I’ve been a Stephen King fan for decades. I haven’t read all of his literary output, but I’ve read enough of it to put him in my top ten of favorite authors. In fact, his short story collection, Night Shift, was one of the books that inspired me to be a short story writer. I read that paperback to tatters.
So when You Like It Darker popped up in an online recommendation at Bookshop.org, I figured I should get a copy.
Big mistake.
I’m not sure what happened with King in this collection of short stories. Not only did I find the stories disappointing, but even his writing seemed off. It wasn’t the narrative voice I’ve been reading all these years.
The main offense, however, is the quality of the stories. They’re bad. Like, really bad. I’m going to provide some examples and I’ll do my best to keep them vague, but if you want to avoid spoilers, just skip ahead.
Here there be spoilers:
To begin, I didn’t find any of the stories even remotely scary. Some didn’t really even have much of a supernatural element. In one story near the beginning, a retiree hangs out on a park bench every day for a few hours. One day another guy is sitting on the bench. They talk for a while, then they get up, the stranger stabs him and walks away. That’s it. That’s the story.
In another one, a family gets their car stuck on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere. A couple of guys show up and try to rob them. The grandfather overpowers them, kills one, and the other runs away. Then they drive back home. The end.
And one more example: A young man has a streak of bad luck since he was a child. Now a teen, he is kidnapped in a case of mistaken identity, mildly tortured over the location of a briefcase he didn’t steal, then when the bad guys realize he’s the wrong kid, they release him.
End of spoilers
King notes in the afterword that some of these stories were written – or partially written – years ago. Some were found by his grandkids in an old trunk or were discovered in a filing cabinet. Which makes me wonder if some of the stories were written by his grandkids. They really come across as only half thought-out and almost amateurish.
The result is that it took me months to get through this collection of stories. I had to put the book aside after finishing each one, mostly out of frustration. I finally pushed myself to read the last few stories and the afterword just so I could move on to better writing.
He’ll always be one of my favorite authors and I’ll always have several of his books on my shelves, but I’m disappointed that I spent money on You Like It Darker. This is one of the few books I struggled to finish.
RB
I like King but on your recommendation will avoid this. Thank you for the overview, that was humorous.
Glad you enjoyed reading the review, mate. And thanks for stopping by.
Love your theory on how these half baked stories may have been contrived.
Thanks, Pat. I appreciate it!
I generally swerve horror, so haven’t read any of his books.
He’s definitely not for everyone, Sheree. Thanks for dropping by!
A pleasure
I’ll skip this book!
Save your money for something better, my friend.
Thank you for sharing this honest review of a book I haven’t read yet and don’t think I will.
And thank you for stopping by and commenting, Luisa! 🙂
You’re more than welcome 🙏
I never have read anything, I believe, from a mainstream author. So nothing of King either.
But good to know there are people who dare to criticize them.
That said however, which book of King would you recommend me to read ? I am willing to give it a go 😉
Hmmm, that’s a tough one. Night Shift is a great short story collection. I’d also recommend Different Season (four novellas). If you like full novels, I’d suggest The Shining, Rose Madder, or if you want something to keep you busy for a while, The Stand.
I haven’t read Stephen King in a long time. But I did enjoy reading The Stand, Rose Madder and Desperation. To name but a few. Alan.
Oh, those were all great stories, and well-written. Thanks for dropping by, Alan.
Either King has gotten as full of himself as his political tantrums would indicate OR those stories really were written by his grandchildren. I find it difficult to come up with any other explanation for an author of his experience not cleaning up old manuscripts before releasing them.
I’m thinking his grandkids need a good editor! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by.
I’d agree.