Summer of Stephen
Title: “Strawberry Spring”
Publishing Date: 1977 Length: 10 pages Start Date: September 3, 2017 End Date: September 3, 2017 As far as short stories go, “Strawberry Spring” was alright. But it just didn’t seem up to King’s usual standards. Maybe it’s just because I read a lot of murder mysteries in my spare time, but everything about this one just felt too predictable. I mean, you have a narrator telling you about these horribly grisly murders, but also admitting that he has no recollection of his own whereabouts or actions at the times of the killings. What else are we supposed to think is going on? Were we supposed to find the ending surprising? Maybe I should have read this before my brain was saturated with murder mysteries, police procedurals, Buzzfeed articles about serial killers, and episodes of CSI. But in order to do that, I would have to go back in time about 15 years and avoid all of that stuff. Even then, I’m still pretty sure I would have seen where this story was going long before we got there. “Strawberry Spring” is just as well-written as most of King’s work, other than the lack of a surprise factor. It would probably make a decent movie, though it’s one of the few King stories that doesn’t seem to be getting an adaptation right now.
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Title: “Sometimes They Come Back”
Publishing Date: 1977 Length: 30 pages Start Date: August 30, 2017 End Date: August 30, 2017 For the first chunk of “Sometimes They Come Back,” I was totally on board with the plot. It follows a school teacher who is haunted by the memory of the greasers who killed his older brother while he ran away. Suddenly, his students start to die under mysterious circumstances, but there is always a new student ready to enroll in his or her place. But these new students bear a striking resemblance to the boys who murdered the narrator’s brother. As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that these are the same boys, but the narrator can’t figure out how they’re still the same age. He contacts the police officer who was assigned to his brother’s case and learns that those boys died shortly after his brother. Now that he knows what he’s dealing with, he prepares to take matters into his own hands. And this is where the story derails for me. I love a good “chase away the ghosts” story, but I thought this one went in a ridiculous direction. To get rid of these malevolent spirits, the narrator summons a demon (who of course takes the form of his dead brother) who drags the undead greasers to Hell. See? Does that not sound like a made-for-tv movie that you’d catch on the Syfy channel at two in the morning? In my opinion, it wasn’t one of King’s better endings, especially considering how interesting the first part of the story was. But, as I said, that’s just my opinion. I’m sure other people love this one. I just didn’t feel like it really fit with the rest of the story. Title: “Quitters, Inc.”
Publishing Date: 1977 Length: 21 pages Start Date: August 30, 2017 End Date: August 30, 2017 As a kid, I had a weird obsession with stories about mob bosses who always knew every move the other characters would make, and were always ready to punish them for stepping out of bounds. I don’t know why I liked these so much; I was just a weird kid. But that’s the same sort of plot employed by “Quitters, Inc.” The story follows a man who is told that the people at Quitters, Inc. can help him stop smoking. Upon checking out the place, he discovers that the program involves him being under constant surveillance. If he takes even one drag, his wife will be punished. Further infractions will lead to his own punishment, or something happening to his son. If the “coaches” at Quitters, Inc. are unable to rehabilitate him after 10 missteps, then he’ll be shot to death. The ending of this short story is fantastic, so I’m not going to spoil it for those of you who haven’t read it. This is another non-supernatural King story, though the whole “they’re always watching” theme gave it a certain creepy element. While not my favorite King short story, this one did have a memorable, exciting plot and a great ending. Title: “The Last Rung on the Ladder”
Publishing Date: 1977 Length: 12 pages Start Date: August 30, 2017 End Date: August 30, 2017 “The Last Rung on the Ladder” is another King short story that doesn’t rely on supernatural elements or a clear villain. Instead, it tells of a man who is mourning the death of his sister. Her suicide has led him to remember a time when they were playing in the barn as children. They would climb a ladder and jump into a large pile of hay. But eventually the ladder broke, leaving his sister desperately hanging onto the top rung. He quickly ran back and forth, piling hay underneath her. He finally told her to let go and she landed safely in the hay. The man feels especially guilty about his sister’s death because she’d written a letter to him, but he received it too late because he hadn’t told her he was moving. Her letter confesses that she believes it would have been better if the last rung of the ladder had broken before the hay was there to catch her fall. Her life hasn’t turned out the way she’d hoped, and she is unable to cope. I really liked this story, heartbreaking ending and all. And if it hadn’t been in a collection of King stories, there’s no way I would have guessed he’d written it. So this is another one that you can try if you want to read some of King’s work but don’t like to be creeped out. Title: “The Lawnmower Man”
