Admit it: Stephen King has not been a very interesting writer of late. The best of his releases were written decades ago (BLAZE was written between CARRIE and ‘SALEM’S LOT, and BENEATH THE DOME was written somewhere in the ‘Eighties; both are supremely delicious, but again, they’re OLD King). DUMA KEY had a good start, but it finished up pretty lame. THE COLORADO KID sucked up and down. LISEY’S STORY had some good moments, but it commits the ultimate crime in fiction: for the most part, it was boring. BLOCKADE BILLY was pretty good, but in the end was unsatisfying. His shorter work hasn’t fared very well, either; read some of his recent work in PLAYBOY, and you’ll be vastly disappointed.
And then, he unleashed FULL DARK, NO STARS on the world. It is a collection of four novellas, much like DIFFERENT SEASONS and FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT, and every story of this bunch is mean and rotten and vile . . . in short, it’s the Stephen King the world has missed.
The first is “1922,” and it is told by Wilf James, a farmer who desperately wants to hold on to his farm. When his wife inherits good land, he covets it and wants to join it with his . . . but Mrs. James wants to sell it for a mighty profit to a slaughterhouse. They quarrel ruthlessly until Wilf makes a decision that will lead to the most disastrous results since the Joads headed west in THE GRAPES OF WRATH. There is a scene so gristly that anyone who reads it will remember it forever. It’s as if King has written a Nick Cave song in novella format.
Next up is “Big Driver.” At first, it seems like a foray into Richard Laymon territory, but it transforms into the most trippiest rape/revenge story ever. Tess writes cozy mysteries, and on her way home from a speaking engagement, she has car troubles and is raped by the trucker who comes to her rescue. After some consideration, she chooses not to report it. Instead, she’s going to track down her rapist and make him pay. It sounds like a thousand horror movies, but it goes down a path no one would expect.
The third story, “Fair Extension,” is the most heartless and cruel of the bunch. Dave Streeter is dying of cancer, and he makes a deal with the devil to buy himself an extra 15 years (or maybe 20 or 25). The kicker is, he doesn’t sell his soul. The price is so wicked and nasty that to reveal it here would be a crime. This is a deal-with-the-devil story where THERE IS NO TWIST. What you see is what you get. And maybe that’s the most evil twist in the world. (And by the way, who knew that NEEDFUL THINGS’s Leland Gaunt had relatives?)
Closing off this quartet is “A Good Marriage.” Darcy Anderson, who wouldn’t call her marriage perfect but satisfying, one day discovers that her husband, a supposedly harmless numismatist by the plain name of Bob, who helps out with Cub Scouts and loves his family, is a serial killer on the side. Now she has to figure out what she’s going to do about this. Inspired by the BTK Killer, this is the weakest of the stories, but it still captivates. Nothing stops King’s curiosity as he probes this what-if tale. One has no doubt that if this were to happen in real life (and perhaps it has), this is the way it would work out.
There aren’t enough dark, questionable adjectives to describe this collection of stories, but it is a necessary piece to any King (and horror) collection. Hail to the King, baby!
FULL DARK, NO STARS
By Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner
368 pages
$27.99
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