Review: Mile 81: 54 miles Creepy + 27 miles Crawly
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 7, 2011
This is a macabre horror story from one of the few authors who can actually make your skin crawl by simply penning a few choice words.  The beginning of the story gives you a "dirty" crawl as he skillfully describes the detritus of teenage assignations at an abandoned rest stop through the eyes of a young protagonist seeking bragging rights for a great adventure.The middle section serves up a "creepy, spine-tingling" crawl as the evil villain is revealed through a series of close encounters of the grisly kind, the prey being well intentioned good Samaritans who happen to be on the right road at the wrong time.Unfortunately, there are far too few words to choose from by the time you get to the end of the too-short story, and the ending fails to live up to the promise of the earlier premise. In fact, only 80% of the Kindle space is devoted to Mile 81, the rest being a lengthy sneak peek at King's next project; and of the 80%, very few words make up the ending.Never-the-less, at least two-thirds of your Kindle purchase represents vintage King, and this short story is recommended for Kingaholics and short attention span horror fans.Amanda Richards, September 7, 2011