Customer Reviews

Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales

5 star:		(121)
4 star:		(73)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Autopsy Room Four- 3/5 Funny ending, but not too intense
Man in Black Suit- 5/5 Great Campfire tale told as only King can
All that you love... 1/5 Don't even remenber what it was about
Death of Jack Hamilton-4/5 good story of old time crooks
In the Deathroom- 2/5 Kinda stupid
Little Sisters of Eluria- 5/5 for D.T fans 4/5 for everyone eles. Distrubing! I like it!
Eveything's Eventual- 5/5 Brilant! a well-put-together short story.
L.t.'s theory of pets- 5/5 really confused me the first time around. Very good story.
Road Virus Heads North- 5/5 a real page turner. I could'ent wait to finsh, but then I could'ent sleep.
Lunch at Gothem-2/5 Villen lacks depth
That feeling....1/5 Very stupid
1408- 5/5 the scarest thing I have ever read in my life
Riding the Bullet- 5/5 Really cool story. Good twists and turns throughout.

I think by now we can all agree that Mr. King has probably the most colorful imagination ever to exist. And he's prolific at most genres. But when I initially closed this book of fourteen tales, I thought to myself, "So what?" But then it happened: I couldn't get them out of my mind, and I wondered if Mr. K had this in mind. I was literally "haunted" by them and it occurred to me that he might have crafted them in this manner-to get them under your skin later. I highly recommend these expertly crafted little ditties! Would also highly recommend the collection THE CHILDREN'S CORNER by Jackson McCrae for a great read.

Great book. This was my first short story type experience. I loved it. Of course, there were a few lame stories, but mostly they were all great. Good to keep to read again and again.

Everythings' Eventual by Stephen King is a great book. I have never really liked short stories in general but these are great. My favorite story was Autopsy Room Four, about a man who is paralyzed and they are about to cut him open. It is very intence. There are 14 great tales in this book and I would reccomend this book to anyone who likes Stephen King or anyone who likes frightening stories!

It was a real pleasure to read a book that reinforced all of the things that I like about Stephen King's writing. King's aim is, first and foremost, to entertain his reader, to engage him, to reach out from the page and take hold of him. This seems like something that every writer would want to do, but how true is that really? It seems like most writers want to create something that is either "good" or "successful," those being code words for "literary" and "bestseller," respectively. Which writers, however, tell you again and again that they wish most of all to entertain? Few, if any, besides Stephen King have this aim. Read the introduction to Everything's Eventual or any of On Writing or the various non-fiction pieces he has written over the years and you will see that this is true. King entertains by pulling his reader in, by talking to him from the page. If King is really rolling, as you are reading you will feel as though you are being addressed by him. The short story, with its tight structure and limited length, proves to be especially potent when combined with King's desire to take you in. He leads you one way, then another. He steps over the line and gives you gore, but only because it is absolutely necessary, and when you finish a story you feel like you've been for a ride; it's a giddy feeling. And in this book you get it 14 times. I've also always enjoyed King's rapport with his readers. He is not aloof about his writing, and telling his readers about his writing seems as enjoyable to him as writing the books themselves. In Everything's Eventual each story is either preceded or followed by a page explaining how the story came to be. There is no coyness about such things; just as there is no coyness in King's fiction. These stories speak for themselves, they are about what they are about, so what's wrong with a little background info? In fact, I think King recognizes that it is normal for readers to be curious about such things, and, not caring what a critic might think of such a move, he chooses, as he usually does, to indulge his readers. Why, does he bother doing this... any of this? I think it is because he is a born writer who happens to derive joy from a pastime that most people, including many of the most praised writers who ever walked the earth, find lonely and torturous. I love reading Stephen King because, in his typically insidious way, when I read his books it makes me wish that all of my reading were that fun.

I've grown disaffected with Stephen King in recent years. While a fan of his early work like <i>Carrie</i> and <i>The Shining,</i> I felt that he gradually lost touch with the essence of his craft as his books swelled beyond all reason into foot-thick carnival funhouses where every page revealed a new, cheesy twist jumping out at the reader. I don't think I've truly enjoyed one of his novels since <i>Pet Cemetary,</i> and I stopped buying them years ago.

But I must admit that <i>Everything's Eventual</i> seems to be a return to his original form. I haven't read every story yet, but tales such as "Autopsy Room Four" and "Everything's Eventual" are good reads. And in "1408" King did something I didn't think him capable of any more-he scared me, to the point that I was jumping at shadows after reading it. Mind you, as a fan since childhood of writers like Bierce, Poe, Chambers, Lovecraft, and Barker, I am Not Easily Spooked. If you enjoy tales of horror, I highly recommend this book.

Stephen Kings short stories never seem to amaze me. Sometimes it almost seems like he's trying to teach some sort of life lesson through the story (Riding the Bullet) other times he's just trying to scare the hell out of you (Autopsy Room Four) not to mention just to hack and slash his way to glory (Lunch at Gotham). These elements are what make his novels great but shown separately in his short stories they really show that Mr. King is an extremely diverse and multi-faceted author.

I'm not a big fan of Stephen King or horror books, but this one really changed my mind. I went to the bookstore and thought of my hate for horrors. then I thought to tip the scale. add a horror to my archive. Should I say more. Yes i should.I don't know why but the 5th is my favorite. Exeptional value and worth every minute of your reading time. get it. get it. get it.

I've read several books by King over the years, and I've always been most fond of his short story collections (Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Skeleton Crew). I'd just read From a Buick 8, as you can imagine I wasn't too impressed with it, but I picked up EE in the hope that even if his recent full length novels were dull, maybe his short stories still had that "spark". Not the case, unfortunately. I had a bad feeling in my gut after the first story; Autopsy Room Four. It did not make as much of an impact as I thought it would, it was the typical "buried alive" business with a quick fix, happy ending. Yawn.
The closest I came to enjoying this book was with "The Man in the Black Suit", this left me with an overall "creeped out" feeling, but only to the level of the most mediocre stories in either N&D or Skeleton Crew. I found that most of these stories just do not go anywhere, they aren't what you would call horror, the subject matter is mildly disturbing at most. Perhaps if you hadn't of read King's earlier work, you may find this book a great scarefest. However, if you can compare it to his older stuff, you'll find there's no contest.

Stephen King's "Everything's Eventual" is a must-have for any King fan. It features shorts you won't find anywhere else as well as some that were featured in other hard to find editions.

There is something for everyone in this compilation. "Little Sisters of Eluria" will delight the Dark Tower fan as we learn a little about Roland on his quest for the Dark Tower. If you haven't read anything of this series, this is a good starting point. "L.T.'s Theory of Pets" is a somewhat humorous thriller, in a disgusting King way. "1408" really made me feel ill right along with the main character as he investigates the strange happenings in a hotel room where everything seems to add to 13. "Autopsy Room Four" is my personal favorite because of the real psychological fear involved, written from the viewpoint of someone about to be cut into for an autopsy, while still alive!

This award winning compilation ("The Man in the Black Suit" won King an O. Henry award and two other stories have received other awards) is sure to please even the most critical horror reader.