Product Description
Ralph Roberts hasn't been sleeping well lately. Every morning he wakes just a little bit earlier until pretty soon, he isn't sleeping at all. It wouldn't be so bad if not for the strange hallucinations--and the nightmares that keep coming to life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (426)

The Kindle edition is practically nothing but typos. Buyer beware.
Below is an e-mail I sent to Amazon.com customer service regarding my issues with the Kindle and, especially, the digital copy of this book. It should sum up my complaints well enough.

---------------

First, let me say that I have the utmost appreciation for the way Amazon.com is managed both in terms of employee and customer relations.I only take the time to write such a lengthy e-mail because I feel certain that it will be read and taken seriously, and I sincerely hope that the following problem can be addressed, not just for my own satisfaction (although it would please me to no end to not see silly typos in every future Kindle purchase), but because Amazon is a good business, and I think it would be silly for its strength as a provider of digital content to be negatively affected by what amounts to a technical glitch married to a lack of time and effort on behalf of whoever is responsible for bringing us e-books.

I recently purchased a Kindle after much internal debate and many attempts to convince myself that I would never turn away from my analog books.I was a difficult convert, but since getting my hands on my Kindle I've really fallen in love with the thing and I recommend it to everyone who asks about it (and many who don't).

However, I've noticed some rather bothersome errors that occur when converting books to the Kindle format and wind up in the finished text as silly typos.I understand how these make their way in: you've got thousands of books you're trying to upload to the Kindle to ensure readers have a large enough potential library to warrant purchasing a Kindle and continuing to download books, so whoever-is-responsible-for-this-sort-of-thing gets a text (poopoo to all of those authors of the past few hundred years haven't bothered to submit digital copies of their works) and scans it on some fancy pants scanning machine that automatically converts the words on the paper to words that can be rolled up and sent through the ether to our sexy Kindles and then to hungry minds, and of course you just HAVE to get to the next book, because, hey, there's catching up to be done and we can't sit here and proof-read every book we put on the device, because there's simply no time. I get it. I do.

But errors seem to be inevitable.I've read, I don't know, six books on the Kindle so far, and ALL of them have silly mistakes, the most frequent being the following:

* The lower case letters "rn" become the letter "m".Understandable. Just look at those two intimate little humped consonants rubbing shoulders!If they were at a dance at my middle school, Principal Scragg would quickly remind them that, hey, he better see LIGHT between those two bodies.Totally inappropriate, that level of letter-on-letter intimacy is.Still, I'm sick of seeing "comer" in place of "corner".For the nearsighted among you, I'll repeat that with CAPS: I'm sick of seeing "COMER" in place of "CORNER".I'll tell you, you don't realize how many times an author uses the word CORNER until you've had to stumble over COMER in its place for the fiftieth time.

*Hyphens and double hyphens are used inconsistently, making it difficult to distinguish between hyphenated words and parenthetical statements, and god help you if you should stumble upon a parenthetical with a hyphenated word inside.Who knows what the heck that line is supposed to mean!

*Ellipses, instead of being placed attached immediately to the end of a word (like this... see?), find themselves dangling between words like antisocial little obsessive compulsives (like this ... see?).

Okay, so those are are survivable (although the Kindle has successfully ruined the words CORNER and COMER for me for all time -- I will never be able to read those without mentally stumbling over them -- thanks), but I recently started a book ("Insomnia" by Stephen King) that has so many typos that it wouldn't pass a ninth grade composition class, let alone the scrutinizing eye of an editor at New American Library or Penguin or Signet or wherever.It's gag inducing (hyperbole!).After making it only 4% into the book and being frustrated by the stupid number of typos I took upon myself to highlight every mistake I noticed in the course of reading (and now the progress bar at the bottom of my screen is practically black with the number of marks I've made).I've encouraged Amazon customer service to open up "Insomnia" and look over the sheer number of mistakes I've highlighted, but just for fun, here's another bullet-point list of stupid-crap-I-found-in-my-book-that-I-paid-money-for (with locations!):

*COMER(S) shows up 51 times! Enough said. Man! Just do a search within the the text for the word "COMER" and see what happens. I dare you.

*(Loc 552, among others): the numeral 1 in place of the capital letter I.In the same place there is an example of incorrect use of hyphen length.

*(Loc 615): "delivery-track" instead of "delivery-truck"

*(Loc 622, among many, many others): "...at . 4:15 a.m., anything seems..." -- Randomly placed period. See it? It's like a zit in the middle of that sentence, as conspicuous behind the time of morning as a big white popper is beneath the lip of a high school cheerleader, and if that period is a zit, then this book has a helluva case of acne.These blemishes are sometimes in the middle of sentences, sometimes dropped in front of sentences AFTER the preceding sentence has already been punctuated, and it sits there in the empty real estate like (pardon me for mixing my metaphors here) a dog deuce left carelessly on my front lawn.

*(Loc 647, among many, many others): "Up-Mile Hill" -- Randomized bolding of words.If the misplaced periods are zits, then I don't know what to call these... reminds me of a lady of the night wearing too much mascara -- it's tasteless and distracting.

*As I look through here I'm seeing more and COMERS and COMERS and COMERS and COMERS and COMERS.COMERS of people's mouths, COMERS of the street, COMERS things that get rounded off to becomes less COMERy.

*(Loc 771, among many, many others): "...petition, he thought..." -- Inconsistent use of italics making it difficult to distinguish between where the internal thoughts of a character end and where the words of the narrator begin.

*(Loc 837): This one is funny, I promise."Flow long are we going to sit on your porch...?"See it? SEE IT? "HOW" became "FLOW!" Like everything else, this jerks you right out of the text.

*(Loc 1203): There's a character named "McGovern".Here, he rounds the COMER and becomes "McGovem".This happens a few times.

*(Loc 1532): This is another funny one.I think "the Now-up" is supposed to be "the blow-up". I'm not sure. It's a stretch. I can see how the first vertical line and the intersecting diagonal of the capital N correspond to the vertical back and tiny belly of the lower case b.I guess. Sort of. Anyway...

*(Loc 1643): "Anyway" becomes "Ar y-way".Seriously. There's even a space in there.

*(Loc 1720): "Lopez" becomes "L6pez".

*(Loc 1883): "...what had happened..." becomes "...wha, had happened..."

*(Loc 2868): "...knew everything..." becomes "...knew e-erything..."

Anyway, look: this is exhausting, and it just goes ON and ON, much like this e-mail.Believe it or not, I skipped a lot of mistakes in between what you see above.

These errors are like that moment we've all seen in movies where the boom mike floats down into the frame or where the hand of a puppeteer can be seen manipulating what should be a spooky monster tentacle or where-- nevermind. I think two examples is enough. Point is, this stuff takes you out of the fantasy, and it does so violently. It's abortive, and it can sure as heck ruin the moment for the audience.

I wouldn't let the above mistakes dissuade you from purchasing a Kindle.Those mistakes certainly aren't present in ALL texts (although COMER always makes a guest appearance), but you should be aware of the drawbacks to Amazon's offered e-book library as it stands.

Once these problems are addressed? 5-star review for the kindle. It's sad, because until I downloaded this most recent book, I was fully ready to post a five star review for the Kindle, but this experience is enough to make me not want to use the thing anymore.

My review for Insomnia? Eh, my one star review stands since this thing looks like it was formatted by a half-blind chimp.Without the typos it'd only get 3-stars anyway. It's okay. For completists only.I'm only finishing it because of some supposed tie-ins to the Dark Tower series, which I'm trying to finish right now.

How many Stephen Kings are there?
This is my first review, and only because the book was tedious and boring beyond belief.

In the past, I have eagerly devoured King's works.Salem's Lot, Carrie, Thinner, Dolores Claiborne, The Green Mile, Misery, Running Man, Rage, The Long Walk, Pet Sematary, Lawnmower Man -- real page-turners with spare, go-for-the-guts writing (in one tale a marooned man eats parts of himself).

But I bailed out on Bag of Bones and Insomnia, for the same reasons -- garrulous and self-indulgent story-telling (almost nothing happens in 200 pages), stupid cultural references, unnecessary similes and metaphors, clumsy, childish writing that makes me want to edit every other sentence...it makes me ask, does everything King writes automatically get published?Does he have a good editor sometimes and no editor other times?How can such vast gaps in quality come from the same brain?

Insomnia features boring things happening to boring people explained in excruciating detail -- and not even that new or interesting: people see auras, there are little aliens with stupid names, not nearly as complex as the ones in his book about little gray men.The writing seemed to get worse the farther I went, until I gave up.

Disappointed
I love Stephen King. I have mostly stuck to the classics and the familiar but wanted to try something new. This book bored me unfortunately. It was too unlike other books I have read of his and seemed to last forever. I did complete the book but I wasn't moved, scared, or very interested in this story. Read a sample first and choose your book wisely.

Is this seriously a King book??
You would think that a novel titled 'Insomnia' would at least keep you up at night reading or be maybe even a little exciting. Nope. This book drags you along tediously through it's neverending pages. The characters are always wandering about in such a state of confusion and bewilderment, that you begin to wonder if even King knows wheres he's going with the bizarre plot.

When I first read the description of the book, I thought it would be something classic and frighening like I've seen King do so many times before. Instead, the only thing mildly unsettling about Insomnia is the thought that you're going to possibly die of boredom before finishing the book. What's sad is that this horribly slow novel is centered around two elderly people. Maybe King was trying to send some kind of message like "old folks are people too," but these characters are given no substance. They're 70 years old, but we're supposed to expect that nothing of interest happened in their lives before the events in 'Insomnia'? My favorite thing about King has always been the intricate web of characters and relationships he spins that create a whole other world. This world of the town Derry is just flat and two-dimensional. I really don't know what else to say.

Now the plot. It never ends. Ever. It keeps trying to lead you on and is always not telling you something. But this gets old about 200 pages in. Eventually you tire of the game of "keep-the-REAL-meaning-of-the-story-away-from-the-reader." I simply cannot get over how flat out, for lack of a better word, BORING this was. Even The Stand held up oh so much better than this.

What starts out as a simple (Stephen King? Simple? Haha) story about a lonely old man, turns into an elaborate and random journey about alternate universes and more hidden religious meanings. King has a wonderful imagination, but this isn't imgination, this just sounds like a bit too much LSD.

The twists and turns become meaningless by the end, making you wonder why you're still reading. Funny enough, that, my dear friends, is probably the only reason I'm giving this 2 stars. Although 'Insomnia' took many weeks, I had to keep coming back to it, even just to see if it would improve slightly. Unfortunately, it didn't.

to many errors in type
I love Stephen King novels.This Kindle edition has serious errors throughout the book.I read page after page with errors, it was getting annoying after awhile.
Not simple mis spellings, but incorect words.

The town is Derry, at one point the name is Deny.
The word me where the word obviously was meant to be the.
Corndor for corridor.
Then instead of the, that one I forgive.

My problelm that there are so many errors throughout the book, most are in the first quarter through middle of the book.It was just annoying to read.

Generally the errors are the incorrect word than mis spellings.I'm not trying to be an editor, this is just bad proof reading if any proofing was done at all.

