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The “Shining Series” #1: The Wasps

Discussing Stanley Kubrick ignoring the wasps from Stephen King’s “The Shining.”

Hey everyone! I’m still around and I’m ready to start posting regularly again. Long overdue, if you ask me. So, now that I’m back, I want to discuss some things I’ve been thinking about a lot. If you follow my Instagram, you have already seen some variation of what I am about to say. I am starting a new section of posts called my “Shining Series,” where I discuss the differences between Stephen King’s novel and Stanley Kubrick’s film.

I read “The Shining” for the first time in February 2014 while recovering from surgery (that’s a story for a different time). It was my second King novel ever and I of course loved it. It was incredible to be transported to Colorado and lose myself in the halls of The Overlook with the Torrances. I had already seen Kubrick’s iconic movie and I enjoyed it, but after reading the book, I gave the film a second viewing… I was not thrilled. Kubrick’s “Shining,” while being a great horror film, is an awful adaptation of King’s novel.

I reread “The Shining” in July 2019 and I was blown away. I don’t know if it was the 5-year separation, or maybe I was just looking at it more closely, but it was like reading a completely different book. I noticed things I didn’t even know were part of the story before and it really opened my eyes to just how big the gap between King’s novel and Kubrick’s movie really is. Kubrick’s movie is a classic and shouldn’t be ignored, but it isn’t the story King wrote and that’s what frustrates me.

For the first post in my “Shining Series,” I will discuss how Kubrick completely ignored and eliminated the wasps. The nest, the wasps themselves, and the scene where Jack Torrance discovers them were all extremely important to the story arc and Kubrick didn’t include them. King wouldn’t mention the word “wasp,” or variations of it, 70+ times (this isn’t an exaggeration) throughout the novel if they weren’t important.

Jack is re-shingling the roof of The Overlook when he discovers the wasp nest. One stings him, sending Jack into a flurry of curses (expectedly). The sting, while physically uncomfortable, spurs Jack to reflect on himself, his current situation, and his future. He realizes the wasps are very much like him:

“looking down into the nest, it seemed to him that it could serve as both a workable symbol for what he had been through (and what he had dragged his hostages to fortune through) and an omen for a better future.”

The wasp sting jolted him out of a focused and peaceful afternoon where he was working and thinking about the play he was writing. In this sense, the sting is like his alcoholism; distracting and a deterrent. The sting also represents a “punishment” for being creative. This “punishment” was doled out by the hotel itself. It was just beginning to seep into his mind and any thoughts of leaving the hotel, being successful with anything not related to the hotel, was impeding on the Overlook’s ability to influence Jack. On the other hand, the wasp’s temperament matches Jack’s almost identically. Quick to anger, quick to an attack.

As the quote shows, Jack knows the wasps symbolize himself and he believes them to be a good omen. For a little bit, they are. He successfully (or so he believes) kills them with a bug bomb he found in the Overlook equipment shed. With the wasps dead, Jack delivers the nest to Danny as a gift. When he bug-bombs them and finishes his work on the roof, his thoughts turn to his recovery:

“I’m getting better.”

The wasp sting, and their nest, incite Jack to think about his past, which is vital to the readers in understanding his nature (Something we don’t see in the film). Jack grew up in a household with an abusive alcoholic father. He sees himself turning into his dad and wants to change. The nest reminds him of this. He sees it as the turning point for the better, but the wasps represent the opposite.

The discovery of the nest is the point where everything starts to go downhill. Jack’s quick anger is soon on display with his reaction to one of Danny’s “episodes” and escalates when the wasps sting the young Torrance boy. This causes immediate shame and anger within Jack, but also resentment toward his wife, Wendy, who had expressed her worry about the nest before the wasps awoke.

I have a couple more things to say, on a general scale about the book, and then I’ll let you go. Thank you if you’ve stuck around this long:

One of the biggest themes within The Shining is repetition and the relationship between father and son. The repetitive nature of the novel is very much represented by the wasps’ ability to repeatedly sting, which is symbolic of The Overlook’s ability to “sting” its influence into Jack over and over until he finally breaks.

When Jack was a boy, he received a wasp nest from his father, much like he did with Danny. This only adds to the father-son theme and ideas of duality present throughout the novel. Kubrick never once mentions Jack’s or anyone’s past… which is shameful. We are who we are because of our past, so why ignore it?

Anyway, Sorry for the extremely long post, it was just something I noticed a lot during my reread and it really irks me that Kubrick totally ignored it. Am I overthinking it? Maybe. But, I believe the wasps held some significance to King and they definitely play their part in the story.

Stay tuned for more posts! The next “Shining Series” post will dive deeper into Jack Torrance and how Kubrick totally ignored any arc for the character. I will post a review of my reread of Stephen King’s novel “Doctor Sleep,” the sequel to “The Shining.” I was also fortunate enough to see an early screening of Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of “Doctor Sleep,” and a review for the film will be posted as well.

