If It Bleeds - Stephen King

[Ginger]

Vickie wrote: "Glad you..."

Thanks Vickie! 💕❤️

[Ginger]

Feli wrote: "Hi all! After a little absence here on GR I just saw that you started this BR a few days ago. Are some of you still reading?
I started the first story, well, many moons before, lol. I really liked ..."

Glad you can join the BR Feli! I really liked all the new SK stories. Enjoy!

[Andrew✌️]

I'm continuing with the novel "If it bleeds". I like it and it's good to read a story centered around Holly, because helps to know more about her life and thoughts. I hope to finish tomorrow, I'm looking forward to know how it ends. :)

[Ginger]

Andrew wrote: "I'm continuing with the novel "If it bleeds". I like it and it's good to read a story centered around Holly, because helps to know more about her life and thoughts. I hope to finish tomorrow, I'm l..."

I’m glad you are getting some back story on her. You get a lot in the Bill Hodges series but I’m not sure if you’ve read that?

[Andrew✌️]

Ginger wrote: "Andrew wrote: "I'm continuing with the novel "If it bleeds". I like it and it's good to read a story centered around Holly, because helps to know more about her life and thoughts. I hope to finish ..."

I like this character with all her quirks and fixations. A couple of years ago, I read all books in the Bill Hodges series and I devoured them. Despite many opposite opinions, I enjoy these works by King, these superantural misteries. Every day they stare at me from my bookshelf (ah, ah!).
Recently I read "The Outsider" and I was happy to find Holly there, a good addition to the story.

[Ginger]

Andrew wrote: "I like this character with all her quirks and fixations. A couple of years ago, I read all books in the Bill Hodges series and I devoured them. Despite many opposite opinions, I enjoy these works by King, these superantural misteries. Every day they stare at me from my bookshelf (ah, ah!).
Recently I read "The Outsider" and I was happy to find Holly there, a good addition to the story."

Awesome! I'm so glad you read that series before The Outsider and this one. There are a lot of spoiler-like things in the newer books. I'm glad you didn't experience any surprises that you didn't want! :D

[Andrew✌️]

Today I finished "If it bleeds", a thrilling story, full of suspense and mistery. In my opinion, (view spoiler)[the horror part in this novel is the connetion with The Outsider, through the character of Holly, in some way the final conclusion of the story. But if the evil man had been a "simple" serial killer, it would have worked anyway. (hide spoiler)]

[Vickie]

Just finished If It Bleeds as well and really enjoyed it! But I do love my time with Holly and the Robinson family.😊 The only thing that makes me laugh, though, is(view spoiler)[like with The Outsider, how quickly Holly kills these supernatural beings. I definitely have to suspend my belief on both of these endings.😉 (hide spoiler)]

[S.]

Good afternoon Holly fans. HBO ran a one season so far of the outsider and if you have seen the Mr. Mercedes series the hollies are a completely different and just him in the book very similar on the stage very non-similar just passing it on

[Katie]

S. wrote: "Good afternoon Holly fans. HBO ran a one season so far of the outsider and if you have seen the Mr. Mercedes series the hollies are a completely different and just him in the book very similar on t..."

This is good to know as I'm finishing the 3rd season of Mr. Mercedes and getting ready to start The Outsider.

[Gianfranco]

Hi everybody! Just started reading If It Bleeds to knock off my cat topic from Horror Aficionados 2020 Halloween Season Reading Challenge and seen this thread.
Thirty pages gone and I'm loving Mr. Harrigan's phone, storyline has strong Hearts in Atlantis vibes for now and I just can't stop imagining old Mr. Harrigan and young Craigster like sir Anthony Hopkins and Anton Yelchin in the movie based on that tale.

[Ginger]

Gianfranco wrote: "Hi everybody! Just started reading If It Bleeds to knock off my cat topic from Horror Aficionados 2020 Halloween Season Reading Challenge and seen this thread.
Thirty pages gone and I'm loving Mr. ..."

Welcome Gianfranco!! Hope you enjoy all the stories. I just finished this week and really enjoyed this collection.
I have never seen that movie but will have to add it to the log of movies to see.

And I did the same! hahaha
I used this book for my "cat" category as well. :D

[Ginger]

S. wrote: "Good afternoon Holly fans. HBO ran a one season so far of the outsider and if you have seen the Mr. Mercedes series the hollies are a completely different and just him in the book very similar on t..."

Definitely! They have three different Holly's out there. LOL!!

