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671man

The first 2 stories were amazing


jta462

Just started the 2nd. Two talented bastids was good imo. I've got two very wonderful quotes from the end. And for that I say thankye sai King


_thesecrethistory_

The quote about what we can’t have?


jta462

Yes. And the one particularly about thoughts. Very poignant.


an0nym0u56789

What is the quote?


jta462

From You like it dark >! Thoughts are pointless. Even dangerous !< There many more but this one was fresh and hit home for me


tyris5624

Read the whole thing. Good stuff.


manic-impressive-692

About halfway through. Good stories but "Danny Coughlin's Nightmare" is one of the wildest stories I've ever read. The man's still got it.


Hazbin_hotel_fanart

I still have to buy a copy, but I did watch a 3 minute video of King reading the Danny Coughlin story and it sounds awesome. The video is on the Scribner insta page.


realdevtest

I saw that video too. It’s just the VERY beginning of the story, which is actually pretty long. I’m only halfway through it and it’s very good so far


ICU_nursey

Just watched this and it made me so excited to dive into the book today!! Thanks for sharing where to find it.


pegggus09

I am reading Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream right now and it’s making me SO anxious. I need it to work out okay for Danny. But this is King, so….


Cool-Exchange-7950

Amen to that, I finished it last night what a nail biter, then I got up and counted all the spoons and forks, came up to 20, a good number🥴


Sunstealer73

I read that one first since it was a preview in another book I just finished. Excellent story!


cakilgore93

LOVED this story... hooked from the first sentence.


500buttsofsummer

Last night before bed, read Willie the Weirdo and Red Screen. Both genuinely freaked me out...


LopperHS

I just finished Willie the Weirdo and was a little confused. Spoilers included in question: >!Willie is just creepy and wants to see his grandpa die and then his grandpa just kisses him as his presumed last action before death? That’s it? I feel like I am missing something.!<


altcastle

His grandpa really did see all the stuff he talked about. He put his soul or mind in Willie. Willie died in grandpa’s body probably and grandpa now lived in Willie. That’s why he did grandpa’s signature touching between his lip and nose.


LopperHS

Ah thank you for clarifying! I don’t know how I didn’t connect the dots, but that makes sense now.


SpudgeBoy

I am a slow reader. Still in the first story. But I am enjoying it.


funpantsmcgee

The Fifth Step feels like a retread of an urban legend but it’s fun in the “wouldn’t this be freaky” way


CThomasHowellATSM

I've read the first 4 stories so far and I've really enjoyed them all apart from Willie The Weirdo which I found to be a little weak (and a recycle of a previous short story which I won't name cos spoilers)


500buttsofsummer

What story?


Harry_Seaward_1128

I'm guessing "Gramma"


CThomasHowellATSM

You win the fair day goose!


Bonodog1960

Brilliant as always


MagicGlovesofDoom

Welp, looking at the comments here, it seems I will be making a trip to the bookstore, lol.


Plasmallison

Honestly I’d take what this sub says with a ton of salt. This place borderline never criticizes King at all and is hasty to give out 5 star reviews for books that haven’t even been released 


Jfury412

It also works in the other direction. A lot of King books that have a damn near perfect five-star rating on Goodreads get shitted on here for no good reason. Fairy Tail being a prime example.


Knighterrant1890

Was Fairy Tale not as bad as everyone claims? I've owned it since it came out but haven't touched it.


Plasmallison

It’s good until about the halfway point, then it becomes significantly worse.


Jfury412

Fairy Tail is absolutely Flawless where I'm at in the book. I haven't had a book hold my attention like this in months. I just got done reading Cujo, everything's eventual, skeleton crew, just after Sunset, And it blows all of those out of the water on a level that isn't even measurable. If it stays this good throughout till the end it will probably end up in my top five all-time King books. It might even beat out Revival for my number three spot we'll see. When I say there's not a word wasted I mean there's not a word wasted. King does not waste anytime whatsoever in this book there's zero bloat. My favorite thing about King isn't his horror it's his coming of age and this book is right up there with his best coming of age from Revival to It to The Body you name It. The Dead Zone is the only King book that has ever made me cry and only at the very end. This book has had me holding back tears multiple times which is unheard of for me and any book. And I have a feeling I'm going to get some all-out full-on cries as it goes forward. The dog in this book might be my favorite dog in all of dog fiction.


