If It Bleeds

Out of the 4 stories, I loved one of them (Rat), really liked another (If It Bleeds), and found the other two to be just alright. They all held my interest well though.

Word of warning, your milage may vary with this collection if you have not read The Outsider or Mr. Mercedes. If It Bleeds, the longest of the 4 stories, is a sort of continuation of those books.

Overall, yeah it was fun :)

I always look forward to a collection of Stephen King novellas, ever since Different Seasons, one of my all time favorite books. It seems to be a format in which King really shines.

This collection did not disappoint. My favorite was “The Life of Chuck” which had an unusual structure in terms of the order of events as well as being a bit like nesting dolls. It was not something I would expect from King. Very nicely done.

“The Life of Chuck” as well as “Rat” and “Mr. Harrigan's Phone” all had a bit of a Harlan Ellison feel to me, which is a good thing.

Of course, there's the Holly Gibney story. She's a fantastic fictional heroine and I was happy to read more about her in the title story.

I haven't read a lot of Stephen King, mainly because I connect him with horror and that's not my genre of choice. However, in broadening my horizons this year, I decided to dive into this collection of short stories and was pleasantly surprised. The stories felt more spooky than scary. They kept my attention throughout. His writing is so captivating. It may even have tempted me to try another of his books. If you like well written, intriguing stories, this is definitely a collection to try.

The narration was fantastic.

Wasn't aware that King wrote short stories!
Why shouldn't he? He has had immense success with novels.
Narrating 4 new stories, King doesn't shy away from adding creepy situations and creatures.
The audiobook version is narrated by three brilliant narrators as with their previously narrated books that I listened to. My favorite story was Mr. Harrigan's phone.
I think its safe to say that I dug myself a deep hole with King's work this year, starting with the outsider. But its time to give other authors a chance now.

Out of all the short stories I've read over the years, only one comes to mind that I won't ever stop vehemently recommending, Jeffry Archer.

Short story book. I mainly wanted to read this for the 3rd story “If it Bleeds” since it's a spin off from the Mr. Mercedes Trilogy. I figured I'd read it before I read “Holly”. I liked 3/4 of the stories. I saw the movie for “Mr. Harrigan's Phone” so I had expectations for that story. 3⭐️ “The Life of Chuck” was just alright. Not my cup of tea, but it was fine. 2⭐️ “If it Bleeds” was definitely my fav story in the book! I just love Holly's character. 4⭐️ “Rat” was the last story and I overall enjoyed this one as well! 4⭐️ Whole book rounded to 3.75ish stars! I did like it as a whole!

Solid Writing but not Five Stars

This isn't my favorite of King's work. As always, King delivers solid writing that keeps the reader interested, if not totally on edge, throughout the four novellas. The works are more thought-provoking than horrifying, which is actually a bit more nerve-wracking. Some of the images might tend to creep into the reader's mind hours, days, or weeks after reading the book. Are the ideas really so far-fetched? How many people have ever put an item into a loved one's coffin to be buried with that person? Does this item have a profound link to the dead? And have you ever considered the effect your thoughts have once you release them into the world? What is the cosmos, after all?

Yes, this is a book of deep thoughts and deeper meaning. It kind of creates a bit of an earworm, with ideas going on and on and on... I heard King say he isn't just a horror writer and after reading this I can agree 100% that there is more to this writer. I am a fan through and through and am here for the good the bad and the horrific.

ReviewI pretty much picked this up for the title story alone. For that reason I ended up borrowing it from the library rather than picking up a copy. I generally don't like short fiction much, but Stephen King has long shown himself to be a master of it (think [b:Different Seasons 39662 Different Seasons Stephen King https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329662611l/39662.SY75.jpg 2248680]) despite being known best for his monster works best .I really love Holly Gibney. She's right up there with Roland Deschain and his ka-tet as among my favorite characters King has written. While not quite as good as [b:The Outsider 36124936 The Outsider Stephen King https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1524596540l/36124936.SY75.jpg 57566471], I still really enjoyed that one best. I'd love to read more Holly Gibney stories in the future.I had mixed feelings about the other stories. I ended up really enjoying Mr. Harrington's phone as well, almost as much as the title story. I thought the idea was interesting, and it was kind of cool to go back to a time when smart phones hadn't taken over our lives completely.The start of Life of Chuck was really hard to read. This was written pre-covid, but the world ending and things falling apart was not something I really wanted to read. Thankfully that part was kind of brief and the rest of the story was better/more interesting.Rat on the other hand was not a great read for me at all. I didn't particularly like the main character so it was hard to enjoy the story. I did think the ending was decent, but it didn't save the story for me.Overall I'm glad I borrowed this book rather than buying it. I don't tend to re-read, but if I did I'd probably only re-read the title story.Audiobook:There were 3 narrators for this book. Will Patton, narrated Mr. Harrington's Phone and If it Bleeds. Danny Burstein narrated The Life of Chuck and Steven Weber narrated Rat. I've listened to Will Patton before, in particular for King's other books with Holly Gibney. I was glad to have him back for that story. He also seemed like a good for Mr. Harrington as well. It probably helped that those two were my favorite stories, but in general I liked his narration the best.I thought both of the other two narrators were fine. Neither jumped out at me as fantastic, but I was probably more focused on the stories, which can be a good thing as well.For me since I listened to the Bill Hodges books and the Outsider, I was glad to listen to this book as well, but otherwise it's probably not a must-listen for me.RatingsMr. Harrington's Phone - 4 starsThe Life of Chuck - 3 starsIf it Bleeds - 4 starsRat -2 stars

King is op dreef laatste jaren. Steeds verschijnen er weer nieuwe succesvolle verhalen van de meester, die, meer en deels worden omgezet tot TV Series of films. Zoals meestal bij King's boeken had het misschien wel wat korter gekund allemaal. Het is overigens niet vervelend om te lezen want schrijven dat kan hij wel. Maar op sommige punten draaft King wat verder door dan nodig is. Wat ik wel moet zeggen is dat ik de verhalen in deze bundel verre van eng vond.

De Telefoon van Meneer Harrigan - Dit eerste verhaal gaat over de tijdperk waarin iPhone's nog nieuw waren. Ik vond de personages zelf interessanter dan het verhaal zelf. Ik had eerlijk gezegd iets engs verwacht. Geen slecht verhaal, maar ook niet wat ik ervan had verwacht.

Het Leven van Chuck - Een heel sterk begin vol met mysterieuze reclameborden. Ik moet bekennen dat ik een filmpje op YouTube heb gekeken om het einde van het verhaal een beetje te snappen. Nu ik weet wat King bedoeld met zijn einde is het een mooi verhaal. Maar weer... niet eng.

Als het Bloedt - Hier maken we weer kennis met Holly Gibney. Een character die ik al kende van de TV serie en boek “The Outsider”. Het monster van dat boek (maar dan een andere) terroriseert de samenleving en aan Holly de taak om het dit keer alleen tegen “hem?” op te nemen. Een redelijk geslaagd, maar lang verhaal.

Rat - In dit verhaal gaat een schrijver die voorheen is doorgedraaid en daar weer van is genezen naar een hut ergens in de wildernis om zijn grote meesterwerk te schrijven. In de hut gebeuren vreemde, bijna fantasievolle dingen. Een verhaal dat ook weer niet eng is, maar zeker niet vervelend om te lezen.

Al met al vond ik de verhalen wel aardig. Ik had misschien wel iets meer horror verwacht, maar dat mag de pret niet bederven. Als je een King fan bent dan zou ik deze zeker niet laten liggen. Ik hoop alleen dat de volgende van King weer ouderwets eng word, en misschien iets minder langdradig.