Review Time: “The Road That Takes You There”

I got the pleasure to read Jason Sechrest’s newest story “The Road That Takes You There,” and it was creepily beautiful. Check out below for a full review!

“My God, her face… what happened to her face?”

From the opening lines, “The Road That Takes You There” immediately draws you in. Jason Sechrest, writer of Cemetery Dance Magazine’s column, “What I Learned From Stephen King,” definitely channeled his inner King with this story. You can find an excerpt to this wonderful story on Jason’s Patreon page!

After those ominous first lines, we are introduced to George Tinker as he is driving down an old farm road, a road he has known his entire life. Upon our meeting him, George notices something that was never there before: a church with an accompanying graveyard.

George drives past this new fixture twice a day. We never know where he is going or coming from, only that the church has become something he cannot look away from, something dwelling on him. George talks to his wife about his growing concerns, only his wife isn’t there.

Sechrest mixes in interludes like the opening lines to build the eerie air of the story and give readers insight to George’s life and sanity. This is a sad, creepy and seamlessly written tale. Sechrest delivers in just over 6 pages of work. It left me wanting more, in a good way.

“SALEM, that lone word which hung in the air over the tombstones, was the only commentary the place would offer… The word meant peace. He remembered that now from his Sunday school days as a kid. ‘Funny thing,’ he called up to it. ‘That’s just what I’m looking for.’”

Don’t read beyond here if you don’t want me to spoil the ending! Just know that Sechrest wrote a very fine story and I’m looking forward to seeing reactions from more readers.

One night, George finally decides to face this abnormality and he visits the church and graveyard. Once in the graveyard, George finds the grave of his wife and one next to it with his own name on it. Upon seeing his wife’s name, George is flooded with memories of the car crash that killed them.

After this memory dump, George sees his wife and finally can apologize and move on. They drive off together down the road, the road that will take them there.

Overall, Sechrest put together a great little tale and I’m excited to read more from him.

4.5 out of 5

Review Time: “Carrie”

I first read Stephen King’s “Carrie” in 2013 and decided, randomly, to pick this tragic tale up again. Well am I sure glad I did. Check out the review for my reread below!

It’s hard to describe how ballsy it was for King to start his career off with a novel like this. A 200-page story about a high school girl with telekinetic powers… in 1974!? “Carrie” was extremely ambitious at the time.

Legend has it, King’s wife, Tabitha, pulled the manuscript from the trashcan and told him to finish it. I think all constant readers can give her a huge Thank You. Not only for pushing this book into circulation, but sparking King’s career.

“On the subject of Carrie White, we’re all relatively uninformed.”

Readers are thrown right into the midst of action with Carrie White, the tragic heroine of this story, having her first period and the other girls in the gym locker room throwing tampons at her and screaming “plug it up.” This is an insane way to start a book and its even better when readers realize later just how cataclysmic this event truly is.

I said cataclysmic, and that really is the only way to describe the locker room scene. It was the moment Carrie realized she was truly different… and not just different like every high school student, but something special. Carrie began exercising her previously semi-dormant telekinetic abilities. She describes it as working out a muscle in her head.

King does an excellent job of flipping between narrative styles throughout the novel. We get snippets of Carrie’s childhood as well as clips from newspapers, letters, telekinetic textbooks, and others. The text clippings set up the impending destruction later in the novel and keeps readers on the edge of their seats the whole time. With these snippets King gives you a taste of what is to come without truly revealing everything. Its really an amazing experience to read.

The scenes from Carrie’s past are some of my favorites. The random bursts of power associated with high-stress and her insane and overly religious mother, trapping Carrie in the closet beneath the stairs… maybe J.K. Rowling was inspired by this for “Harry Potter?” Speaking of Carries mother… wow what a terrible person. She’s easily one of the most hated characters in the Kingverse, but she is still an amazingly written crazy woman and vitally important to Carrie’s actions.

“What happens if there are others like her? What happens to the world?”

I mentioned impending destruction earlier, well, after the locker room incident, Sue Snell, one of the tampon throwers attempts to absolve herself of her guilt by convincing her boyfriend Tommy Ross to take Carrie to their senior prom. Carrie obviously accepts and things start to look up for the poor girl.

Chris Hargensen, the “bully” in this story, was the leader of the tampon throwers and she’s a vile person, so put it lightly. After the locker room incident, she is banned from the prom and in an act of revenge, her and her greaser boyfriend Billy, put buckets of pig’s blood on the rafters above the Prom King and Queen thrones. Chris rigs the voting to make it so Tommy and Carrie win.

Once on stage, accepting their crowns, Chris, hiding behind the stage, drops the blood buckets on their heads. All hell breaks loose. Carrie’s slight growth in confidence and finally happy thoughts are shattered, and she allows her now extremely powerful ability to take over.

