Gwendy's Button Box + "The Music Room"

Gwendy's Button Box is a story with tremendous promise that just kind of fizzled out and ended too quickly and neatly. The setting, characters, and atmosphere all have the feeling of vintage King and the tension in this story builds right up to the ending where none of that build-up pays off.

I remember that moment when, having read through S.K.'s Dark Tower series, I arrived at the final sequence and King wrote a teasing warning to all of us Constant Readers, saying that the story had reached a decent stopping point and we could put it down and walk away and that would be okay. Though, if you really want to know what became of Roland, you could read on, but be warned that the ending might not be what you're expecting.

I enjoyed that ending. I felt it paid the series off. This one? Not so much.

Gwendy parlayed this novella into another novel (and maybe a series) of her own, so maybe the larger story will pay off down the line, because this feels like the first third of a story - all set up, no ending.

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Long(ish) story short [SPOILERS AHEAD]: Gwendy is introduced as a regular pre-teen grappling with the pressures of her rapidly changing school and social worlds in the 70's. She's a little overweight and runs the "Suicide Stairs" in an attempt to get into better physical shape (and probably as a stress-reliever). Her home life isn't great, either parents on the verge of alcoholism and divorce and not quite as present as they could be. She meets a man dressed in black at the top of the stairs, his name is Richard Farris and he has a magic button box that he entrusts to her, telling her that it belongs to her and she must caretake it. He's a little creepy, says he's been watching her (and others), and offers a slightly menacing smile when warning of the consequences that could come with the box.And here I bet you're thinking, "Oh ho! It's our old frienemy R.F. and he's back causing trouble!" Well...The box dispenses chocolates that take, let's say, solve all her problems. Soon she's the most attractive, smartest, most popular person in school. A top athlete. Her parents stop drinking, the marriage is saved. Life is great! The box gives her uncirculated Morgan silver dollars. She accumulates a small fortune. The box also grants wishes in a monkey paw/Twilight Zone box way that always seems to have a much nastier edge to it than is anticipated. Gwendy goes through school. She loses a friend who later...doesn't make it to the end of the story. Gwendy believes the box is to blame. Gwendy meets the perfect guy, he doesn't make it to the end of the story. Gwendy believes the box is to blame (this time there's more direct evidence that this might be the case). And by this point in the story, you're thinking that there's going to be a payoff, some terrible price for using the box (even though by now Gwendy has weened herself from using it).Nope.R.F. shows up, explains away the fates of the two friends, absolves Gwendy and the box of both, shares some cake, tells her that she's about to have an amazing life, and leaves. Gwendy finds another coin that R.F. left for her, laughs, and puts it in her pocket.The end. No, really. That's it. She is living a more-or-less perfect life, there were no real consequences to the box, the dead friends—I don't know, wash out of her mind?—and she laughs and goes to an Ivy League college...that the box paid for. Everything tied up in a nice little bow. No harm, no foul. Somewhere in the distance, an audience applause track plays and we cut to the credits.That last chapter is the pinhole that lets the air out of this story. It's a case of the last 10% erasing the other 90% and all that's left to do is sigh, shrug, and remember the days of Castle Rock past.