you lucked out honestly. After book 4 (1997) when we werent sure if there was anything more coming, King got hit by a car in '99. It wasn't until 2003 when we got the next book in the series, and I dont remember there being a bunch of hype beforehand. Just, King releasing stories again in 2001.
A 6 year wait was brutal, and then the last 3 books of the series came out as fast as most people could read them. (2000 pages of story in 2 years) It was an amazing sprint to the end of a story, that King wasnt sure he was going to be a part of. So it was really amazing to see.
curious or innocent eyes? That would not imply that he was going to eat children.