Another collection of short stories and novellas. How many by now? I could go to my King shelf and count them but suffice it to say that it’s in the double digits by now. Which is fantastic. Some examples:
Two Talented Bastids: two aging friends, one a famous writer, the other an artist. How did they change from ordinary small-town fellas into these creative geniuses? What happened on that night in the woods? Like so many King stories, it’s about Maine, and like so many of his more recent ones it’s about old age. But mainly – again like so many others – it’s also about creativity and writing. The topic obviously never ceases to fascinate King. In this case, the explanation is pretty out there but it includes the wonderful line “May I take the can when I go?” It also reminds me of that marvelous Katatonia song: Ambition. I like it, but I can understand those who don’t.
The Fifth Step revisits another recurring King theme: alcoholism. It’s a short and ultimately rather mean story and I’m not sure we needed this angle on a subject he usually treats with the utmost respect and effect. Willie the Weirdo is also a pretty mean and short read, but it has a good buildup to a clever twist. In fact, there might be a whole movie in here.
Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream is the longest and starts with a bad dream that doesn’t seem so bad compared to some things King has conjured up in the past, but the main character’s terror is contagious nonetheless. The titular Danny, a school custodian of limited ambition and philosophy, has a recurring bad dream which seems linked to an actual place. Finally, he decides to go there and finds something that he feels he must report even though the circumstances of his discovery will make him a suspect. This story really grabs you from the start and holds your interest. Will his good deed go unpunished…? You also learn the word arithmomania – exemplified by the tireless and far from pleasant detective who refuses to believe Danny and will go far to break him. One of King’s most captivating stories in recent years, and one begging to be filmed. It’s the best parts of The Outsider without the ones I had some trouble buying. Just that scene of DJ shouting at the neighbour … love it.
On Slide Inn Road is an example of King’s ability to condense what pretty much amounts to a thriller into twenty or so pages. From mundane to tense in a heartbeat.
Laurie is a for the most part adorable story of an old man and the puppy given to him by his sister. King steers your expectations in one direction and then provides a quite surprising twist of the darker but not pitch black variety.
Rattlesnakes, the second-longest tale, is set in Florida in the early days of Covid. The titular animals have caused the demise of an elderly woman’s twins long ago, which does not stop her from pushing their stroller around. She’s harmless though, Vic – the visiting main character – has been informed. With something like shock, I suddenly realise it’s a sequel to Cujo. Of sorts. An old tragedy is mirrored by another, making for a cathartic, serious and seriously spooky story. With a surprise element of the ”innocent suspect” theme from the longest story in this collection and an update of what happened to Vic and Donna later in life. It also contains the supremely goosebump-inducing lines:
”I know they aren’t there. […] And yet sometimes they are.”
The Dreamers is a tale of stenography and dark experiments in the vein of Revival. It does not leave you with a happy feeling.
There is something King-ishly familiar about The Answer Man, but it feels more profound than the stories it reminds me of. The ending feels like much more than a story being wrapped up.
The afterword, similarly, feels like it might his last afterword. Luckily it won’t be. But something in its tone makes me realise the privilege of having been able to read King’s stories throughout my whole life.