SHORT STORY MONDAY: a small peril

from the Everything's Eventual collection by Stephen King



L.T.'s Theory of Pets
King says this is one of his favorite stories to read from at readings, because of the combinations of emotions that get played. It began with a Dear Abby letter, as many great conversations often do. The letter was about how you should never give a pet to someone as a present, for all the reasons you can imagine. The story follows what happens to one couple who give each other pets. It's told from a male/female, doomed marriage point of view, but suddenly, at the end, the mood changes, and bam! That's why it is in this collection.


The Road Virus Heads North
Supernatural creepiness, as a painting comes to life, like a terrible virus. What if a painting was like a virus, mutating and causing havoc in its wake? King also takes some time here to write autobiographically and slam at his critics, as his main character is a famous, horror writer from small town Maine who gets no respect, except from his fans. Where does he come up with this stuff?


Lunch at the Gotham Cafe
The fear here that is so scary, is, what if something completely random happens? What if you happen to be in a restaurant when a nut job goes crazy? Sometimes I go through phases where I watch a lot of crime drama on TV, the CSI's, the Law and Order's, Criminal Minds type of shows. Then they start to get too weird, too random, and too creepy as there are only so many murders by spouses that can happen before it's time for a random killing. And random killings are what can cause people to become irrationally afraid of statistically unlikely events.


That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French
A woman is having deja vu, on her way to a second honeymoon with her husband. There are secrets between her husband her and herself, and some tension between them on the ride. I liked this one a lot, and might go back and reread, because there was some more to his one, but I can't tell, because that would ruin the ending for you. There were some nice techniques in the writing, and I wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but it was a good ending.


john mutford is hosting Short Story Monday today, and he is getting into the Halloween spirit, reading a spooky story. If you've written a short story post, go on over there and comment and he'll put all the posts together. I'm just about done my Stephen King book - three more stories, and Fragile Things came in the mail last week.