Who Wrote It?
Stephen King.
First paragraph
“My home town was just a village of six hundred or so (and it still is, although I have moved away), but we had the Internet just like the big cities, so my father and I got less and less personal mail.”
What’s It About?
Mr Harrigan’s Phone is a supernatural horror story. From the age of 9, Craig works for a reclusive older rich man. Craig introduces him to mobile phones and the internet. When the old man dies, Craig puts the phone in the old man’s coffin and, at certain points in his life, he receives calls from it.
“If my father approved, Mr Harrigan said he’d like to hire me to read to him two or perhaps three hours a week. For this he would pay five dollars an hour.”
The Life of Chuck is an odd 3-part existential horror story told in reverse order. A man called Chuck starts appearing on billboards during what appears to be the end of the world. This is an interesting take on reality.
“Marty had never heard of Charles ‘Chuck’ Krantz, but supposed he must have been a pretty big bug at Midwest Trust to rate a retirement photo on a spotlit billboard that had to be at least fifteen feet high and fifty feet across.”
If It Bleeds is a supernatural action horror story that’s a stand-alone sequel to The Outsider. Holly Gibney, from the detective agency Finders Keepers, starts to notice that the same TV reporter is very quickly at the scene of many major disasters. She thinks he might be causing the tragedies and that he might be a shape-shifting monster.
“I have done the best I can, Ralph, but it may not be enough. In spite of all my planning there’s a chance I won’t come out of this alive.”
Rat is an ambiguous fantasy horror story. Drew is a short story writer who doesn’t sell many stories. He hit it big once, twenty years ago. He’s always wanted to write a novel but hasn’t been able to manage it. A story idea comes to him one day as he’s crossing the street and he becomes obsessed with writing it, convinced it will be different to all the other times. He heads to an isolated cabin and ends up making a deal with a rat during a massive storm.
“Ordinarily, Drew Larson’s story ideas came – on the increasingly rare occasions when they came at all – a little at a time, like dribbles of water drawn from a well that was almost dry.”
What Should You Expect?
- Expect 4 typical Stephen King stories.
- Expect If It Bleeds to go the longest. It does get a little bit tiresome but it’s fine, really it is.
- Expect to be impressed by The Life of Chuck. Telling a story in reverse provides a curious view of reality and is presented in an interesting method that works in this case.
- Expect to like and relate to the main characters of all the stories.
- Expect well-written young people characters. Stephen King has always done young people well.
- Expect to wonder about Rat and whether it’s all in his head. He has a history of mental illness, after all.
- Expect that you won’t be necessarily creeped out or scared by any of these stories, but they are all great story concepts and executed well.
Should You Read It?
Yes.
If you’re a Stephen King fan, here are 4 bite-size stories that will keep you well within your Stephen King comfort zone.