“If the TK (telekinetic) test shows positive, we have no treatment except a bullet in the head. And how is it possible to isolate a person who will eventually have the power to knock down walls?”

I won’t go into much detail because it’s much better if you read it yourself, but Carrie’s path of destruction to her mother and then to Chris and Billy are very intense and extremely disturbing. She single-handedly destroys almost the entire town and kills hundreds of people.

This all makes Carrie sound like a terrible person and probably makes you wonder how people sympathize, but honestly, she is pretty justified for a lot of the deaths. Did all those people need to die? God, no. Many deserved it though, for the way Carrie was treated.

“People don’t get better, they get smarter. When you get smarter you don’t stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it.”

Before I let you go, “Carrie” has been adapted into two films and one made-for-TV movie. The only movie worth watching is the original 1976 movie starring the amazing Sissy Spacek. The 2002 TV-movie is atrocious, and the 2013 film is just not good.

“Carrie” truly is a very special novel. It is easily a top 20 novel of all time for me, and it’s top 15 King for sure. I could rank it that high for the style and impact alone. I am really glad I picked “Carrie” back up and it will probably turn into a yearly or every-other-year reread. I love King’s tragic debut novel and I highly recommend you check it out whether you’ve read it yet or not. It is more than worth it.

5 out of 5

Review Time: “NOS4A2”

I dedicated the first part of December to Joe Hill’s Christmas themed thriller “NOS4A2.” The title may conjure thoughts of the classic vampire, Nosferatu. In a way, this is a vampiric tale, but in a way it isn’t. Check out my review below!

Joe Hill, oldest son of the uber-famous Stephen King, released this 692-page novel in 2013. “NOS4A2” tells the tale of Victoria McQueen and her lifelong battle with reputed child kidnapper Charlie Manx.

Pause, side note: “NOS4A2” has been adapted into a TV series on AMC, starring Zachary Quinto as Manx. The series premiers later this year!

Play: Vic discovers she has a special ability, the ability to find things. She thinks about what is lost and rides her bike through a covered bridge that takes her where she needs to go. One day she goes looking for trouble and gets transported to Manx’s house.

Manx, we learn, has a similar ability. He doesn’t find things though, he takes them. He takes children to an amusement park world he created: Christmasland. He takes them to Christmasland in his Wraith, a car very much like Stephen King’s Christine. Christmasland is where children live forever, never age, and are always happy. It is a place where, shocker, it is always Christmas.

Why does he do this? Because during their journey to Christmasland, while trapped in the Wraith, Manx is taking the children’s souls and feeding himself, slowing his aging process.

“The road to Christmasland removes all sorrows, eases all pain, and erases all scars. It takes away the parts of you that weren’t doing you any good and what it leaves behind is made clean and pure.”

The concept may seem silly, but Hill executes it very well. He throws in a ton of nods to his father’s work which I am still torn about. They were cool, but also seemed lame at the same time. If we’re getting really picky, Hill’s descriptions and voice aren’t very strong. The story was great, the idea was there, but there wasn’t enough of the bad-guys and the plot seems a bit thrown together at times.

Hill introduces the readers to Bing Partridge. A psychopath, to put it simply. He’s a vile human being who aids Manx in his abductions. Bing was an excellent character and, in the end, the duo of him and Manx was not utilized nearly enough.

One thing Hill did do very well was highlight the struggle of those who have faced and dealt with past traumas. We get to see how Vic’s first, almost fatal confrontation with Manx affected her entire life. We get to see her at her lowest point, but we also get to see her rise from the ashes to save her son from the clutches of Bing, Manx, and Christmasland.

The first third of the book is very interesting and informative. The middle third is a tad boring and the novel seems to stall. The last third though… Hill seriously kicks it in gear. The finale of this one is something seriously crazy to read. It’s an experience.

I think this novel had a lot of potential and a lot of very awesome details that were not given the time or descriptions they deserved. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this one and I am very interested to read more from Mr. Hill, especially the prequel graphic novel, “Wraith.” “Wraith” gives the readers some much needed Manx back story. I’ll be reading and reviewing that one soon.

“After all: Christmas is just a state of mind, and as long as you keep a little holiday spirit in your heart, every day is Christmas Day.”

In the end, I really liked it, but there was a bit too much I found myself shaking my head about, and maybe that’s my fault for comparing Hill to his father too much? I definitely still recommend you check it out because I know a lot of people who swear by “NOS4A2.” If you do pick it up, be sure to read the last section “A note on the type” for a hidden epilogue!

3.75 out of 5

Review Time: “Widow’s Point”

I read father-son duo, Richard and Billy Chizmar’s novella “Widow’s Point” back in November and absolutely adored it. An extremely chilling story that can be read in one sitting… its that good. Check out my review below!