If a book is going to be released this way for Kindle I feel that 6.99 is too much to pay.I think a partial refund is in order.

I like the story, maybe not as much as other of King's stories, but still I enjoyed the ride.

... Read more

Product Description
Creating "true narrative magic" (The Washington Post) at every revelatory turn, Stephen King surpasses all expectation in the stunning final volume of his seven-part epic masterwork. Entwining stories and worlds from a vast and complex canvas, here is the conclusion readers have long awaited -- breath-takingly imaginative, boldly visionary, and wholly entertaining.

Roland Deschain and his ka-tet have journeyed together and apart, scattered far and wide across multilayered worlds of wheres and whens. The destinies of Roland, Susannah, Jake, Father Callahan, Oy, and Eddie are bound in the Dark Tower itself, which now pulls them ever closer to their own endings and beginnings . . . and into a maelstrom of emotion, violence, and discovery.Amazon.com Review
At one point in this final book of the Dark Tower series, the character Stephen King (added to the plot in Song of Susannah) looks back at the preceding pages and says "when this last book is published, the readers are going to be just wild." And he's not kidding.

After a journey through seven books and over 20 years, King's Constant Readers finally have the conclusion they've been both eagerly awaiting and silently dreading. The tension in the Dark Tower series has built steadily from the beginning and, like in the best of King's novels, explodes into a violent, heart-tugging climax as Roland and his ka-tet finally near their goal. The body count in The Dark Tower is high. The gunslingers come out shooting and face a host of enemies, including low men, mutants, vampires, Roland's hideous quasi-offspring Mordred, and the fearsome Crimson King himself. King pushes the gross-out factor at times--Roland's lesson on tanning (no, not sun tanning) is brutal--but the magic of the series remains strong and readers will feel the pull of the Tower as strongly as ever as the story draws to a close. During this sentimental journey, King ties up loose ends left hanging from the 15 non-series novels and stories that are deeply entwined in the fabric of Mid-World through characters like Randall Flagg (The Stand and others) or Father Callahan ('Salem's Lot). When it finally arrives, the long awaited conclusion will leave King's myriad fans satisfied but wishing there were still more to come.

In King's memoir On Writing, he tells of an old woman who wrote him after reading the early books in the Dark Tower series. She was dying, she said, and didn't expect to see the end of Roland's quest. Could King tell her? Does he reach the Tower? Does he save it? Sadly, King said he did not know himself, that the story was creating itself as it went along. Wherever that woman is now (the clearing at the end of the path, perhaps?), let's hope she has a copy of The Dark Tower. Surely she would agree it's been worth the wait. --Benjamin Reese ... Read more

Customer Reviews (752)

Not the best ending, but the only possible ending
I was not pleased with the ending of this book, but I am not sure there was an ending that I would have been happy with. The Dark Tower Series is one of the best series written, and I strongly suggest you read it.

Good Stuff
Purchased from Korea... The book arrived in decent time and in great condition.Satisfied customer.

Awesome
I'm a huge Stephen King fan and this series has been awesome! It's a great read, it keeps me in it all the time, making it hard to put down. I wish there were more series like this to read!

Dark tower 7
The book is okay (not the best in terms of the other great books of this series) but I had to order it from another supplier.I never received it from Book Manor.Amazon should not provide the facility for suppliers who never deliver!!!

A fitting ending
While King doesn't cover everything here I would've liked - among those missing being the Jericho Hill battle details and more about Gilead - it is a fitting ending to the series. There were some very sad moments as well as joyful ones surrounding these characters I've grown to love. King remained true to the characters until the end, and what an ending it was.

Picking up where "Song of Susannah" left off, we find Jake and Pere fighting their way through the Dixie Pig in pursuit of Susannah. At the same time, Mia/Susannah are giving birth to Mordred - a spider/human changeling who is a killer almost from his first breath. With the help of Oy and having Pere's distraction, Jake is able to track Susannah to Fedic. Back in Maine, Eddie and Roland enlist the help of John Cullum once again to complete the work of securing the rose. Cullum leads them to a doorway which they use to get to Fedic and reunite with Susannah and Jake. The ka-tet travel on to Thunderclap and the Devar-Toi to stop the Breakers - people with psychic powers who are destroying one of the last Beams.

With the help of Ted Brautigan, Dinky Earnshaw, and their friend Stanley, the ka-tet set up a trap for the Can-toi and other captors of the Breakers. At the same time, they know time is running out in the Keystone world where Stephen King is supposedly going to be killed by a van. Somehow they must save the Beam and Stephen King before they can continue on their quest to the Dark Tower. It's difficult to lay out the rest without too many spoilers. I will say there are some heartbreaking moments along the way. Roland continues his quest with the help of the others and Patrick Danville, another character from a different King novel whom they meet, always with Mordred on his heels and the Crimson King ahead.

Make sure to read the entire novel, including the epilogue and past it. Though many were clearly disappointed with the ending, personally I thought it was fitting. It leaves readers with something to ponder, much more than if King had left it with a simpler "happily ever after" ending. Overall I was satisfied with how King left each of the characters and all the emotional ups and downs along the way. Still, I was glad to hear King is working on another book in the series (to be set in-between some of the others, not at the end). While this felt like a good ending to the series, the Dark Tower world is still ripe with loose threads and unanswered questions. ... Read more

Product Description

Once upon a time, in the haunted city of Derry, four boys stood together and did a brave thing. It was something that changed them in ways they could never begin to understand.

Dreamcatcher

Twenty-five years after saving a Down's-syndrome kid from bullies, Beav, Henry, Pete, and Jonesy -- now men with separate lives and separate problems -- reunite in the woods of Maine for their annual hunting trip. But when a stranger stumbles into their camp, disoriented and mumbling something about lights in the sky, chaos erupts. Soon, the four friends are plunged into a horrifying struggle with a creature from another world where their only chance of survival is locked in their shared past -- and in the Dreamcatcher.

Never before has Stephen King contended so frankly with the heart of darkness. Dreamcatcher, his first full-length novel since Bag of Bones, is a powerful story of astonishing range that will satisfy fans both new and old.Amazon.com Review
Stephen King fans, rejoice! The bodysnatching-aliens tale Dreamcatcher is his first book in years that slakes our hunger for horror the way he used to. A throwback to It, The Stand, and The Tommyknockers, Dreamcatcher is also an interesting new wrinkle in his fiction.

Four boyhood pals in Derry, Maine, get together for a pilgrimage to their favorite deep-woods cabin, Hole in the Wall. The four have been telepathically linked since childhood, thanks to a searing experience involving a Down syndrome neighbor--a human dreamcatcher. They've all got midlife crises: clownish Beav has love problems; the intellectual shrink, Henry, is slowly succumbing to the siren song of suicide; Pete is losing a war with beer; Jonesy has had weird premonitions ever since he got hit by a car.

Then comes worse trouble: an old man named McCarthy (a nod to the star of the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers) turns up at Hole in the Wall. His body is erupting with space aliens resembling furry moray eels: their mouths open to reveal nests of hatpin-like teeth. Poor Pete tries to remove one that just bit his ankle: "Blood flew in splattery fans as Pete tried to shake it off, stippling the snow and the sawdusty tarp and the dead woman's parka. Droplets flew into the fire and hissed like fat in a hot skillet."

For all its nicely described mayhem, Dreamcatcher is mostly a psychological drama. Typically, body snatchers turn humans into zombies, but these aliens must share their host's mind, fighting for control. Jonesy is especially vulnerable to invasion, thanks to his hospital bed near-death transformation, but he's also great at messing with the alien's head. While his invading alien, Mr. Gray, is distracted by puppeteering Jonesy's body as he's driving an Arctic Cat through a Maine snowstorm, Jonesy constructs a mental warehouse along the lines of The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci. Jonesy physically feels as if he's inside a warehouse, locked behind a door with the alien rattling the doorknob and trying to trick him into letting him in. It's creepy from the alien's view, too. As he infiltrates Jonesy, experiencing sugar buzz, endorphins, and emotions for the first time, Jonesy's influence is seeping into the alien: "A terrible thought occurred to Mr. Gray: what if it was his concepts that had no meaning?"

King renders the mental fight marvelously, and telepathy is a handy way to make cutting back and forth between the campers' various alien battlefronts crisp and cinematic. The physical naturalism of the Maine setting is matched by the psychological realism of the interior struggle. Deftly, King incorporates the real-life mental horrors of his own near-fatal accident and dramatizes the way drugs tug at your consciousness. Like the Tommyknockers, the aliens are partly symbols of King's (vanquished) cocaine and alcohol addiction. Mainly, though, they're just plain scary. Dreamcatcher is a comeback and an infusion of rich new blood into King's body of work. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Customer Reviews (692)

The rose in the dreamcatcher
When the four guys come up and find the older kids abusing douglas it sounds like a subtil reference to the Dark Tower/Rose.
Douglas is in a vacant lot and the description of this lot sounds so much like the vacant lot in NYC where Jake finds the rose. In both books the good guys want to protect the object in question. The Rose calms Jakes duality and allows him to regain sanity. Douglas has a similiar effect and serves the purpose of maintaning order in the Dreamcatcher world not unlike the rose and dark tower.
Opinions?

A Worthy Effort, If Not His Best
3.5 stars, round to 4

Reading Dreamcatcher is like watching a whole season of X-Files all at once, except without Fox and Dana.And with some scenes thrown in that would be too gory for television; and all wrapped up in the psychological suspense that Stephen King does so well.

The monsters and gore don't do much for me, but the psychological suspense and depth of characters make the book worth reading. I was especially intrigued that King chose a person with Down's Syndrome as one of the main characters, the one around which the entire story revolves. Perhaps the best passage of the book is a short one that is told from this character's point of view. It is fascinating how differently Duddit's mind works from the way he comes across to others - how much more "normal" he is inside his own mind. It shows a great deal of insight on King's part, and accords with current medical knowledge about Down's Syndrome.

The high level of suspense keeps you reading and makes this easier and quicker to read than you might expect for a book of such length. It isn't really a mystery, in which a big surprise answer is revealed at the end. Instead, there is a constant turnover between revelations of pieces of the puzzle along with new questions that are always arising. This keeps the tension level consistently high pretty much throughout the entire book. It does drag a bit towards the end, though. The final chase scene goes on too long and in too much detail. The book's length could have been significantly shortened if the chase had been pared down to only those parts of it that added important information. However, fans of action and adventure might consider the chase the best part of the book.

Dreamcatcher is highly atmospheric. The vivid depiction of the wild and bitterly cold Maine woods during a big blizzard, together with the culture of the hunters and fishermen who make up the small and mostly transient local population, is one of the strong points of the book. In fact, for me the spookiest part was towards the beginning, where the hunters become increasingly aware of their isolation and remote location as things begin to go wrong. The realism of this part made it much scarier to me than the later sections with the monsters.

I also found it both interesting and moving that Stephen King wrote this book while recovering from critical injuries following a car accident that very nearly killed him. One story line in the novel closely resembles King's own experience. The autobiographical quality of that thread adds to the realism of the story and the way that King is able to almost make the reader feel the character's pain.

