through characters’ navigation and interrogation of these big and small screen versions of Castle Rock, Derry, and Chester’s Mill. 

One of the Maine-made films that doesn’t make a lot of top 10 lists is Ralph S. Singleton’s Graveyard Shift (1990). While Graveyard Shift is the only film Singleton has directed, he was a producer on Mary Lambert’s Pet Sematary (1989) and Pet Sematary 2 (1992). The rats are at the heart of Graveyard Shift, much as they are in King’s short story of the same name (first published in Cavalier in 1970 and included in King’s 1976 collection Night Shift), but dangers abound on all fronts, including a vindictive, exploitative foreman Warwick (played by Stephen Macht) and the complicated and dangerous hierarchy of the mill. Brad Dourif of Child’s Play fame is wonderfully unnerving as the exterminator, accompanied by his delightful dog Moxie. 

My work on Graveyard Shift took me down some interesting and unexpected paths, including a fan’s video tour of Graveyard Shift filming locations in Harmony, Maine. The most wonderful discovery, however, was Barlettyarns, which occupies the mill building in Harmony and has been in operation since 1821. The company is grounded in a foundational sense of place, including a beautiful array of colors and their Rangely products, “which are inspired by the lakes, forests and mountains of Maine.” 

Once I knew about Bartlettyarns, ordering their yarn and making myself a Graveyard Shift scarf became an absolute must, an experience and final product that foregrounds this unique sense of place and the liminal spaces between reality and fiction. I went with Medium Sheep Gray, which not only works well with my winter coat but evoked the most rat-y vibes, which felt fitting for this project. The yarn is incredibly soft and beautiful and once I had it in hand, I felt like the pressure was really on. It had been years since I’d done any actual knitting and I couldn’t ever really tell you I was any good at it, but what I lack in skill, I make up for in determination. I practiced with less precious yarn to knock the rust off my not-so-stellar skills, and once I switched to the Bartlettyarns yarn and was playing for keeps, I restarted the scarf at least six times. I know a lot of really wonderful knitters who can turn out a scarf in no time flat and whose hands can just keep going while their attention is divided between several other things, but that’s definitely not me: I had to work on it in small periods of time, with intentionality and focus, an ideal experience for reflecting on King’s Maine, both in fact and fiction. 

I’m really happy with my Graveyard Shift scarf, which is warm, perfectly imperfect, and a cozy, tactile reminder of the film, the story on which it is based, and inspiration and shooting locations of Maine. And as much as I love the final product, I love the connection and the act of creation even more. Stay warm out there, Constant Readers!