You Like It Darker Stories

‘You like it darker? Fine, so do I’, writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of 12 stories that delve into the darker part of life – both metaphorical and literal. King has, for half a century, been a master of the form, and these stories, about fate, mortality, luck and the folds in reality where anything can happen, are as rich and riveting as his novels, both weighty in theme and a huge pleasure to read. ‘Two Talented Bastids’ explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills. In ‘Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream’, a brief and unprecedented psychic flash upends dozens of lives, Danny’s most catastrophically. In ‘Rattlesnakes’, a sequel to Cujo, a grieving widower travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance – with major strings attached. In ‘The Dreamers’, a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored. ‘The Answer Man’ asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful.