Four Entertaining Tales from Storytelling Master, Stephen King
By: Samantha Lazar
Tags: Books, Stephen King, Book Review, Samantha Lazar, Reading

Four Entertaining Tales from Storytelling Master, Stephen King

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

This is a book review of If It Bleeds by Stephen King. If you are deathly allergic to spoilers, don’t worry. I am too. I promise not to give anything away.

If It Bleeds is a collection of four novellas. Like a good Stephen King book, all of them share a common theme: obsession.

Last night I finished reading, or listening to, the last story. I do insist as an English teacher, that audio books count as reading. Being read to is access to text in a very nurturing way. I love reading to my child and my students in the same way I love being read to. Scary stories can be really fun to listen to. They take me back to the campfire and freak me out!

Plus, I listened to The Outsider which has the same narrator, Will Patton, who voices the now well-known character, Holly Gibney. Some people do not like Patton’s voicing of Holly. I admit it annoyed me at first, but when I read the title story, “If It Bleeds,” it was familiar, and I found myself routing for Holly as if I really knew her. In this novella, we get more of her personal back story and inner dialogue (there seems to be a loud committee in her head).

In the book’s third story, “If It Bleeds,” Holly Gibney goes rogue from her detective firm, Finders Keepers, to investigate a horrific crime. We find out that she is also on a solo journey to fight two separate kinds of demon. Out of the four stories, I liked this one the best. It’s suspenseful and thrilling, and fully character-driven, which is my cup of tea.

The first story in the book, “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” deals with a relationship between a rich and retired newcomer, Mr. Harrigan and his neighbor, Craig, who takes a job working for him. They develop a grandfather-grandson bond that is both detached and intimate, if that is possible. Craig gives Mr. Harrigan the new, original iPhone. Even though Mr. Harrigan pushes the idea of technology away, they both become obsessed with its abilities. To me, the story looks at the early stages of our phone/internet addiction and turns it into something beyond frightening. I enjoyed the story and the development of the characters, but this was my least favorite of the four.

The second title, “The Life of Chuck” is really intriguing. This story starts with the end of the world. I love a good apocalypse tale, but I was really surprised by the structure of the story. I kept expecting to see what happens when the world ends, but this story is written in reverse. We follow Chuck Krantz’s life backwards in sort of an effect-cause drama. I loved this one, but not for the reasons why I thought I would.

The last story comes in close second for me. “Rat” reminds me somewhat of The Shining in that the main character is obsessed with finishing a novel and his mind starts slipping to dark places. It has a “Monkey’s Paw” sort of twist, and it gives a clever and new take on the idea of writer’s block. I loved it.

If you are a fan, I think you will enjoy this collection. Published early in 2020, the book is timely, minus the coronavirus, and it certainly includes King’s well-known disdain for Donald Trump.

As a writer, I really appreciated the author’s note at the end of the book. I am fascinated by where ideas come from, and King lets the readers into his mind, just a bit.