Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill, once said in an interview that his father’s bedtime stories were different from those of other dads. Those stories included superheroes, like Batman and Robin, in unusual situations.
Stephen King is a great fan of the
Caped Crusader and not only did he regale his kids with hilarious stories of
super heroes when they were young, he also wrote a more moving story back in 2012 for his
adult audience.
“Batman and Robin Have an Altercation” was first published in Harper’s Magazine as part of a
collection of King’s work, but now the story of his favorite superhero is
available as audio, via NPR’s Too Hot For Radio podcast, and can be enjoyed at the end of this article. The show has been set up on Soundcloud to air stories NPR are not
allowed to broadcast, due to their goriness, sexual content and other
controversial content.
Stephen King wrote a harrowing story about Batman and Robin https://t.co/fFOeKdO8sB pic.twitter.com/R8p6a4wK4Z— Indy Books (@indybooks) August 24, 2016
Of course, being King, the story it
not your normal Batman and Robin story, as it revolves around a man who is
lunching with his father. Dad is regrettably suffering from Alzheimer’s and is
talking about a Halloween where he and his son went out dressed as Batman and
Robin, and he kept getting the details all wrong. The full audio is
just over 40 minutes, but you can cut out the intro and jump right into the
story at the 5:35 mark.
The tale is read by Stephen Lang, and, as is normal with Stephen King’s stories,
shows that Batman is really just a man, like anyone else. OK, he’s
rich, and he’s intelligent, but basically he is just that. A man. “Batman and
Robin Have An Altercation” offers us the story of a man and what he thinks of his
father, who has always been his hero, but who has being brought down by
Alzheimer’s and its resulting effects.
Enjoy the story below and let us know what you thought in the comments section.
