A few great stories, and some more pretty good ones.

books:


	• Everything's Eventual : 14 Dark Tales Stephen King Pocket, 2003 - 608 pages average customer review:based on 304 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Something for Everyone

There is always something exciting about sitting down and reading a short story from Stephen King. Maybe it stems from my youth and the joy I felt discovering such a unique story teller when I read King's collections in "Night Shift" and "Skeleton Crew". Or maybe it is the knowledge that you can sit down (or lay down if that is your style), crack open a King story, climb aboard his airplane to destination unknown and finish the tale in one sitting. Whatever it is, there is something magical when Stephen King whittles down his writing to the essentials, and delivers a concise focused story best told in whispers late at night.

"Everything's Eventual" does deliver on the reader's expectations most of the time. His short stories have become longer since the days of his early works and the themes, characters and settings have matured slightly, but Stephen King can still deliver the goods. The stories in this collection show a more sophisticated author who can take a standard horror premise and make it his own through the development of real characters that the reader can empathize with. Stephen King's voice creates original stories from not so original premises of: a chance meeting with the devil, haunted hotels, a knife wielding crazy, lonely traveling salesmen.... However, there are also some very original ideas with about ¼ of the stories, and the execution is always fresh and interesting.

Fans will be happy to know that the "playful" Stephen King does make an appearance in a few stories in this collection. Stories that just feel like Stephen King had a grand time writing them because they flowed so easily. "The Little Sisters of Eluria" was just so much fun and I can see why the "Dark Tower" series has been so well received. "Autopsy Room Four" felt like it could have been included in the "Creepshow" collection. "Riding the Bullet" "The Road Virus Heads North" and "Lunch at the Gotham Café" also had the same joy of writing come through the stories.

Of course there are always a few favorites that will be looked upon fondly years from now and I particularly liked the following: "All That You Love Will Be Carries Away" (a sad tale of loneliness that resonated with me), "The Man in the Black Suit" (simple but I felt it), "The Death of Jack Hamilton" (not a Stephen King style story and not particularly exciting but different and well told) and "Riding the Bullet" (I am still thinking about this one and it was classic King).

All in all it is a good collection. Traditional King and more mature King. Some stories will work for you and some not so much, but if you climb aboard and let Air King take you along for the ride you won't be disappointed the majority of the time.

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The Perfect Stephen King "Sampler"

Upon purchasing this novel, I was eagerly anticipating another collection of Stephen King short stories to equal his "Night Shift", "Skeleton Crew", "Four Past Midnight", and "Nightmares And Dreamscapes". Instead, I was surprised to find these tales ranging from the unexpectedly humorous to the truly frightening. Included are stories which touch upon such topics as covert government operations, and the grimly realistic horrors of an American trapped in a foreign prison; the terror of premature burial is explored. There's even a story of the fantasy/sci-fi genre while another echoes the noir crime fiction of Cornell Woolrich and, of course, the usual "things that go bump in the nit". Overall, a PERFECT sampler of the many styles of Stephen King's writing. A brillant, gifted author, here he proves himself to be more than a master of horror -- all of which is evident in this variant collection.

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King's Most Rewarding Collection

The introductory essay on short story-writing is worth the price of this collection alone; fans of King's "On Writing" book will want to pick this up for that reason. General fiction fans may find the O. Henry-winning story "The Man in the Black Suit" to their tastes, while more diehard fans will delight over the "Dark Tower" novella included. Add to that the short story "1408" (the basis for the John Cusack movie) and other rare King bits such as the eBook-only "Riding the Bullet" and you have King's most consistent collection to date...until his next one is released in Fall 2008, of course.

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Not Free SF Reader

This most recent Stephen King collection is excellent, which puts it ahead of Skeleton Crew and behind Nightmares and Dreamscapes for quality. It it less erratic than the former, and not as eclectic as the latter.

In the intro King states he likes to write short stories to show he isn't a sellout, and to keep his hand in so he remembers how to do it. He worries that they are going away, but thinks poetry is ahead of them, survival-wise? No idea if there are any best selling poetry collections, but I'd be pretty sure there are no poets that have the recognition that King does, at least poets that are alive?

Anyway, all of this is above average except for the final story, which is perhaps where you do not want to put the weakest piece. Apparently he chose the order of these at random but taking a suit plus a joker out of a deck of cards and assigning them by drawing cards. That is kind of a fun way to go, I suppose.

Plenty of good stuff to be found here of the horror variety, with the best story the tale that has the same title as the collection.

Everything's Eventual : Autopsy Room Four - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : The Man in the Black Suit - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : All That You Love Will Be Carried Away - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : The Death of Jack Hamilton - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : In the Deathroom - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : The Little Sisters of Eluria - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : Everything's Eventual - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : L.T.'s Theory of Pets - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : The Road Virus Heads North - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : Lunch at the Gotham Cafe - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : That Feeling You Can Only Say What It Is in French - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : 1408 - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : Riding the Bullet - Stephen King
Everything's Eventual : Luckey Quarter - Stephen King

Snakebit erection shock.

3.5 out of 5

Devil of a fishing trip.

4 out of 5

Graffiti collector russian roulette.

3.5 out of 5

Dillinger hideout luck is out.

3.5 out of 5

Shocking interrogation end.

4 out of 5

Witch bug tastes good to you, Rover?

3.5 out of 5

Trans hired murder discovery Excalibur alternative.

4.5 out of 5

Ratdog and Siamese cat, I wouldn't want to live there either, don't axemurder me.

3.5 out of 5

I can picture being massacred by a cannibal biker.

3.5 out of 5

Smoking withdrawal snack session slasher.

4 out of 5

Second honeymoon flight loop.

3.5 out of 5

13 is a flaming unlucky number, mate.

4 out of 5

Take my mum, ghost boy.

4 out of 5

Cheapskate, no gamble.

3 out of 5

4.5 out of 5

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A few great stories, and some more pretty good ones.

I read this book about a year ago. Overall, I thought it was a solid collection. Out of all of King's books of short stories, I like Night Shift the best, then Skeleton Crew, then this one third and Nightmares and Dreamscapes last. For me, the best story in this book is The Man in the Black Suit, followed closely by The Road Virus Heads North, both of which are very creepy and suspenseful. The title story is also really good, as is Autopsy Room Four, 1408, Lucky Quarter, and In the Deathroom. The only story in the book that I found truly bad was The Death of Jack Hamilton, which in my opinion is King's worst all time story. It was dull, pointless and boring. If you want a good collection of short stories with a mix of horror, suspense, and mystery, you should definately read this book.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

International bestselling author Stephen King is in terrifying top form with his first collection of short stories in almost a decade. In this spine-chilling compilation, King takes readers down a road less traveled (for good reason) in the blockbuster e-Book "Riding the Bullet," bad table service turns bloody when you stop in for "Lunch at the Gotham Café," and terror becomes déjàvu all over again when you get "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French" -- along with eleven more stories that will keep you awake until daybreak. Enter a nightmarish mindscape of unrelenting horror and shocking revelations that could only come from the imagination of the greatest storyteller of our time.

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