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kimabill 's review for:
Everything's Eventual
by Stephen King
A Stephen King short story collection that somehow I haven't already read. As with all short story collections, there are hits and misses. One thing I really liked about this collection is that Stephen King wrote a little blurb either before or after each story explaining its origin or some random thought about it. It is always interesting to me when Stephen King talks about his writing, and I always wish he did it more often.
Some thoughts on specific stories:
"Everything's Eventual" - a story about a guy who gets what seems like a dream job where anything he wants is provided for him, the only stipulation being that he has to end each week cash neutral, meaning that if he doesn't spend it, he has to throw cash in the garbage disposal or dump change down a sewer grate. And, of course, there is the matter of the dark little job that he has actually been hired to do. It is unsettling and strange and makes you think about the consequences of your actions that you can't see first hand.
"The Road Virus Heads North" - This was my favorite story in the collection. It starts with a really cliched premise about a painting that moves/comes to life. But Stephen King somehow makes it feel not cliched and completely terrifying. He is so good at building tension and dread. The story really never gets that bloody, but, man oh man, I felt thoroughly creeped out the whole time.
"Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" - I didn't really love this story, but I loved that its origin was Stephen King walking past a cafe and seeing the maitre d' wink at him. And that little moment inspired this story that is so crazily gory and bloody and frenzied. I guess inspiration can come from anywhere.
"That Feeling, You Can Only Say What it is in French" - This one is, of course, about deja vu and it left me so disoriented and queasy because it was just so surreal and real at the same time. It is one of those stories where you figure out what is happening bit by bit as it goes along, and you get gradually more and more panicked about it. Good stuff.
"1408" - This is a story about a writer who goes to spend a night in a haunted hotel room. He is a complete skeptic until he gets to the room and then pretty quickly comes to realize that he should have been A LOT more nervous about this whole experience. The guy is only actually in the room for a few pages in the story, but the way Stephen King describes it made me feel so uneasy and nervous and sick to my stomach. I don't know how he does it, but the images he chooses are just so disturbing and weird and make you want to scream at everyone in the story to just RUN!!
Some thoughts on specific stories:
"Everything's Eventual" - a story about a guy who gets what seems like a dream job where anything he wants is provided for him, the only stipulation being that he has to end each week cash neutral, meaning that if he doesn't spend it, he has to throw cash in the garbage disposal or dump change down a sewer grate. And, of course, there is the matter of the dark little job that he has actually been hired to do. It is unsettling and strange and makes you think about the consequences of your actions that you can't see first hand.
"The Road Virus Heads North" - This was my favorite story in the collection. It starts with a really cliched premise about a painting that moves/comes to life. But Stephen King somehow makes it feel not cliched and completely terrifying. He is so good at building tension and dread. The story really never gets that bloody, but, man oh man, I felt thoroughly creeped out the whole time.
"Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" - I didn't really love this story, but I loved that its origin was Stephen King walking past a cafe and seeing the maitre d' wink at him. And that little moment inspired this story that is so crazily gory and bloody and frenzied. I guess inspiration can come from anywhere.
"That Feeling, You Can Only Say What it is in French" - This one is, of course, about deja vu and it left me so disoriented and queasy because it was just so surreal and real at the same time. It is one of those stories where you figure out what is happening bit by bit as it goes along, and you get gradually more and more panicked about it. Good stuff.
"1408" - This is a story about a writer who goes to spend a night in a haunted hotel room. He is a complete skeptic until he gets to the room and then pretty quickly comes to realize that he should have been A LOT more nervous about this whole experience. The guy is only actually in the room for a few pages in the story, but the way Stephen King describes it made me feel so uneasy and nervous and sick to my stomach. I don't know how he does it, but the images he chooses are just so disturbing and weird and make you want to scream at everyone in the story to just RUN!!