Cycle of the Werewolf (1982)

Before reading: Another one that I hadn't heard of until reading King's list of work. Apparently I'm a fake fan. I didn't even know he had a werewolf book...assuming this is about a werewolf. We haven't had a traditional monster take from King in a while so let's see how this one goes!

After reading: Stephen King was apparently in his super short story era. While this is great for me cause I can read multiple books back to back, I do know some of his more well known books are coming up soon and they are chunky. That being said, this was another quick read and very short story. Not sure this could even be considered a novella, it was so short. I almost wish it was a little longer but I think for what it was it did the job.

This book was set up in calendar order and went month by month on each full moon and told the tale of this werewolf. I had considered looking up the full moon dates of that year because a lot of them happened on holidays so it was quite funny to me at the end of the story when King explains that he took liberty of the dates of the full moon. The way this was narrated reminded me a lot of how old horror movie trailers were narrated. It had that same feel and the story itself gave very classic monster vibes. It was also full of symbolism, which after reading Danse Macabre, is also a very classic monster story move. I encourage you to read what he has to say about werewolves in DM either before or after you read this one, it is actually pretty enlightening. Not to give anything away but the symbolism that is embedded with werewolves and that which goes hand in hand with who the werewolf is...chef's kiss. Again, because of how short it was I don't have too awful much to say about it. I would say I enjoyed it. I would recommend this to you if you enjoy classic horror or if you are a fan of werewolves. It's quick, it's dark, it's oddly comforting. There is something very familiar about it where you know you've heard this tale before but you still enjoy it nonetheless.

Next up we have one last quickie The Plant: Installment Two.

Comments

RanKING

I have randomly decided that in addition to reading these books, I'm also going to rank them from my most favorite to least favorite. I will do this as I read and I will add in the books I've already read after I re-read them. I also apologize for the horrible pun in the title but I couldn't pass it up :) All right! Here's my ever-changing list: The Long Walk It The Shining Pet Sematary The Institute Misery The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass The Dark Tower Black House Needful Things Dolores Claiborne The Green Mile Duma Key The Regulators The Dark Tower: The Waste Lands Insomnia Firestarter The Talisman The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla Christine The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger The Dark Tower: Song of Susannah The Outsider The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three Desperation Rose Madder Lisey's Story Bag of Bones Cujo The Dark Half Different Seasons Salem's Lot The Stand Hearts in Atlantis The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon Just After Sunset Cell From a Buick 8 Gerald...

The Long Walk (1979)

Before Reading: I could go on and on and on about The Long Walk and I will (after I re-read it). For now I’m just going to keep it short and sweet. Remember when I said that I love Rage and have it on my bookshelf? Well I really love The Long Walk and have TWO copies of it on my bookshelf. The Long Walk is my absolute number one favorite book...ever. I even rank it above Harry Potter (which, if you know me, is saying a lot). When I was younger I was drawn to The Long Walk because it mentioned my hometown. But oh my God, this story is so great. You cringe, cry, laugh, and everything in between when you read it—or at least I do. It takes a lot for me to get emotionally invested in a book (or anything, really) but I feel so attached to this story. All of the characters and their lives are so real to me when I read this one. Also, Hunger Games-esque dystopia is my absolute favorite genre and The Long Walk is one of the best. I’m very much looking forward to re-reading this one, as I a...

What am I doing?

Being a true Mainer, while my mother was pregnant with me, she was reading a book by Stephen King. Specifically she was reading The Dark Half by Stephen King. In that book there is a character named Shayla and that is where my name came from. Growing up in Maine already gives you a sense of closeness with Mr. King but having him be the reason for my namesake always drew me even closer to him. In fact, for my 23rd birthday I was gifted with Stephen King’s personal copy of The Dark Half that he signed for me. I grew up watching many Stephen King shows and movies and read a few books. My favorite book of all time being The Long Walk by Stephen King, himself. All in all, however, I’ve only read about 5 of Mr. King’s books in total. I feel like this weird connection and fascination I have with him has ultimately only led me to one place. And that place is right here, preparing to read all his books. With all honesty, I get crazy ideas like this all the time but only seldom do I see ...

Actually Reading the Book I’m Named After (And All of Stephen King’s Other Work)

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