by Stephen King
4.6 · 5 reviews"You like it darker? Fine, so do I' writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of stories that delve into the darker part of life - both metaphorical and literal.
"You like it darker? Fine, so do I' writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of stories that delve into the darker part of life - both metaphorical and literal. Each of these stories holds its own thrills, joys and mysteries; each feels iconic. In 'Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream', a brief and unprecedented psychic flash upends dozens of lives, Danny's most catastrophically. 'Rattlesnakes', a sequel to Cujo, sees a grieving widower travel to Florida for respite and instead receive an unexpected inheritance—with major strings attached. 'The Answer Man' asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful. King writes to feel 'the exhilaration of leaving ordinary day-to-day life behind' and his ability to surprise, amaze and bring us both terror and solace remains unsurpassed.
5 reviews
Perfect format for that. Kept me up longer than it should have on at least three occasions.
If you want splatter this isn't it. Most of these are about mortality with a supernatural hinge. Suited me perfectly.
The highs are very high. A couple in the middle felt like exercises. Still, at this length you get plenty of value and the best ones stayed with me for weeks.
A sequel to Cujo that has no business working as well as it does. King writing about old age and grief is where he is strongest now. Genuinely unsettling.
Twelve stories and at least four of them are among the best things he's written. Danny Coughlin's dream in particular — the way an ordinary man's life gets dismantled by suspicion is scarier than any monster.