[Ginger]

Vickie wrote: "Just finished If It Bleeds as well and really enjoyed it! But I do love my time with Holly and the Robinson family.😊 The only thing that makes me laugh, though, is[spoilers removed]"

I know, right?!! I still enjoyed it, even though I know (view spoiler)[I've got to but some of my skepticism aside for her killing all these baddies. :D LOL! (hide spoiler)]

Glad you liked it Vickie! I so love the Robinson family as well. 💕❤️

[Ginger]

Andrew wrote: "Today I finished "If it bleeds", a thrilling story, full of suspense and mistery. In my opinion, [spoilers removed]"

Totally agree Andrew! I think the (view spoiler)[outsider is definitely scary and they way he scared Barbara was really messed up. (hide spoiler)]

[Katie]

Gianfranco wrote: "Hi everybody! Just started reading If It Bleeds to knock off my cat topic from Horror Aficionados 2020 Halloween Season Reading Challenge and seen this thread.
Thirty pages gone and I'm loving Mr. ..."

Hi! Glad you could join😊. I loved reading Mr. Harrigan's phone too. I haven't heard of that movie but I'm going to see if I can find it and check it out.

[Gianfranco]

Ginger wrote: "Welcome Gianfranco!! Hope you enjoy all the stories. I just finished this week and really enjoyed this collection.
I have never seen that movie but will have to add it to the log of movies to see."

Katie wrote: "Hi! Glad you could join😊. I loved reading Mr. Harrigan's phone too. I haven't heard of that movie but I'm going to see if I can find it and check it out.."

Thank you. Hearts on Atlantis is a 2001 movie inspired by Stephen King's Dark Tower tie-in Low Men in Yellow Coats, a novella in the 1999 collection Hearts in Atlantis after which the film was named. Single story was reprinted recently here in Italy and I wanna re-read it sooner or later. It started with a kid reading books to an old man too, so Mr. Harrigan's phone reminded me a lot, but after reading 55 pages last night I see this one is going to take a darker path. Usually King's flick adaptions are bad ones, but this was a real good one for me. Enjoy 😊

[Katie]

Gianfranco wrote: "Ginger wrote: "Welcome Gianfranco!! Hope you enjoy all the stories. I just finished this week and really enjoyed this collection.
I have never seen that movie but will have to add it to the log of ..."

I'm definitely intrigued! My library has a copy of Hearts in Atlantis so I'm going to try to pick it up and read it sometime here soon. I must read the book before I watch the movie. It kills my soul if its the other way around, lol!
I'm glad you brought this up as I've somehow missed this book and it looks really good! Thank you😊

[Gianfranco]

Katie wrote: "I'm glad you brought this up as I've somehow missed this book and it looks really good! Thank you😊."

You're welcome, glad being helpful 👍😁

[Lisa]

Just finished The Life Of Chuck last night. Wow, so good. It was both heartwarming and blood chilling. I am pondering some things - (view spoiler)[ What was the significance of Chuck and his life, which was seemingly tied to the existence of the planet? Was it because he saw himself dying in the cupola, and that created some sort of metaphysical tear in the universe? Is it some sort of metaphor for our human awareness that the planet is in decline, and now "the waiting is the hardest part"? (hide spoiler)] I'm interested to know others' thoughts.

[Lisa]

Ginger wrote: "Vickie wrote: "I'm really enjoying it so far and, c'mon, ya gotta love the 'poopy' cussing... that's classic Holly!😄"

I just want her to say "shit" for once. ;) hahaha!!
Glad you are liking this o..."

Getting ready to start If It Bleeds and bracing myself for the juvenile cussing. In The Outsider, it felt like a pale imitation of the way Annie Wilkes spoke in Misery - fussy and childlike - but it felt authentic there. Let's see how it works for me in IIB.

[Ginger]

Lisa wrote: "Just finished The Life Of Chuck last night. Wow, so good. It was both heartwarming and blood chilling. I am pondering some things - [spoilers removed] I'm interested to know others' thoughts."

I really like your insight into this story. I'm so glad we are all reading this book together because I get to see what others think about it. I'm almost tempted to rate it higher after reading your thoughts.

Especially this part...(view spoiler)[Is it some sort of metaphor for our human awareness that the planet is in decline, and now "the waiting is the hardest part"? (hide spoiler)]
That's some deep shit Lisa. hahaha!!

[Ginger]

Lisa wrote: "Getting ready to start If It Bleeds and bracing myself for the juvenile cussing. In The Outsider, it felt like a pale imitation of the way Annie Wilkes spoke in Misery - fussy and childlike - but it felt authentic there. Let's see how it works for me in IIB.."

Good luck and hope you enjoy it!
Honestly, I kept imaging Holly as African-American now after the HBO series. hahaha!
I really liked that version of Holly and how Cynthia Erivo portraits her. She just did a really good job with that character.