The "voices" of the characters are authentic and consistent. Although some readers may find the crude language of some objectionable, there is no question that it is part of the authenticity of those characters.

Although horror novels aren't really my thing, Stephen King's intelligence as well as his experience and competency as a writer are quite evident in Dreamcatcher. His books are the best in the genré.

(882 pages)


Quotes from Dreamcatcher:

"You can't make yourself be lucky."

". . . men . . . When you thought about it, it was sort of a blue-eyed wonder that women could love the best of them, let alone the rest of them."

A good effort
Dreamcatcher is a good effort by King, but its not a great book. But before I get to my issues with it I want to say that Dreamcatcher has a lot of things going for it. The characters are interesting, the plot moves at its own steady rate, and I really liked how the military was involved.

However, Dreamcatcher is a unnecessarily lengthy book, and even though it develops its characters that doesn't justify the books length. In all honestly I got sick of it around the 400 page mark and literally skipped 200 pages, and I didn't really miss a single thing. (And I don't typically skip pages in books, I read Under the Dome without skipping a single page)

Aside from the books length though I don't really have too many qualms with Dreamcatcher, and its not one of his worst books or anything its just not as good as his others. It started well, but it slowly went downhill.

Not King's best, but entertaining
For me, this book probably ranks right about in the middle between King's best and worst books.It's entertaining, and you can get into the characters, but I guess the book is more of a "downer" than most of his.I won't say and spoil it for anybody.

As far as the audiobook goes, the reader takes a little getting used to.He reads in kind of this matter-of-fact "Mr Rogers Neighborhood" kind of voice, which at first seems really odd given the subject matter.Eventually you get used to it though, and it's not so bad.

An Average, Unsatisfying King Effort
Just an average read. Not worse than some of his others, but certainly not among my favorites from him. The first book he completed after his life-threatening / -altering accident, this tale combines the worst parts of "The Tommyknockers" with some of the comfy, reliable parts of "The Body" and "The Dead Zone." About 4 childhood friends, one who suffers a car accident very similar to King's own, and a camping trip that turns into disaster, culminating in aliens, a retarded boy with "a gift" and other ridiculous, who-cares? climactic elements. Too long a book for the little bit that's actually interesting. A good editor could have probably shaped this into a shorter, tighter, more enjoyable read. Oh, well. ... Read more

Product Description

For the first time on CD! Vintage Stephen King at a great low price!

Stephen King's unparalleled imagination is in full force in this collection of four unabridged short stories originally found in the classic, Nightmares & Dreamscapes. An all-star cast of readers bring to life these timeless stories from the darkest places.

An infamous house in Castle Rock takes on a life of its own in It Grows on You. In The Fifth Quarter, a crook seeks to avenge his friend's death and to piece together a map to stolen treasure that his buddy died trying to claim. A nightly free rock-androll concert carries a hidden price in You Know They Got a Hell of a Band. And a tabloid reporter's pursuit of a brutal killer could turn deadly in in The Night Flier.

Stephen King, Gary Sinise, Grace Slick and Frank Muller lend their voices to this haunting collection of classic stories that no Stephen King fan should be without. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Decent stories, and all VERY well read.
IT GROWS ON YOU contains audio versions of four Stephen King stories.The readings are pretty solid all around.The stories vary somewhat in quality.

First up is the title story."It Grows On You" is vintage King, sent in Maine and mostly involving a bunch of old guys with thick accents sitting around and remember past events involving an unusual haunted house.It would seem the house literally has a life of its own, and its owners keep adding strange and unneeded expansions to the property (and going insane).For me, the story was more atmosphere than content.There is little payoff to it, and the ending is needlessly squalid. (SPOILER:do we NEED to finish up with hearing about an old man having a wet dream and then dying in his sleep?)King is the narrator here, and he does his usual serviceable job of reading his own work.He isn't the greatest reader in history, but he certainly gets the pacing and inflections that he intended.Occasionally, the dialogue rings a little false...I always wonder if when King reads his work out loud for these audiobooks if he wishes he could go back and tweak a little.

2nd is "The Fifth Quarter," a non-horror story.It's written in the "hard-boiled" style of someone like John D. MacDonald, and tells a story of revenge and reminds us that there's "no honor among thieves."It is very well read by Gary Sinese, and moves briskly.It's not a great story, particularly if you're looking for King-style horror...but it's vivid & evocative of the era King is clearly trying to hearken to.Over the years, King has proven a master of fashioning stories in other styles:EYE OF THE DRAGON ready like C.S. Lewis without religion, "The Breathing Method" like Conan Doyle, etc.

Next up is "You Know They Got A Hell of a Band," perhaps the best written of the bunch.It tells the story of a young couple making a trip through Oregon by car.They take the "scenic route" and after much arguing and misadventure, stumble across a little town in the middle of nowhere that may just be too good to be true.King's dialogue and relationship between the two is sharp and believable...he's often so good at quickly sketching convincing marriages and putting them in peril.He did similarly solid work with "Children of the Corn."(Forget the movies...the short story puts them all to deep, deep shame.)This story is, surprisingly, read by Grace Slick.I have no idea who thought of having her do this...but it was a GREAT idea.Her manner is a bit unpolished, but she is a clear, intelligent interpreter...and it's nice to hear a King story in a female voice.I'd gladly hear her again.

The final story is read by the legendary Frank Muller...probably the greatest interpreter of King.He's very "unflashy" in his style...but he simply reads the stories with perfect pitch, pace and emphasis.He gets out of the way of the story, and almost seems like the voice you would hear in your own head when reading a book in bed at night."The Night Flier" is a vampire story, about a journalist who believes he's discovered a killer who flies his own plane from airport to airport at night and is snacking on the workers there.It reads a bit hard-boiled as well, and also something like a procedural.But it has moments of pure horror, and the ending is classic gory King.

Overall, while I wish the collection had two stronger stories to lead off, this is very solidly done stuff, and makes a wonderful listen while driving.If you're a King fan, you should be well pleased.

Slick!
"It Grows on You" Was a read by Sk and well developed and as Maine as Maine can be, Well Done! "The Fifth Quarter: read by Gary Sinise was Great and I would Love to see more read by GS! Grace Slick was surprising as a reader and perfect for "You Know You They Got a Hell of a Band" ROCK ON! And of coarse Frank Muller (a Master) read "The Night Flier" prefectly and the story left you feeling that the world was as Dark as a Wood Chucks #&$*#@ is Black! So to this "Constant Reader" It lived up to or maybe better said, "It was as good as the Undead gets"!

Vintage Frank Muller
I bought this collection just to hear an older recording of Frank Muller reading Night Flyer.Wonderful to hear him read something I hadn't heard yet, and the story was certainly entertaining.The other stories are certainly a step down.King's reading of the title story was O.K. but he is not a professional reader, lacking the subtle inflections and timing that are needed; the story was populated with interesting characters, then everything just faded into oblivion.Grace Slick was surprisingly good in her performance and the story--though weakly concluded--was fun.The Fifth Quarter was a hoot and queerly off-beat for King, and the reader (Gary Sinise) pulled off this noir detective story with just the right flavor. ... Read more

Product Description
John Smith awakens from an interminable coma with an accursed power-the power to see the future and the terrible fate awaiting mankind in...the dead zone.Amazon.com Review
In the St.James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers, Gary Westfahlpredicts that "King has already earned himself a place in the historyof literature.... At the very least, he will enjoy the status of alatter-day AnthonyTrollope, an author respected for his popularity and socialcommentary.... More likely, he will be enshrined as the CharlesDickens of the late 20th century, the writer who perfectlyreflected, encapsulated, and expressed the characteristic concerns ofhis era."

If any of King's novels exemplifies his skill at portraying theconcerns of his generation, it's The Dead Zone (1979). Althoughit contains a horrific subplot about a serial killer, it isn'tstrictly a horror novel. It's the story of an unassuming high schoolteacher, an Everyman, who suffers a gap in time--like a Rip Van Winklewho blacks out during the years 1970-75--and thus becomes acutelyconscious of the way that American society is rapidly changing. Hewakes up as well with a gap in his brain, the "dead zone" of thetitle. The zone gives him crippling headaches, but also grants himsecond sight, a talent he doesn't want and is reluctant to use. Thecrux of the novel concerns whether he will use that talent to alterthe course of history.

The Dead Zone is a tight, well-crafted book. When asked in 1983which of his novels so far was "the best," Stephen King answered, "Theone that I think works the best is Dead Zone.It's the onethat [has] the most story." --Fiona Webster ... Read more

Customer Reviews (205)

Above average in relation to SKing novels
I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was very well paced and creepy. The character development wasn't as complete as other King books i.e. It, The Stand, etc but enough was put into them to make each one real and believable. Every time the book seemed to tail off something exciting happened to grab my attention back. While The Dead Zone is not as scary/creepy as a lot of his other novels, it has just enough to fit into the horror genre. I would rate this book as a 4.5 out of 5.

Disappointing
This novel was great until the ending. Very well done. But, I was surprised the character did what he did at the end, even though I recognized his reasoning. Yes, some people deserve to be taken out, but that doesn't mean we should do it.Okay, it's just a novel, but one of King's iconic ones at that.I guess I just have to remind myself that we live in a barbaric world.I just thought King's main character had more character than that.I wonder if King ever regretted he didn't write it differently. Perhaps there are some interviews with him on YouTube ....

One of his best books
I had read this book a while ago and just read it again, years later, and have to say this is still one of Stephen King's best books.I highly suggest this book.If you've never read one of his books before, start with this one!

King's most complete novel
In his book "On Writing" King mentions at one point his disdain for plotting. He cites "The Dead Zone" as one of the few novels he has actually plotted and liked. The evidence that he has plotted is strong in this book as it is his most well written and adequately paced. For the first time ever reading a King novel I didn't feel like the book was 200 pages too long. He does very little of the needless rambling and description here that he does in many of his other novels. There was also another first for me while reading King...I didn't have to skip pages! While the actual concept of the story itself isn't as interesting as some of his other novels like "The Stand" or "IT", it is much better written and cuts the fat to a minimum. I can only imagine if he had taken a little extra time to plot the stories I previously mentioned how much more amazing they would be.

Another great one from Stephen King
What can I say that has not already been said about this book or Stephen King? Fast paced story, great characters, and creepy story telling. Well worth the money and an excellent read! ... Read more

Product Description
It was love at first sight. From the moment seventeen-year-old Arnie Cunningham saw Christine, he knew he would do anything to possess her. But Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King's ultimate vehicle of terror. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (203)

Reading with Tequila
I saw the movie version of Christine at least a decade ago and I absolutely hated it. It was dull and honestly, I don't think I understood what was really going on. I just kept thinking, if you'd just stop putting gas in that car all of your problems would be solved.

Finally mustering up the courage to read the book, I found Christine to be a wonderful surprise. It was long and detailed, but these details made up the back story that was sorely missing from the movie. This was well done, well explained supernatural horror. Even with all the car talk, something I know nothing about, I still found myself embroiled in the story.

Dennis, the narrator in Christine, comes across as a very sympathetic character. I found myself caring about him and his well being - far beyond Arnie, Christine's owner and the obvious focal point of the story. With Arnie, there was always the question of how conflicted he was. How much of his actions and personality was really him and how much was Christine's influence?

