Welcome to Litsy!

I always have such a hard time reviewing story collections, but I‘m getting smarter: this time I rated each story as I finished it and tried to average.

I truly enjoyed every story at least a little. Two of them were legitimately scary/creepy, but all of them were dark (as promised). Cujo characters and Duma Key making an appearance (in the same story!) = very cool, and Danny Coughlin‘s Bad Dream is 5⭐️ perfection all by itself.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

I'm a Stephen King fan so this review is a bit biased. I enjoyed all the stories in this book. Some were more memorable than others but overall I really enjoyed all of them. My favorite was the story titled "Rattlesnakes". Whether you're a fan of King or not, it's a great book of stories.

Definitely not my favorite Stephen King collection but still a soft pick. My favorite stories were Rattlesnakes and The Answer Man. Rattlesnakes was by far the scariest story to me and had that great combo of terror and the supernatural I love. The Answer Man was just plain creepy! The rest were ok but not really all that “dark” to me. Will still read everything he writes 🤣! 🌟🌟🌟

Haven‘t read King in a while, and I was already biased toward this one since I prefer his shorter works to most of his novels. There were two that fell flat for me, but over all, I really enjoyed this. I loved Danny Coughlin‘s Bad Dream, The Turbulence Experts, and Laurie, and the nods to Flannery O‘Connor and Len Deighton - had to go back and reread A Good Man is Hard to Find. The move toward older MCs was nice; write what you know, right?

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Some of the stories have already started to fade in my memory, but some will live forever. Danny Coughlin‘s Bad Dream is hands down my favorite; I couldn‘t put it down, racing to the end to find out what happens. However, I did DNF Rattlesnakes; the grief in that one was too much for me. I haven‘t read Cujo, knowing the end, and this sequel was…sad. I hear if you stick with it, it‘s fantastic and creepy.

Soft pick. Not really SK at his best. Most of the short stories were enjoyable enough, but not memorable. The line editors and/or researchers could have done their jobs better, because there are some glaring mistakes in several stories. That said, the two novellas were solid. One of them (featuring a character from Cujo) really creeped me out. And there were a couple of other stories that might linger for a while.

Library hold came in, so my weekend is made.
Having lived in Florida, I‘m hoping this giant land alligator stays put. 🐊

Great!!!!

Everyone is scattered about today doing their own thing, leaving me to find time to paint and audiobook the newest Stephen King. Clearly I would not be able to paint without my little helper.

In most short story collections, a couple of the stories are great, most are good, and a few are disappointing. Not Uncle Stevie‘s stories! Every single story had me absorbed and racing to get to the ending. I loved all of the stories!

I feel like Leonard Cohen is an artist I could really sink into, but I'm not familiar with his work aside from a handful of songs and the album You Want It Darker, which was released just weeks before his death. I've been listening to it more this year, as I think of it every time I hear about Stephen King's latest. "On the Level" is a brilliant song.

https://youtu.be/M0uq5cgd2So

#tuesdaytunes

I‘ve been waiting for the moment all weekend when I could finally sit down and crack this one open!

Especially liked the longer stories: The Dream and Rattlesnakes

Thanks for pushing me, without pushing me @Oryx @TrishB @scripturient

#52bookclub24SummerReadingList
#Longjump

It's been awhile since I have read Stephen King. I love that this is a book of his short stories. My love of reading started with Stephen King!!

For me no one does short stories like Stephen King. This collection is so good. Some stories are almost novellas. Danny Coughlins bad dream is superb and the Jalbert/Javert cop so sinister. The answer man, 😢 I‘m driving fast past any stands with red umbrellas on the roadside from now on. I flew through these so fast that I will go back and re read some again. Nice nod to Leonard Cohen in the title. Thank you from a Constant reader ❤️

These stories explore the idea of "darkness" in all the forms it comes. While all of the stores resonated with me, "Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream" is a story that had me completely engrossed. The joy of this collection is its ability to dance from genre to genre with a similar thread through each story, putting King's nuance as a writer on full display. I've grown up on his writing, and as I approach my 50's, his books continue to affect me.

