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Full Dark, No Stars (2010)

Before reading: A new King decade! Weirdly enough, this is the decade we started this journey in so I'm excited to circle back to it. This is a set of four novellas, two of which I am familiar with and two that I am not. This is usually a pretty good format from King so I'm excited to get into them. As usual, I will do an overall review as well as individual reviews for each story. 

After reading: Wow wow wow. That was actually so good. Dare I say better than Different Seasons? At first I would have said no, because Shawshank and The Body are so so good. However, after stewing for a little bit I would say this one is actually better because all four stories are worth reading. While this is a very hard read because all of the stories are, get this, "full dark no stars," it is also an enjoyable read. In the afterword, King says what ties these stories together is the fact that they are all about dark and terrible situations and how people would respond to them. While this is evident and I actually really love how these stories all work together, I found them to have a different and stronger connection. Each story has a character dealing with a dark situation, yes, but they are also dealing with their "other" or "darker" selves. Is everyone innately good? Innately bad? Do we have both inside of us? These stories explore what happens when seemingly plain or "normal" people give into that darker side of themselves. Additionally, they each play out in a very different way. So good. I'm a big fan. Here are some thoughts on the individual stories...

1922: This was one of the ones I was familiar with because I had seen the movie. I am not particularly a fan of the movie. It was fine but, to me, it was quite boring. While I was watching the movie I was intrigued by the thought of what the story might be like. Though I think the movie did actually do a pretty decent job of adapting the book, I found reading this story to be a lot more enjoyable than watching it. It definitely isn't my favorite type of King story but it did feel very gritty and much like a Shawshank writing style. As it went on I enjoyed it more and more and by the end I was glad to have read it. Is it my favorite story ever? No, but I did like it. Throughout this collection we got quite a few fun crossovers and easter eggs. This story is set in Hemingford Home, Nebraska which was a very important place in The Stand. 

Big Driver: This was so good. I had never heard of this story before and had no idea what it was about. It is definitely one of my favorite novellas by King. This story was terrifying. Believe it or not I literally yelled out loud (twice) reading it because that was the only logical response. I've mentioned it before but I believe some of King's scariest writing comes from his stories that could really happen. That is the case here, there is no supernatural elements, there's no boogeyman. There is just man. And that is scary enough. 

Fair Extension: This was the other story I had never heard of before reading this collection. Honestly, I am a little confused as to how it is considered a novella. It is very short. It does, however, fit in with the overall themes I discussed earlier. This was just a really good short and sweet King story. Personally, this is probably one of my favorite short stories from King. We are set in Derry which is always a good time. We also got a weird little Dark Tower reference in this one. It's kooky, it's dark, it's funny, it's horrifying...what more could you want?

A Good Marriage: I had heard of this one because there is a ...show? ...movie? based on it that I have yet to watch (obviously). But, again, so good. I tore right through it. This was another realistic one and it really makes you think. There is that darker version of ourselves that I mentioned earlier but that means that there are also darker versions of our loved ones. What are you supposed to do if you accidentally stumble across that darker version? It's so good you guys, just read it. 

Well, it was nice having a quick little read while it lasted but now we're onto another big one. As Mariah Carey says, "it's tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!" Travel back in time with me to 11/22/63 why don't you?



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