Hadestown by Anais Mitchell is a jazzy, folksy, Broadway musical retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.

The Dark Tower, by Stephen King is a series of novels that are at once fantasy, science fiction, and post-apocalyptic Western about a gunslinger on a quest for a tower.

In this essay I will…

No really, in this series of essays I will be analyzing both of these works through that old classic: comparison and contrast. There’s just so much that connects them! So many things in common! I even made a Venn diagram!

They’re both set in a post-apocalyptic, semi-historical world (the Great Depression vs. the Wild West). They’re both inspired by myths and legends (Greek mythology vs. King Arthur mythos). Their worlds are not what they once were, not what they are supposed to be. The heroes strive to set their worlds right. Both deal in themes of fate and cycles. And both involve a train!

I know, I probably sound like this guy right about now:

But I hope through these essays it will be clear there’s something of substance behind the madness.

One of the reasons these two stories are so closely intertwined in my mind is because I first discovered them around the same time. For the spring and summer of 2019 most of my media consumption involved reading through the Dark Tower series and listening to Hadestown, both the original concept album and the new Broadway recordings. I was bound to find some similarities. I finished the Dark Tower in September 2019 (which is a strange coincidence, as 19 is a number of significance in the books) and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I continued listening to Hadestown now and then, and every time I did something new reminded me of the books.

But what’s the point of just comparing two things? Sure, it’s neat to find similarities in things you like. Most people nowadays scratch that itch by writing crossover fanfiction. (Now there’s an idea.) Well, like Orpheus and his song and Roland and his quest, I can’t get this idea out of my head. So I’m gonna do it, but I need a purpose.

I intend to explore specific ideas by comparing both works. (If Lindsey Ellis can examine Marxist Theory with the Transformers movies, I can do this.) For example, the first real essay in this project will be analyzing the settings of both stories, the literary tropes they fall into, and what kinds of lessons we can learn from them or what these settings might be trying to communicate to the audience.

So there’s the introduction out of the way! If you like The Dark Tower I highly recommend taking a couple of hours to listen to the Hadestown soundtrack. If you’re a Hadestown fan, go read eight full-length novels. Or perhaps just look into them and see if they’re something you might enjoy.

In the next article, I’m going to explore the road to hell in a world that has moved on…