№ WHICH STORY SHOULD FANS 1 READ FIRST? IF YOU LIKED ↓ YOU’LL LOVE THIS NOVELLA ↓ Mr. Harrigan’s Phone THE TOP 10 THINGS WE LOVE THIS MONTH THINGS WE LOVE 10 THE TOP IF YOU LIKED ↓ IF IT BLEEDS By Stephen King YOU’LL LOVE THIS NOVELLA BOOKS ↓ The Life of Chuck IF STEPHEN KING sleuth is drawn into danger in If It IF YOU LIKED only wrote novel- Bleeds after becoming obsessed ↓ las he would still with a vanishing mole on a TV occupy a place in news reporter’s face. Holly devo- many horror fans’ tees will also be interested to hearts, thanks to know that King fills in a lot of her the likes of The troubled background along the Mist, Rita Hay- way. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, mean- worth and Shawshank Redemption, while, further highlights King’s and The Body, which was brought ambivalent attitude toward tech- YOU’LL LOVE THIS to the big screen as the beloved nology (see also his novel Cell and NOVELLA Stand by Me. His newest collection Kindle-centric novella UR) in a ↓ contains four tales of terror occu- tale about the benefits and dan- If It Bleeds pying the no-man’s-land betwixt gers of burying someone with short story and novel, and finds their favorite Apple product. And IF YOU LIKED the Master of the Macabre in fine, Rat finds the author returning if mostly unsurprising, form. to the subject of the hardships ↓ Must List The titular story showcases endured by, well, authors, and a character who has become centers on a writer striking a very familiar to King’s army of Faustian bargain so he can finish “Constant Readers”—private his book. investigator Holly Gibney. A The odd man out? That would be major player in the Bill Hodges the inventive, and by King’s stan- Trilogy and The Outsider (and dards fascinatingly gnomic, The Life YOU’LL LOVE THIS memorably portrayed by Cynthia of Chuck, a story of choreography NOVELLA EDITED BY Erivo in HBO’s recent adaptation and global catastrophe—told back- ↓ LYNETTE RICE @LYNETTERICE GETTY BY IMAGES SCHOFIELD/CONTOUR STEVE KING: of the latter), the OCD-suffering wards! —CLARK COLLIS Rat ILLUSTRATION BY MATTHIEU BOUREL EW ●COM MAY 2020 9 № № 3 4 LIST MUST THE ANIMAL CROSSING: MUST FOR KIDS MISSION UNSTOPPABLE NEW HORIZONS WITH MIRANDA COSGROVE GAMES TV After shooting 95 episodes of It’s not enough to depict fictitious female superheroes in entertain- ment; it’s better to show real ones. That’s what prompted actress Geena Davis, with the help of philan- thropist Lyda Hill, to executive- iCarly produce Mission Unstoppable With Miranda Cosgrove—a CBS Saturday- for Nickelodeon, morning show hosted by the former iCarly star that showcases female engineers, mathematicians, and : SONY INTERACTIVE AMERICA; MISSION UNSTOPPABLE: LITTON ENTERTAINMENT LITTON MISSION AMERICA; UNSTOPPABLE: : SONY INTERACTIVE astronauts doing all sorts of world- changing stuff. Davis believes their MIRANDA COSGROVE MIRANDA DREAMS lively reports on superstars like Diana Trujillo—the head of the Mars Rover program—have already inspired young viewers in the series’ № : THATGAMECOMPANY; first season on CBS and its stream- and a call for others to FOR SOME REASON, relocating to a remote island where ing service, CBS All Access. “There’s JOURNEY DRAG’S NEXT ACT join them. “Drag has resources abound, everyone is healthy, and the economy Sounds about right. at USC. studies psychology now a direct correlation between what WE’RE HERE been hidden for so long,” is a paradise of effortless productivity and zero-interest happens on screen and what people says Eureka. “People loans really seems appealing to people right now. Gamers do in real life,” says Davis, who also are finally being exposed cites a study saying 63 percent 2 with an influx of time at home have turned to cuddly capi- to it—they’re starting to of women pursued STEM careers accept that they love talist Tom Nook and his escapist getaway package in because of Gillian Anderson’s TV it, and they’re seeing the record numbers, making New Horizons one of the quickest- forensic-pathologist character, power behind it.” APE/CHUCKLEFISH; : CONCERNED selling Nintendo Switch titles. Have some guilt-free social Dana Scully, on Fox’s The X-Files. The show takes the time by inviting friends to your island to fish, net bugs, “That’s an overwhelming impact.” In its 11-year run, in contemporary drag.” transformation,” says WIGS ON network gloss off an WHEELS chop wood, exchange gifts, or just marvel at your decorat- RuPaul’s Drag Race has Having grown far Shangela, 38. “We’re often gritty subculture. VALLEY STARDEW won 13 Emmys and beyond its urban roots, hoping for an entire Each