Richard Chizmar, founder of Cemetery Dance Publications and the Cemetery Dance Magazine, asked his oldest son, Billy, to assist him in writing a short story. Billy eagerly accepted, and once the two got to writing, they realized they had more than a short story’s worth of material. “Widow’s Point,” through their collaboration and compatible stylistic differences, turned into the chilling novella it is today.

“Widow’s Point, with its sheer cliffs and windswept ocean views, is one of the most picturesque scenic overlooks in all of Nova Scotia. It’s located a mere five minute drive from the town of Harper’s Cove, a thirty minute drive from neighboring Cambridge, and a zero minute drive from the depths of Hell.”

Released in February 2018, this 150-page novella, with amazing illustrations from the famous Glenn Chadbourne throughout, follows the tragic tale of acclaimed author Thomas Livingston and his weekend stay in the haunted Widow’s Point lighthouse on Harper’s Cove.

The entire novella is written in bursts of video and audio clips from Livingston’s portable camera and recorder. Reading this feels like you are watching a movie. I have read a lot of books in my time, but I can say I have never read one that was this visually stunning.

The Chizmars simply killed it. They both have a lot of background in the film industry, so that aided in their descriptive prowess. There are multiple occasions where I had to set the book down and just go “wow” among other expletives. I was thoroughly creeped out. There’s a specific Satanic ritual scene that has still stuck with me.

“I want to go home. I want to leave this bad place and never come back. There’s evil here, in the walls, in the air. It lurks along the stairway and slumbers upon the catwalk. It breathes in the salt of the ocean and exhales darkness. It survives on the town’s fear. I can feel it oozing through the stone walls and slithering into my skin. It’s swimming in my veins. I can feel it. I can feel it eating my brain.”

Aside from the Satanic bit, the Chizmar’s threw the readers into Livingston’s mind and showed you his deep dive into the heart of darkness and the slow crumble of his insanity. The ghosts of the lighthouse’s past haunted poor Thomas, pushing him beyond the realm of rational thinking and actions. Counting steps, recounting steps, rotten food, tainted water, mysterious objects, and many more classic ghost story elements that broke clichés and added new life to the sub-genre.

While reading this I couldn’t help but draw parallels to Stephen King’s short story “1408” and after watching the Netflix series “The Haunting of Hill House” loosely based off Shirley Jackson’s classic novel, I see parallels there too.

I had the privilege of interviewing Richard and Billy back in October. It was an experience that will probably stick with me for the rest of my life and I still can’t thank them enough for the opportunity. During the interview they revealed the novella is on the verge of becoming a feature film. They also told me the duo was working on a prequel/sequel story.

I highly recommend you check this one out, you’ll cruise through it and you wont regret it. The Chizmars put together something special.

5 out of 5

Review Time: “In The Tall Grass”

Stephen King collaborated with his oldest son Joe Hillstrom King (Joe Hill) to create the terrifying novella, “In The Tall Grass.” Check out my review for the soon-to-be Netflix movie.

Originally released in the June/July and August 2012 issues of Esquire magazine, “In The Tall Grass” can now only be acquired as an e-book. If you get the opportunity to acquire this novella or even just read it, I highly recommend you do it.

Cal and his sister Becky are travelling across country to move Becky into their aunt and uncle’s house. During their drive, on a desolate road in Kansas, Cal and Becky hear cries for help coming from a tall grass field on the side of the road.

They park at a seemingly abandoned church, The Black Stone Church of the Redeemer. All the cars in the lot are covered in dust; looking like they’ve been there for ages. Cal and Becky now hear cries from a little boy named Tobin, and his mother. They try leading the source of the voices toward them, out of the grass.

Eventually the siblings go into the grass in search of the lost mother and son. They get separated and insanity ensues. They cannot find their way out, or to each other, no matter what they do. There are moments when King describes the siblings jumping and yelling to find each other, but the landscape moves around them, making it impossible.

Once in the grass, King fans immediately think of his short story “Children of the Corn.” The tall grass and tall corn are where the similarities stop though. This is a much more brutal and disturbing story that had a couple scenes, one particularly, that made my jaw drop.

I want to go deeper into this; the gruesome scenes the overall sense of desperation, distress, claustrophobia and hopelessness… but I don’t want to spoil the story. It is very good and quite terrifying. I am really interested to see how Netflix goes about adapting it.

Speaking of that: Vincenzo Natali will write and direct the film which has landed stars Patrick Wilson and James Marsden. Laysla De Oliveira, Will Buie Jr., Avery Whitted, Rachel Wilson and Harrison Gilbertson have also joined the cast of “In The Tall Grass.” It is unannounced, but its very possible that Gilbertson and Oliveira will play Cal and Becky. Buie Jr. is set to play Tobin and Rachel Wilson will play his mother.

Anyway, I highly recommend you get your hands on this thriller as soon as you can, it’s worth it. Hopefully the movie doesn’t cut too much of the gruesome parts out… they are just insane.

