I used to grow up reading ghost lore books written by Daniel Cohen with such titles as Real Ghosts, Ghostly Terrors, Phone Call from a Ghost, Ghostly Warnings, Phantom Animals, etc. I found them in the nonfiction section of my local public library and my impressionable young mind reasoned that if these books were nonfiction, that meant the stories were true. But being a young kid who professed his belief in spirits did not win me any popularity contests with other children or the adults who found the existence of such things preposterous beyond belief.

This brings to this week’s Stephen King adaptation, 2007’s 1408 from director Mikael Håfström. Our movie begins with Mike Enslin (John Cusack), a once literary fiction writer who turned his writing talents toward writing ghostly travel guides. He’s currently working on a haunted hotel guide and he writes his entries with humor while focusing on the hotel’s amenities or lack thereof. A followed by book signing shows Mike to be a cynical sad sack who’s never seen a ghost. He doesn’t believe in life after death due to his young daughter passing from an undisclosed disease. He’s given up smoking, but still indulges in the occasional drink or two or three. And he’s estranged from his wife, blaming her for not seeking out additional treatments for their daughter.

A postcard arrives for him in the mail from the Dolphin Hotel in New York City. A message scrawled on the card says “Don’s Enter 1408.” Mike calls the hotel to book room 1408 and the receptionist says it’s unavailable to book on any date. Undeterred, Mike gets his agent to do some legal wrangling and it turns out the posh hotel must rent the room to him if it’s unoccupied. When Mike arrives at the hotel, the receptionist alerts the hotel manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson) that he’s arrived. Gerald invites Mike into his office where he tells him no one has lasted in room 1408 more than an hour.

In fact, there have been a total of 56 deaths in room 1408 with some being quite ghastly. Gerald states that he’s a hotel manager and doesn’t like cleaning up dead bodies. He offers Mike an expensive bottle of liquor, but Mike insists on still staying in the room. Gerald offers Mike access to the complete records of every death in the room, but Mike still insists on staying the night. Gerald offers him access to 1404, a room with the exact same layout as 1408 so Mike’s readers won’t know the difference. Mike takes the liquor and the recorded deaths, but he will be staying in 1408 that night. Gerald then gives him one final warning, “It’s an evil fucking room.”

There’s nothing that strange about the room. A few cliched pairings, a tub and shower, an old clock radio. A window overlooks a busy New York Street. And then the clock radio turns on, playing the song “We’ve Only Just Begun” by the Carpenters. The terror starts and it keeps ratcheting up from there. No spoilers this time around. Just check it out. And maybe check yourself the next time you feel like being an arrogant cynic. It might come back to bite you.

Jeff Shuster (episode 47, episode 102, episode 124, episode 131, episode284, episode 441, episode 442, episode 443,episode 444, episode 450,episode 477, episode 491, episode 492,episode 493, episode 495, episode 496, episode 545, episode 546, episode 547, episode 548, episode 549, episode 575, episode 596, episode 597, episode 598, episode 599, episode 642, episode 643, episode 644, episode 645, episode 670, episode 686, episode 687, 688, 689, 726, 727, and 728) is an MFA graduate from the University of Central Florida.