Author: Stephen King
Genre: Horror / Short Story
Format: Paperback
Pages: 447
First Stephen King book of the year, and for the most part, it didn't disappoint. I enjoyed all of the stories in here for the most part. In fact, three out of the four were really good. The fourth story I have a theory I would have liked better if I'd read the series that stories was attached to. But yeah, this was a pretty good pick for my buddy read last month. I thought all of these were classic Stephen King stories both creepy and icky. Since these are short stories I thought I'd do a story-by-story breakdown!
Mr. Harrigan's Phone
What is with King and making me hate my cell phone. I'm also a sucker for the be careful what you wish stories as well. I thought this was a great start to the book. I found it pretty easy to relate to Craig since I remember when the new iPhone first came out, and how it was the "it" thing to have. I also thought Craig was a pretty decent narrator. I liked that we got the story from his POV, and got to know Mr. Harrigan through his eyes. For a short story it hits a lot of tropes in just a few short stories: revenge, be careful what you wish for, and just what are our cellphones cable of connecting to. It's creepy in a way that makes you distrust your own phone, and made me wondered if I'd keep using the ability Craig had or do what he did and let Mr. Harrigan rest.
The Life of Chuck
This was my favorite story of the bunch. I loved how it was structured and the themes. This story starts off at the end of the story as the world is coming to an end, and after a few years, it seemed a little close to home. Which made it easy to believe. Then the book jumps to the middle and finally how it all started. The Life of Chuck has the main theme of what do you when you know how you (or a loved one) dies, just not the when. The way it's told is wonderful and kept you guessing until the end. It was the one story devoured in the whole book. I just loved everything about it.
If It Bleeds
This was no my favorite of the four stories. Normally the creature feature is my favorite story, and I loved the creature King used in this. A pretty wicked version of a skinwalker and the setup for the story is super gnarly. I was all in for Holly to catch this guy for what he did, and the addition to the old man stalking him is aces. However, for me, this story was felt too long with the addition of Holly's mom and the issue with her Uncle. I struggled with this story, getting bored with this and that. I think part of it is part of the Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney series. So maybe I was a little disconnected since I haven't read either of the books in those series. It was an alright story, it was just drugs in the middle for me a little.
Rat
I will say at first I wasn't sure about this one. It starts out a little slow and I wasn't really sure where it was going, but I'm always willing to stick around for a cabin in the woods theme. As this story goes the pace starts to pick until we finally realize what the Rat is. After 1922 I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy what was about to happen. Not gonna lie, wasn't expecting that. Pretty sure if I was Drew's place I'd have thought the same thing. What I remember couldn't be what actually happened. Had to be the cold medicine. I also really enjoyed how the Fausten deal played out. Plus, that last line was pretty stellar.
All-in-all I enjoyed this one. It was a nice poolside to read. Definitely, be passing this one on to my Ma, she's also a big fan of Stephen King. I think she'll enjoy it as well!
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