"The Revelations of ’Becka Paulson" is a
short horror story by American writer
Stephen King. It was first published in the July 19 – August 2, 1984 issue of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' magazine, and later collected into a limited edition of King's 1985 collection ''
Skeleton Crew
A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item such as a business, organization, or ship at its most simple operating requirements. Skeleton crews are often utilized during an emergency and are meant to ...
''. The story was reworked and incorporated as a subplot in ''
The Tommyknockers
''The Tommyknockers'' is a 1987 science fiction novel by Stephen King. While maintaining a horror style, the novel is an excursion into the realm of science fiction for King, as the residents of the Maine town of Haven gradually fall under the i ...
''.
Plot summary
'Becka Paulson accidentally shoots herself in the head while spring cleaning. The bullet lodges in her brain, and begins to have some strange effects. In a stroke of 'luck', the bullet does not kill 'Becka, but her severe brain damage causes her to begin to hallucinate that the picture of Jesus on top of the TV is talking to her. Over the following weeks, Jesus proceeds to tell her the deepest secrets of everyone she comes into contact with, including that her husband, Joe, is having an affair with Nancy Voss, who works at the local Post Office. Under the instruction of Jesus, 'Becka opens up the television and rewires it to fatally electrocute whoever touches the knob. After Joe's afternoon nap, he walks into the living room and goes to turn on the television, resulting in a gruesome scene where his body starts to burn to a crisp, turning black with his hair starting to smoke. As 'Becka watches Joe burst into flames, and the picture of Jesus explodes, she realizes that everything Jesus had told her was made up and all in her head, caused by the bullet she had shot herself with. 'Becka, with a sudden change of heart, jumps up to try to save Joe, electrocuting herself in the process, and the two fall dead, the victim of a tragic quirk of fate that was in the end far from lucky.
Adaptations
The story was adapted into
an episode of 1995 television series ''
The Outer Limits''.
Brad Wright
Brad Wright (born May 2, 1961) is a Canadian television producer and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (with Jonathan Glassner), '' Stargate Atlantis'' (with Robert C. Cooper) and '' Sta ...
wrote the teleplay, and
Steven Weber
Steven Robert Weber (born March 4, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Brian Hackett on the television series ''Wings'' which aired from April 1990 to May 1997 on NBC, as Sam Blue in '' Once and Again'', and ...
directed.
In July 2020, ''
Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wit ...
'' announced that
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
is adapting the story into a one-hour drama series titled ''Revelations''.
See also
*
Stephen King short fiction bibliography
References
External links
*
The Revelations of ’Becka Paulson' title listing at the
Internet Speculative Fiction Database
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Revelations of Becka Paulson
Short stories by Stephen King
1984 short stories
Horror short stories
Short stories adapted into films