Rating: 
Summary: The Master returns
Review: This, as far as I'm concerned, is the first frightening bit of horror Mr. King has released in quite some time. And it rocks. The first story petered out like ZZ Top song with no substative ending, but beyond that, this collection thumps. I don't scare easily, but the story 1408 had me doing sanity checks for the next two days. I don't know if I'll ever stay in an old hotel again. The exposition leading to the horror is unparalleled. The horror itself NEVER lets you go. The falling action, as it turns out, is just a little more horror, toned down to allow our pulses to normalize. The last story is just a bit of flavor and a good yarn like the first, but unlike the first, it feels more complete. But, my God, the second tale, 1408, must be heard to be believed. Listen to it in the dark, alone, at night, preferably in an old hotel room.
Rating: 
Summary: Where There's Smoke...
Review: I had never listened to an audio book in my life. In fact, I had done everything I could to avoid them. Friends and family recommended this one or that, but I politely avoided each one thinking to myself that this fad was heralding the death of the printed word. I probably would never have listened to one, but my favorite author made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Stephen King's new release, Blood and Smoke, is only available on audio.Blood and Smoke is a collection of three stories (two never before published) with a common thread of smoking binding them together. The first story, "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe," is a story of addiction and withdrawal, as a man tries to quit smoking on the same day that his wife leaves him. In "1408," a writer who chronicles "haunted" places visits a supposedly haunted hotel room, unable to imagine that there are some things more frightening than ghosts. The last story, "In the Deathroom," follows an American journalist who is being interrogated in a South American prison, where a cigarette may be his last request or his salvation. Each story in Blood and Smoke wonderfully showcases King's ability to write. From the everyday to the surreal, the descriptions he uses create a world in the listener's mind that eliminates the need for video. King could have made a fortune writing for old time radio theater. While "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" and "In the Deathroom" are interesting in their own way, neither is particularly frightening. "1408," however, offers bone-chilling storytelling combined with King's personal brand of the unreal. I listened to this story, the longest of the three, late one Saturday night, unaware how unnerving it would be. King doesn't make it scary from the beginning, but first lets the listener drop his/her guard before delivering the punch. It's a wonderfully eerie story and highly recommended. Several years ago, King lectured at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. It was a perfect night for him. The rainy October night had set a spooky mood, and fans of King filled the hall to hear him speak about his latest release (Insomnia) and read excerpts from it. From that experience, I came to the conclusion that an author's voice can lend something special to his/her words. Hearing King read Blood and Smoke is like having him in your living room, sharing a tale with you in front of a roaring fire. There's just you and him. His Maine-accented voice comes out of your stereo speakers and sucks you into his imagination. It's not always scary, but it is entertaining. Yet, there is something confining about an audio book. Unless you have a portable CD (or cassette) player, you can't take it with you. You can't pull it out of your backpack while you wait for an appointment or sit in your favorite coffee shop with a caffinated beverage. Worst of all, on a CD you can't bookmark your place and come back to it later. All in all, I'll stick with the printed word, but Blood and Smoke is a nice treat for any Stephen King fan.
Rating:
Summary: Yet another great book from Stephen King.
Review: I listened to this book during a 500 mile drive and it made the time fly by. I was so into the book I forgot all about the drive. Each story is excellent, very scary and like other reviewers I found "1408" a lot like "The Shining". "Lunch in the Gotham Cafe" will have you thinking "Gee! Gee!" in bed at night. Stephen King does an outstanding job at narrating. LISTEN TO THIS BOOK, You'll love it!
Rating:
Summary: Another clever release from the King!
Review: Stephen King scores again with this audio-only collection of three short stories. Cigarettes and the act of smoking are recurring themes in each story, and the tapes are packaged in a box that resembles a flip-top pack of Marlboros. In the first story, "Lunch At The Gotham Cafe", heavy smoker Steve Davis agrees to meet his wife and her lawyer for lunch at a trendy Manhattan restaurant to negotiate mutually acceptable terms of divorce. Of course, this is a Stephen King story, which means that the maitre d' is a homicidal maniac with an axe to grind and a knife to wield! Fans of The Shining will especially enjoy the second story, "1402", where a writer who specializes in Weekly World News-type nonfiction books on the paranormal comes to a famous hotel to investigate the claim that Room 1402 is possessed by an evil force. Finishing off the pack (no pun intended) is "In The Death Room", a non-supernatural horror tale about an American reporter trapped in an interrogation room in an unnamed Central American country. Our hero is suspected to have knowledge (which he does) of an upcoming Communist coup against the country's fascist dictatorship, and the authorities are ready and willing to use the most horrific methods of torture available to extract the information. Does he sell out, does he escape, or is he executed? You'll just have to listen! Hail to the King!
