This is probably my favorite of King's short-story compilations, a format I feel he's best suited to. And I'm more psyched for the forthcoming film adThis is probably my favorite of King's short-story compilations, a format I feel he's best suited to. And I'm more psyched for the forthcoming film adaptation of "The Mist" than I've ever been for a SK movie. The story reads like the best B-movie ever as it is. Gross, unexplained creatures attacking people trapped in a grocery store: that could easily be midnight movie gold. My hopes are high (and it's being helmed by Frank Darabont, who did "Shawshank", so that bodes pretty well). I only wish the cast were a little more interesting, but what can ya do. I guess that potentially distracts less from the story, but still, it's impossible to get excited about Thomas Jane. ...more
I remain grateful to this book for keeping me company during an unexpected overnight stay at Logan Airport, but under the circumstances I would have bI remain grateful to this book for keeping me company during an unexpected overnight stay at Logan Airport, but under the circumstances I would have been open to even the feeblest of entertainments, a category "Dreamcatcher" most definitely falls under. The scenes with "Duddits" and the death-poop passages read like self-parody, and the alien stuff is boring and incomprehensible. For completists only, if that.
From what I understand, Stephen King was coked off his tits when he wrote "Pet Sematary", and thankfully it shows. This is just a big, fun, gross, stuFrom what I understand, Stephen King was coked off his tits when he wrote "Pet Sematary", and thankfully it shows. This is just a big, fun, gross, stupid horror book, with no regard for any living thing, wantonly laying waste to man, woman, child, and animal alike. It was one of the first SK books I ever read, back in probably the 4th or 5th grade, which in a way is a good age at which to encounter Mr. King, as like him or not he definitely appeals to the "hey, let's write a story!" mindset that a bookish little kid with a slighly off sense of humor might go for. At a time in my life when dead baby jokes were the norm when it came to illicit entertainment sources (quick: what's the difference between a truckload of dead babies and a truckload of bowling balls?), it was grossly liberating to actually come across a scene in a book where a child gets mowed down by a truck. That never happened to the Polk Street Kids.
I haven't read it since middle school, and probably won't, so I've no clue how it holds up. I'm ashamed to say I also sort of enjoy the movie version. I guess I kind of suck!...more