5 out of 5

Review Time: “Creepshow”

“Creepshow” is a 1982 cult classic horror anthology film directed by George A. Romero (RIP) and written by Stephen King. This is the comic adaptation of the movie with illustrations from Bernie Wrightson (RIP).

Gallery 13 published this graphic novel edition of “Creepshow” in 2017, and it is entertaining for sure. We get to see The Creep, with his hooded decaying face, introduce and close out each story with his classic “heh-heh” laugh.

I enjoyed the illustrations a whole hell of a lot, and the stories were fun as well. In the end, the movie was just a better medium though. Below, I’ll go into each story a little bit, but my advice: skip the comic and watch the movie. Really, only get this if you want the art because it is something special.

“Father’s Day”

This is a twisted tale about a family reunion where the members discuss their crazy aunt who killed her just as crazy father seven years ago. The aunt visits her fathers grave every Father’s Day at 4 pm sharp. This year however, daddy decides to dig his way to the surface.

Zombie dad runs around asking for cake and killing the family members. It’s a great time.

“It’s Father’s Day and I want my cake!! And I mean to have it!!”

“The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill”

In the film, Stephen King himself played ole Jordy. Jordy, a simple man, lives by himself in the middle of nowhere. One night he sees a meteor crash into his property. He goes to inspect it and gets infected with what looks like grass.

Jordy has visions of selling the meteor and when snapped back to reality he realized the alien grass is spreading. The itching becomes unbearable for poor Jordy and the grass spreads to cover his entire body. He eventually kills himself and we see his entire house and lawn are now covered in the alien grass.

“The Crate”

This is my favorite from the anthology. A janitor finds a mysterious crate at a University. He calls one of the professors to come check it out. The janitor and professor open the crate. The janitor reaches his hand inside and gets sucked in by a mysterious beast.

The professor runs for help and finds a student who also investigates the crate and also gets attacked by the beast. The professor then goes to his co-worker’s house, tells him the story of the crate. Mr. co-worker decides to get a little revenge on his cheating wife and tricks her into checking out the crate. You can probably guess the result for the Missus. After she gets torn up, the professors lock the crate up and sink it.

“Something To Tide You Over”

We start out seeing a man’s head in the sand… he is buried up to his neck at the beach. This turns out to be a revenge tactic. The man had relations with Richard’s wife. Richard buried the man, Harry, and Becky (the wife) both up to their necks in the sand. He set up television screens and cameras in front of both of their faces, so they could watch each other drown as the tide came in.

While they watched each other, Richard watched them die from the comfort of his home. After watching them die, Richard takes a shower. While showering, zombie Becky and Harry arrive and bury Richard up to his neck on the beach.

“They’re Creeping Up On You”

This one gives you the creepy-crawlies for sure. A man living in his spotless apartment begins having trouble with roaches. As he battles the roaches, the city experiences a blackout. During this blackout, the apartment is infested with roaches. When the lights turn back on, there are no more bugs… except for the millions escaping from the dead man’s mouth.

“Creepshow” was very enjoyable, but I the comic format only served as a good visual, it wasn’t very fun to read. My rating may seem generous based on what I’ve said, but I do like all the stories and the movie is just so awesome. It is a cult classic for a reason and I highly recommend it.

4 out of 5

Review Time: “Storm of the Century”

Stephen King’s screenplay “Storm of the Century” was my 71st and final book by the master of the macabre. It’s a bittersweet feeling, but with a few short stories remaining and “Elevation” coming late October, I’m not done yet! Anyway, check out my review for “Storm of the Century.”

Released in 1999, Stephen King wrote the “Storm of the Century” screenplay for a television movie. The film was released in three parts, totaling over four hours of air time. The book was interesting for sure, but I felt like the screenplay style hindered what it could have been. The film was exactly as you’d expect after reading the book.

The residents of Little Tall Island off the coast of Maine (of course) are battening down the hatches and preparing for what the news is referring to as the storm of the century (go figure). While this is happening, a mysterious man shows up and kills an innocent old woman.

Side note: You may recognize Little Tall Island. It was the setting for “Dolores Claiborne” and the short story “Home Delivery.” Dolores is mentioned a couple times by the residents in “Storm of the Century.”

Anyway, this mysterious man is Andre Linoge. He ends up being like a lame version of everyone’s favorite King baddy: Randall Flagg. Linoge gets himself arrested by island constable, and the main character of the story, Mike Anderson.

Anderson is in charge of keeping the citizens calm and making sure everyone is safe during this storm, but now he must also deal with a murderous stranger. The storm escalates to its title and all the residents of Little Tall Island end up taking refuge in the town hall building. Meanwhile Mike and a few others stand guard outside of the island’s one cell where Linoge is being held.

