IF IT BLEEDS (2020) by Stephen King

[GRWelsh]

Before starting HOLLY (2023) I wanted to read this because it includes the novella "If It Bleeds" with a Holly Gibney story. This book is in the tradition of books like DIFFERENT SEASONS (1982) and FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT (1990) which collect four novellas each. I rather like the novella length as frankly many of King's novels were getting too long (THE STAND, IT, TOMMYKNOCKERS, NEEDFUL THINGS, etc.). With a short story, you can get across an idea or concept, and then it's over. A novella seems just about right for someone like King whose strength is in developing characters and letting you live with them for a while before the shit hits the fan.

I finished the first novella, "Mr. Harrigan's Phone," which I see has been adapted into a movie already with Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan. It was pretty creepy. I've often heard people say it is more difficult to write horror since the advent of smart phones, since no one is every truly isolated anymore. So writers often have to come with lame ways for the smart phones not to work such as not having service, batteries going dead, getting broken, etc. But in this story rather than trying to excuse it away, King makes the iPhone the centerpiece of the plot.

The second novella, "The Life of Chuck," is one of the best and most interesting King stories I've read in a long time. It's a weird tale and as a reader I felt disoriented as I was trying to figure out what was going on. It also had an unconventional narrative structure that worked really well.

[GRWelsh]

I finished the title story "If It Bleeds" and I thought it was excellent. It's long for a novella and about the pitch perfect length for a Stephen King story -- It allows him to explore a concept, develop characters including side characters, go on some asides, and has time to build up tension -- and yet it doesn't overstay it's welcome. I can imagine a criticism of it being too derivative but I won't say more as I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I'll just say I found the differences to be enough for me to enjoy it. Lately, I've been finding King 'monsters' to be good stand ins for human predators, i.e. they aren't necessarily that much stronger or more competent than anyone else, if you know who they are. What makes them dangerous is their anonymity and ability to prey on human good will and trust.

I'm on the last novella in this collection, "Rat," which is shorter and so far seems to be about an emotionally unstable author attempting to write his first novel after a patchy history of writing only short stories so far. It's really good so far.

[GRWelsh]

I finished this last week. "Rat" was an interesting story about an author struggling with his own personal demons after being struck with inspiration that helped him overcome his writer's block. Most of the story is of the thoughts that go on in the author's head, which I found very relatable. I think a lot of times when you're focused on finishing a big creative endeavor you can sometimes feel like you are losing your mind.