The character of Becka Paulson and her adulterous husband Joe were from an original short story by Stephen King called "The Revelations of Becka Paulson." King liked the story so much he wound up writing it into the novel The Tommyknockers. The short story itself would later be filmed for an episode of the 90's updating of The Outer Limits tv series with Catherine O'Hara in the role of Becka.
According to Stephen King, "The Tommyknockers" is an allegory for his own personal battles with substance abuse. The character of Jim Gardener is largely based upon King.
Butch Dugan and his deputies mention being from the city of Derry, Maine. Derry is the setting for the popular miniseries "Stephen King's It" (1990) and the film "Dreamcatcher" (2003). Lawrence Cohen, who scripted "The Tommyknockers," previously scripted the It miniseries.
In the novel the alien spaceship is described as looking like a classic flying saucer. When it came time to shoot the movie the craft was re-designed to look more futuristic to avoid making the movie feel "campy."
Hilly promises to give Davey all his G.I. Joes. He even name drops the character Crystal Ball. This figure's bio card was written by Stephen King himself.