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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
3.5 stars. Good collection of short stories here. Not many standouts, none more than a tad creepy but it was an entertaining listen.
Some good most not that interesting. The most interesting part is Kings own comments on the inspiration for each story.
Stephen King does great collections. He has mastered the art of the short story, which is not easy! My favorite collection was probably Full Dark, No Stars--or--Just After Sunset. His latest one, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams was pretty good--but not all the stories were worth mentioning.
Mile 81 was pretty great--classic Stephen King.
Bad Little Kid was a fun read too.
King says of his own short stories in this collection, "Beware-the best of them have teeth." I didn't find that to be true, actually. There were some gruesome, maybe even cringe worthy moments but overall--this wasn't a collection of scary stories, which is what I was anticipating.
Ah, well. They were still wonderful. Stephen King can tell me any story he wants and I'll sit cross legged on the floor, put my hands under my chin and listen.
--Constant Reader
Mile 81 was pretty great--classic Stephen King.
Bad Little Kid was a fun read too.
King says of his own short stories in this collection, "Beware-the best of them have teeth." I didn't find that to be true, actually. There were some gruesome, maybe even cringe worthy moments but overall--this wasn't a collection of scary stories, which is what I was anticipating.
Ah, well. They were still wonderful. Stephen King can tell me any story he wants and I'll sit cross legged on the floor, put my hands under my chin and listen.
--Constant Reader
I need to learn my lesson; when I read one long book by an author and I enjoy it, I should just enjoy it, read someone else's work, and eventually meander my way back to that good author. Now, that's not to say this isn't a good book, because it IS a good book. It's just that too much of anything is, well, too much. And oops I read two 300+ page short story anthologies by King in the same month.
So, TLDR: take this review with a pinch of salt.
Characters: 6/10 stars
Here's one of the problems with reading too much King: lots of his characters feel like the same person, but he's just wearing a new set of clothes with the next story. It's a problem that his plot-centric stories often face, which is unfortunate. It's usually something you feel from King book to King book, but I read several short stories in a row, so it was a little more obvious this time.
Plot/pacing: 7/10 stars
Many of these stories are too long on the plot and too short on the character. That's fine if you're in the mood for that, but having come off of If It Bleeds, I expected things to be more developing and less set-up, punchline.
Writing/structure: 6/10 stars
The only reason that this is getting such a low star rating (because usually, I LOVE King's style) is because almost every story was told in a dialogue-esque style as if the narrator was telling you the story. Normally, this is a fine thing for a few pages, but when it drags on, it can get... annoying. It felt like every story was told in summary through the narrator, and it just really didn't work for me.
Enjoyability: 7/10 stars
I think this book was good, just not great. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but I would express interest if someone said they were reading it if that makes any sense.
Horror: 4/10 stars
The horror quotient just wasn't right on this one. A lot of the stories toed the edge of being campy, but not a really entertaining kind of campy. Since the stories were short and plot-driven, I think they should've been a little more horrific, but they were all just sort of--eh?
(6+7+6+7+4)/50 =
3.0 stars
So, TLDR: take this review with a pinch of salt.
Characters: 6/10 stars
Here's one of the problems with reading too much King: lots of his characters feel like the same person, but he's just wearing a new set of clothes with the next story. It's a problem that his plot-centric stories often face, which is unfortunate. It's usually something you feel from King book to King book, but I read several short stories in a row, so it was a little more obvious this time.
Plot/pacing: 7/10 stars
Many of these stories are too long on the plot and too short on the character. That's fine if you're in the mood for that, but having come off of If It Bleeds, I expected things to be more developing and less set-up, punchline.
Writing/structure: 6/10 stars
The only reason that this is getting such a low star rating (because usually, I LOVE King's style) is because almost every story was told in a dialogue-esque style as if the narrator was telling you the story. Normally, this is a fine thing for a few pages, but when it drags on, it can get... annoying. It felt like every story was told in summary through the narrator, and it just really didn't work for me.
Enjoyability: 7/10 stars
I think this book was good, just not great. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but I would express interest if someone said they were reading it if that makes any sense.
Horror: 4/10 stars
The horror quotient just wasn't right on this one. A lot of the stories toed the edge of being campy, but not a really entertaining kind of campy. Since the stories were short and plot-driven, I think they should've been a little more horrific, but they were all just sort of--eh?
(6+7+6+7+4)/50 =
3.0 stars
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Some of these stories hit harder than others, my favourites being "Bad Little Kid" and "Under the Weather".
The audiobook had a great cast of narrators and I enjoyed the prefaces that King made before every new story.
The audiobook had a great cast of narrators and I enjoyed the prefaces that King made before every new story.
a collection of short stories. my experience with king is always the same: first i "uh-huh" and "that's not that scary", then i come to myself a day later with the finished book and no clear recollection of how it happened, and then i spend a week with some small horrifying detail stuck in my head and niggling at me. in that case it was a dog dying of radiation poisoning in a rather serene apocalypse, and for the next two days poor martha had to put up with me hugging her at random.
there's also a hilarious and completely non-horror story about a fireworks war.
there's also a hilarious and completely non-horror story about a fireworks war.
dark
tense
dark
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Awesome ! Stephen King really is a masterful storyteller
Mostly solid writing from King -- each story has a short memoir-ish introduction from King that for me bumped this up to 4 stars.