queen “They let us present ing skills. Oh, to live in a world where the museum and the has their own airport are open 24/7, and the worst thing that can happen pushed a subculture to where will it go next? human transformation.” custom-built these people the way we heights taller than Trixie HBO’s new docuseries Like the original Race car on the series wanted them to be pre- is the occasional spider bite. —EVAN LEWIS Mattel’s hair. It’s also We’re Here is betting and Netflix’s Queer sented, from the locals become big business. on red-state America. Eye, Here aspires to be to the queens,” says ViacomCBS plans to The show features a force for acceptance, Stephen Warren, who RELAX! HERE ARE MORE LAID-BACK GAMES Shangela STUDIOS; : MICROSOFT/MOJANG move the RuPaul’s Drag folks in six small com- helping participants cope co-created the series WE’RE HERE Race All-Stars spin-off munities such as with rejection, homo- with Johnnie Ingram. The from VH1 to Showtime Gettysburg, Pa., and phobia, and racism while hope, adds Ingram, is MINECRAFT this summer to convert Twin Falls, Idaho, who rocking six-inch stilettos. to bring divided commu- INGRAM/HBO (4) : JOHNNIE Drag Race fans into sub- are gussied up by Race At the end of each epi- Eureka nities together: “Even : NINTENDO; scribers, because, as alums Bob the Drag sode, a newly made- if it’s just one night to company president Bob Queen, Eureka O’Hara, over queen lip-synchs a say: We’re here, we exist, Minecraft Stardew Valley Journey Dreams Anything that Escape big-city Make unspoken Design a whole new Bakish put it: “There’s and Shangela. “We tune at a local bar, both we belong, and we’re can be imagined anxieties on an idyl- bonds on a scenic game, or sample money and momentum don’t just do a physical a statement of identity Bob staying.” —JOEY NOLFI ANIMAL CROSSING can be built. lic small-town farm. mountain climb. others’ creativity. 10 MAY 2020 EW ●COM EW ●COM MAY 2020 11 Things to Do in Dublin When You’re Red № 6 DRIFTS By Kate Zambreno BOOKS It may not be totally appealing, but social dis- tancing has made the reclusive-author lifestyle a lot more achievable. This feverish account of artistic isolation can be № read as both a how-to manual and a chilling NORMAL warning about the dan- gers of walling yourself PEOPLE off. The very meta Drifts 5 follows a struggling writer working on a mem- oir about her day-to-day TV life called...Drifts. It’s a life of mostly sitting around—binging TV, bick- Londoner. But Edgar- across the pond before ering with her spouse, Jones still didn’t get becoming a critically and masturbating. (The around to it until the acclaimed best-seller protagonist also walks opportunity arose to Stateside last year. her dog every once in costar in Hulu’s splashy The 12-episode series, a while; no word on adaptation (April 29). directed by Oscar nomi- whether she keeps her- The lyrical romance nee Lenny Abrahamson self six feet away from follows the relationship of (Room) and partly writ- strangers.) As her grip on Marianne (Edgar-Jones) ten by Rooney herself, reality begins to slip, and Connell (Paul Mescal) maintains the book’s Drifts gives us a window over several years, from authenticity, sexiness, into an anxious, lonely high school in small-town and emotional intensity. soul. How relatable. —DC Ireland to college in bus- But it offers something tling Dublin. They fall for new and rich besides. If you haven’t already each other, they break “You have your whole read Sally Rooney’s up, they try things again. character’s psyche best-selling 2018 novel, “They’re intelligent people written in incredible chances are someone who aren’t the best at detail on the page,” has recommended it to communicating,” Edgar- Edgar-Jones explains. you. So it went for British Jones says. “They love “But [TV] is only visual. NORMAL PEOPLE actress Daisy Edgar- each other, but they You have to give away big Jones. “My best friend don’t know how to talk chunks of the story with had bought it for my about the hard stuff.” The a single glance.” Trust : ENDA BOWE/HULU : ENDA family because it’s her original novel, told from that both she and Mescal favorite book—she’s both characters’ per- do so brilliantly—and that writing her dissertation spectives in alternating they’ll break your heart. on it!” says the native sections, was a sensation —DAVID CANFIELD 12 MAY 2020 EW ●COM № № № THE MUST LIST MUST THE 7 8 10 CITY OF ANGELS THE HALF SON OF DC’S STARGIRL OF IT A HITMAN → Don’t mistake this for mistake Don’t TV MOVIES PODCASTS CYRANO DE BERGERAC’S much- reinvented tale gets a fresh update, on Netflix May 1.