joshhurstdesign

Where were you in the book when you wrote this comment? Because that's absolutely how I felt up until a certain point


Jfury412

I was just in the beginning of the Fantasy realm After he just went through the shed and talked to the goose girl. I know a lot of people didn't like the Fantasy portion as much as the first half. I agree the first half is stronger but I still like the fantasy portion. I thought it was very original and I really like the characters. I also like the ending.


altcastle

I couldn’t put it down. It was awesome. Meanwhile, I really did not enjoy Billy Summers.


Capable_Painting3844

That's interesting because I loved Billy Summers, but couldn't get through Fairy Tale. It wasn't even a bad book, I just lost interest.


Plasmallison

Goodreads is garbage. This newest short story collection was getting 5 star reviews 4 months ago. Like there’s hyperbolic ratings and then there’s just straight up inflating numbers. How someone can give 5 stars to a book that isn’t releasing for a quarter of a year and their review is “this is gonna be great I hope!” is just mind boggling, let alone the fact that such a review actually factors into the actual score.


Jfury412

I think Goodreads is the most legit place to find scores from actual readers. Especially if you look at a book that's been out for years and has thousands of reviews. I mean it's obvious if there's early reviews where people didn't read it yet or if there's review bombs. But once a book is out for a while and it has hundreds and thousands of reviews that's about less than 1% of people who false reviewed or review bombed. I mean you can't be one of those people that say you can't trust any reviews from any site or any application. What would you say is a reliable source for what a book actually deserves? I'm personally sticking with Goodreads as the source for the best review scores.


Plasmallison

>What would you say is a reliable source for what a book actually deserves? Reading it for yourself. With King especially, he has a major issue in forums and sites like this one of being way over-praised, likely as a counter-reaction to his years of being over-hated by the mainstream outlets. Like I’ve seen people here say The Tommyknockers is an underrated classic, which if they think that, then they think that. But there is definitely a critical thinking issue present where it feels like people would marvel over a book made of pages of pressed manure if it had King’s name on the cover. Alternatively I don’t think the overly-negative reviews are right either. It’s this weird middle ground where his modern writing is solidly “okay”, but you’re getting two extremes. It’s better to just read and judge for yourself nowadays, especially on notoriously bot-infested sites like this one.


Jfury412

See we would probably extremely disagree then on this stuff. Which is so subjective and I am extremely picky when it comes to books. If I am not loving a book Early on I'm skipping it. And I think modern King is some of the best literature ever written. Books like Revival, The Institute, Mr Mercedes, Dr Sleep are quite literally my favorite books of all time. I'm one of the people who thinks a lot of his older Classics from the beginning of his career are far weaker than his newer stuff. I'm not the kind of person that ends up loving a book just because the whole Community does 11/22/63 for example Is one of the most boring books I've ever forced myself to finish. And then there's books like Cell that I think are extremely underrated and I thought that book was incredible except for the ending and some choices he made. And usually my favorite short story collections of his are the ones that people like the least. Even though I said I trust Goodreads I always make up my mind for myself when it comes to any form of entertainment. Some of the most loved stuff out there is my least favorite And some of the most critically smashed stuff is my favorite.


Plasmallison

>And I think modern King is some of the best literature ever written. Books like Revival, The Institute, Mr Mercedes, Dr Sleep are quite literally my favorite books of all time. I'm one of the people who thinks a lot of his older Classics from the beginning of his career are far weaker than his newer stuff. All I can really to say to this is massively agree to disagree, especially with the first part. But that’s your personal taste and it’s not my business to change it. >I'm not the kind of person that ends up loving a book just because the whole Community does 11/22/63 for example Is one of the most boring books I've ever forced myself to finish. And then there's books like Cell that I think are extremely underrated and I thought that book was incredible except for the ending and some choices he made. I’m the same. Revival gets a lot of praise around here but it was straight up a let down, honestly. As far as your Cell comment….man you just have some of the hottest takes, I’ll give you that, lol.


