Stephen King Funko and the Cutie-fication of Horror

I’m just finishing up reading my copy of Stephen King’s early short story collection, Night Shift, which has some really good stories in it with plenty of scares. I’m not a huge fan of King’s work although I will read it and so do like some of it. So, I am a fan of a sort. But some interesting news about him has been going on for the past few months. The latest of this is that Funko, the manufacturer of bobble head-style vinyl figures called Pops, will be coming out with a figure of the author. Although Funko has made Pop figures of numerous classic horror monsters as well as modern ones, Stephen King will be only the second horror author they have made a vinyl figure of.

Funko will offer two different versions of the Stephen King figure: 1) his everyday look version, which is his look of today only with the dark colour returned to his slicked-back hair; and 2) the Barnes and Noble exclusive red-headed version. What? Since when was Stephen King a red head? Since they made this second version of the Pop figure which the red is actually depicting his head drenched in blood. In addition to this trait, this figure is also holding an open book in one hand and a blood-drenched axe in the other (a vinyl axe, of course!). It’s been said that this version reminisces bloody (literally) scenes from his books and films Carrie and The Shining.

The two Stephen King Pop figures are the latest addition to the fantasy and horror fiction authors Funko depicts. The other author Pops are Edgar Allen Poe and George R.R. Martin. Funko also has some Pop figures of classic horror monsters of literary origin such as Universal’s Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, The Bride of Frankenstein, and H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu. It also has ones of more modern day monster characters, including Pennywise from Stephen King’s It.

Credit: Pixabay.com

Funko has been the maker of Pops--nolstalgic and cartoonish, or simplified, depictions of pop culture icons--since 2010. Since then, they have been, what I call, cute-ifying characters using a template of simple traits which often consists of a little body and an “over-sized” head with tiny circles for eyes, a tiny triangular block for a nose and a dash of a line for a mouth. And so Funko softens horror icons such as the ones listed above by making vinyl figures of them with these simplified features but, seemingly at least, more out of good-hearted humour than out of mockery.

According to Bleeding Cool, the two Stephen King figures will release in stores “later this year or at the beginning of 2020.”  So they’re something to consider as holiday gifts for those loved ones who are fans of King. Or maybe even if they just like blindly collecting anything Funko Pop as with anything else that happens to be popular on the market that is manipulated by the nation’s capitalist philosophy of “what sells”.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Karloff!

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Speaking about classic horror monsters, I’d like to wish Happy Birthday to Mr. Boris Karloff! He was born on this day of 23 November 1887 and played the Monster in Universal’s Frankenstein! He gave Mary Shelley’s Gothic character the popular iconic status it holds today, which even lead to it getting a Funko Pop figure of itself made (as indicated above)!


Next weekend is Thanksgiving weekend and so I may skip posting. But since I’m not going anywhere or have any family coming from out of town, that could change. So if you don’t see me here then, have a Happy Fangsgiving, sink those teeth into that delicious turkey and don’t forget about the things we have to be thankful for.

What fantasy or horror fiction authors would you like to see Funko do a Pop of? What classic horror monsters or modern day ones would you like to see made into a Pop that hasn’t yet?

Until next time . . .