From his cell, Linoge uses some sort of psychic abilities and sorcery to cause chaos. I wont go much further into details to avoid spoilers, but some of the events Linoge causes are quite intense, especially the ultimatum at the end.

“This is a cash-and-carry world, pay as you go. Sometimes you only have to pay a little, but mostly it’s a lot. And once in a while it’s all you have. ” – Mike Anderson

This review is shorter because the book itself wasn’t long. The screenplay, coming in at 376 pages, is hard to go over without spoiling and it read much faster than that page count suggests. You can watch the movie and honestly probably enjoy it more. Like I said before, this story isn’t bad, and the end is even a little heartbreaking, but I would have liked it much more if it were in novel form.

Overall, “Storm of the Century” wasn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t King’s best work.

3 out of 5

Review Time: “Nightmares & Dreamscapes”

“Nightmares & Dreamscapes” was Stephen King’s third short story collection, and my 69th book of his and it was absolutely incredible. Check out my review below!

King released this 960-page collection of 24 short stories in 1993. The only King collection I have left to read is “Hearts In Atlantis,” which has novellas and short stories mixed in, so really “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” was the last one… and for me, it was the best one.

The introduction, which King titled “Myth, Belief, Faith, and Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” was truly incredible and inspirational. It was without a doubt the best introduction to anything I have ever read. I highly recommend you check out the intro, even if for some stupid reason you don’t read the rest of the book, at least read that.

“First, repeat the catechism after me:

I believe a dime can derail a freight-train.

I believe there are alligators in the New York City sewer system, not to mention rats as big as Shetland ponies.

I believe that you can tear off someone’s shadow with a steel tent-pole.

I believe that there really is a Santa Claus, and that all those red-suited guys you see at Christmastime really are his helpers.

I believe there is an unseen world all around us.

I believe that tennis balls are full of poison gas, and if you cut one in two and breathe what comes out, it’ll kill you.

Most of all, I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks.”

– Stephen King

Forewarning, this post will be long because I am going to briefly go over each story, so sit back and enjoy the ride!

“Dolan’s Cadillac” – The lead-off story, as King put it, got readers right in the zone. A noir revenge story with an extremely intricate build-up. I really enjoyed this tale and it was one of my favorites in the collection.

“The End of the Whole Mess” – Another gem, and probably my favorite in the collection, just purely for the thoughts you’re left with afterward. One man’s genius brother discovers the saying “there’s something in the water” is actually true. The cure to violence ends up having some serious side-effects.

“Suffer the Little Children” – this story was very dark and pretty disturbing. It leaves you questioning what the right “answer” was. Once you read it, you’ll understand.

“The Night Flier” – A writer for a tabloid magazine, one that seems to specialize in blood, guts, horror and all things supernatural, chases a vampire with a private pilot’s license down the east coast. The final confrontation was intense. The 1997 film adaptation was decent too.

“Popsy” – A young boy gets abducted and later saved by his grandfather, Popsy, who displays similar characteristics to the antagonist of “The Night Flier.” In the notes at the end of the collection, King confirms they are indeed the same person. This story started off somewhat disturbing in the sense of the subject matter but finished in classic bloody-King fashion.

“It Grows on You” – I was disappointed with this one. I was intrigued with the Castle Rock setting and the elderly characters whom had survived the events of “Needful Things,” but the story was just… meh. It has a couple creepy bits but overall, I think it would actually serve better as a novel where we could get more detail.

“Chattery Teeth” – A classic case of King turning something mundane, such as the toy wind-up teeth with feet, into something utterly horrific.

“Dedication” – This story was strange. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. It had a sense of realism that made it good, but overall it was slow and not very exciting. This story would be better suited in the collection “Full Dark, No Stars.”

“The Moving Finger” – CRAZY. That’s seriously the best way to describe this one. A man discovers a finger prying around his sink poking through the drain… It was intense, and the way King wrote it made you feel like you were going insane too. WAS IT REAL????

“Sneakers” – this was a strange ghost story, but it definitely gave me the creeps and I really liked it. You’ll never look at a pair of shoes underneath a bathroom stall the same way after reading this one…

“You Know They Got a Hell of a Band” – A couple takes a wrong turn and ends up in a town called Rock and Roll Heaven. Little do they know, it IS Rock and Roll Heaven, and they are now trapped and must listen to nightly concerts from dead rockers. Doesn’t sound too bad actually.

“Home Delivery” – King spins out another gem here. A pregnant woman on an island off the Maine coast, loses her husband while he’s catching Lobsters. She decides to have the baby in the comfort of her own home. Why? Well only the small matter of a zombie apocalypse on the mainland. This is one of my favorites in the collection mainly because of the way King hides the horror and spins a great tale around it.

“Rainy Season” – This story has a very classic King feel to it. A couple staying at a summer home in Maine decide to stay there the wrong year. That night, they get rained on by killer toads with razor sharp teeth. As you can guess, this one doesn’t end well for our “heroes.”

