Scribner, Mar 2002, 28.00, 464 pp.
ISBN: 0743235150
Even though its seems unreal, Stephen King has not written a short story collection in almost a decade (see NIGHTMARES AND DREAMSCAPES). However, the flexible grandmaster returns to the form with this fourteen-story book while showing (as he continually does with novels), he can still spin quite a superb short tale.
Each tale is dark and demonstrates Mr. King's writing abilities while proving he remains one of the stronger short story tellers today. The theme running through the tale is encounters with the dead spicing up the mundane lives of the living or those who expedite the passage of death. This anthology includes three pieces coming from alternate media, four from The New Yorker magazine, and a former E-book. One added bonus is a Dark Tower longer short story "The Little Sisters of Eluria”. Each one and the remaining six are all quite good and a bit or two frightening.
Macabre and clearly paying homage to another versatile grandmaster Edgar Allen Poe, EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL is another triumph for Mr. King as fans of the ghastly and morbid will enjoy this collection. The great author seems to have accomplished everything in his thirty years of published writing except lift the curse of the Bambino.
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book Descript. of chases or violence - 10% planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20% Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%
Tone of book
- scarey (primal ax-wielding fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- fantasy story on current Earth
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Horror story?
Yes
Horror plotlets
- vampires taking a quick bite
- the monster chased me!
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- business executive
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- magical being
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
Earth setting:
- current (early 21st century)
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