There were some great surprises in Christine, but I truly loved the focus on being a teenager in high school in the late seventies. The young love, angst, isolation and insecurity that drives teens to do unpredictable things. That's what made Arnie actions so hard to decipher.

Christine is much, much better than its movie adaption and quite a bit more scary as well. Even if you disliked the movie as I did, I would wholeheartedly recommend giving the book a try.

My first and favorite King book
First I have to tell you how I came to read Christine.I was probably around 14 years old, and had never read anything by Stephen King.I don't like scary stuff: have never liked scary movies, and don't like scary books in general.I was visiting my grandparents, and found this book on a bookshelf in their house.This is especially ironic since my Grandparents were a preacher and preacher's wife, and finding this book in their home is about as odd as finding a sno-cone in the middle of the desert.The copy was a Book Club copy and thus explained it's presence in my grandparent's home.Anyway....I was bored out of my skull since my grandparent's live in a rural area, and there is only so much a young person can do to entertain themselves in a town with less than 1,000 people and 12 churches. So, one night I pulled this book off the bookshelf, and decided to give it a whirl.You get sucked in right away by the characters.The opening pages are Dennis describing Arnie, and you can't get a better lesson on a character study than this one.Once I got reading, I could not put this book down, and finished it in just a two or three nightly reading sessions.This book was plenty scary for me, but in the good Supernatural way I like (It's the same reason I love the movie 'Poltergeist' but abhor stuff like Friday the 13th movies). I agree with the other reviewers who state that the characters are what make this such a strong tale.Arnie is just such an amazingly well crafted and tragic character.And while you are bummed out by the ending of the book, you have to admit that it really shouldn't have ended in any other way.Sometimes there are no happy endings. I have found myself coming back to this book over the years.On a slow TV night, I will start perusing my own bookshelf, and pick up this copy I filched from my Grandma and read it again, and again, and enjoy it every time.

Hooked me on Stephen King
This was the first Stephen King story I ever read and it hooked me on his story telling.I must say as a storyteller he just keeps getting better and better.I read in a review of one of his books that "his is an imagination to be jealous of" and I have to agree.I am jealous and inspired.

I was concerned when I got it at first.
Christine was a book that I was nervous about getting because I got it from the library for about a $1.00. I was worried that my deal was too good to be true, and that this story would be as cheesy as its premise sounds I mean a killer car, really? But I as really taken back at how good this book is. Its less about Christine or a killer car and deals more with obsession, love, betrayal and hatred. The love triangle in this book felt real and so did the characters. The book also was violently detailed but not too violent to the point where it turned me off from reading it. While I do like Christine, I thought it could have been edited down a little (but hey what King book can't)

My Review
Christine is not one of Stephen King's greatest works by any means, but it is still a good story with moments of real suspense and terror. I feel that one of King's biggest short-comings with this novel was having the tale told by a future Dennis. To me, this takes away a lot of suspense from some of the most tense scenes in the book because the reader is being told the tale by a character who is involved in a near-death experience, therefore revealing that the narrator survived his experience. As far as I'm concerned, one of the things that makes reading a King novel so compelling is that as a reader one can never be entirely sure which characters (if any) will survive whatever ordeal they happen to be faced with. By having one of the main characters narrate the tale, King has taken away the uncertainty about whether or not Dennis will survive.

Other than that qualm, the only other nit that I have to pick with Christine is that at times the narrative gets a bit long winded. In my opinion, this novel is perhaps 100 to 150 pages longer than it really should have been. I enjoy Kings rambling style and long winding road to the climax, but some smart editing here and there could have tightened this tale up considerably and really improved the vehicle (pun intended) of building up the sheer terror of the story.

All in all, though, this is a really good tale about friendship, love and the forces of evil that appear to shatter all that is good. ... Read more

Product Description
The scary story has never been the same since. An extraordinary quartet of full-length novellas: The Langoliers, Secret Window, Secret Garden, The Library Policeman, and The Sun Dog. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (99)

Four Spine-Tingling Tales
This story collection contains four tales spun from the "colorful" mind of Stephen King:

The Langoliers: Probably the most innovative and mind-boggling of the four, dealing with a plane-load of passengers that starts to experience some strange phenomena.Very unique, exciting, and not unlike an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Secret Window, Secret Garden: Today's generation will know this title from the Johnny Depp film of roughly the same name, about a solitary writer visted by a strange man claiming to have "stole his story".Contains a mind-blowing ending that you won't see coming.

The Library Policeman: Easily the strangest story in the binding, about a library patron who has been around a lot longer than she lets one.One of those stories that really digs deep into the abscesses of King's mind.

The Sun Dog: Perhaps the weakest story of the bunch, yet still engrossing enough to keep you turning pages as a Polaroid photograph shows of glimpse of something far beyond darkroom chemicals.

Overall, this is a top-notch story collection that will compell you to keep reading at every chapter break.What more can one ask for?!

Just a good read
I bought this book just for "secret window, secret garden", but was shown some great stories along the way. These stories are just long enough to hold you in and make you be just on the edge of your seat. I saw the movie Secret Window and after needed to read the book. All four of these stories lived up to expectation and for $6 on the kindle you are crazy not to pick this book up.

The Langoliers
"The Langoliers" is one in four novellas from Stephen King in his "Four Past Midnight" book.The other novellas don't stack up to this one and should be considered a stand alone piece of work against Stephen King's other masterpieces.
King's ability to climb inside of the minds of so many personalities and describe them to you, the reader, is second to none.Combine that with his wild imagination and you have the formula for all of King's work.
As an avid fan of King's storytelling and mesmerizing tales I was absorbed, once again, into his world.This time he took thirteen passengers aboard a 767 jetliner all heading to a faraway destination, and sent them further than ever before.Through time and space itself.King lends his talent to the time aged speculative which is time travel.But instead of sending these unwilling participants into the future or the past he has them trekking around in between times as they witness how the past catches up with the present.He reveals the main characters as they experience their journey instead of setting them up in the beginning of the story.This form of writing makes the story hard to put down.
As in most of his works he tantalizes us with things yet to come and dangles key turning points in front of us like shiny keys to an infant.His foreshadowing is well known and often imitated but never mastered.This excerpt is a prime example:

"He watched Melanie Trevor patiently as she pointed out the exit doors, demonstrated how to use the little gold cup if there was a pressure loss (a procedure Brian had been reviewing in his own mind, and with some urgency , not long ago), and how to inflate the life vest under the seat.When the plane was airborne, she came by his seat and asked him again if she could get him something to drink.Brian shook his head, thanked her, then pushed the button which caused his seat to recline.He closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep.
He never saw Melanie Trevor again."

Here he gives us a taste of what is to come, but only a taste.The chapter ends after that loaded sentence and you can't help but wonder what happens to her, or better yet what happens to him?King writes this story with a ferocity that hurls you through the story at a break-neck speed and when you're done you'll want more and you won't realize that it was 234 pages long.

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

Stephen Kings finishes the book off in grand style with a journey to the future and has the remaining characters rematerializing in the main terminal of LAX as the present catches up with them, like members of the enterprise on an "away mission".

!!END SPOILER!!

If you enjoyed King's other books like "It", "The Stand", and "Pet Sematary", then you'll definitely want to pick this up and you won't be able to put it down till the end.

Toomy! Craig toomy!
This book is worth reading/buying for the langoliers and the sundog on it's own. The two other storys (library policeman and secret window, secret garden) i didn't care for much. I was blown away by the langoliers and one of king's best written and craziest characters craig toomy and his hatred and dismay for his late, strict moraled and equally as crazy overbearing father richard who no doubt turned him into the monster he had become in this story. The sun dog is ALMOST equally as good. A master is at work here.

Oh what? You wanted to sleep tonight? Natch!
I like short story novels - they seem to go pretty fast and I adore Stephen King. I always wonder what goes on inside his head when he's writing, ya know? I love that each of these stories has a note from him telling about how the story came about. It was very interesting how one single image or thought can transform itself!

The Langoliers - I remember seeing this on TV a while back and it was pretty well done, but the book, as usual, puts it to shame. Very interesting story. I like reading about time travel, but most of it falls into sci-fi, which I don't care for, so this was my kind of story!

Secret Window, Secret Garden - I saw this movie a while back. Johnny Depp played the main character (yum!). I thought the movie was very well done and it successfully creeped me out - even though I knew the "twist" - it wasn't hard to figure out. The story was well done as well. What I loved about this story was how King is able to bring these characters to life. You SEE Shooter and can HEAR him...

The Library Policeman - Stephen King has made me a little leery of clowns and those cars that you can start with your keyring... now, I may never go to the library again... dude, if I see some old woman who is obsessed with me getting my books back in time, I'm high-tailing it out of there. Great story!

The Sun Dog - Good premise, but I didn't like Cujo or any of those other "attack of the wild animals" books, so it just didn't do it for me... oh well... ... Read more

Product Description
STEPHEN KING STORM OF THE CENTURY BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB EDITION 1999 LIKE NEW. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Storm of the Century
This was a very quick transaction. The Seller communication was good; packaging was fine and I received it in about a week. The only thing I would have complaint with- I would have preferred to know that this was a book club edition. This was not in the description. That said, the book otherwise was as described. Would purchase from this seller again.

I have not even recieved this book that I purchased since July 09 and the person I bought it from won't return my emails!
I wouldn't know since I have yet to recieve this book that I purchased since July 2009 and the person I purchased it from has yet to return my emails...

Great Stephen King Read
Reading a book in screen play form was a first for me, but nonetheless, I really enjoyed it. It's a classic King tale of an evil being coming to an isolated island town off the coast of Maine during a winter storm.

Storm of the Century
xcellent purchase, fast delivery also; btw, I'm also a Stephen King die-hard Constant Reader -;).

Good Read
Another very good book by Mr. King. Took a little while to get used to the screenplay format. ... Read more

Product Description

Set in the 1930s at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary's death-row facility, The Green Mile is the riveting and tragic story of John Coffey, a giant, preternaturally gentle inmate condemned to death for the rape and murder of twin nine-year-old girls. It is a story narrated years later by Paul Edgecomb, the ward superintendent compelled to help every prisoner spend his last days peacefully and every man walk the green mile to execution with his humanity intact.

Edgecomb has sent seventy-eight inmates to their date with "old sparky," but he's never encountered one like Coffey -- a man who wants to die, yet has the power to heal. And in this place of ultimate retribution, Edgecomb discovers the terrible truth about Coffey's gift, a truth that challenges his most cherished beliefs -- and ours.

Originally published in 1996 in six self-contained monthly installments, The Green Mile is an astonishingly rich and complex novel that delivers over and over again. Each individual volume became a huge success when first published, and all six were on the New York Times bestseller list simultaneously. Three years later, when Frank Darabont made The Green Mile into an award-winning movie starring Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan, the book returned to the bestseller list -- and stayed there for months.

And now -- with a new introduction by King's foreign agent Ralph Vicinanza, as well as the author's own foreword -- we have the first hardcover edition of this magnificent novel in which "King surpasses our expectations, leaves us spellbound and hungry for the next twist of plot" (The Boston Globe).

