My Long Walk Through Stephen King's Lot

The Mist is a Stephen King story I've wanted to read for a long time.  I have always been aware of its positive reputation, but when I began hearing it referred to as maybe the best of his novellas, I figured it was high time I gave it a look.  The image above is from the paperback copy of Skeleton Crew I recently purchased.  It’s far from my favorite cover image, but the therapist in me does like the Rorschach-ian quality of it.  The novella is not necessarily what I expected, and that is in no way a bad thing. This is not a “scary” story; at least it isn’t for me.  But it is, in certain ways, intense and unnerving.  There are some nice short sequences of suspense, but mostly the story works because King so effectively draws us into what is a very disconcerting, hopeless-feeling scenario.  King generates a good amount of empathy for the plight of those trapped in the supermarket, especially by focusing on the distress that comes from knowing...

  Rage is a fascinating entry in King’s canon.   It attained a certain level of infamy, as it is the only book he ever pulled from print.   It is not particularly hard to get your hands on a copy, but you can do so now only as part of The Bachman Books collection.   My history with the novel is such that I tried to read it two or three times over the years, but somehow was never able to move past the first three chapters.   Something about the overall tone put me off to it.   Now, having finally given it a fairer consideration, I find that, yes, the style still bothers me—but perhaps not as much as the grim subject matter. Is it predictable for me to say that?   Probably.   Is it unfair of me?   Maybe, especially since I am regarding the novel from a distance and perspective far removed from when the novel was first published.   School shootings are more prevalent in today’s culture.   Certainly more att...

I came across a couple of YouTube videos where fans were making recommendations as to what would be a great first read for the King uninitiated.   That got me thinking: what would I recommend? Without confirming the precise number, Stephen King has written approximately 60 novels and something like 200 short stories.   That’s an incredible body of work, and a huge task in determining where to begin.   There are at least a few novels that I think would be a less than ideal place to start.   For me, those would be Dreamcatcher , Gerald’s Game , and Mr. Mercedes .   The first two titles are, for my money, not particularly well written books.   The third is perfectly adequate, and features some good characters, but is, on the whole, fairly “by-the-numbers” plot-wise, and therefore not a good representation of King’s writing and creativity overall.    I also think the Dark Tower books are probably not the right entry point either. ...

Stephen King is not just an author who churns out a ton of stories—although, yes, he certainly does do that.   King is an author who has created (and is still creating ) a vast, interconnected literary universe.   One of the greatest pleasures in being a devoted fan is in finding how often King references, and connects to, characters, story elements, and locales found throughout his literary canon.   King often refers to his most ardent fans as “Constant Readers.”   It is a term he uses to regard those readers who’ve put a lot of money into his pockets and faithfully stayed the course with him over numerous decades, reading everything he’s published.   I imagine King is flattered by such commitment from his audience, and counts himself blessed.   But the truth is, he gives his most faithful readers a lot to enjoy on the other end, and rewards their diligence with special insight into his fictional landscape that many casual readers are not privy to. ...