Full Dark, No Stars

This is a short story collection I return to every few years. There are four novellas in this collection, but each of them was delivered directly to my cerebral cortex. I can recall passages from each story. And I can see the locations.

I feel King is at his best when he's twisting his way through novellas and short stories. After reading "1922", it was weeks before I stopped seeing the well. And weeks before, I stopped shaking my head at what Wilfred James did or the grit of Tess in "Big Driver" or the pettiness of Dave Streeter. This… show more.

Full Dark, No Stars is a collection of four novellas dealing with the theme of retribution. One of the stories, "The Big Driver", is about a writer. I won’t give any spoilers but every time I am asked to attend a writing event, I ask myself if I should go. 

This is classic King at its best. Once again, we have a wide range of themes, but King delivers his prose with grace and ease like no other. This collection inspired so many ideas for my own work, it’s hard not to include it. What I love about a good King collection is that you never really know where he’s going to take you on a mind voyage, so it’s always an interesting trip. “Expect the unexpected” has been a big play for my own writing, often epitomized in King’s writing.