With illustrations and a new frontispiece for this edition by Mark Geyer.Amazon.com Review
When Stephen King originally wrote The Green Mile as aseries of six novellas, he didn't even know how the story would turnout. And it turned out to be of his finest yarns, tapping into what hedoes best: character-driven storytelling. The setting is the small"death house" of a Southern prison in 1932. The Green Mile is the hallwith a floor "the color of tired old limes" that leads to "Old Sparky"(the electric chair). The charming narrator is an old man, a prisonguard, looking back on the events decades later.

Maybe it's a little too cute (there's a smart prison mouse named Mr.Jingles), maybe the pathos is laid on a little thick, but it's hard toresist the colorful personalities and simple wonders of thissupernatural tale. And it's not a bad choice for giving to someone whodoesn't understand the appeal of Stephen King, because the one scenethat is out-and-out gruesome (it involves "Old Sparky") can be easilyskipped by the squeamish.

The Green Mile won a 1997 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel; andTom Hanks stars in a film of the novel by Frank Darabont, the directorof The ShawshankRedemption (from King's collection DifferentSeasons). --Fiona Webster ... Read more

Customer Reviews (825)

Painful read
SPOILER
Indeed it was a painful read. This exceptional Stephen King's novel is far from his typical genre which is 'horror'. It tells about a magical, rather rare human experience.

It has a very sad ending that almost brought me to tears. The last pages were just outstanding. One, for example, when Paul's wife was dying in his hand after the accident, Paul was shouting at John Coffee to bring her back to life, but afterwhat? After putting John Coffee to death? Ofcourse Paul was imagining that he saw Coffee walking by.

This part was so sad, I don't know why it wasn't in the movie. And the ultimate surprise in the end, where Paul (in the nursery home) confesses that he is very, very old as well as the poor mouse! (I don't remember the number now), and that was a punishment from God making him live long and see all his loved ones die around him because Paul didn't save Coffee from the murder he was innocent from.

Enjoyable read from the beginning till the very ending sentence. It is indeed one of the greatest books I will ever live to read and appreciate.

The best I've ever read!
I'm an avid King fan and I can honestly say that I've read almost everything he has written.Yes, Stephen King is an amazing author for thr horror genre, but I feel that The Green Mile tops them all.It's compelling and it will grip onto your heart and dig it's fingers in until the very last page.A must read for all.

Outstanding
I started reading the Green Mile when it first became available, in the "mini-series".I absolutely could not wait to get the next book.The story was exceptional, I felt like I was an inhabitant of "the mile".When I found out that they were making a Movie, I was immediately disapointed, becasue I felt there was no way that it would do the book justice (like so many of King's books).I could have been more wrong, I loved the movie almost as much as the book, Michael Clark Duncan was born to play John.Whether you read the book(s), or watch the movie, do not miss this one!

once captured, you don't want to escape
After "Needful Things," and the destruction of Castle Rock, Maine, I wondered where Stephen King would find another setting to lock his loyal legionsin, and turn up the voltage.He found it, in a '30s Georgia prison.The book is only about a million times better than the movie--nothing new for a King novel. The narrator, head guard on Death Row, and his henchmen are, with one exception, kinder and gentler guards than the monsters of "Shawshank Redemption" fame.We all could do well to follow the values of the narrator, who clearly loved his wife, and put his future in peril to save the life of his boss's wife, in the only way possible, using the powers of a convicted killer. As always, the characters are memorable--they are even in King's worst books. But here, as in his very best books, the plot and characters together create a novel from which you wouldn't want a reprieve.

Good, but misrepresented
The picture shows a thumbnail of the cover of one of the six original installments.I was therefore expecting the six separate books, and instead recieved a single copy with a big picture of Tom Hanks' face on the cover.I know it's just personal preference, but I HATE getting the books that have the movie cover on them.Again, just a personal thing, but I do wish that representation had been more straightforward.Also, the cover had a relatively large tear in it, which is obviously not very cool.On the other side of things, I absolutely loved the book itself, but that's a given. ... Read more

Product Description
The #1 bestseller that raises the price of greed...

A new store has opened in the little town of Castle Rock. It has just what you want. But you won't discover just how high the price is until it's too late. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (206)

Too Many Typos!
This is one of my favorite Stephen King novels.Unfortunately the number of typos in this electronic edition take away from the enjoyment of reading it.

Needful Things
Stephen King has done it again! "I loved this book kept me involved page by page." Each of the towns people have their own hangups as well as dark desires. But their desires come with a terrible price to pay! As you will find out in Needful Things. "A must read for all you horror fans out there." Another classic example of good verses evil, but which one truly wins? Find out the answer, purchase it today! Yours truly Garry E. Lewis Author of The Rileyville Mystery, Rileyville The Harvest Season, and The Curse of the Devil's Wolf Strap.

Another King hit.
Another King hit.I know I'm late to the show with this book, seeing how it was published in 1991, and there that has been a movie made of it but I promised my wife I would read all of my hardcover's when I'm home and I need to get through them before I hit that Kindle list.

As with most King books the plot is great...there are many ties to other books, people and current events that keep you in suspense the whole time.

I created an image of Mr. Gaunt as I read the book and once I found out who actually played him in the movie it was dead on!!

Manipulation of people can come in many forms and while this has the mystical form there are those more subtle ones that come by way of commercials and political ads.Can we ever do anything without causing another person some issue?Is it possible that we all jump to conclusions about those we suspect before looking at the facts?King plays on these simple human instincts and adds his own brand of evil to the mix.

As always...well written and I would most definitely recommend this to a friend to read.

Didd not think that this book would be as good as it was
When I started reading this book went started out a little slow but you wanted to find find out what was going to happen, which can be very hard to find in a book that may start slow. As I kept on reading I got more and more indulged in this book and it is now one of my favorites. I highly recommend you read this hypnotic novel. It has plenty of characters, surprise turns, and even some trips down memory lane.

Good deal
Book came exactly as described. Arrived in good condition, and arrived quickly, always good to have a new book to read through. All told, a good purchase ... Read more

Product Description
When the full moon shines, a paralysing fear descends on the isolated Maine town of Tarker Mills. No one knows who will be attacked next, but snarls that sound like human words can be heard and all around are the footprints of a monster whose hunger cannot be sated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (103)

cute
A cute take on the werewolf genreWild Evolution, book I of the Wild Series

Cycle of the Werewolf
What can you say - Stephen is the King
Good copy, fast delivery, this book is also know as the movie titled "silver bullet"

Gift
This was a gift for a friend.She was very glad to get it for her collection.It was in great shape.Thanks.

My Review
Cycle of the Werewolf is a fun, quick read that can easily be finished in just a couple of hours. Each chapter is only a few pages long and covers the supposed moon cycle for one month in a year of terror. The story centers around a small New England town that is being terrorized by the savage and violent attacks of a werewolf. Each vignette centers on the werewolf's activity for the full moon of htat month. King acknowledges that he manipulated the fall of the full moon to fit his own scheme of what dates he wanted to have events fall on and that he knows that his moon cycle is in no way accurate, but accuracy doesn't really matter in the course of the tale itself.

This story is very choppy as you might imagine with all of the time in between events, but overall, the storyline itself is fairly well thought out. The idea itself is very fun and the artwork for each chapter really enhances the tale and gives an almost comic book feel to it. In some ways, this is a sort of prequel to King's later works in continuing the Dark Tower series in graphic novel form with Marvel.

On a side note, it may be fairly cheesy (especially by today's standards) but I do also own and enjoy the film version of this book, Silver Bullet, starring Corey Haim and Gary (A)Busey.

Worth getting for the illustrations alone
Story about the small Maine town of Tanker Mills.Inexplicably it's attacked by a werewolf once a month when the full moon is out.Young Marty Coslaw finds out who the werewolf is...but nobody will believe him.

Stephen King is a great writer but this story is pretty thin.The plot is predictable, the characters familar and it's completely by the numbers.The only reason I give this four stars is for the incredible illustrations by Berni Wrightson.Each month is introduced with a two page black and white drawing and inside each month there's a one page color drawing. The artwork is just great--it brings the paper thin story and characters to life.So get it for the illustrations.It was also made into the justly forgotten 1980s horror film "Silver Bullet". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (63)

commuter listening
Purchased the audio cd for listening to while commuting back and forth to work.....better than being on the cell phone.Not sure if I enjoyed Stephen King's voice narrating as this was my first audio cd.Have been a big Stephen King fan forever....just wanted to get the stories,and the only way was on this audio cd.Although the one story room 1408 sounded familiar as maybe it was published in another book before. Short story format was good for commute since it took about a week to listen to....25 minutes each way, every day

Great for a short ride or commute to work
As a pretty big fan of Stephen King, it was nice to find an audio book version of three short stories, making each the perfect companion for a long commute to work or short day trip.The three stories are as follows:

"1408" - The most famous of the stories is about Mike Enslin, a bestselling horror author who doesn't believe in his own profession.He goes from haunted gravesite to hotel to amusement park (inserted for Scooby Doo fans) to disprove the notion that there are spirits, ghosts, poltergeists, or hauntings.He's completely cynical about his job until he makes his way to room 1408 in an upscale NY hotel.While staying the night, Enslin is scared senseless, as the room comes alive and attempts to kill him.

"In The Deathroom" - I think I enjoyed this story the most out of the three.In it, a reporter named Fletcher must deal with Central American interrogators who have no qualms about torturing him and/or killing him.So much so, in fact, that one member of the interrogation room has created a crude electrocution device from which he delivers pain to his patients as he asks, "How did that feel?"Even though there is a near probability that Fletcher will be tortured to death, especially if he holds out, it's up to him to outwit the handful of EVIL puppets doing the bidding of a dictator.

"Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" - Perhaps the most terrifying of the three stories - because of the believability - the fear in this story comes from a likely scenario: a divorce settlement hearing.Although, it's not nearly what one would expect.Steven Davis' wife Diana has just left him unexpectedly, and he quit smoking, so his life is in shambles.He'd like reconciliation, but his wife hates him, and she has finished with the relationship.

Along with her lawyer, Diane meets up with Steven at fancy restaurant, the Gotham Cafe.Upon arrival, the two are at each other's throats, and Steven is trying to keep a semblance of control.In no time at all, Diane's lawyer is attempting to douse the emotional fire, but he soon has something more to be concerned about: the wait staff.Apparently, life as a NYC maitre d' is incredibly stressful, and the entire restaurant is about deal with the repercussions.

King's reading is fair, not overpowering or at a HIGH VOLUME, like so many audio books; it's the perfect tone and accent for each story.It should be after all, he wrote each tale of desperation and suspense.Overall the 3-CD set is quick, entertaining, and perfect for driving.Even if not on a trip, the stories were engaging enough to make me want to get back into rush-hour traffic.If that's not high enough praise, I don't know what is.

Being Mislead
I think some of you may be being mislead.All three of these short stories have been published in the book Everything's Eventual : 14 Dark Tales.It is a good collection of short stories but the site's review and some reader reviews seem to be saying the only way you can get these stories is to buy the expensive audio version which just is not true.

