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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I enjoyed sitting down and reading this book. I believe others will enjoy it as well. I'm on to my next Stephen King book. Have a wonderful day everyone, thank you.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very inconsistent. Some really great stories, some really weak ones.
Willie the Weirdo felt very The Outsider.
Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream felt like an early abandoned draft of Doctor Sleep. Probably my 2nd fav story in the collection.
Finn was awful dreck. Why the heck it was included I do not know.
On Slide Inn Road was great. Maybe that makes me a bit of a cranky old timer.
Red Screen was oh so bad, like a Black Mirror that didn't make the cut.
Enjoyed the Institute cross over in Turbulence Expert.
I swear I'd already read Laurie somewhere. It's over-long and lacks horror impact.
Rattlesnake was probably the strongest story. Made me real sad.
The Dreamers was an unexpected Lovecraftian turn. Really felt NOT like a Stephen King story which was a nice break.
Answer Man was cute. A bit schmaltzy and pat, but still a good read.
Willie the Weirdo felt very The Outsider.
Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream felt like an early abandoned draft of Doctor Sleep. Probably my 2nd fav story in the collection.
Finn was awful dreck. Why the heck it was included I do not know.
On Slide Inn Road was great. Maybe that makes me a bit of a cranky old timer.
Red Screen was oh so bad, like a Black Mirror that didn't make the cut.
Enjoyed the Institute cross over in Turbulence Expert.
I swear I'd already read Laurie somewhere. It's over-long and lacks horror impact.
Rattlesnake was probably the strongest story. Made me real sad.
The Dreamers was an unexpected Lovecraftian turn. Really felt NOT like a Stephen King story which was a nice break.
Answer Man was cute. A bit schmaltzy and pat, but still a good read.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I hadn’t thought about how much the last decade of King stories has been dominated by crime and suspense until this collection, which is predominantly the horror that King is most associated with. The title feels quite apt in that regard. What I had thought about earlier this year, when I finally got around to reading Fairy Tale, was how King’s recent work had shied away from centring on characters the same age as the author. It was never a significant issue, but it did often result in teenagers or twenty-somethings whose pop culture reference points never let you forget they were being written by a much older author. It was nice getting a full range characters here, with several middle-aged and older characters. The two longest stories are the standouts, which is unsurprising given that long form has always been King’s biggest strength. Rattlesnakes in particular is a nice reflection on a couple of King’s older works (Cujo, Duma Key).
DNFed after Finn about 45% through.
This is just a me thing, this is my first King book for a book club and I should’ve read the summary because I’m really not the biggest fan of anthologies. The stories were weird and didn’t really “conclude” despite the conclusion. Even the 152 page one (Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream) just left me really disappointed. I think I should’ve picked a different one as my first King book.
This is just a me thing, this is my first King book for a book club and I should’ve read the summary because I’m really not the biggest fan of anthologies. The stories were weird and didn’t really “conclude” despite the conclusion. Even the 152 page one (Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream) just left me really disappointed. I think I should’ve picked a different one as my first King book.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It’s not his best work in my opinion, but I still really enjoyed it. I will say I was bored at certain points in certain stories, but since King is my favorite author I resisted the urge to DNF and kept pushing, and I’m glad I did! Some stories were better than others, my favorite was definitely “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream”. Worth the read :)
I really liked a few of the stories in the book. The appearance of characters from the past in Rattlesnakes was a nice surprise. There are some repeated themes that along favors, but each of these stories are unique and enjoyable. I loved the afterword too, where along says that he’s never written a book that was as good as the idea was in his head and then named the only two times he feels like he’s gotten close (I’m not going to spoil that part, but I bet it isn’t what you’d expect). Even after all these years, SK has still got it. Seeing how his age and life experiences affect his writing is a joy.