King's short stories are the worst, in the way one likes to pay for.
I'm still freaked out by The Mist, and I last read it 20 years ago.
Travers: Perhaps you'll favor us with a demonstration while we're here. Buffy: You mean, like, right now? 'Cause, already had my recommended daily dose of fights tonight.
'Potential'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
§ ita § - Mar 26, 2004 1:04:34 pm PST #1887 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
deborah grabien - Mar 26, 2004 1:06:52 pm PST #1888 of 10002
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
King's short stories are the worst, in the way one likes to pay for.
"You have been - deleted."
Jeepers. And that one? Had a happy ending.
Matt the Bruins fan - Mar 26, 2004 2:06:36 pm PST #1889 of 10002
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
I'm still freaked out by The Mist, and I last read it 20 years ago.
10 for me, but it was the previous contender for Scariest King Story before I read "1408." The man should have been a contemporary of Lovecraft to join in the formation of the Cthulhu Mythos—he and Ramsey Campbell are the only modern authors I can think of who can do work that's similar in both motif and quality (though until this week I thought King lost the touch long ago).
Anne W. - Mar 26, 2004 2:08:11 pm PST #1890 of 10002
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.
I agree that King's short works can be very, very good and very, very scary.
Pix - Mar 26, 2004 3:58:23 pm PST #1891 of 10002
We're all getting played with, babe. -Weird Barbie
"Apt Pupil" is the scariest King Short story I've ever read. Eek. And way scarier than the movie, I suppose, goes without saying.
Matt the Bruins fan - Mar 26, 2004 4:45:34 pm PST #1892 of 10002
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
I seem to be more susceptible to unnatural horror than the reality-based sort. As awful as the progression of "Apt Pupil" was, it didn't tell me anything worse than what I'd already read in true life accounts of war crimes.
Pix - Mar 26, 2004 5:51:59 pm PST #1893 of 10002
We're all getting played with, babe. -Weird Barbie
I can see that, and yes, obviously you're right. Real war crimes are much worse. Maybe it was just timing, when I read it.
Frankenbuddha - Mar 26, 2004 6:00:47 pm PST #1894 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
A scifi-horror piece called "I Am The Doorway".
Written for his college literary journal. I know because two of my sisters were pals of his at UMO (University of Maine, Orono) and my brother in law was a one-time roommate. I think my family has a copy of that kicking around somewhere. Also, the other one from NIGHT SHIFT that was a sort-of dry run of The Stand (Night Tide, maybe? My copy of Night Shift is buried in my book collection so I can't get to it easily), was published there too.
I also knew about the Bachman psuedonym about 5 years before anybody else. Rage is still a favorite of mine. It was a VERY adolescent acting out novel, but I was in high school when I read it and it hit SO many of the right buttons for me.
Holli - Mar 26, 2004 6:43:43 pm PST #1895 of 10002
an overblown libretto and a sumptuous score/ could never contain the contradictions I adore
The ending of "Strawberry Spring" creeped me right. the fuck. out. Brr. Not to mention the one with the rats, and the one that read like a dry run for Salem's Lot.
Frankenbuddha - Mar 26, 2004 7:52:32 pm PST #1896 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
The ending of "Strawberry Spring" creeped me right. the fuck. out. Brr. Not to mention the one with the rats, and the one that read like a dry run for Salem's Lot.
NIGHT SHIFT is a pretty much perfect collection of creep-you-the-fuck-out horror stories. As a novelist, with a few exceptions (Pet Sematary especially), King got to like his characters too much to do horrible things to ALL of them. But in short stories he's a merciless bastard.