Publishing Date: 1977 Length: 10 pages Start Date: August 30, 2017 End Date: August 30, 2017 Stephen King has written many stories that I consider strange, but “The Lawnmower Man” might be one of the weirdest. This short story is set on a summer day in the suburbs. The main character calls about a lawn mowing service and a fat, hairy man soon shows up to take care of the job. The titular character goes to the backyard, which is incredibly overgrown, and gets to work. But the main character is startled by the extremely loud mower and heads out to see what’s going on. As he approaches the back door, the main character discovers the lawn mower running on its own, followed by the naked mower man, who is crawling along and eating the freshly cut grass. The mower man explains that this method is best for everyone, as it’s the easiest way to clean up the grass from the yard. He also mentions that he has to sacrifice anyone who questions his methods (because his boss is Pan, obviously). The main character agrees to let him go back to work, but then immediately tries to call the police. This results in the lawn mower crashing through the front door and killing him. See? Super weird. This is one of those stories where I want to ask King, “Where in the world did this idea come from?” I mean, having a fat dude crawling around naked and eating grass is bad enough, but then he throws in the Pan element. I really don’t even know what else to say about it. I didn’t particularly like this one, but I didn’t not like it. I don’t know. If you’ve read it, let me know what you think. Maybe it just wasn’t my kind of story. Title: “Trucks”
Publishing Date: 1977 Length: 17 pages Start Date: August 30, 2017 End Date: August 30, 2017 Possibly as a precursor to King’s well-known novel, Christine, “Trucks” imagines a world in which vehicles are suddenly able to function on their own and are clearly not happy with the humans who made them. This short story takes place at a roadside gas station, where the narrator and several others are hiding out from the semi-trailers and other large trucks that are circling the building. If anyone tries to run away, one of the vehicles mows him down immediately. Eventually, only the narrator and a couple others are still alive and are forced to pump gas for these killer trucks or risk having them bulldoze the gas station down. The whole “inanimate object comes to life” is definitely a Stephen King trope, but there was a huge plot point that didn’t work for me. (If you read my post about “The Mangler” you’re going to think I’m a huge hypocrite. Sorry.) There is never an explanation as to why the trucks have come to life or why they’re out for blood. This is one of the few times that King provides practically no backstory and, for me, that hurt the story. I want to know why this is happening and if it’s possible that the characters could stop it at some point. A friend told me that one of the film adaptations of “Trucks” provides an explanation, so we’ll see when I get there. But for now, I would have enjoyed this story more if there had been a “why” for the events. Title: “The Woman in the Room”
Publishing Date: 1977 Length: 11 pages Start Date: August 23, 2017 End Date: August 23, 2017 “The Woman in the Room” might be King’s biggest departure from his usual style. At least up to this point. This short story describes the anguish of a man who has to make a decision regarding his mother’s life. She is terminally ill and barely holding on, but something in her refuses to let go and allow her to die. It’s obvious that she’s in an incredible amount of pain, and it’s becoming unbearable for the man to witness. Armed with painkillers from his mother’s purse, the man has to decide whether or not to help her end her life. This story includes no supernatural happenings, no obvious villain, and none of the usual horror elements. Instead, King presents the reader with a moral dilemma. Most people have an opinion on euthanasia, but would you change your mind if you were forced to watch your own mother suffer day after day? The best part of this story is that King doesn’t give you a clean, right-or-wrong answer. He isn’t using the events in this story to recommend one option over the other. He just tells the story and allows the character, and the reader, to come to a decision on their own. While this isn’t one of my favorite King stories, nor is it particularly memorable, it was an interesting step away from his usual horror/supernatural plots. Title: “The Mangler”
Publishing Date: 1977 Length: 14 pages Start Date: August 8, 2017 End Date: August 8, 2017 Strange as it may sound, “The Mangler” reminded me of Little Shop of Horrors. But, instead of a giant plant getting a taste for human blood and demanding more, this short story features an industrial laundry press machine. This machine will, in a way, grab anyone who comes near it and crush, dismember, and, of course, mangle them. The various deaths caused by this machine become grislier as the story progresses until the main characters fear that the machine has become a sentient being and will begin to act on its own. I was really into this story for the first several pages. It was slightly creepy and the gore didn’t feel gratuitous. But my favorite thing about it was the seeming randomness of the attacks. I found it fascinating that this machine just started killing people one day with what seemed like no motivation. But, of course, King decided to provide a deeper explanation. As the characters discover, an accidental combination of ingredients led to an unintended demon-summoning. The demon is now possessing the laundry machine and it’s up to the characters to perform the necessary exorcism. This, of course, does not go according to plan and instead makes everything worse. And that’s what ruined the story for me. As much as I usually love backstory, I didn’t think this one was necessary. It’s so much creepier to think that a machine could just randomly start ripping people apart. I get why King added in the demon angle, but I personally believe the story could have done without it. |
Jacinta M. CarterProfessional Book Nerd Archives
July 2019
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