The Dark Tower/The Wind Through the Keyhole
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| Written by: | Stephen King |
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| Central Theme: | |
| Synopsis: | |
| Genre(s): | Dark fantasy, Horror, Science fiction, Western |
| Series: | The Dark Tower |
| Preceded by: | The Dark Tower/Wizard and Glass |
| Followed by: | The Dark Tower/Wolves of the Calla |
| First published: | February 21, 2012 |
Preceeded by The Dark Tower.
The eighth novel in Stephen King's The Dark Tower. The Wind Through the Keyhole is an Interquel that takes place between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla.
Roland tells his ka-tet a story about his past; months after his mother's death, his father sent him and Jamie DeCurry to the small town of Debaria to investigate a "skin-man", a shapeshifter who has been terrorizing the villagers. Also told is a legend of Mid-World about a young boy named Tim who goes on a dangerous quest through the Endless Forest to save his mother.
Tropes used in The Dark Tower/The Wind Through the Keyhole include:
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished - Subverted twice with Tim's teacher and one of the women at Serenity; both were once beautiful but now suffer from hideous disfigurements.
- Dark Is Not Evil - The various monsters and creatures that Tim encounters in the Endless Forest either spare his life or help him on his journey.
- For the Evulz - Pretty much the only reason the Covenant Man sends poor old Tim on his quest.
- Framing Device - Roland tells the ka-tet about his encounter with the "skin-man". In his flashback, we get another story within a story about the legend of 'The Wind through the Keyhole' with Tim. So it's a story within a story within a story within a story, basically.
- Limited Special Collectors' Ultimate Edition - While all of the Dark Tower books have been made available in "Limited Editions", this marks the first time that the illustrations will not be available with the standard trade edition.
- The Lost Woods - The Endless Forest
- Kid Hero - Tim
- Shout-Out - The Lion Guardian of the Beams is called Aslan.
- Our Werebeasts Are Different - The "skin-man" who is able to shape-shift into various types of animals.
- Plant Person - The swamp creatures.
- Whole-Episode Flashback