(Gwendy's Final Task) We’ve arrived in 2022 (the present year as I’m writing this, though anyone reading this post will be looking back from 2023), and with 2022 comes the end of the odd little Gwendy trilogy that starts with a Stephen King/Richard Chizmar collaboration, continues with an installment by Chizmar alone, and then finishes … Continue reading Honor The Dead By Serving The Living
(By Richard Chizmar) “But what if something she believes to be true… simply isn’t?” Gwendy's Magic Feather You may have noticed that I changed up my naming convention for this post. I did that to differentiate Gwendy's Magic Feather because — as you probably know, if you care enough about King books and/or this series … Continue reading Gwendy’s Magic Feather
(Elevation) So, here we are at Elevation. I was actually kind of excited to re-read this one. I didn’t really like it the first time through, but I’ve come across enough King fans who legitimately loved it to make me wonder if I just missed something the first time. So I was looking forward to … Continue reading Why Feel Bad About What You Couldn’t Change? Why Not Embrace It?
(Gwendy's Button Box) Gwendy Peterson is an interesting character in King’s pantheon. The Gwendy trilogy is a collaboration between King and author Richard Chizmar, with both men contributing to the first and third installments and Chizmar writing the second installment solo. So that’s odd to start with. I have the second Gwendy on my list … Continue reading The World Is Insane. You Only Have To Watch The News To Know It
(Revival) Revival gets my vote for the most frightening King book of all time. It’s probably the most a King book has scared me since encountering Thinner around the age of 13. And unlike Thinner, Revival scared adult me and still has the power to scare me on re-read. I’ve only read Revival once before … Continue reading Any Day Could Be The Day We Go Down, And We Never Know
(Lisey's Story) I… really don’t think I get it. I don’t say that lightly. I hate to not get it. I usually pride myself on getting it, even if I don’t especially like it. But I’m not totally sure that I get this one. I’m aware that this is the one King refers to as … Continue reading I’m So Afraid That All I Can Reach Will Lead Me To All I Dare Not See
(Needful Things) Needful Things was written well in the past. So clearly, it’s not about now, nor even about the recent past. And yet… who do we know who came to a new town and spent his time there riling up the prejudices, grudges, odd conspiracies and paranoias, and hatred of anyone that he could? … Continue reading Everyone Loves Something For Nothing… Even If It Costs Everything
(Four Past Midnight, "The Library Policeman") It’s just my observation, but when I see Four Past Midnight come up in Stephen King groups or subreddits or whatever, it’s not very well liked. Usually, people will say that there are one or two stories they can’t stand, and that the others are OK. And the funny … Continue reading Fear is An Emotion Which Encloses and Precludes Change
(The Dark Half) It’s difficult for me to imagine writing a story on a typewriter, let alone a pencil. I have actually done both in the past, of course, I’m old enough to have used typewriters, and, at least when I was in school, it was much more common for kids to write assignments, including … Continue reading Starting Off Always Felt A Little Obscene To Him, Like French-Kissing A Corpse
(Different Seasons -- "The Body") If you aren’t familiar with Different Seasons — first of all, you’re missing out. But what you need to know first is that Different Seasons is a collection of four novellas, and you’ve heard of at least some of them. It begins with “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”, and … Continue reading Love Has Teeth; They Bite; The Wounds Never Close.
Uniquely Portable Magic 