On another note, I'll have to watch the Bill Hodges series one day and see what they do with the character. I do really like Brendan Gleeson as Bill Hodges! I think that was a solid choice in casting. :D

[Lisa]

Ginger wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Just finished The Life Of Chuck last night. Wow, so good. It was both heartwarming and blood chilling. I am pondering some things - [spoilers removed] I'm interested to know others' th..."

LOL, right? And as I started reading it, I was thinking - wow, this sounds like an even worse year than 2020... I loved Chuck's character and the way King wrote him.

[Ginger]

Lisa wrote: "Ginger wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Just finished The Life Of Chuck last night. Wow, so good. It was both heartwarming and blood chilling. I am pondering some things - [spoilers removed] I'm interested to ..."

Me too!! I thought, "Wow, at least it's not this bad for 2020...yet!" LOL!!

[Lisa]

Ginger wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Getting ready to start If It Bleeds and bracing myself for the juvenile cussing. In The Outsider, it felt like a pale imitation of the way Annie Wilkes spoke in Misery - fussy and chil..."

I also loved Erivo's portrayal. I liked her stilted way of speaking, like it was something she adopted to manage the million thoughts in her head and organize them before delivering them in a concise way to mere mortals. She was very consistent with it, as well. Great tactic.

[Katie]

I've been sitting here thinking about what Lisa said and those are all really good points. It's also got me wondering if I need to go back and read the story again now that I know its kinda backwards. Maybe I could make more sense of it the second time around. Idk.

[Feli]

Wow, okay, my thought of Life of Chuck were so completely different. But I like what you wrote about it, Lisa!
(view spoiler)[For me it was like.. he saw himself dying and decided to forget above it and live his life. But I guess one can't simply 'forget' something like this. There also was this quote about 'you contain multitudes' and some explanation about is (foregt the details, sorry). I thought Chuck somehow started the 'waiting' for his death and thus... kind of imagines the world and characters inside of himself (they talked about the brain containing memories and all the people who live inside etc. As I said, I forget the details, but maybe you remember what I mean. And that's just what Chuck did. To make it somehow easier to know he's going to die he imagines (or maybe not and it's just SKs interpretation of what lifes are there inside everyone's mind) the world, the planet inside of him with all those people going to an end, too. And we get the story backward as some kind of explanation which moment in his life let to this. (hide spoiler)]

Okay, maybe my theorie's weird. Also: I am tired and mixed up all my English words I remember, lol. I am sorry 🙈 Hope you get what I mean 😂


I've also read an interview about the different Hollys out there. It was quite interesting but it also made me not wanna watch the Outsider show because I just loved the Holly from Mr Mercedes and thought she was portrait perfectly.
The interview explained why they did it and it was basically because the director hadn't read any of the books or saw the Mr Mercedes series and just wanted a different Holly like he imagined here. He wanted to change the name, too, but SK didn't want that (I personally think this would have been better..). If I find the interview again I'll post the link if you are interested.

[Lisa]

Feli wrote: "Wow, okay, my thought of Life of Chuck were so completely different. But I like what you wrote about it, Lisa!
[spoilers removed]

Okay, maybe my theorie's weird. Also: I am tired and mixed up all ..."

OK, Feli, you just blew my mind. (view spoiler)[ So, do you think that the whole scenario of the world ending, fading away, and all of the signs wishing Chuck thanks and farewell are a function of his deathbed delusions? "I contain multitudes"...a whole world existed within Chuck, and now it's slowly coming to an end? That's a most excellent theory and it makes a lot of sense. (hide spoiler)]

[Vickie]

I love everyone's thoughts with Life of Chuck. I really enjoyed that one as well. Before I started these stories, I read SK's "Author's Note" section at the end of the book. I tend to do that a lot because it helps me with understanding the stories better to know where SK is coming from. If I hadn't read that, I probably would have had a harder time with Chuck's story.😊

[Katie]

I forgot about the authors note section. I definitively probably need to go back and read that. Thanks Vickie for bringing that up.

[Vickie]

Welcome!😊

[Gianfranco]

Finished Mr. Harrigan's Phone last night. A solid ☆☆☆☆☆ for me.

[Ginger]

Gianfranco wrote: "Finished Mr. Harrigan's Phone last night. A solid ☆☆☆☆☆ for me."

Awesome! I loved the creepy feel of that one along with the "What If?" :D

[Ginger]

Vickie wrote: "I love everyone's thoughts with Life of Chuck. I really enjoyed that one as well. Before I started these stories, I read SK's "Author's Note" section at the end of the book. I tend to do that a lo..."

