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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Mysterious short horror story, which reads like a writing excersice gone well. I love thay Stephen King publishes these sort of things, as I believe it gives hope to any new writer out there.
I was raised on horror; I've read countless stories and seen countless movies, but there's only two disturbing enough to have gotten into my head and really fucked me up: One was Stephen King's short story The Jaunt, the other the movie Event Horizon. Well, add this father-son collaboration to that list!
A brother and his pregnant sister are traveling cross-country, and pull over next to a field when they hear a little boy crying for help. Thinking that he wandered into the field while playing and got lost in the grass that's well over six feet tall, they rush in to help him find his way out... but within minutes, they've gotten separated and disoriented themselves.
The first half of this story made me feel anxious, claustrophobic, and increasingly terrified—it really tapped into some primal fear of the mysterious unknown, I guess. The second half then takes a turn for the very gory; I can stomach a lot, but some descriptions made me feel physically sick. When my boyfriend came into the room and started saying something, I was so absorbed, I got such a fright that I scrambled to the other side of the bed screaming... and I regretted reading this one before bed, because I really didn't sleep well. I feel positively ridiculous now—in the safety of daylight—but every shifting shadow made my heart pound and I wrapped myself in the sheets despite the heat so nothing could "get me". I felt like a scared kid who watched a movie it should not have and paid the price in the night—I really can't say what it was about this story that affected me as it did, but this is what good horror should do, and it will stay with me for a long, long time.
The explanation and ending were a bit lackluster, but the rest of the story was so strong that I'm prepared to overlook it—it takes a hell of a lot to scare me out of my wits, and this story managed it better than anything has in years.
—————
This story is also published in Joe Hill's collection Full Throttle. You can read my full review here.
A brother and his pregnant sister are traveling cross-country, and pull over next to a field when they hear a little boy crying for help. Thinking that he wandered into the field while playing and got lost in the grass that's well over six feet tall, they rush in to help him find his way out... but within minutes, they've gotten separated and disoriented themselves.
The first half of this story made me feel anxious, claustrophobic, and increasingly terrified—it really tapped into some primal fear of the mysterious unknown, I guess. The second half then takes a turn for the very gory; I can stomach a lot, but some descriptions made me feel physically sick. When my boyfriend came into the room and started saying something, I was so absorbed, I got such a fright that I scrambled to the other side of the bed screaming... and I regretted reading this one before bed, because I really didn't sleep well. I feel positively ridiculous now—in the safety of daylight—but every shifting shadow made my heart pound and I wrapped myself in the sheets despite the heat so nothing could "get me". I felt like a scared kid who watched a movie it should not have and paid the price in the night—I really can't say what it was about this story that affected me as it did, but this is what good horror should do, and it will stay with me for a long, long time.
The explanation and ending were a bit lackluster, but the rest of the story was so strong that I'm prepared to overlook it—it takes a hell of a lot to scare me out of my wits, and this story managed it better than anything has in years.
—————
This story is also published in Joe Hill's collection Full Throttle. You can read my full review here.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I think this might have made even less sense than the movie version?
dark
ew thanks for sending this to me Molly
(i love the concept, writing is okay and now i wanna watch the netflix movie)
(i love the concept, writing is okay and now i wanna watch the netflix movie)
What would you do if you heard a small kid crying for help in a field of grass? Well after reading this I think I would call the police and keep driving, screw that kid.
In the tall grass is a short story by father and son team Stephen King and Joe Hill. It is gory, creepy and the right amount of suspense. But...this is my problem with short stories, I want more! I'm just greedy and want to know more about the grass.
In the tall grass is a short story by father and son team Stephen King and Joe Hill. It is gory, creepy and the right amount of suspense. But...this is my problem with short stories, I want more! I'm just greedy and want to know more about the grass.