“My Pretty Pony” – A slower tale about a grandfather sharing some wisdom with his grandson. Reading it I really didn’t think I was going to enjoy it, but as the tale unfolds, I grew to really appreciate it and the lesson it left me with. A great message about the passage of time. Not a favorite, but really a beautiful story.

“Sorry, Right Number” – This one blew me away. I didn’t cry, but I definitely got close. King wrote it like a screenplay and I think it really added to the pace and atmosphere of the story. Super dark and depressing but a great tale with a wild twist.

“The Ten O’clock People” – King spins an excellent story here, tapping on real social issues while also adding his usual supernatural twist to it. Every day, at 10 O’clock, people converge outside to smoke their cigarettes (since the office buildings started to ban smoking inside). These people can see things… What they see, are people in higher-power positions with giant grotesque bat heads. This story escalates quickly and is super interesting. One of my favorites.

“Crouch End” – Another favorite of mine from this collection. A couple (huh, King likes screwing with couples, doesn’t he?) gets lost in the suburbs of London and find themselves in the mysterious town of Crouch End. The wife loses the husband after a series of creepy events and begins seeing and hearing disturbing things. She finally makes her way to the police station to share her story. The ending makes readers shout “NO!” King wrote this one as a little ode to Lovecraft.

“The House on Maple Street” – Four siblings discover metal growing beneath the floors and behind the walls of their house. In the cellar, they then discover a control panel with a series of numbers counting down. The eldest hatches a plan to trap their evil step father in the house when the countdown hits zero. When it does, the house takes off. It was a crazy little tale but very fun and left you with a smile on your face.

“The Fifth Quarter” – This felt like a Bachman story, and King even admitted as much in the notes at the end. A man discovers one of his friends got mixed up with some bad people. These people stole money, buried it, made a map to find it again, and tore the map in four pieces to be distributed amongst themselves. Of course, no one trusts one another, and all are trying to get the pieces for themselves. Our main character, the fifth quarter, seeking revenge for his friend, slowly gathers the pieces. It was a cool little tale and I don’t think I did it justice here.

“The Doctor’s Case” – King writes about the classic characters Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in this murder mystery. In this case, Dr. Watson is the one to discover the murderer, but Holmes, Watson, and an Inspector all decide to hide the evidence and leave the mystery “unsolved.” This was a really interesting tale and pretty ballsy of King to do his own take on such classic characters.

“Umneys’ Last Case” – Umney is a private investigator or detective of sorts who goes about the same daily routine. The day of the story however, things have changed and Umney can’t deal. He gets to his office where he meets his doppelganger who happens to be “God” aka the man who created Umney. Umney is fiction and the doppelganger is the author of the Umney stories. The author intends to write himself into Umney’s life and Umney into the real world. It is a very unique and very cool story.

“Head Down” – This is a non-fiction essay, originally published in “The New Yorker,” about Stephen King’s son Owen’s baseball team, Bangor West, and their run at the Little League championship. King, being a huge baseball fan, and a gifted writer (obviously) was able to spin the tale of his son’s team’s triumph out for readers like one of his own stories. He kept it light and factual but still extremely intriguing and heartwarming. When King told readers of a non-fiction tale in the intro, I was like “Oh boy this will be boring.” WOW was I wrong. Reading this story gave me HUGE feelings of nostalgia back to my little league days.

“Brooklyn August” – King spins out a little poem about baseball for us. It’s a nice conclusion before we reach the notes section where he tells us about some of the stories.

“The Beggar and the Diamond” – After the notes, King hid an extra story. This one is somewhat religious and its King’s take on a Hindu parable. The story wasn’t anything amazing, but the message and the lesson were nice.

Overall, this short story collection was absolutely incredible. I was blown away. If I could give this collection more than a perfect score, I would. But alas, I give “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” a:

5 out of 5

Review Time: “Just After Sunset”

“Just After Sunset” was my 68th Stephen King book and the 5th Short Story collection of his that I have read… it also happens to be the 5th collection of short stories that he wrote. Without further ado, read below and check out my review!

“Just After Sunset” was released in 2008. This 360 page collection containing 13 stories, had a somewhat depressing tone throughout. I enjoyed it but didn’t love it. It was underwhelming.

This is the first time I have reviewed a story collection. I’m going to go through each story individually, so be prepared for some spoilers, but I wouldn’t let that stop you from reading, they won’t be bad, I promise.

The first story, “Willa,” tells the tale of a group of people waiting in a train station. David realizes his wife, Willa, is missing and decides to leave the station to find her even though the other waiting passengers advise against it. He finds her in a bar with live music.

Throughout David and Willa’s discussion, it is revealed to the reader that they, along with the other passengers waiting at the station, are all dead. Their train derailed, killing everyone, but only a few have accepted the fact that they are ghosts stuck in this station.