Managed to find a purple slipcase set of both the WHS & Waterstones editions ☺️

Just waiting on the Independent Booksellers & US editions to arrive

Out of 12 short stories only 2 were like 'O kayyyyyy and?' My favorites: Two Talented Bastids, and The Answer Man
I enjoyed the rest, but for some reason I did not find myself compelled to pick up this book. Haven't felt that way about SK since Fairy Tale 😕

33/62

Constant reader over here

GASP!!! at the end of chapter 51 (the Danny story) there's Ella letting out a breath she wasn't aware of holding!

Mr King, I choked on my morning tea! 😂😂😂

@Oryx @TrishB @scripturient
#Gladstonerds

Rusty is already demonstrating that he's a Stephen King fan! 😻💕📚 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #rusty

Woke up @ 2.30. Reading some of the short stories saved the night. Now, the next evening, reading - The dreamers - Hope this story doesn‘t come back to haunt me tonight. Picture is related to the story. Love the book!

Short stories are never my favourite, but somehow King‘s are different. A great collection, some excellent, some ok, some creepy.
I would have loved an 800 page novel but these will do for now 😁

I just finished. All in all, it was a really good book of stories. Some (Danny Coughlin‘s Dream and Rattlesnakes) were really good. The rest were good with a couple that were just meh.

I folded under the peer pressure, twice actually.

1) @TrishB, @Oryx and @scripturient were all reading the tagged book yesterday and so I got the audiobook

2) the feline highnesses decided the night's up at 4:31 a.m. I got up at 5:30, have been tinkering around the flat (🧺🪣🚮) and am sitting in the early morning sunshine listening to the #audiobook

"My father--my *famous* father--died in 2023, at the age of ninety."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I love book mail!

Taking a break from Shakespeare to read my new King book. I‘ve been anxiously awaiting this book since November. #constantreader

Not to sound hyperbolic, but I genuinely felt You Like It Darker was King's best collection of short stories in a very long while. All twelve were memorable, and kept me turning pages in a burning desire to seek resolution, but the clear standouts were Two Talented Bastids, Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream, On Slide Inn Road, The Turbulence Expert, Laurie, Rattlesnakes, The Dreamers, and The Answer Man. 5/5

SEE?! It's not just me! Rumpel is also super hyped for Stephen King's new book too! 😹💕📚 #catsoflitsy #rumpel

HAPPY PUB DAY TO STEPHEN KING'S NEW BOOK! 🥳🎉🎉🎉 This just arrived and I absolutely cannot wait to start reading it! Short stories are normally not my favorite form of literature, but King really excels at this form and I love so many of his short stories and novellas! Also, do you like the bracelets I made for the occasion? I TOTALLY love Stephen King a normal amount! 🤭

Yes!!

Happy Publication Day!
#stephenking

The new King comes out tomorrow. The first story collection since “Bazaar of Bad Dreams“ in 2015. This constant reader hasn't bought a King since “Billy Summers“ due to backlog; however I will def be buying this. I have been reading a lot of story collections this year & a new King collection sounds right up my alley. Also, as I have posted previously it was through adaptations of works in “Night Shift“ that I fell in love with King.

It's like I knew the new Stephen King book would arrive at work today & planned accordingly. Don't mind me. I will be in the basement "covering" the new books ??

Tuesday the 21st seems to be big pub day. Here's what I'll be adding to my library's collection next week.

Worked up a sweat moving my entire SK Collection to decorate. Would have taken half the time if I hadn't stopped and flicked through every one bringing back memories of how I acquired each one (and dusted them).

It‘s a good day when you see there is a NEW BOOK BY STEPHEN KING coming out in May. 🥳👏🏻📚🎉

Shelfie No.2

Shelfie No.1
I have officially run out of shelf space for my SK Collection.

Still need to get My Pretty Pony, Little Sisters Of Eluria and the forthcoming You like It Darker