When King Reads, You Better Listen Boy!
Stephen King writes short stories that are made for reading outloud, and no one reads them better than King does himself. The audio recording of "1408" outdoes the movie of the same name, while "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" is bloody entertaining. If you enjoy King's readings, you need to check out the audiobook of King's Bag of Bones, also read by the author.

Smokin'!!
You just can not beat the author reading his own work.Loved it!! Three superb chillers read by 'the king' himself.I highly recommend this to all Stephen King fans. ... Read more

Product Description

Stephen King's unparalleled imagination is in full force in this collection of four unabridged short stories originally found in the classic, Nightmares & Dreamscapes. Stephen King and an all-star cast of readers bring to life these timeless stories from the darkest places.

Mysterious machinery begins to take over The House on Maple Street. A private detective finds out that he is merely the character in crime novel in Umney's Last Case. In the non-fiction piece Head Down, King chronicles the 1989 season of his son Owen's little league baseball team and their journey to the Maine State Championships. And as a companion to Head Down, Brooklyn August takes a nostalgic look back on the glory days of professional baseball.

Stephen King, Tabitha King, Robert Parker, and Stephen J. Gould lend their voices to this haunting collection of classic stories that no Stephen King fan should be without. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Stephen King on disc
I like it. Was thinking it was all Stephen Kings on the disc. However they are not all Stephen King.. Still great deal for the money.

If you like to listen to Stehan King buy this.
I liked most of the CD.But baseball isn't my thing and the last entry is nothing but his baseball story.I didn't read it in the book and gave up listening to it too.I just think sports are very dull.

Stephen King
As usual, I loved this book, but then again - I really love Stephen King. The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is because the last two CDs are an essay that King wrote about his son's little league season. I personally liked it, but if you are looking for typical Stephen King, then you may not like this one as much.

I would definately recommend buying it to any Stephen King fan. Also, the price is very good for a 5 CD set.

Stephen and his wife tell the tales
For a road trip, there is nothing like a good book.... on audio.Stephen and his wife, and other narrators, read the text with the appropriate nuances.... excellent product.
And no one else can scare the heck out of you like Stephen King! ... Read more

Product Description
Stephen King's unparalleled imagination is in full force in this collection of four unabridged short stories originally found in the classic, Nightmares & Dreamscapes. An all-star cast of readers bring to life these timeless stories from the darkest places, including the tale Dolan's Cadillac: soon to be a feature film starring Christian Slater, Wes Bentley, and Emmanuelle Vaugier.

A widowed husband spends seven years plotting revenge for his wife's murder in Dolan's Cadillac. A school teacher discovers her students are not what they seem in Suffer the Little Children. In Crouch End, a woman fears that supernatural events may have led to her husband's disappearance. And in Rainy Season, a young couple is forced into the ultimate battle of Man vs. Nature when torrential rain turns deadly.

Rob Lowe, Whoopi Goldberg, Tim Curry, and Yeardley Smith lend their voices to this haunting collection of classic stories that no Stephen King fan should be without. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

eerie tales from a KING
Even if you don't likeStephen King,you have to admit that he's a darn good storyteller
If you're wondering what MIGHT scare him you have but to read, or in my case listen to DOLAN'S CADILLAC.
The imagination of this man is boundless and as creepy as slugs and centipedesslithering up your legs in the dark.
DOLAN'S CADILLAC is written, in MY opinion, in his old psychological eerie RichardBachman style.
The Audio book includes Rob, Lowe, Whoopee Goldberg, Tim Curry and Yeardley Smith. KING himself includes a brief insight into his style and why he (like me) still thinks short stories are still his favorite form of writing.

I will not give away the plot, but if you know anything about SK you know that he uses every possible angle to lure you in then PUSH something awful, something frightening right in your face.

Dolan's Cadillac is four short stories ending with the Title tale which is the longest.
Whoopie Goldberg does a great job onSUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN, a small peek into the minds oflittlin's when their spirit might not be so little?
The always splendid Tim Curry with his deep English accented voice takes you on a journey the CROUCH END a town that has an undercurrent of something sinister.
Will you get out? can you get out?

Stephen King has a really dark humorous sidehe will use something as everyday as a simple innocentsamphibious creature to wreak havoc on a town every seven years and only whenNEWBIES come to live but are warned with the truth, and still they do not believe.
The 'oldsters' are typicalNew Englanders with theirEAH'S andCAAR, speech, butclearly accepting of a phenomenon that they have come to know as THE RAINY SEASON.

Since I am the queen of wanting to seethe bad guy get theirs, I am always interested in seeing how SK will do what he does when the antagonist is so self serving and non caring that he has no regard for human life.What does a simple man do for revenge?Well what would you doif the criminal rode in a specially made bullet proof almost invincible automobile? You have to read DOLAN'S CADILLAC and find out.

AWESOME
This is probably one of the best Steven King has written and it's a short story, Dolan's Cadillac.It was GREAT, I LOVED IT!Can't always say that as I do TRULY enjoy his books but THIS ONE was the best ever in my view.An Older one but Awesome.He is an amazing writer.This one is NOT creepy as some are, I say get it and make your own decision....

Vintage but good
Tidbits of King in short story format, plus a great intro by the author which for this reader gives added insight into this crazy creative gneius.Great for the road (audio format).

Classic Stephen King
If your a Stephen King fan then this book will not disappoint.A wonderful read, revenge is truely a dish best when served cold.

lisa simpson reads stephen king
I loved this collection of short stories.Every reader did an excellent job and really pulled me into the stories. ... Read more

Product Description
Una historia apocalíptica e hipnótica.
 
Es una soleada mañana de otoño en la pequeña ciudad de Chester’s Mill, Claudette Sanders disfruta de su clase de vuelo y Dale Barbara, hace autostop en las afueras. Ninguno de los dos llegará a su destino.

De la nada ha caído sobre la ciudad una barrera invisible como una burbuja cristalina inquebrantable. Al descender, ha cortado por la mitad a una marmota y ha amputado la mano a un jardinero. El avión que pilotaba Claudette ha chocado contra la cúpula y se ha precipitado al suelo envuelto en llamas. Dale Barbara, veterano de la guerra de Irak, debe regresar ahora a Chester’s Mill, el lugar que tanto deseaba abandonar.

El ejército pone a Dale al cargo de la situación pero Big Jim Rennie, el hombre que tiene un pie en todos los negocios sucios de la ciudad, no está de acuerdo; la cúpula podría ser la respuesta a sus plegarias.

A medida que la comida, la electricidad y el agua escasean, los niños comienzan a tener premoniciones escalofriantes. El tiempo se acaba para aquellos que viven bajo la cúpula. ¿Podrán averiguar qué ha creado tan terrorífica prisión antes de que sea demasiado tarde? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

La cupula
Excelente libro. Una historia que no vas a poder dejar de leer hasta llegar al final!
Muy recomendable.
... Read more

Product Description
Stephen King's unparalleled imagination is in full force in this collection of four unabridged short stories originally found in the classic, Nightmares & Dreamscapes. An all-star cast of readers bring to life these timeless stories from the darkest places.

A pair of metal teeth in a convenience store may prove to be more than a novelty in Chattery Teeth. In My Pretty Pony, an elderly man on his deathbed warns his young grandson against the dangers of letting time slip away. A music exec learns that his dream job may lead him to a dark and murderous past in Sneakers. And in Dedication, a maid working in a hotel uses black magic in the hopes of benefitting her unborn son.

Kathy Bates, Jerry Garcia, Daniel Cronenberg and Lindsay Crouse lend their voices to this haunting collection of classic stories that no Stephen King fan should be without. ... Read more

Product Description
The Man in Black is dead, and Roland is about to be hurled into 20th-century America, occupying the mind of a man running cocaine on the New York/Bermuda shuttle. A brilliant work of dark fantasy inspired by Browning's romantic poem, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (235)

King at his absolute BEST! The prime of his career.
This is Stephen King's second entry into his now legendary Dark Tower Series. The first book in this series, titled "The Gunslinger", was a highly imaginative story about the last gunslinger on earth, set sometime in the far future after the world has "moved on" (see King's "The Stand"). He is the last of his kind, and "The Dark Tower 1; The Gunslinger" chronicles his quest as he follows/chases a mysterious figure, known as "The Man in Black", across the desert with hopes that The Man in Black may have information that will lead Roland to "The Dark Tower". The gunslinger's name is Roland, and with the help of a few odd-ball characters that he encounters on his journey (most notably a young boy named Jake who is from a different "when" than Roland himself), the story ends with Roland finally catching up to The Man in Black (known also Walter O-Dim ~or~ Randall Flagg) and the two have a talk around a campfire. Walter gives The Gunslinger a tarot card reading & tells Roland a few secrets of life. The book ends with Roland waking up by the burned-out fire pit next to the remains of The Man in Black.

And there the story sat, for MANY years, until Stephen King finally picked up the story where it left off (King began writing Book 1 "The Gunslinger" when he was a senior in college - Book 2 wasn't released until 1987!). The second book "The Dark Tower 2; The Drawing of the Three" begins just a few short hours later in the story, and finds Roland stranded on a long stretch of beach. By the end of the 1st chapter, Roland has his trigger-fingers eaten off by some giant lobster-creatures that wash up onto the shore. He is in pain, sick from infection, and on a fast-track to dying when Roland encounters the first of three people (from other "whens") that he must bring (or DRAW, if you will) into his own world via three strange doors that he comes across as he makes his way down the beach (hence the name of the book, "The Drawing of the Three"). Roland enlists the help of these three characters to aid him on his quest to find The Dark Tower, which sits at the very center of the circle of life itself.

It should be noted that although the 1st book in this series is very good, it was written when King was very young. But, by the time the 2nd book was released King had been writing for years & had honed his craft. It is absolutely necessary to read the 1st book when approaching this series, but don't be put off if "The Gunslinger" doesn't have that famous Stephen King "flow" that we, "The Constant Readers" have grown to love. HANG IN THERE! The 1st book is a short read, and by the time you find yourself into the 2nd book, you will be glad that you stuck with this story. The Drawing of the Three (and ALL of the following books in this marvelous 7-book series) is an outstanding piece of fiction that ANY fan of "fantasy" stories will enjoy.

I have read (& loved) MANY fantasy stories over the years, from Tolkien's The Hobbit & LOTR trilogy, Herbert's Dune series,.... even Anne McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern, and in my humble opinion, THE DARK TOWER series by Stephen King is the best fiction story/adventure that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. If you are looking for your standard Stephen King "horror" stories, look elsewhere. But if you want to take one of the most brilliant, inventive, & imaginative adventures that you're ever likely to take, then LOOK NO FURTHER! Join Roland, his friends, and millions of loyal readers on a quest that you will never likely forget. THE DARK TOWER SERIES is story-telling perfection.

