Hearts In Atlantis (Stephen King) Easter Egg - References to Other Books

This is the same type of thing posted about Stephen King's IT. I may have been imagining some of these, but I saw many references to previous King books. Some were obvious, like in the first story -- talk of the Beam and the Tower are obvious references to the Dark Tower series. But there were also others. Some I can remember:
The boy in the first story at one point calls the low men "Regulators", a possible reference to the story of the same name.
In the story where the man is stuck in the traffic jam (I think), he says "toot-toot, beep-beep," possible references to The Green Mile (one of the characters was nicknamed Toot Toot) and IT ("Beep beep, Richie".
A sentence in the book is "Sometimes they come back," which was the title of one of King's short stories.
I'm sure there were others, but I can't remember them right now. Anyone notice any more?

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Contributed By: Nerdworld on 02-29-2000
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flyer writes:
Yes, there are several more references. One it in the end how Carol was "dim". This was a major part in "Eyes of the Dragon." Also Tom was taken so that he could "Break the Beam" and for all who have read the Dark Tower Series, know that the beam is what Roland is following.
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flawlessp writes:
if you go to his homepage he explains that the first part of heats in atlantis is part of the dark tower story
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Jade writes:
A lot of Stephen King's books have references to previously written books. Needful Things is one of them that has the most obvious references.
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This book had tons of Dark Tower references. I am pressed of memory to cite any other than the ones that have been stated already.
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Sweetporia writes:
If you are REALLY a Stephen King fan you would all know that he does this in almost all of his books. You can be reading along and boom.. there is a refernce to Cujo.. or a reference to Castle Rock... home to many of his stories...he has never hid the fact that many of his stories are connected and if you read the forwards in his books (although some are lengthy) you would hear it from him..he talks about it often enough..he doesn't call us "constant reader" for nothing...
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norman writes:
I'm fairly new to the Stephen King world and I have a question for someone who may have read more books than me. Are all of his books supposed to take place in the same "world" if you take my meaning. I mean even if there issnt a reference, like in 1975 in The Dead Zone in Maine, did the events of The Green Mile take place in the south back in 1932?
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Jade writes:
Norman I understand the question you are asking, but I find it quite doubtful that the events in ALL of his books are tied together in the way you mean. For example, if the accident from The Stand had taken place, then Bag of Bones and all the other books written after The Stand could not have taken place the way they did. Society could not have regenerated that fast.
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the greenman writes:
read dark tower there are more than one world there are other worlds -jake-
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tomhowand8 writes:
amen to sweetporia. almost all of king's books have references to others. interesting, but nothing new here. is this really an easter egg?
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AFIhc999 writes:
Some other dark tower references include the use of "kai" and its variations "kai-tek", a reference to the gunslinger himself (Roland) that goes something like "There is a gunslinger whose power stretches from east to west" or something to that effect. Also, another possible reference to another book is the part where Bobby Garfield is sitting on a park bench (right before he finds carol beaten to heck) and a older man comes up and offers bobby a dollar to let him blow him, a possible reference to the problem Eddie encountered in "It", hearts in atlantis was great reading but it seemed to fall apart towards the end. I think it would also be fair to say that the ""Heart" + "Peace Sign" = INFORMATION" will appear in later Dark Tower books because of the emphasis placed on it and the fact that it was never really explained.
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Jennifer writes:
Also, did anybody notice in the second story, the reference to Kenny Auster, a dormant character in Bag of Bones. If I'm correct, the time periods for both "Kenny Austers" do not match up.
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WicceWarrior writes:
All of the references to Brautigan being a 'Breaker,' along with the Low Men, are totally clarified in Steve's new book, Black House, in which we meet another Breaker, a young boy...possibly more powerful than Brautigan himself. Happy Reading!
