Who's Afraid of the Dark?

I had a myomectomy in January, 2001 and wound up being laid up for 6 weeks post op. I had a lot of free time on my hands, and I spent some of it reading, since doing a lot else really hurt.


So, I read. A lot. I decided I was going to re-read Stephen King, I had just finished reading On Writing prior to my surgery, which is almost as fascinating glimpse into the craft as Danse Macabre was years earlier. Stephen King gave a lecture at my school my freshman year in college, and he was quite fascinating. He wasn’t as creepy or scary in person as I was expecting him to be, he looked like a stereotypical Yankee from Maine, which he is.

I digress. King’s oevre was too much to complete during my recovery, despite me being a fast reader. I settled on a few favorites, and I delved into a very warped twisted mind.

The first book I read was Christine, which coincidentally enough, was the original Stephen King novel I read back in 7th grade at Bonneville Junior High. My English teacher Mrs. Nelson was not approving but tolerated me reading horror. Christine is the story of a 1958 Plymouth Fury that seems to be the devil’s car. Strange things happen around the car, and its teenage owner Arnie. The car seems to repair and regenerate itself, and is capable of murder. The other neat thing was there were car related song lyrics at the start of each chapter, and one was from my favorite song at the time: Brand New Cadillac by the Clash, from London Calling.

The next on the list was Salem’s Lot. I have to admit that I found it scarier and creepier when I was younger; it might also have been because I read the book prior to seeing the awful made for TV movie. Basically, it’s a town in Maine who is infected by vampires and how two men fight them off…the usual vampire story arc.

I then moved onto Pet Semetary. When it was made into a movie, the Ramones did the theme song for it, and that alone is worth the price of admission. It is basically a tale of love and loss, especially the loss of a child. Its pretty heavy material for a horror novel, but nonetheless, with King’s storytelling mastery, it works. My heart aches for the decisions that Louis makes in resurrecting not only his son but his wife, and the decisions made out of love that we all have to live with.

One of the most frightening tales that King wrote was It. I think it was one of his most overtly gory stories, with a lot of graphic descriptions of the violence taking place. I have never looked at clowns the same way again, thanks to Pennywise. It was a great discussion point of what is your greatest fear, which prompted a lot of journal entries.

Next up was the Tommyknockers. There is a lot of metaphor and allegory in the novel-most notably substance abuse and nuclear radiation. King’s best writings I think are his horror novels, this was a hybrid between both science fiction as well as standard horror.

The final book I read during my recovery was the Girl who Loved Tom Gordon. If you are unaware of who Tom Gordon is, you need to google him. He only recently retired from baseball; at the time the novel was published, he was the closer for the Boston Red Sox. He was masterful, and enjoyed a long career as a closer and long reliever. In the book named after him, he gives ambition and solace to a young girl lost in the woods. As hours turn to days, Trisha wanders, comforted by baseball, a steely resolve and determination to survive.

All in all, after all these years-and all these books, Stephen King still remains one of my favorite authors. His stories, while scary, are modern day fairy tales.