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Bag of Bones (1998)


Before reading: Before I started getting really into Stephen King I knew absolutely nothing about Bag of Bones except that it was a King novel and there have been some movie/TV adaptations. Now that I am on the up-and-up I know that this is a ghost story (exciting!) and that it is about a writer (I guess I can forgive it since it has been a while) but besides that...I am going in mostly blind. I prefer it that way. I do also know that many King fans say this is one of their favorites, if not their favorite. I think it might be slept on and I am excited to see what it is all about!

After reading: I am sure that if you've never read Stephen King before, you would still thoroughly enjoy this book, however, I think that this books is more specifically for the King fans and for them, it is quite rewarding. Funny enough, as I read through it I kept thinking that it almost felt like a love letter to his fans (disguised as a horror novel no less) and then at the end the main character who is, of course, an author...rips up the novel he had been writing and throws it in the fire, calling it a love note and saying that it is better to destroy love notes rather than be haunted by them. So why did I feel like this was a love note? This was the most quintessential King book I have read, so far. If someone out there is doing a study and needs a true Kingian piece, here it is. First and foremost, we have a horror novel folks. Believe it or not, it has been quite a while since we have read one of those. Our setting? Not one, not two, but three familiar Maine King towns, including Derry and Castle Rock. I had no idea this story started out in Derry, it was a very pleasant surprise. Because we are in familiar territory, we have a lot of familiar faces and places. The majority of my notes are just Easter eggs, this book is full of them. Let's go ahead and get those out of the way so I can let you know what I thought of the book...

As I mentioned, we start out in Derry. When I went on the Stephen King tour, I actually saw a very important place from this book but for some reason, I forgot it was from Bag of Bones. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized I had actually been where the scene was unfolding. While we are back in Derry, we get some great Insomnia cameos and references, which was so much fun to read. We got to hang out with Ralph for a little while and it felt oddly comforting. Sadly, we also learn that Thad from my namesake The Dark Half has passed away, RIP Thad. Speaking of Thad...an author, we also get mention of Bill Denbrough, also an author. It is a Stephen King characters from Maine who are authors palooza! We move over near Castle Rock and get plenty of Rock references plus some Gerald's Game. Nineteen is a very important and prominent number in this book, Dark Tower anyone? Toward the end we get to see some familiar faces and hear some familiar names of characters we spent a lot of time with in previous Castle Rock novels. We also got a Long Walk Easter egg although it was not a direct reference. And of course, it wouldn't be a King novel set in Maine without some Shawshank and Juniper Hill references. 

All of that to say, this was rewarding if you are a King fan and were able to connect all of these dots. If this was your first King book, guess what? At the end of the day, it was still a really good book. Yes, it was scary. I do not recommend reading this alone at night, speaking from experience. Also, this was our first ghost story from King so that was a nice change of pace and something new. King is so good at character and town building. We got a town story with a large cast of characters. He was doing what he does best and I can see why people call this their favorite. Personally, I wouldn't call it a favorite of mine but I will say it was very good. In my opinion, it was a lot longer than it needed to be. I really really enjoyed the beginning of this book, and I found the ending to be really exciting and fast-paced. The middle...I could take it or leave it. It did linger a bit for me. Even with that being said, I would still read it again and I would definitely recommend it. 

With all of the references, the scares, the familiarity...this was a great book and a very fun read. For me, it won't make my top ten but I would still consider it to be very good. If you've read a lot of King I would definitely recommend you read this one, I think you'll enjoy it. If you like scary ghost stories, absolutely give this one a read. Just don't bring it with you to read at the lake. 

I hope you like baseball because up next to bat is The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. 


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