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laurabadara's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
polly_zilhaver's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
noragrace89's review
3.0
While I really loved a lot of stories in this collection, I hated his descriptions of the female characters.
I’ve never hated a story more than I hated “The Wedding Gig”, the fat-phobia and body-shaming reached the extent of calling one of the female characters “a human dinosaur”!
My favorite stories:
-The mist
-The monkey
-Mrs Todd’s shortcut
-The jaunt
-The reaper’s image
-Survivor type
-Gramma
I’ve never hated a story more than I hated “The Wedding Gig”, the fat-phobia and body-shaming reached the extent of calling one of the female characters “a human dinosaur”!
My favorite stories:
-The mist
-The monkey
-Mrs Todd’s shortcut
-The jaunt
-The reaper’s image
-Survivor type
-Gramma
jmcook's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
tgannon's review against another edition
4.0
Four stars for “The Mist” and a few other stories, but I found most of the collection a little tedious.
fr_eddie's review
3.0
3'50 molti racconti mi sono sembrati banali, ma il numero sedici mi ha turbata in maniera ottima
midici's review
4.0
October is the perfect month to binge-read some Stephen King.
The Mist: This is the longest in the collection, and one of the best. A few strong details and just vague enough to be terrifying - the mind always fills in the blanks with the worst. You don't need to know how it happened, or how it will end. You just have to make it from one moment to the next.
Here There be Tygers: Short and strange. Watch for fangs.
The Monkey: Evil toys deserve their own horror category.
Cain Rose Up: School shooting story, not super interesting.
Mrs. Todd's Shortcut: This one was one of my favourites. Ophelia Todd, who travels the back alleys and forgotten wood roads until she's driving into alternate universes and coming out different - younger, brighter, wilder. Eventually she drives off and embraces her new identity. Only those who know to look for her can find her.
The Jaunt: This one was sci-fi horror and immensely creepy.
The Wedding Gig: Not particularly bad or good. A middle-of-the-road story.
Paranoid: A Chant: A poem; but not a very good one.
The Raft: Suspenseful, full of dread, bleak.
Word Processor of the Gods: I thought this one was sweet. A writer uses an unusual word processor to save his sister-in-law and nephew, and change his life for the better.
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands: White man is cursed in Bombay and can't live with himself afterwards.
Beachworld: Another enjoyable, creepy sci-fi horror. This time it's the planet itself that you need to fear.
The Reaper's Image: A bit too short to really get involved in the plot. Mirrors reflect - and distort. Sometimes you don't want to see what's waiting for you clearly.
Nona: Chilling in a too-realistic way. A young man, seemingly driven mad with lust, suddenly commits several murders and acts of violence with his girl Nona, in a crime spree lasting one night. Of course, everyone else involved swears he was alone the entire time.
For Owen: A worse poem than the first.
Survivor Type: Absolutely, vividly gruesome.
Uncle Otto's Truck: King's re-occurring standby of the evil car. Not that interesting.
Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1): A milkman makes his morning rounds, bringing both the requested items and several lethal ones as a friendly neighbourhood gesture.
Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman # 2): Spike, the milkman, continues his rounds.
Gramma: A family is scared of their mother, a senile witch. They hope she's going to die soon, but she's got one more spell left in her. Witches don't die easily.
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet: An author goes mad, and spreads his madness to others.
The Reach: One day, when an old woman is ready to die, she finds her husband and friends waiting for her to make one last journey. Sweet.
The Mist: This is the longest in the collection, and one of the best. A few strong details and just vague enough to be terrifying - the mind always fills in the blanks with the worst. You don't need to know how it happened, or how it will end. You just have to make it from one moment to the next.
Here There be Tygers: Short and strange. Watch for fangs.
The Monkey: Evil toys deserve their own horror category.
Cain Rose Up: School shooting story, not super interesting.
Mrs. Todd's Shortcut: This one was one of my favourites. Ophelia Todd, who travels the back alleys and forgotten wood roads until she's driving into alternate universes and coming out different - younger, brighter, wilder. Eventually she drives off and embraces her new identity. Only those who know to look for her can find her.
The Jaunt: This one was sci-fi horror and immensely creepy.
The Wedding Gig: Not particularly bad or good. A middle-of-the-road story.
Paranoid: A Chant: A poem; but not a very good one.
The Raft: Suspenseful, full of dread, bleak.
Word Processor of the Gods: I thought this one was sweet. A writer uses an unusual word processor to save his sister-in-law and nephew, and change his life for the better.
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands: White man is cursed in Bombay and can't live with himself afterwards.
Beachworld: Another enjoyable, creepy sci-fi horror. This time it's the planet itself that you need to fear.
The Reaper's Image: A bit too short to really get involved in the plot. Mirrors reflect - and distort. Sometimes you don't want to see what's waiting for you clearly.
Nona: Chilling in a too-realistic way. A young man, seemingly driven mad with lust, suddenly commits several murders and acts of violence with his girl Nona, in a crime spree lasting one night. Of course, everyone else involved swears he was alone the entire time.
For Owen: A worse poem than the first.
Survivor Type: Absolutely, vividly gruesome.
Uncle Otto's Truck: King's re-occurring standby of the evil car. Not that interesting.
Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1): A milkman makes his morning rounds, bringing both the requested items and several lethal ones as a friendly neighbourhood gesture.
Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman # 2): Spike, the milkman, continues his rounds.
Gramma: A family is scared of their mother, a senile witch. They hope she's going to die soon, but she's got one more spell left in her. Witches don't die easily.
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet: An author goes mad, and spreads his madness to others.
The Reach: One day, when an old woman is ready to die, she finds her husband and friends waiting for her to make one last journey. Sweet.
readerforever's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
envy4's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun book. Every story was different from the next.
mdt82's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75