AFTER LISTENING TO the twenty-three hour audio version of Stephen King's romantic horror novel, Bag of Bones, it occurred to me that King's allure involves the combination of the best in American Gothic - sans literary pretension - and an ample empathy for the wisdom of pop culture. He epitomizes the phrase, “Nevermore… now.” Like Edgar Allan Poe, King rides the cusp between supernaturalism and psychological thriller. You are never sure if his protagonists are suffering from a mental disorder or experiencing another dimension of existence. This is the secret of the dark romanticism in both Poe and King. Bag