“The Gingerbread Girl” is the second story and this one was fun. A woman, grieving after the loss of her infant daughter, leaves her husband and lives alone in Florida. While there and on one of her daily runs, she is abducted by a neighbor. She escapes and is chased by her abductor down the beach. I wont ruin the ending, but this was definitely one of the stronger stories in the collection and it is being adapted into a movie.

Next up is “Harvey’s Dream.” This story was more of a tale of foreshadowing than anything. Harvey has a dream, tells his wife, and then they receive a phone call and, as you would expect, Harvey’s dream came true. It’s a little creepy once you read what his dream was about.

“Rest Stop” followed and this one was okay. A man stops at a rest stop to use the restroom and hears a couple arguing and hears the man begin to harm the woman. Our hero steps in to save the day.

“Stationary Bike” was a very interesting story that fell flatter than the Earth (haha just kidding). This story had so much promise, but the ending sucked, it just didn’t wrap up how you’d want. The concept was very cool, touching on aspects from “Rose Madder” or “Duma Key.”

“The Things They Left Behind” was depressing and creepy as hell. A man who decided to call out of work one day, survives 9/11 because of this decision. About a year later, his coworkers’ possessions start showing up in his apartment and he hears things coming from each one. Creepy and depressing are the best words for this story. It is a good one though.

“Graduation Afternoon” came next, and King stayed with the depressed, destroyed New York theme. A girl is being a loner at a graduation party and watched New York city explode in the distance. The story was alright, but that feeling of dread really hit you.

“N.” was my favorite story in the collection. It was also adapted as a comic by Marvel and in my opinion, it deserves a movie. It was creepy, disturbing, and just great. A man finds a Stonehenge-like stone circle in a field in Maine. Looking upon these stones gives him extreme OCD and makes him believe he must act upon these compulsions to keep demons from escaping the circle.

Each person that sees these stones and becomes infected with the compulsions commits suicide after passing the infection onto someone else. The story is very dark but its fantastic. The comic version had an alternate ending that was extremely disturbing.

Next up was my second favorite, “The Cat from Hell.” This story started out a little slow and strange, but the later half and ending were CRAZY. An old man hires a hitman to kill a cat. The old man tells the hitman about the cat’s history of murdering his family members. The hitman, thinking “this will be the easiest job of my life,” takes the cat, but during the car ride, the cat attacks. This story also appeared in the 1990 film version of the horror anthology series from the 1980’s: “Tales From The Darkside.”

I won’t say anymore because its wild, you have to read it. In the “Sunset Notes” section of the collection, where King talks about why he wrote each story, King says he actually wrote “The Cat from Hell” 30 years ago but never used it in a collection until “Just After Sunset.” The story is definitely different from the others, and I think that 30-year difference is why.

“The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates” was next and this one was interesting. A woman receives a call from her husband during his funeral. Yes, you read that right. Her husband is in a building reminiscent of Grand Central station waiting to move on. He tells her a couple premonitions because “time moves differently here.” The story is depressing but has a nice little twist.

“Mute” came next and I really enjoyed this one. A man is in a church confessional telling the pastor about one time he picked up a supposedly def-mute hitchhiker. While driving the man tells the hitchhiker about his cheating wife who is also in trouble with the government for stealing money. Later his wife and her lover turn up dead. Police say the mute hitchhiker is responsible. A very interesting concept and a dark little tale. I liked it.

“Ayana” followed, and this was another interesting one. A family taking care of their terminally ill father are visited by a woman and a young girl, Ayana. Ayana kisses the sickly father and one of the sons and days later the father is no longer dying. The son who received a kiss also, was given a gift. Every now and then, a man visits the son and takes him to hospitals where he must kiss someone else with a terminal illness and save them. This story was mysterious but uplifting, it was enjoyable.

The last story, “A Very Tight Place,” was my third favorite. This story was disgusting but awesome. A man gets locked in an overturned porta-potty by his rival neighbor. I don’t need to say anymore because you can probably smell the fecal matter now. It was so gross to imagine being trapped there, but the story was so good.

Sorry this ended up being long-winded, but it was the best way to show you that the collection as a whole, was underwhelming, but it had some very, very good stories. Overall, I enjoyed it, but of five collections I’ve read, it is number five. I am currently reading the collection “Nightmares & Dreamscapes,” and it is incredible (review coming soon).

Before my rating, I’ll leave you with the last few sentences King uses to close out the collection:

“Take care of yourself… and say! Did you maybe leave the oven on? Or forget to turn off the gas under the patio barbecue? What about the lock on the back door? Did you remember to give it a twist? Things like that are easy to forget, and someone could be slipping in right now. A lunatic, perhaps. One with a knife. So, OCD behavior or not… Better go check, don’t you think?”

Anyway, here is my rating for “Just After Sunset:”