false 10579 51 In his introduction to <I>Everything's Eventual</I>, horror author extraordinaire Stephen King describes how he used a deck of playing cards to select the order in which these 14 tales of the macabre would appear. Judging by the impact of these stories, from the first words of the darkly fascinating "Autopsy Room Four" to the haunting final pages of "Luckey Quarter," one can almost believe King truly is guided by forces from beyond.<p> His first collection of short stories since the release of <I>Nightmares & Dreamscapes</I> in 1993, <I>Everything's Eventual</I> represents King at his most undiluted. The short story format showcases King's ability to spook readers using the most mundane settings (a yard sale) and comfortable memories (a boyhood fishing excursion). The dark tales collected here are some of King's finest, including an O. Henry Prize winner and "Riding the Bullet," published originally as an e-book and at one time expected by some to be the death knell of the physical publishing world. True to form, each of these stories draws the reader into King's slightly off-center world from the first page, developing characters and atmosphere more fully in the span of 50 pages than many authors can in a full novel.<p> For most rabid King fans, chief among the tales in this volume will be "The Little Sisters of Eluria," a novella that first appeared in the fantasy collection <I>Legends</I>, set in King's ever-expanding Dark Tower universe. In this story, set prior to the first Dark Tower volume, the reader finds Gunslinger Roland of Gilead wounded and under the care of nurses with very dubious intentions. Also included in this collection are "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French," the story of a woman's personal hell; "1408," in which a writer of haunted tour guides finally encounters the real thing; "Everything's Eventual," the title story, about a boy with a dream job that turns out to be more of a nightmare; and "L.T.'s Theory of Pets," a story of divorce with a bloody surprise ending.<p> King also includes an introductory essay on the lost art of short fiction and brief explanatory notes that give the reader background on his intentions and inspirations for each story. As with any occasion when King directly addresses his dear Constant Readers, his tone is that of a camp counselor who's almost apologetic for the scare his fireside tales are about to throw into his charges, yet unwilling to soften the blow. And any campers gathered around this author's fire would be wise to heed his warnings, for when King goes bump in the night, it's never just a branch on the window. <I>--Benjamin Reese</I> 2330175 book 2002 Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales total:7511|5:1575|4:2731|3:2579|2:549|1:77| 7511 27711 9281 356 4 1 false true Sun Jan 18 20:37:37 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 11:05:27 -0800 2009
2. Autopsy Room Four: I loved this story about a man who was bit by a poisonous snake while golfing and goes into a deathlike co...more...]]> 3 3 false false Sun Sep 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 28 16:10:49 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 28 17:21:46 -0800 2008 1
Month after month and year after year, he churns it out, an...more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Thu Jan 24 05:58:52 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 05:58:52 -0800 2008
Rumors of Stephen King's demise have been greatly exaggerated. 2002 is gearing up to be another highly productive year for King, and he starts us off with his first short story collection since 1993, Everything's Eventual. It sure is nice...more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Sun Jan 25 20:35:37 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 20:45:53 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jan 02 22:15:13 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 22:15:13 -0800 2009 2
The Man in the Black Suit: Really cool and well written, if anything keeps you up at night.

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away: REALLY great little story, up to the climatic point and every little det...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Mon Oct 26 05:03:56 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 05:04:39 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 5 0 false true Mon Jul 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 21:41:52 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 22:02:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jun 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 16:12:57 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 16:12:57 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Dec 02 21:13:58 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 08 08:57:54 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Sep 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 10:00:15 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 09:25:09 -0700 2009 Autopsy Room 4: If I hadn't seen the TV episode of this one, I would have thought it was ridiculous. The snake bite was a little more ridiculous in the written version, but overall I'm glad t...more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Apr 22 16:00:54 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 16:10:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Mar 10 12:52:12 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 29 01:04:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Oct 10 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Mar 28 10:38:58 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 10:44:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Feb 20 18:23:14 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 18:23:14 -0800 2009
The tales are short enough to not be ahuge commitment, but large enough to really get into. And there's some doozies, too. "1408" ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Mar 20 08:29:28 -0700 2009 Wed Feb 25 10:35:19 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 20 08:29:28 -0700 2009 "Autopsy Room Four", "In the Deathroom", "Everything's Eventual", and "Riding the Bullet" a...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 10:01:35 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 10:01:35 -0800 2009
The best Stephen King reading is, by far, his short stories. His demands on the reader (suspension of disbelief) are far less in a short story than in one of his gargantuan novels, and thu...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Feb 11 02:45:47 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 02:57:40 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Aug 26 10:59:34 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 26 11:00:36 -0700 2008 it includes the story 1408 (the story is much better than the movie)]]> 4 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 16 18:15:45 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 17 05:04:21 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Fri Mar 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 17:19:44 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 12:21:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=713989