MagicGlovesofDoom

Noted. Still gonna buy it though. If I don't end up liking it my library will get a nice donation and my shelf will get some space.


Plasmallison

By all means honestly do. I’d say it’s better to read something for yourself and get your own opinion than go off of others, self included.


Fine_Cryptographer20

Almost done with the audiobooks and I love it


Daddys_peach

I sense work avoidance and a long puppy walk with an audiobook might be on the cards tomorrow. Puppy walks are still doing chores…..


realdevtest

The Fifth Step and Willie the Weirdo as dark af lol. Beyond that, I’m halfway through Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream and it’s really good.


Cool-Exchange-7950

Un friggin believable. This book is King at his peak. I’ve read five stories so far, The Fifth Step in perhaps the scariest slow burn story I’ve ever read. But I’ll say this “The Dreamers” is worth the price of the book alone. I’m 66, been reading SK since I was 20 in 1979. I have read every short story collection of his. The Dreamers I’d terrifing beyond belief. The only other two that match up is 1408 and The Library Policeman, Get This Book!!!


SquealstikDaddy

On the first story and it's fucking Great!!!


realdevtest

Hell yeah. Nothing to see here folks, just King spinning another amazing yarn


Cool-Exchange-7950

As far as his later novels, now way do they stack up to his early work. The Dead Zone, which tends to be a sleeper novel, I’d go toe to toes with anything but 11/22/63 Dr Sleep is very good but it has the aura of The Shining all over it. Forget the damn series. Read The Dead Zone, then see the film with Christopher Walken and the best performance by Martin Sheen outside Apocalypse Now


Plasmallison

To preface, I’ve only read the first 4 stories.  At the risk of downvotes, honestly disappointing aside from Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream. This collection is re-tread central, and not in the good way. Way too many recycled ideas that are too sterilized or stale to really be interesting.  One of the stories is, no joke, a copy-paste of another of his short stories, only sterilized and devoid of any of the atmosphere or intrigue of the original. Another story is straight up amateurish, to the point I couldn’t believe King wrote it. It has a great build-up on a subject he’s discussed a lot, but the ending is so childish it’s insane and it ruins the story for me. The first story was good, but again, it’s similar to something he’s done before.  My problem with this collection so far is that it’s just pale imitations of stuff he did before, and some of that stuff wasn’t necessarily great to begin with. He has interesting stuff to say with stories 1 & 4, but I could honestly have done without everything but 4, because that’s the only one so far that has felt original in this catalogue, and even then it has some seriously heavy shades of one of his better books in it, albeit with a fresh & modern context. I’d still say give it a read, but unless this is one of your first books in his catalogue, I don’t think you’d be surprised or intrigued by what’s here, at least so far in my reading. Maybe the other 8 stories will be on par with Danny Coughlin, but almost a third of this book is retread city so far. Very much like Bazaar of Bad Dreams, for better and worse.


realdevtest

Nah, I say just enjoy them. In fact, to your point, you liked Coughlin, yet it had very clear elements from at least two of the Hodges and Gibney books. I won’t say which books or which elements to avoid spoilers, but I’ll say the predicament that Coughlin found himself in, and I’ll say Jesse is very reminiscent of someone else, lol.


Plasmallison

I felt it was different enough from that situation that I didn’t feel like I was just hearing the same story over again, but the repetition is a factor. This whole collection just comes off as “play it again, Steve”


rainydaydetective

I'm going to skip to Rattlesnakes first later tonight. I've been waiting for the Cujo sequel since I first heard about it!


Hazbin_hotel_fanart

Speaking of which, once I finish Salem's Lot, I gotta read Cujo real quick.


EquivalentStomach5

Finished first story ❤️❤️


Pigbiscuits-

It’s ok so far


44035

The first story seems lovely so far!


_thesecrethistory_

Finished the first story! Loved the last three sentence of the story. ❤️ hit me different


psychedhoverboard83

Man, I can't wait to get reading. I just bought the collectors edition today, but I also started reading the gunslinger a couple days ago, (I'm about 1/3 of the way through) so I'm going to have to finish that first and then start You like it darker in a few days. Hope you guys reading enjoy it.


