Re: Books by Stephen King
@Mirage, I liked the weerdosity in both battleground and trucks, I just wanted a bit more story wise, particularly from Trucks, since seeing actual people respond to those sorts of crises is always interesting, and its after all something King has done well elsewhere.
Jayde, You might be correct on both lack of character due the audience and guys like the protagonist of the boogyman being more common in the sixties, but that doesn't necessarily excuse the story for me, particularly because King has always made it pretty clear he doesn't really consider the audience when he's writing anyway, and bacdk then there weren't major committees at publishing houses with huge lists of demographics and check lists to adhere to.
I also I'm afraid I don't necessarily agree about the horror in the Boogieman being primarily about the kids, since its much easier feel horror when you necessarily can empathise, or at least can imaginatively empathise with a protagonist to some extent.
For example, I personally hate being around people who smoke so have never tried to quit, but I feel much more sorry for the predicament of the main character in Quitter's inc since he's fundamentally a nice guy who loves his wife, and his mentally handicapped son.
this isn't to say everyone in stories should be a nice person, just that if your writing a horror story with a tragic effect in mind, the tragedy is easier to feel if you can empathise with the target to some extent, even if that person still has a rough edge or so, heck, I could even feel sorry for the main character in the man who loved flowers despite him being a psycho murderer .
Well I've now finished the collection so here are a last few thoughts on One for the road and the woman in the room, spoilage ahoy as always.
One for the road: I actually ran into this one a good while ago in a collection of vampire fiction, though as I'd not read Salem's lot at that point it was just a creepy story. During a blizzard a wealthy tourist from New Jersy stumbles in to a bar early in the morning because his car broke down near Salem's lot, leaving his wife and daughter behind. to see what's up they find the wife and duly and nastily vampirised, though at least daddy gets to join the family.
Moral of the story, when the folksy locals tell you "don't go near the castle!" you should always listen .
In general this was a pretty standard horror story with one of those likeable old boys King has a habit of writing as its main protagonist. It does what it says on the tin, albeit there was a little too much telling us soemthing was dead frightening for my liking, and only a little of the King weirdness (the little girl drooling was a wonderfully nasty detail). Maybe King was assuming his reader's would've read Salem's lot or just wanting to get straight to the shock, I don't know.
I actually feel more fondly to this story now than when I first read it back in the early 2000's, since yee gods! its good to see vampires that are just bloody evil for a change .
Not surprising, but does what it does well, even if it was in and out a wee bit too quick to be really surreal or scary.
The woman in the room: A man whose mother has stomach canser contemplates using some extra strength pain killers to end her suffering. I love the way King deals with illness here, especially with the doctor and the guy's memories of his sick grandma, actually the way King writes of the hospital has a wonderfully unreal hinge to it showing that King is just as good at dealing with everyday horror as he is at dealing with the supernatural.
While the ending is pretty obvious, this one is all about the journey not the destination, and the journey is really quite shocking.
My only miner issue here is that I wish the one actual memory the guy had of his mother wasn't a humiliation of him being beaten with wet nappies?
He's wrestling with his doubts all through the story, and yet the clearest thing he can remember about his mum is that she did something pretty gross and humiliating to him as a child?
I wouldn't have minded if this had been balanced perhaps with some sort of good memory or idea of the person she was but this again seemed a symptom of early King having to make nearly everyone an arse hole just because.
Of course, its also possible there was a little revenge going on here, or that King intended the guy's motives to be unclear, but the very real, very compassionate way he write's about the woman otherwise is quite at odds with that interpretation, indeed this story is a wee bit close to home at the moment considering that my lady's dad's extremely ill with somehting that may or may not be stomach canser.
All in all though, another really stand out story, a bit of a departure for King like Last rung on the ladder, but in this case definitely a welcome one and a good point to end the collection.
and that wraps it up for Nightshift. I'll likely be back when i get around to the next King, actually I ought to stick another collection onto my victor for when i next fancy one since really I have been very much enjoying King's short fiction, although there are still several King novels I've yet to do.
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