I admire and respect all of these stories! I think Stephen King is a mastermind (at his best), and anything he write is just scrumptious. So, needless to say, I couldn’t wait to read this short story collection. I may not have liked these individually as much as I would a full novel, because I think a really good work has time to establish a journey plot and character wise, and I get sucked into a book better when it’s not super short. However, if my ratings seem harsh, it’s because my rating system is a little more strict, not meaning I enjoy each story less, but just that I use the whole spectrum of five stars instead of always giving everything four or five. Also, I did read this out of order, but it didn’t seem to affect my experience. (Next time, I’ll read them as you intended, Steve.) Below is my ranking of all 12 stories, starting with my favorites! (As I said, I adore them all.):

1. The Answer Man (49 pgs) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(A man recounts his life, starting with a roadside encounter with a psychic dubbed “The Answer Man”.)
You know what, it may just be good ending bias, but I don’t really care. First of all, I’ve never read anything by Stephen King in this time period (starts in 1937) so it was really interesting to see and the environment was established really well. The sequence of events in this story was seemingly plucked from nowhere (trying not to say the word random 50 times) so much so that it just made this story all the more human, especially by the end. Loved this, King did good with having it be the final short story in the collection.

2. Two Talented Bastids (59 pgs) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(A famous author’s son questions the nature of his and his friend’s coinciding rise to fame.)
I’ve never read anything of Stephen King’s about a topic just like this (no spoilers), but this is one of few that kept me thinking afterwards. It was open-ended, and the obscurity of it is just quite marvelous in an odd way. The imagery in a few scenes was so vivid, and being on the longer side allowed this story to be just a bit further developed.

3. The Fifth Step (9 pgs)⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(A recovering alcoholic approaches a man in Central Park, requesting his help in completing the fifth step of his recovery program.)
This was the first one I read, and it was unexpected. For such a short story, a lot of it seemed like filler, but the conversation between the characters flowed really well and so did the drive of the story.

4. Laurie (23 pgs)⭐️⭐️⭐️
(To cope with the death of his recently deceased wife, a Florida man’s sister gifts him a puppy.)
I love how this could be a start to some sort of uplifting novel in the vein of A Dog’s Purpose. Seeing King write such a thing was pretty funny to me, knowing his style, and in doing so, the upbeat feel of the story kept me intrigued for what I predicted would be a turn for the worse. All I can say is that it seemed that the setup took too long, and it was over before I knew it, as if Stephen King realized halfway through that he wasn’t writing an entire novel. I didn’t mind too much, however.

5. Rattlesnakes (89 pgs)⭐️⭐️⭐️
(A sequel to Cujo taking place ~40 years later, in which Vic Trenton meets an elderly woman who wheels around an empty stroller.)
I was a little disappointed by this one. I think it’s safe to say that Stephen King doesn’t hold back on implementing supernatural elements into his stories (It, The Shining, Carrie…) but what is really impressive is when he manages to tell just as gripping a tale with only reality upon which to rely, and Cujo was one of those that I just loved. It has its metaphors and interpretations, but what made it so horrifying and impactful was that it was totally grounded in reality (if not a bit dramatized.) So, needless to say, I was super excited to read “Rattlesnakes”. Not to spoil anything, but it transcended reality, and normally, I would be fine with this, but it seemed that twisting an already beloved story into the supernatural at least a little bit tainted the story. If it was just a Tad (iykyk) supernatural, I think I would have enjoyed it more, but it spiraled just a bit. Also, since I read Cujo just a few days before reading “Rattlesnakes”, the providing backstory seemed a little forced, but wasn’t a huge problem. And the setup and most of the development was masterfully done, so the rating for this wasn’t too badly impacted.

6. Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream (151 pgs) ⭐️⭐️⭐️
(A man dreams of a road, next to which a murdered woman is buried.)
So this was not exactly a *short* story! I didn’t mind, however; I stand by the belief that a longer story is typically better. The premise of this one was intriguing, albeit a bit unoriginal, but the writing immediately drew me in. This one was for the most part very fast-paced, and I wasn’t bored while reading it. The ending seemed a little less fleshed-out, but this was a good one nevertheless.

7. Red Screen (9 pgs)⭐️⭐️⭐️
(A man charged with the murder of his wife explains to a detective what made him do it.)
I love how ominous this one was. While I really didn’t know where it was going to go, given its short, short length, I’m happy to say I did enjoy it, and loved the way in which it was open-ended.

8. Willie the Weirdo (11 pgs)⭐️⭐️⭐️
(A boy dubbed “Willie the Weirdo” by peers who condemn his fascination with dead animals, bonds with his grandfather.)
This was one of many of these stories that was open-ended, and I think it did so really well. Also a common theme in not just these stories, but in all of King’s writing is even within a seemingly arbitrary narrative, there is/are additional metaphor(s), even if this one is not too deep, in this case about inheritance, (the only way I can think to explain it,) which is not necessary to the general comprehension of the story but adds a layer of depth in such a cool way.

9. The Dreamers (30 pgs) ⭐️⭐️
(Back from war, a young man applies for the job of assistant to a scientist who experiments with dreams.)
This story was not bad. I think it lacked something, but it had an interesting premise, and I loved that King set it back in the late 20th century, which I think is the time period in which his work really thrives (especially when it was written then). It ended as quickly as it started, and was quite obscure in explaining how things worked, but was a thrilling account to read.

10. Finn (21 pgs)⭐️⭐️
(A young man known for his bad luck gets kidnapped.)
This one was kind of goofy in a most unexpected, but not a bad way, but it was at least somewhat thought-provoking and didn’t have me bored.

11. The Turbulence Expert (13 pgs)⭐️⭐️
(A Turbulence Expert goes on a plane ride..)
I read this twice, since I figured I missed something the first time around, but this story was just super strange and didn’t have a great arc. It felt like the start to something bigger, if anything.

12. On Slide Inn Road (19 pgs)⭐️
(A traveling family gets held up on, you guessed it! Slide Inn Road!)
I’m surprised this one was as long as it is, since not much seemed to happen. While this would be extremely distressing if it happened to me, in the format of a short story I didn’t feel drawn in to the narrative or characters, and the plot was nothing about which to write home by the end.

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