BMIZ311

After A Bumpy Start...
Well at least now I'm hooked.I've read a lot of Stephen King.In fact, the only major hole in my King library is The Dark Tower.After The Gunslinger I didn't know if I'd make it; I probably will now.I can't say I think this is the guy at his best.It still feels like a very young writer attacking Big Ideas Through Horror Literature, but there are more than just a few flashes of excitement that make it all worthwhile.Even though the narrative is a bit . . . um . . . Too Too King-y at times, it's a Red Bull of a book, and goes down fast and hard (that sounds much dirtier than I meant...).So, I'll take a break and come back for Part 3 and just see what happens...

delviered as ordered!!!
I was very happy with this product. It was delivered as promised. No problems! They are very efficient and dependable!

Good Listening!
I make a lot of car trips and I love Stephen King, so I purchased the whole Gunslinger series.It is a great way to have the miles go by in a very entertaining way!Sometimes, I wished I had more miles to go because I wanted to hear more!

A wondeful book that preapres you for the rest of the series
Now this book does not have a ton of action in it like you might expect. This book more or less get all of the main characters together and helps get the plot set up. Now there is some action and suspense so please do not think that this is a boring book. With Kings amazing story telling it will leave you wanting more. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Emerging Markets Are Winning The Economic War
I am sure I'm not the only one whom wondered if the scary novel writer was taking a stab at economics.This King writes a scary story if you are an investor with all your long term savings in the USA or other "rich countries".He makes a clear case that China, Russia, India and Brazil are the new global economic leaders and it is they who are beginning to control the largest share of the world's resources and create most of the profits from growing businesses. It's time to question the assumption that rich countries are just going to get richer and poor countries will always stay poor.The pendulum is swinging.I liked this book and recommend it for sober reading, especially for investors.

Strong, smug biases mar an otherwise thoughtful book.
Let me name the biases.Pro-integration, pro income redistribution, naive belief in the ability of all people to benefit from education, constantly thumping the West for its contribution to global warming. Several times he equates Halliburton with the East India Company.Wish he had more examples, and I wish he were right!I was a Halliburton shareholder, and we didn't get rich through their support of the Iraq war.A personal aside - Halliburton owns RMK-BRJ (formerly Raymond-Morrison Knudson - Brown Root Jamison) which did extensive, and reasonably competent, logistics support in Vietnam.Halliburton is one bogeyman which everyone who wishes to discredit Bush's motives pulls out of the closet.The Iraq war is stupid, but involving Halliburton wasn't done in the interests of "state capitalism."They were simply the only company clearly qualified for the job, in a situation in which a contract had to be let quickly.The bottom line is that King didn't need to use this soapbox to flog all of his politically correct notions.

He correctly identifies the demographic disaster facing the wealthy nations - simply no kids.He naively assumes, no, argues that immigrants can fit into society and take roles interchangeably with the native born.This has certainly been true of examples he cites, such as Ukrainian Jews, Chinese and Southern Europeans as a group.It is worth noting that, freed of governmental constraints, these peoples are doing quite well in their lands of origin.The situation is not true of the countries now contributing immigrants.Africa, north and south, and Latin America have remained poor throughout their histories, with the exception of the southern cone areas established by Europeans and Japanese, however benign their governments.Unbounded immigration is an irreversible experiment, currently underway.One hopes that King's optimism about the outcome is well placed, but the evidence doesn't go that way.Encouraging it hardly seems like the prudent path.For all his hand-wringing, Japan seems to be surviving without immigration.My personal bet is that Japan will look golden in 50 years.They will have retained their identity in exchange for a bit of austerity.

All this out of the way, he does a good job of describing the limitations of central bankers and the difficulties governments, especially democratic, face in maintaining financial discipline.Also the many ways in which markets are not and have not been free, but are rather dominated by state interests, even in supposedly free societies.The alarum he sounds regarding corpulent westerners' comfortable retirements rings true.Also the notion that the US must in essence devalue its currency, discounting China's and other countries' vast holdings of US debt, because the US taxpayer will simply not honor them at par value.

One would hope for a bit of investment advice.If all transpires according to King's crystal ball, which seems to me to be clearer than most, there will be winners and losers.Where should one putone's money?He suggests dollar denominated assets which will nonetheless track real value, not the dollar, such as commodities.The emerging markets' demands, especially those of China, will put upward pressure on metals, oil, and other raw materials.

I'm glad I read it.For all its flaws I got quite a bit out of it.

Interesting but Incomplete -
Stephen King, author of "Losing Control," is global bank HSBC's Chief Economist and a member of the "Financial Times" Economist's Forum, not the Stephen King of scary stories. Nonetheless, "Losing Control" is still somewhat scary, telling a tale of how Western post-millennium economies are becoming less controllable, and cannot be relied on for continued economic growth. The intent of his book is to demonstrate why the years ahead will continue to shift economic activity from the West to the other side of the world, while the economic successes of nations elsewhere will impose growing constraints on already developed nations.

King's first significant point is that market forces were not the sole source of the West's earlier successes - state capitalism began long before China and Saudi Arabia forays in this direction. The East India Company's (formed in 1600) successes in India and then China were largely courtesy of England's Navy. Similarly, Europe's earlier development of sailing skills enabled the Continent to cut the Middle East out of profitable trade business with the Orient; the development of alternative sources of coffee and sugar in the Americas also helped. Meanwhile, Islamic leaders acerbated the relative decline of their nations by refusing to separate sacred issues from the secular, and thus hampered opportunities for technical progress. Another leadership blunder was China's worrying over corrupting outside forces leading them to close off their nation until after Mao's death. (In 1000 A.D., Chinese per capita income slightly exceeded that in Europe; by Mao's death it was about 8% that of Europe.) King also points out that new industries in the Americas benefited from strong protectionist measures. Those contending that today's government has no role in the economy would do well to reflect on these lessons from history.

"Losing Control" also contends that Japan-China trade helps explain Japan's economic stagnation, pointing out that since the early 1990s, Japan's exports to China have been dominated by capital goods and machinery, allowing China to better compete in manufacturing and lowering wage and economic growth in Japan.

China and others buying U.S. Treasuries lowered interest rate in the U.S. and made other, riskier investments more attractive.

King contends that prices in the West are increasingly determined by the developing world, and that pursuit of price stability in the West has contributed to mounting economic instability. If, for example, prices fall in relation to Western wages, perhaps due to reduced Asian demand for commodities, it makes no sense to encourage even more added spending by keeping interest rates low. Greenspan's Federal Reserve misread this late 1990s environment as a sign of a 'new economy' with rising productivity. Raising interest rates, such as the Bank of England did 2003-2007) may trigger capital inflows that lower interest rates and create a real-estate boom. With China boosting commodity demand and their prices, central bank policies to keep prices stable will create falling wages. Lower interest rates also encourage investing in nations paying higher interest rates. King's point in all this - capital markets are increasingly distorted by the decisions of various other nations, and being a central banker is more of an art than a science.

Another major "Losing Control" point is that globalization works to increase inequality within nations, while decreasing it between nations. Chinese industrial workers' income rises and allows them to buy better food, raising the prices for those foods and lowering the 'real income' for its other workers. At the same time, U.S. industrial workers lose 'real income' vs. Americans with capital; in addition, they also lose ground to the Chinese. Income inequality in both China and the U.S. has increased in recent years. We have tried to mask this problem with easier access to debt (as well as increasing the proportion of two-income families), but those actions create new problems. Increasing the proportion with a tertiary education is another strategy - however, King does not see this as successful in the long run because the Chinese are doing likewise (6% in 1999 to 22% in 2006), and the cost of U.S. education is rising too rapidly. Citigroup and Pepsi-Cola are already run by Indian-born executives.

King sees the West in danger of following in Japan's deflationary footsteps, or resorting to the printing press to resolve their debt problems.

Summarizing, "Losing Control" presents some moderately scary examples about how Western governments are losing control of their economies, confirms that income inequality is rising sharply, and illustrates why "A rising tide lifts all boats" is no longer true. However, "Losing Control" does not fully cover all the ways we are losing control of our economies, nor begin to explore how low Western economies could descend if unregulated capitalists continue pursuing the 'race to the bottom.' Neither does he cover the likely economic impact of ever-increasing trillion-dollar U.S. deficits and unfunded liabilities accumulated from excess health care, defense, education, and public pension costs, or businesses' growing ability to collect bailouts, evade taxes, financial, and fuel economy regulation, and community, environmental, and safety safeguards, while also proposing to privatize government services such as road-building and maintenance, Social Security, education, and utilities service. (The latter, ironically, is bolstered by their continually weakening the economy through self-serving, ever-increasing offshoring of jobs.) In addition, King does not address the likely escalation of Western job losses as Asian economies move up the ladder into R&D, engineering and design, and a wide range of other service jobs. Finally, "Losing Control" also fails to communicate the range of high-paying skills and vital capabilities already been lost to globalization, explain how misleading GDP statistics (artificially boosted by population growth, illegal immigration, increasing foreign-held debt and current-account deficits) are used to mollify the masses, or depict the likelihood of future civil disorders motivated by rising income inequality.

Bottom-Line: "Losing Control" is an apt title that summarizes current trends in Western economies. However, the author's conclusions would greatly benefit from broader thinking, and possibly even emulating the writing style of that other Stephen King. We do need to stop living beyond our means, but we don't need to cede control over our economic future. ... Read more

Product Description

Long before he gave us "a one-of-a-kind classic" (The Wall Street Journal) with his bestselling memoir On Writing, Stephen King crafted a nonfiction masterpiece in Danse Macabre, "one of the best books on American popular culture" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

The author whose boundless imagination and storytelling powers have redefined the horror genre, from 1974's Carrie to his new epic Under the Dome, reflects on the very nature of terror -- what scares us and why -- in films (both cheesy and choice), television and radio, and, of course, the horror novel, past and present.

Informal, engaging, tremendous fun, and tremendously informative, Danse Macabre is an essential tour with the master of horror as your guide; much like his spellbinding works of fiction, you won't be able to put it down.Amazon.com Review
In the fall of 1978 (between The Stand andThe Dead Zone),Stephen King taught a course at the University of Maine on "Themes inSupernatural Literature." As he writes in the foreword to this book,he was nervous at the prospect of "spending a lot of time in front ofa lot of people talking about a subject in which I had previously onlyfelt my way instinctively, like a blind man." The course apparentlywent well, and as with most teaching experiences, it was asinstructive, if not more so, to the teacher as it was to the students.Thanks to a suggestion from his former editor at Doubleday, Kingdecided to write Danse Macabre as a personal record of thethoughts about horror that he developed and refined as a result of thatcourse.

The outcome is an utterly charming book that reads as if King weresitting right there with you, shooting the breeze. He starts onOctober 4, 1957, when he was 10 years old, watching a Saturday matineeof Earth vs. the FlyingSaucers. Just as the saucers were mounting their attack on"Our Nation's Capital," the movie was suddenly turned off. The managerof the theater walked out onto the stage and announced, "The Russianshave put a space satellite into orbit around the earth. They call it ... Spootnik."

That's how the whole book goes: one simple, yet surprisinglypertinent, anecdote or observation after another. King covers thegamut of horror as he'd experienced it at that point in 1978 (a periodof about 30 years): folk tales, literature, radio, good movies, junkmovies, and the "glass teat". It's colorful, funny, and nostalgic--and also strikingly intelligent. --FionaWebster ... Read more

Customer Reviews (50)

Great book, but a bit out dated.
This is a great book, for its time. Just wish he would write a more recent one.

