"Pinfall" is an unpublished

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

film treatment A film treatment (or simply treatment) is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards (index cards) and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detailed ...

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

and

George A. Romero George Andrew Romero (; February 4, 1940 – July 16, 2017) was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and actor. His ''Night of the Living Dead'' series of films about an imagined zombie apocalypse began with the 1968 film of the ...

. It was originally written by King as a segment for the 1987

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

Creepshow 2 ''Creepshow 2'' is a 1987 American comedy horror anthology film directed by Michael Gornick, and the sequel to ''Creepshow''. Gornick was previously the cinematographer of the first film, and the screenplay was written by George A. Romero who was ...

'', with Romero developing it into a script in 1984, but was never filmed. In 2016, a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

adaptation of the story was produced by Jason Mayoh.

Authorship

It is unclear to what extent Pinfall was authored by Stephen King or George A. Romero. The 2006 work ''Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished'' states "...there is much speculation as to exactly how much, if anything, King wrote of it utit seems certain the story idea was his". The screenplay version is credited solely to Romero, though Stephen Spignesi suggests "King's special touch is clearly evident in the

stage directions In theatre, blocking is the precise staging of actors to facilitate the performance of a play, ballet, film or opera. Historically, the expectations of staging/blocking have changed substantially over time in Western theater. Prior to the movemen ...

in the script". In a 1991 interview with ''

Cinefantastique ''Cinefantastique'' is an American horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine. History The magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset printed quarterly in 1970 by publisher/editor ...

'', Romero stated "I wrote it from a couple of pages that

ing Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...

had sketched out. King himself stated in an interview that "The notes I sent

omero Omero is an Italian given name whose English equivalent is Homer. Omero may refer to: *Omero Antonutti (born 1935), Italian actor and dubber *Omero Bonoli (1909–1934), Italian gymnast and 1932 Olympic pommel horse silver medalist * Omero Car ...

were pretty detailed, and they even had some dialogue, but

really carried it off" and that "

sent me the script, and I suggested some cuts and some changes, and some of them were made and some were not." King describes Pinfall as "a Jack Davis kind of story" inspired by the notorious

EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-195 ...

strip " Foul Play".

Plot summary

''This summary relates to the version of the story appearing in the Creepshow 2 screenplay.'' The story centers on two rival teams in a

ten-pin bowling Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll ...

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

: the white-collar "Regi-Men" (led by the self-important Reggie Rambeaux, who takes bowling extremely seriously) and the

blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...

"Bad News Boors" (led by the easy-going Chooch Mandolino, who prioritises having a good time with his friends). As the story begins, the two teams are bowling in adjacent lanes on team night at the "Big Ten Lanes" bowling alley in "Everytown", with the Regi-Men on track to win the league. After an 82-year old bowling aficionado named J. Frederick MacDugal incurs Reggie's ire by breaking his concentration, Chooch invites MacDugal to become an honorary member of the Bad News Boors for the night. While attempting to make a 7–10 split, MacDugal suffers a "cardiac seizure", resulting in a freak accident that sees him fatally crushed by the

pinsetter In bowling, a pinsetter or pinspotter is an automated mechanical device that sets bowling pins back in their original positions, returns bowling balls to the front of the alley, and clears fallen pins on the pin deck. Prior to the machine's ...

. Following MacDugal's death, it is revealed that he was "the world's tenth wealthiest man" and that he has bequeathed five million dollars after tax to the Big Ten Lanes team with the highest score at the end of the season. After the Bad News Boors begin narrowing the Regi-Men's lead, the Regi-Men resort to sabotaging their opponents'

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

van by surreptitiously loosening bolts on the

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...

, resulting in the Bad News Boors being killed when the van careens off a cliff and explodes. Following the incident, which is deemed a "tragic accident", the Regi-Men publicly announce they will buy each of the Bad News Boors special headstones to commemorate them if they win the league. While the Regi-Men are practicing late one night in the closed Big Ten Lanes, the lights are switched off and they are confronted by the

zombified "Zombified" is a song by American rock band Falling in Reverse. It was released on January 5, 2022, through Epitaph Records. The song was released as the first single from the band's upcoming EP titled ''Neon Zombie''. The song was again produc ...

Bad News Boors. The Regi-Men are gruesomely killed, with one member throttled, another electrified by being thrown into an

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

, and another being impaled on a

hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced Hot dog bun, bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener (Vienna sausag ...

rotisserie Rotisserie, also known as spit-roasting, is a style of roasting where meat is skewered on a spit – a long solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire in a fireplace or over a campfire, or roasted in an oven. This metho ...

and subsequently melted. Reggie himself is killed by having holes drilled into his skull with a ball driller. The story ends with the Bad News Boors - joined by the similarly zombified MacDugal - drinking "blood beers" and bowling using the Regi-Men's arms and legs as pins and Reggie's head as a ball.

Reception

Reviewing the un-filmed screenplay in 2014, John Squires described Pinfall as a "fun tale". Stephen J. Spignesi described it as "a fun piece" and "an honest tribute to

E.C. Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-195 ...

Adaptations

Pinfall was intended to be filmed as a segment for the 1987

''. The treatment by Stephen King was adapted into a script by screenplay writer

, but the segment was dropped "at the last minute", reportedly due to concerns that the

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...

required would push the production over budget. In a 1991 interview, Romero stated "It was my total favorite. It'll probably turn up in another movie somewhere." In 2014, British filmmaker Dayle Teegarden launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign to

crowdfund Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

the production of a Pinfall

fan film A fan film is a film or video inspired by a film, television program, comic book, book, or video game created by fans rather than by the source's copyright holders or creators. Fan filmmakers have traditionally been amateurs, but some of the more ...

. The production ultimately did not proceed. In 2016, "Pinfall" was adapted into an

-style comic book by artist Jason Mayoh which was packaged with a limited-edition

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

release of ''Creepshow 2'' by

Arrow Video An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers ca ...

, with 3,000 units released.

Authorship

Plot summary

Reception

Adaptations

References

See also