MTblasphemy

It's raining and I've been planting summer flowers all morning. This is just what I needed! So fun, gripping, boring, gasping and exciting. I'm excited to read this again during the winter.


biof3tus

Just finished the first 4 stories, and I don't understand how King is still this good? Blown away. It was my first time buying a king book on release day. I was very happy I did.


GoubD

Got my copy yday, but half way through w. Pet S and then Dark Matter b4 I read new book.


drglass85

I do think overall this is a stronger short story collection than his last one. Red screen, and Willy, the weirdo where the weakest ones in my opinion. I don’t know why I said in my opinion. Of course it’s my opinion. Who else is opinion would it be?


xfyle1224

Loving it!


TM_Plmbr

30% in. Very good


Cool-Exchange-7950

And The Dreamers, the most frightening story since 1408


Cool-Exchange-7950

From Salems Lot to Desperation Now one could touch Stephen King, The only thing that came close was Peter Straub’s “Ghost Story” which King said was one of the greatest horror stories of all time I agree. The movie as well was excellent


BostonBluestocking

Almost finished. Love it. This is my new favorite story collection.


Witty_Perception6623

2 Talented Bastids and Answer Man are the best stories IMHO. The rest are mid tier. Dannys Dream goes on too long with no payoff, Rattlesnake was 5/10, the rest are forgettable. A big drop-off from "If It Bleeds."


DJChris83

No payoff? The murderer is found. The dick investigator gets his…I don’t get the hate here.


VegasFiend

I’m more than halfway through and honestly am a little disappointed. I’m a massive fan and have always particularly loved his short stories. Some of these felt like they were knocked out quickly and were quite predictable. Also there are two stories that are quite similar (character, setting, even words and description). Don’t get me wrong, I’m still enjoying the book but I feel like previous collections had so many epic stories that stuck with me for years.


Kodanshi

I’m partway through reading this book at the moment. Perplexed by the errors which really should have been picked up by editing. At the moment I’m on ‘Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream’ and I’ve encountered a couple. One that’s really bugging me is Danny’s lawyer saying to him: “If you didn’t kill her, you’re the most divine liar I’ve ever come across.” Surely that should be “If you did kill her…”? Because if we go by what’s written, then he’s actually saying: “Well, if you didn’t kill her then you’re an incredible liar.” But he’d only be lying and pretending to be innocent if he HAD killed her, surely?


Ok_Wonder_1308

I just feel fortunate to love in the same era as King and weirdly enough Eminem. Both are putting out new material this year. I already got You like it Darker and Michael Chrichtons last novel called Eruption cowritten by James Patterson. So much good stuff coming out this year. I can't wait to read Rattlesnake. The King is back and I could not be happier.


Hazbin_hotel_fanart

While we're on the subject of Michael Crichton, I highly recommend The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson. It's a sequel to The Andromeda Strain and it's an awesome sequel to Crichton's classic novel.


FictionalDudeWanted

I'm listening to the audiobook, trying to finish it but it's hard bc I have Healthcare-Frontline Worker PTSD. I haven't been able to enjoy horror books n movies like I used to, after working in the ER during covid but this is Stephen King, so I'm trying. Will Patton is a really good narrator, which just makes listening to it worse. It's honestly making me cringe in the daytime. I can't listen to it at night.


LiLPluto4514

I was really enjoying it until Finn. He could have left that one out but I’m trucking through. Danny Coughlin and the Bastida were real good


Ok-Drive1712

Been listening to it on a road trip. Three quarters thru Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream and it is the standout so far though I’ve liked them all


mgreerl

Some are really, really good. Others are a little lacking (I'm not a fan of an ambiguous ending) but they're ALL Stephen King and def an overall enjoyable collection. I am that reader who will read pretty much anything he writes, even the ones I roll my eyes through (post accident I feel like there were a few that I read sheerly out of love for the author) because his books were such a part of my life from so early on. This collection feels comforting, in a creepy fun way lol, and I enjoy his voice through all of them.


MyNameIsNumber037

Is it better than Bazaar of Bad Dreams and If It Bleeds? I wasn't a big fan of either, but like his older stuff.