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Of all the writers in this anthology, no one needs less of an explanation than Stephen King. Not only is he one of the most popular horror writers in the world, he is among the most popular writers period. There isn’t a single person in the civilized world who doesn’t know who he is. His output is amazing and continues to be so.
But did Pelan really have to choose “The Reach” as his King representative? Granted, it’s a fairly well-known piece among the unfilmed works, but it’s one of King’s weaker tales. (Which is unusual, because it was written during his hardcore drinking/coke-snorting days, when he produced his most memorable work.)
Stella Flanders is the oldest person alive on Goat Island, where she has never crossed the reach to the mainland. She knows she’s dying, and she starts seeing the ghosts of her loved ones until her dead husband convinces her to finally cross the reach to join him. Aaaaaaaand . . . that’s it.
Well, that’s not fair. It’s a pretty good idea. King’s problem is, he’s too busy building the world of Goat Island to actually get down to the story at hand. We must know each and every person here and what their feelings are toward certain characters. He drowns in the details, even though they are very King-ish details. (Guess what state the mainland is, for example.) The way he presents the story is almost off-handish, like he considers the important things to be the stuff that doesn’t seem to be connected to the story, and the ghost story just sort of happens in the background.
No spoilers necessary here. You’ve probably read the story, or if you haven’t, what is stated here is enough for you to guess the ending. It’s not entirely bad; King is very good at setting the tone. You actually feel the cold Maine winterscape. But that, alone, does not make a story good. This is more proof that King has always wanted to be Joyce Carol Oates, even back in those days. It’s not a bad desire, but perhaps he should be content to be himself (which he is, for the most part). It isn’t often that one is advised to pass on a Stephen King story, but well, pass on this one.
[This story first appeared in YANKEE under the name "Do the Dead Sing?" and cannot be read online at this time.]
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So: what story should Pelan have picked?
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say. Maybe go a year earlier for "The Mist," or pehaps to '84 for "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet." If we had to stay in '81, though, I'd go with "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands." Ooh! Wait! I forgot! "Survivor Type" is pretty gruesome, and that was published in '82!
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