I read it after I finished the book and I wish that I had read it before. I think it would have helped me with Life of Chuck.
It was great to read what he was thinking while he wrote each story!

[Andrew✌️]

I finished today. These are all wonderful novels, "If it Bleeds" first, by also "Mr Harrigan's Phone" and "Life of Chuck". The last novel, "Rat", didn't fully convince me, but it's not bad.
I found very interesting the note, when King gives info about the inspirations (if there are any) at the base of the novels.

[Ginger]

Andrew wrote: "I finished today. These are all wonderful novels, "If it Bleeds" first, by also "Mr Harrigan's Phone" and "Life of Chuck". The last novel, "Rat", didn't fully convince me, but it's not bad.
I found..."

Glad you like the stories Andrew! I thought the author's note was also good. I wish I had done what Vickie did and read it before the stories. And also glad you were able to join the BR!

[Vickie]

Finished this tonight as well. I really enjoyed the stories. Rat I would say was my least favorite and too similar, in ways, (view spoiler)[to The Shining, albeit in a brief way. (hide spoiler)] Thanks for the buddy read!

[Gianfranco]

Finished today Life of Chuck.
Reading first (last) act I've found it meandering and thought King just added an early rejected story as a page filler here, with the reverse reading order made for fun.
Then I started diggin'more and more the storyline and ended loving it so much that I could hear in my mind The Twilight Zone opening credits theme😂



Another five stars for me.

[Ginger]

Gianfranco wrote: "Finished today Life of Chuck.
Reading first (last) act I've found it meandering and thought King just added an early rejected story as a page filler here, with the reverse reading order made for fu..."

I felt the same Gianfranco! After I read it, I felt something was missing but after talking to a few of you on here, I think I can see The Twilight Zone feel so much more. It's definitely got that creepy, weird vibe to it. :D

[Ginger]

Vickie wrote: "Finished this tonight as well. I really enjoyed the stories. Rat I would say was my least favorite and too similar, in ways, [spoilers removed] Thanks for the buddy read!"

I totally thought the same Vickie. It was vey similar to that book. After thinking about all the stories again, that one is definitely my least favorite of the four. It was still entertaining though! Even "okay" SK books and stories are still better then most out there. LOL
Glad you enjoyed the BR!

[Vickie]

Ginger wrote: "Vickie wrote: "Finished this tonight as well. I really enjoyed the stories. Rat I would say was my least favorite and too similar, in ways, [spoilers removed] Thanks for the buddy read!"

I totally..."

Very true!

[Lisa]

Finished If It Bleeds last night. I enjoyed the story, and enjoyed Holly more than I did in The Outsider. As I've not read the earlier novels featuring her, I have little to no physical description of her, but, I keep picturing Yeardley Smith. (view spoiler)[

I do have to say that this story felt like a retread of The Outsider. Having just read that, and watching the series, I was a little weary of it. It was like the same villain recycled, albeit a bit amended. It struck me as so odd. Also, such a neat and tidy disposal - poof, down the elevator shaft. These highly developed creatures are pretty easy to bump off. But...is it really dead? Does anyone else think that Holly's comment about the bailiff on the John Law show meant that he was another incarnation of this Outsider? Or did he just resemble him? (hide spoiler)]

[Gianfranco]

Finished the book last night. Rat was not as good as previous stories for me, but in the end it was an entertaining tale about writing, author's block(view spoiler)[ and faustian pacts (hide spoiler)], so this book was a full five stars read for me😊

[Vickie]

Lisa wrote: "Finished If It Bleeds last night. I enjoyed the story, and enjoyed Holly more than I did in The Outsider. As I've not read the earlier novels featuring her, I have little to no physical description..."

Glad you enjoyed this, Lisa! And, yes (view spoiler)[either that or maybe yet another outsider?🤷🏻‍♀️ I also agree that these beings are disposed of way too easily. (hide spoiler)]

[Vickie]

Gianfranco wrote: "Finished the book last night. Rat was not as good as previous stories for me, but in the end it was an entertaining tale about writing, author's block[spoilers removed], so this book was a full fiv..."

I felt the same way, Gianfranco. Glad you liked the book too!

[Ginger]

Lisa wrote: "Finished If It Bleeds last night. I enjoyed the story, and enjoyed Holly more than I did in The Outsider. As I've not read the earlier novels featuring her, I have little to no physical description..."

Totally agree Lisa!
(view spoiler)[This baddies shouldn't be so easy to get rid of....First a happy slapper and now an elevator shaft. LOL!! (hide spoiler)]