Stephen King to speak at Wichita’s Hughes Metropolitan Complex on Nov. 14

The phones were ringing faster than you can say “redrum” at Watermark Books and Cafe on Monday, when tickets went on sale for macabre author Stephen King’s Nov. 14 visit to Wichita.

Watermark and Wichita State University are co-sponsoring the bestselling author’s stop in Wichita, one of six on his tour to promote his new horror book “Revival.”

Tickets are $33.22, including tax and a copy of the book. Tickets are available at the bookstore, 4701 E. Douglas, or online at www.watermarkbooks.com. Tickets will be limited to four per person.

King will speak to fans, read from the book and take questions from the crowd at 6 p.m. Nov. 14 in Lowe Auditorium at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex, 5015 E. 29th St. North. Doors will open at 5 p.m. “Revival” hits bookstores Nov. 11.

King will not sign books at the event. Watermark said on its website Monday that books would be handed out after King’s presentation. Signed copies of “Revival” will be distributed randomly to the crowd along with other first-edition copies.

Watermark owner Sarah Bagby said the bookstore put in a proposal to King’s publisher to be included on the tour.

“We do that often to get authors in town,” Bagby said Monday. “Because we’ve had so much support and been so successful in the past, they agreed to what we proposed.

“We are so very excited. It’s just so great that a local business that is supposedly in an industry that is totally dying is so vital and that we’re able to do this for the city of Wichita.”

Authors Watermark has brought in recently include Chuck Palahniuk, former defense secretary Robert Gates and Khaled Hosseini, who wrote “The Kite Runner.”

Bagby said WSU’s participation was crucial.

“We secured the deal, but we couldn’t have done it without their co-sponsorship,” she said.

Seating at the event will be general admission. Overflow rooms with live audio and visual feeds will be set up for people who don’t get a seat in the auditorium.

Other stops on the tour are Nov. 11 in New York City; Nov. 12 in Washington, D.C.; Nov. 13 in Kansas City, Mo.; Nov. 15 in Austin; and Nov. 17 in South Portland, Maine. More information about the tour is available at www.stephenking.com/promo/revival/book-tour.

This story was originally published September 15, 2014 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Stephen King to speak at Wichita’s Hughes Metropolitan Complex on Nov. 14."