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DeathsDesign writes:
Ok, now if we are all going to talk about Stephen King, please, please, read his books. When Roland is holding palaver with The Man In Black, Roland goes on something like a psychic journey. Anyone recall them saying we are but part of an atom on a blade of grass in another world? Now this tells me that in SK's Universe there are an infinite number of worlds, which is also told in the Dark Tower books. This is for JADE>> The world of The Stand is not the same world!! Yes it is very similar but not the same one. and yes people SK always references his books because they are all tied together, EVERYTHING is tied together. For instance The Walking Dude from The Stand. IT from IT, The wizard in Eyes of the Dragon. ad infinitum. Are all the same entity, oh yes and the TommyKnockers as well. The main evil entity, character, being in all his books are all the same thing, THE CRIMSON KING. It's The Crimson King's influence through out all the worlds as he tries to break the beams, which he has succeeded in doing to all but one. SO please for the love of God,Ka and the Crimson King, please stop saying that these references are eggs. They are not eggs. and I am sure that in the distant future the final book will be written and everything will come to pass. So no more please, just stop, enough already.
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Empusae writes:
Hello Accually all the books can be tied together. In Wizard and Glass King lets us know that hes running a sort of Multi-verse. The charictors all seem to come from diffrent earths where things are just a bit diffrent from each other. Then they walk through the world of The Stand where things are, once again, just a little diffrent.
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Dr. Strange writes:
1. It's not 'kai'. The word is 'ka', often found in phrases such as 'ka-tet' (a group of fate-bound travelers), 'ka-mai' (literally, "fate's fool"), 'ka-ka' (a bad joke), and so on. 'Ka' can be taken to mean life, fate, destiny, and various other definitions based on situation. 2. The Walkin' Dude / R.F. / etc. are indeed all the same entity, but not the Crimson King. R.F. is one of the King's servants; similar to Walter, but of a 'higher' rank. The King himself remains imprisoned at the top of the Dark Tower. Only when the Beams are broken and the Tower falls will the King be released. 3. Jake's line from 'The Gunslinger' (DT1) is "Go, then. There are other worlds than these." As stated, while The Stand and Bag of Bones happened in the same 'place' (parts of the United States), they happen in differnet worlds. If you're a sci-fi fan or know your theoretical physics, this is the 'parallel Earths' theory in action, but on a more grand scale. Strictly speaking; no, they don't all happen in the same world, but they all do happen in various worlds within King's multiverse. The worlds are (mostly) separate, yes, but they do occasionally come close enough to touch each other - Dark Tower 4 briefly puts the ka-tet in a world that is either The Stand, or very close to it. Other instances occur - many stories that take place in Castle Rock or Derry refer back to IT as an actual occurance on their world. It can be tricky to get used to at first, but King puts in more than enough clues in the dialogue and environment to make the distinction. 4. What is really going on can be found repeatedly in the Dark Tower books. It's no big secret - the Dark Tower is the central hub upon which all of King's works spin, for the Dark Tower is the center and the crossroads of all of the worlds King has created. These are not eggs. They're all done intentionally. Some of them are overt, some are more concealed, all are relevant to fully understanding the implications of the work. If you've ever read King or are at all interested in metaphysics, pick up The Gunslinger (DT1). It's the shortest of the series, the easiest read, and lays out all the important groundwork. If your head doesn't explode, you'll thank me. :-)
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Okay I am new to this site and am sure that this is a very old disscusion but I could not leave this one alone. I am currently reading the final dark tower novel and Ted Brautigan is a main supportive character for a few chapters of this novel. If you look at the listing of previous novels written Mr King has so generoulsy put the books relating to the dark tower in bold print for us. I know it has helped me emincely for I know which books to go back and read to get a feel for the characters that I get to know through Roland.
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PCG342 writes:
One must keep in mind that all of King's books take place in the same general "Where" and "When," to put it in The Dark Tower's terms, particularly Maine, so things will naturally overlap, though it happens too often to be coincidential.
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Amanda writes:
He references other stories of his constantly. The town of Derry is like a stream when it comes to his books: it runs through a lot of them. In Dreamcatcher Jonesy talks about a certain storm (of the century) that took down the aqueduct or the water tower or something and a monument of some kind put up by Beverly, Bill, Richie, Eddie, and whoever else survived Pennywise (I don't remember the names) in honor of the kids. There are a lot more I just can't think of them at the moment.
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