It’s a problematic story though: overlong and a little too dark at times. Still, I remain unaware of a secret police force at our disposal. It’s about the dark fears people have of librarians and, as a career librarian, I’m aware that ‘library anxiety’ is a real thing. The Library Policeman cuts where it hurts for me. Bachman still had some unfinished business. As the paranoia and otherness of his accuser heats up, it would be an incredibly tense mystery if it didn’t feel like a literal retake of The Dark Half. Yup, the (other) Dark Half sees a writer’s darkest fears come to life when he’s accused of plagiarism by a hillbilly. Not just because it was turned into a film with Johnny Depp but because I feel as though I’ve read it before.

Next up is Secret Window, Secret Garden, which feels incredibly familiar.

(The same cannot be said for the mini-series of the same name, starring Cousin Balki as a direct-to-video Patrick Bateman).Īctual dialogue from The Langoliers, six full years before 22 Short Films About Springfield. It’s a solid opener that intrigues more than it straight-up frightens, but it’s also one of the strongest of the bunch. There’s even a nutjob who is making it decidedly difficult for our hero, off-duty airline pilot Brian Engle. Structurally it’s a bit like The Mist: a group of unlikely folks gather in a confined space while the world goes a bit wonky outside. One of King’s more successful ‘science fiction’ stories, dealing with time travel in this case, it’s all about character. Take the opening gambit The Langoliers, for example, a story that’s well over 300 pages. As King puts it, “all four of the tales in this book are tales of horror.” Ostensibly written during King ‘retirement period,’ for any other writer any of these tales would be a standalone volume.

If Different Seasons was Stephen King’s proof positive that he can write culturally influential material outside of horror, then this is a reminder of his greatest hits. Like Different Seasons, it’s a collection of novellas that don’t entirely have a home elsewhere. Which brings us to this month’s Stephen King pick, 1990’s FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT. The month of September felt somehow longer than most, but I also can’t help shake the feeling that we just finished August. While it’s only been just over a month since I last checked in to the Inconstant Reader saga, with a not-so-little tome called The Dark Half, time seems to be going a bit wrong. The same could be said for this Constant Reader – and less than constant writer. I hope you’re half as happy to be here as I am.” “Well, look at this – we’re all here,” says the master of horror by way of introduction.

Four past midnight book review