Fall 2026 is a big season for Stephen King, and not just because Mike Flanagan’s much-anticipated Carrie remake is finally dropping on Prime Video — though that’s certainly exciting, too. October marks the end of an era for the author, and it will serve as a farewell for longtime readers as well. Some of King’s greatest hits came out decades ago, including The Shining and It, but the author continues to release new books that are just as worth picking up. And his 2026 novel is one of the most exciting titles hitting shelves this year. It also follows up on a book from 25 years ago.
That 2026 release is Other Worlds Than These, which hits shelves on Oct. 6, just one day before Carrie debuts on Prime Video. In addition to being an absolute feast for anyone who, like me, looks forward to revisiting King’s worlds, it’s going to be a goodbye. Not only is Other Worlds Than These the last book in a series that saw King collaborating with another iconic author, but it’s likely to be the final work that brings us to the world of his sprawling fantasy series.
‘Other Worlds Than These’ Marks the End of the ‘Talisman’ Books
It’s the Final Piece of Stephen King’s Collaboration With Peter Straub
Other Worlds Than These is the third and final book in The Talisman trilogy, which King and the late Peter Straub have collaborated on since the ’80s. As each book tells its own story — but focuses on the same central character in Jack Sawyer — they’ve come out far apart. The first hit shelves in November 1984, and its sequel, Black House, didn’t arrive until 2001. For a time, it wasn’t clear if we were even getting a third Talisman novel. When King announced it on Threads back in January 2025, it became one of the most exciting projects on the horizon. Of course, Straub’s death in 2022 also made it a bittersweet development.
It meant this would be the final Talisman book, with the sequel serving as the last piece of King’s collaboration with Straub. And while Straub wasn’t involved in the writing of Other Worlds Than These, King has confirmed that his ideas are present in the upcoming book. During a 2023 interview with The Guardian, when King was still considering writing it, he revealed that Straub had sent him a letter detailing his ideas:
“Before he died, Peter sent me this long letter and said we oughta do the third one, and he gave me a really cool idea and I had some ideas of my own.”
On The Kingcast podcast in 2025, he also admitted that he’s been “channeling” the other author in the work, which will ensure it feels like the previous two.”I find myself using his verbs,” King explained. “People don’t necessarily walk into a room, they ‘bustle’ into a room, because that’s a very Straubian word, and I’m using as much of that as I can.“
It seems like The Talisman 3 will honor the pair’s work together in addition to completing it. It’s set to feel like the end of an era in that regard, but that’s not the only way it’s a conclusion.
‘The Talisman’ Book 3 Sounds Like a Farewell to Mid-World
Scribner Teased a “Wrapping Up” of ‘The Dark Tower’
In addition to being the last bit of King’s collaboration with Straub, the third Talisman book also appears to be a farewell to the Territories and Mid-World. While a great number of King’s books tie into The Dark Tower on some level, The Talisman trilogy takes place in the Territories, which King confirmed is essentially The Dark Tower‘s Mid-World by another name. And Other Worlds Than These is set to take us back to Mid-World more fully than its predecessors. Per Scribner’s Instagram, it’s also going to be the “wrapping up of the fate of the worlds in King’s iconic, fiercely beloved Dark Tower epic.“
From the sound of it, King’s October 2026 release is going to be an ending on multiple levels. It’s the last time we’ll get to enjoy King’s and Straub’s ideas connecting on the page, and it could be our final journey to Mid-World in that medium as well. Fortunately, Mike Flanagan’s upcoming Dark Tower series will take us there on screen — and perhaps, if we’re lucky, we’ll one day be able to revisit Jack Sawyer’s story in The Talisman there as well.
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