What Scares Stephen King?
This book, written using the author's notes from a college course he taught, explores the techniques that horror writers, filmmakers, and television producers use to scare us, entertain us, and keep us coming back for more.Along the way, King explores the horror genre from the 1950's through the 1980's and traces several key influences on his development as a horror fan, then author.

The author finds the roots of modern horror in three "tarot cards" or character archetypes, each represented by a key literary work.Our expectations about "The Vampire" were formed by Bram Stoker's Dracula; we see the essence of "The Werewolf" in the protagonist of Robert Lewis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde; and experience "The Thing Without a Name" as recurring versions of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein.He traces the influence of these themes in written fiction, radio, movies, television and in popular culture.

Most interesting is King's three-level taxonomy of fear reactions.The most refined is "terror" as the suspenseful anticipation of fright which can be induced by a skilful writer with the monsters off-stage.He believes that finely-tuned terror is best achieved through books and radio because they require more active engagement by their audiences."Horror" is secondary, as we recoil from the hidden monster as it is revealed."Revulsion" is the lowest, most visceral reaction triggered when we are "grossed out" by slime, gore and vomit.King admits that as an author he makes unrestrained use of all three.

This book is recommended for horror fans, Stephen King fans, and all those who work to improve their writing.Readers can learn more about the author's writing style and process in his subsequent nonfiction works On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Crafts of Writing.

An interesting and brilliant thesis on the field of horror
Danse Macabre, to me, is the singular book that showcases Stephen King's prowess as a writer, more than the novels and the short stories. It is the singular piece of work that made me sit up and take notice. It showed me what kind of a writer King really is beneath the surface: a complex yet infinitely understandable author with a well honed style which is well liked by both the young and the old, an author with a unique voice, a multifaceted voice that is logical and yet surreal at the same time, an entertaining author capable of hooking us in with a single sentence. In many ways, Danse Macabre is the definitive introduction to King's work as a whole and maybe even to King himself.

He draws us into a journey into a genre and field he so excels in, which is Horror. Just from the two forenotes alone, we can see and feel his passion for Horror: his references to Dracula and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, among many, sets the tone and feel for what's to come next. He starts off introducing us to terror, using the horror movies of the 1950s to explain just what terror means to him, putting it under the microscope, dissecting its pieces. He tells us why we, as a human race, tend to gravitate towards the genre. He then moves on to describing the various archetypes of the genre citing the three important books which have shaped it: Dracula, Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde. There's even a brief autobiographical chapter explaining how he came to like the genre, which should interest the fans. But, the bulk of the book, the portion of the book I loved the most, is King's thesis on the various conventional mediums Horror appears on: Radio, TV, Movies and literature. That portion of the book fascinated me the most.

King does such a good job, describing every work or example of horror fiction in those chapters with such amazing detail, that I read all of it straight through. It was that engaging, smooth flow of logic in his words that hooked me. The macro-dissection from the earlier chapters had carried into the later ones: he delved into such disparate works as Peter Straub's highly successful Ghost Story and The Exorcist, bringing us all, horror fans and non-fans alike, into an amazing path down the cornerstones of the genre. This thrilled me: I credit this book for renewing my love for the genre to a point where I even started picking up alot of the works King described here.

Which, I think, was King's ultimate motivation for publishing Danse Macabre in the first place. This book overwhelms and exhilarates the reader at the same time, which can be said for the rest of his work in general. And that is why I think you should pick this book up, especially if you are a person who hates Horror to the bone...

SK's thoughts on the horror field, 1950-1980
Stephen King must have gotten tired of answering the question `Why do you write such horrible stuff (and why do we read it)?'

Danse Macabre is sort of a wildly expanded version of the introduction he wrote for his first short story collection: Night Shift. Here, he discusses his love for the horror genre and explains what he finds valuable about it. This leads him to a survey of horror in the source of novels, films, radio and comics from the 1950's through the '80's.

Reading through the book, it is pretty dated. If you're an oldster like me who can remember the seventies and eighties the book ought to give you a heady dose of nostalgia and maybe remind you of some books and movies that should be checked out again, or some books you wanted to read back then, but have forgotten about.

However, if you are younger and can't remember stuff like Dark Shadows then the book's examples could come off as too unfamiliar for enjoyment. He is mainly focused on the years 1950-80 (with detailed side trips to praise the three horror bedrocks Dracula, Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) so depending on your age/interest in what the state of horror was at that time, your mileage may vary.

I enjoy the way the book was written, because even in his non-fiction he still has the gift for the gab and I enjoy his writing persona. Other reviewers that I respect didn't enjoy that so much, so maybe it depends on how much you like King's style.

You'll also get more horror book and movie recommendations than you can shake a stick at. He gives some interesting analysis of The House Next Door, The Haunting of Hill House, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Ghost Story, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Doll Who Ate His Mother and The Incredible Shrinking Man.

This book also deserves credit for sparking my interest in Richard Matheson. King is fairly generous in recommending other horror writers and gives clear explanations of why he thinks the good ones are good.

I do wish he would do a companion book. Hey, in 2010 he could cover the 80's, '90's and '00's. That would give him another thirty year block. That would be cool.

danse macbre
I bought this book when it first came out and continued to purchase
Stephen King....now I am collecting them for my daughter for her birthday.
She will enjoy them too..... ... Read more

Product Description
Two of the greatest storytellers of our time join forces to create an epic thriller of unsurpassed power; a twisting, compelling story of a small American town held in the grip of evil beyond all reason.French Landing, Wisconsin. A comfortable, solid middle-American town inhabited by comfortable, solid middle-Americans! and a serial killer.Three children have been lost -- taken by a monster with a taste for child's flesh nicknamed 'The Fisherman' after a legendary murderer. It's all way beyond the experience of the local police, whose only hope lies with ex-detective Jack Sawyer, the man who cracked their last case for them. But, plagued by visions of another world, Jack has retired to this rural retreat precisely to avoid such horrors -- and, having recognized the touch of madness on this case, he's keeping well away.Soon, he'll have no choice. Young Tyler Marshall, left behind one afternoon by his bullying friends, pedals past the local old folks' home and is accosted by a crow. 'Gorg,' it caws, and 'Ty.' What ten-year-old could resist a bird that speaks his name? Not Ty, that's for sure.And as he follows the mysterious crow, he's grabbed by the neck and dragged into a hedge.The Fisherman has made another catch!Amazon.com Review
In the seemingly paradisal Wisconsin town of French Landing, small distortions disturb the beauty: a talking crow, an old man obeying strange internal marching orders, a house that is both there and not quite there. And roaming the town is a terrible fiend nicknamed the Fisherman, who is abducting and murdering small children and eating their flesh. The sheriff desperately wants the help of a retired Los Angeles cop, who once collared another serial killer in a neighboring town.

Of course, this is no ordinary policeman, but Jack Sawyer, hero of Stephen King and Peter Straub's 1984 fantasy The Talisman. At the end of that book, the 13-year-old Jack had completed a grueling journey through an alternate realm called the Territories, found a mysterious talisman, killed a terrible enemy, and saved the life of his mother and her counterpart in the Territories. Now in his 30s, Jack remembers nothing of the Talisman, but he also hasn't entirely forgotten:

When these faces rise or those voices mutter, he has until now told himself the old lie, that once there was a frightened boy who caught his mother's neurotic terror like a cold and made up a story, a grand fantasy with good old Mom-saving Jack Sawyer at its center. None of it was real, and it was forgotten by the time he was sixteen. By then he was calm. Just as he's calm now, running across his north field like a lunatic, leaving that dark track and those clouds of startled moths behind him, but doing it calmly.

While The Talisman was a straightforward myth in 1980s packaging, Black House is richer and more complex, a fantasy wrapped in a horror story inside a mystery, sporting a clever tangle of references to Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, jazz, baseball, and King's own Dark Tower saga. Talisman fans will find the sure-footed Jack has worn well--as has the King/Straub writing style, which is much improved with the passage of two decades. --Barrie Trinkle ... Read more

Customer Reviews (423)

Black House Audiobook on Tape is not awesome but adequate
Black House is one of the finest books written by Stephen King and Peter Straub -- and this audiobook is read by Frank Muller, no doubt the finest voice in audiobooks before his tragic accident a few years ago.

Black House is a sequel of sorts of the book Talisman and uses many of the same villians.The Crimson King, who makes appearances in Insomnia and The Dark Tower series is every bit as threatening.The Black House itself was a "black house" and Jack's destination in the Talisman where he fought one of his most heroic battles.

The fidelity is fine on this tape version of the audiobook.The only problem with it is ... well ... it's on tape, which means swapping in and out small audio cassettes, some 15-18 of them in the course of the book.

However you can't beat the price and all of that wonderful narrative is there to explore.

What Happened to the Black House?
This book was okay I suppose, but not my favorite of King's. I think "The Talisman" had a better plot and was more well written. The style of writing in this book, especially in the beginning, made it very hard to get into the story. I had to push myself to keep reading. This was definitely one of King's more gruesome and gory works. I haven't read anything of Straub's so I can't speak for his style. Definitely made me cringe a few times. The antagonist "Burny" was one of the most despicable villains I've ever read about, and Jack was a terrific, well-written hero. I loved him from the beginning.

My biggest grievance with this book is What Happened To The Black House?? The entire plot, the whole beginning three/fourths of the book, were a lead-up to when Jack actually gets to Black House. The whole storyline is driven by how Jack will find the house and who he will take with him and what will happen there. And then all the sudden, BAM! The whole gang is there and they are all the way through the house in just a few pages of this LONG book, and there was only ONE or TWO PARAGRAPHS actually describing what happened in the house. For goodness sake, the TITLE of the book is Black House, shouldn't the house have had a bigger part in the story?? That was why I kept reading, to see what was IN the house. Yes, I realize the house was just a gateway to the "other" place, but I just thought the whole last section, "Black House & Beyond," was a bit of a disappointment.

Black House
On the flip side of The Talisman(like Jack flipping into the Territories), this book appears to be mostly Straub and I suspect that Mr. Straub's nightmares and daydreams are far more terrifying that Mr. King's. The mystery and the horror are dead on.There is no chaff; only streamlined story that is racing towards a stunning end.I believe this is due to Straub.In fact, I think King should use Straub as an editor because I didn't find myself bored at any point(something I find in King's later works usually the middle). There is a rumor that Mr. King and Mr. Straub would like to do a third book about our friend, Jack Sawyer.I hope this is true and eagerly await it's arrival.

Little Beat up but so Was Jack
I take long rides to Upstate NY on alternate weekends and I just got through listening to my favorite book of all time the Talisman and I thought I would follow it up with this. I am so glad I did. And it was in fine shape looks like it was loved and listened to once or twice, but well taken care of!

Disappointed. Not a sequel, more like a companion novel.
This was not at all what I expected. More Dark Towery than The Talisman was. The style is that of the Dark Tower Series also.
I own 2 first edition hard cover copies of The Black House. (both given to me as B-Day gifts by friends who know the I am a Constant Reader) but I'd trade them both for a tattered copy of The Talisman! ... Read more