Stephen King

[allegate]

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/h...hen-king-books

Humble Bundle got an exclusive story from him.

[Pillfred]

Just finished Billy Summers. At first it kinda reminded me of a Carl Hiaasen novel but without the absurdity of the characters. After the opening that went away. All in all it seemed more along the lines of the old Bachman books some. It’s been a while since I’ve read any of his newer stuff but found it to be really enjoyable.

[Erneuert]

New short story compilation coming (“You Like It Darker”) and a sequel to Cujo called “Rattlesnakes”.

https://stephenking.com/news/excerpt...equel-746.html

[BRoswell]

New short story compilation coming (“You Like It Darker”)...

I always enjoy his short story collections more than his novels, so I'm excited for this.

[Jinsai]

Finished reading Holly, and it was ok. Definitely not one of his best books, and I think he can let go of the character now. It was still well written though. He’s always engaging, even if the plot is kind of dull and repetitive.

Since I’ve been on a King kick, I decided to finally pick up Salem’s Lot. I’m almost done, and it’s ok, but maybe I was expecting a little more. The plot just seems kind of ludicrous, and everyone is a little too quick to accept a vampire infestation and become an expert on it overnight. His pacing seems to have improved a lot since he wrote this, also. Still it’s entertaining.

[elevenism]

Finished reading Holly, and it was ok. Definitely not one of his best books, and I think he can let go of the character now. It was still well written though. He’s always engaging, even if the plot is kind of dull and repetitive.

Since I’ve been on a King kick, I decided to finally pick up Salem’s Lot. I’m almost done, and it’s ok, but maybe I was expecting a little more. The plot just seems kind of ludicrous, and everyone is a little too quick to accept a vampire infestation and become an expert on it overnight. His pacing seems to have improved a lot since he wrote this, also. Still it’s entertaining.

with 'Salem, i think...well, i read it when i was like, ten. That probably helped. Holly, yeah, i saw that one at the store the other day. I honestly still haven't read Fairy Tale, and it's because, well, what the fuck will i do when there aren't any more new SK books?

I'm glad Holly is reasonable, though, but SURELY you like Salem better?

But then, again...it was like 1990 for me.

edit: oh, and if "You Like It Darker" is anything like "Full Dark, No Stars", i say goddamn. also, what up @Erneuert

In other words, i hope he isn't trying to prove, AGAIN, that he can write REALLY fucked up shit. It's like, "ok, i believe you. I believed you when you did it before. I never said you COULDN'T."

I'm a Just After Sunset man.

[allegate]

Finished reading Holly, and it was ok. Definitely not one of his best books, and I think he can let go of the character now. It was still well written though. He’s always engaging, even if the plot is kind of dull and repetitive.

Since I’ve been on a King kick, I decided to finally pick up Salem’s Lot. I’m almost done, and it’s ok, but maybe I was expecting a little more. The plot just seems kind of ludicrous, and everyone is a little too quick to accept a vampire infestation and become an expert on it overnight. His pacing seems to have improved a lot since he wrote this, also. Still it’s entertaining.

Maybe he understands the Human Condition better than we give him credit for, the same thing happens every time there's a new thing in the news.

I'm only like 45% joking there, sigh.

[Jinsai]

@elevenism, it’s weird actually… I would say Holly is a better written book with a mostly forgettable plot. I think he’s just a better writer than he was in the beginning.

With Salem’s Lot… there’s the casual acceptance of vampires, but then the more outlandish jump to accept the mythology behind vampires. Like “clearly, there’s vampires… so they hate garlic, are invisible in mirrors, need to be killed with stakes through the heart… crucifixes and prayers work…”

Even if you convinced me that vampires were real and were systemically wiping out the small town I lived in, I’d have a really hard time believing that crosses and holy water and other Castlevania shit were really going to work, and the fact that they do feels more than a little ridiculous. But nobody even questions it! There’s no moment where someone says “now hold on… okay, there’s vampires, but do you really think we should start following the book Dracula as if it’s a guide to defeating them?”

Another big issue with Salem’s Lot, for me at least, is that the characters just don’t feel real like they do in his books. Their relationships, personalities, thoughts… they’re all really one dimensional by comparison to how he fleshes out his protagonists in later novels, or even in Carrie.

I might sound like I’m bashing it, and that’s not where I’m at. I actually am really enjoying it, but it’s not the masterpiece of horror lit that I was hoping for. It gets off to a really slow start, but once it gets going it is really entertaining. Still, he’s perfected this formula elsewhere better. The notion of the small, isolated town cut off from the rest of the world facing some kind of societal breakdown amid supernatural horror… it was done in Under the Dome and Needful Things in a much more intricate and engaging way.

It’s the rare exception too where the movie adaptation is maybe more iconic than the book. The scene where Danny Glick is levitating outside the kid’s window, asking to be let in… in the Tobe Hooper miniseries that scene scared the shit out of me as a kid. In the book it’s a great scene, but it’s terrifying in the movie.

and @elevenism, if you haven’t read Fairy Tale, you should. That is a good fantasy novel. Better than Holly, and weird to say, I definitely liked it better than Salem’s Lot. I’m actually down to the last 30 or so pages of SL, and I’m probably about to finish it right now.