#cities of the red night

There are several correlations between Twin Peaks and William S. Burrough’s novel Cities of the Red Night, published in 1981.

Cities of the Red Night makes specific mentions of Black and White Lodges and features non-linear plotlines regarding space and time–a key feature of the lodges in Twin Peaks. One of the novel’s protagonists, a detective named Clem Snide, is searching for a missing boy and uses the ancient Chinese text, the I Ching, to aid in his investigation. Likewise, Dale Cooper is investigating the death of Laura Palmer and uses ancient Tibetan methods to solve the murder.

Interestingly, it is rumoured David Lynch wanted Burroughs to play the role of Mayor Dwayne Milford in Twin Peaks, before the role went to John Boylan.