Rating:
Summary: Great Surprise
Review: I found this on accident, while looking for what to spend a newly gotten gift certificate on. King has always been my favorite author and i was surprised that something of his was released without my being aware--i'm even on the mailing list for christ's sake! So, of course, i grabbed it as fast as i saw it, and, boy is it good! "Gotham Cafe," which i'd read in the Bad Love collection, is a great horror story, as is the next story "1408." What with his newer releases all more general fiction than horror, it's nice to see he'll never lose his guiginol touch. The last story is, of course, a remarkable character-driven story, and one which will hopefully reach a larger audience if placed in print. Either way, though, this collection is just as addicting as any pack of Marlboros, and even moreso recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Three shorts from the King
Review: "Blood and Smoke" is three unconnected short stories with a pack of Marlboros as a major plot point to each tale. Although not as engrossing or satisfying as his full-length novels, "Blood and Smoke" is definitely entertaining. The best thing about the short tales is the variety of horror contained within. "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" is a darkly humorous, offbeat horror story revolving around a man (written from 1st person point of view) simultaneously struggling with divorce and quitting smoking. As if that wasn't bad enough, he finds himself at the Gotham Cafe having lunch with his wife, her lawyer, missing his own lawyer, and being confronted by the maitre-d from hell. This story was my personal favorite. "1408" is a classic sort of horror story, good but my least favorite of the bunch. It is about a skeptical ghost-story writer who writes about the nights he spends in various so-called haunted sites. He is about to face the real thing for the very first time. The basic plot of "1408" is very cliché (writer spending the night in a haunted hotel room), but King manages to bring it to life with an interesting opening conversation and an unexpected lack of subtlety in the room itself. "The Death Room" could be classified as part political thriller, although the modernized horror is the real focus. The main character is a reporter from New York, now in some unnamed South American country, being interrogated by the government about his knowledge of a rebel faction. It is clear from the beginning that there is no chance the reporter will leave the room alive without a lot of luck and perhaps a cigarette. King's characters really come alive in this tale with some of his best character descriptions ever. One last note - Stephen King the reader is not as talented as Stephen King the writer, but he does a decent job (better than other works I've heard read by the author). He sounds a little self-conscious in the beginning of Gotham Cafe, but loosens up toward the end and gives the characters clearly recognizable voices.
Rating:
Summary: 1408
Review: There is no doubt that Stephen King is a master of horror, and to hear him read his tales is more than satisfying. But the reason every King fan should own this audiobook is for the truly terrifying reading of what is possibly King's scariest short: "1408."
I'm a seasoned King reader (I've read everything he's written except the "Dark Tower" series). When I read "1408," I spent fifteen minutes scaring into space and collecting my wits. When I listened to King read it, I shook in my bed. King's controlled voice bends and shifts as he rasps the terrifying words that come from the telephone, as he methodically describes the wrongness of the room. It is a masterpiece.
Buy this. Just don't listen to it in the dark.
Rating:
Summary: Stephen King smokes it up!
Review: King's Blood & Smoke is an ASTONISHING audio!
©March 9, 2003
Reviewed by Brutal Dreamer I've always wanted to hear Stephen King read, to hear him speak his nightmarish tales to me. I believe the King knows exactly how the tone, scene, and mood of the story fits in and can he captured it precisely. I personally *LOVE* King's voice and his natural reading skills and controlled voice. I enjoyed the 3 1/2 hours of listening to him read each story. The stories are SENSATIONALLY packaged together in puffs of tasty smoke sticks. There are three, each one involving smoking, henceforth: Blood and Smoke. Critics try convincing you, the fans, that audio is not something ones listen to anymore. I beg to differ. I find myself happily listening to audio every chance I get. Ones want to believe: if you don't have time to read the books then you won't give your full attention to the audio. I again differ on this opinion. I read an astronomical amount of books and spend at least an hour a day just on recreational reading (not including my job as 'reviewer' or reading of fellow author's books). I enjoy listening to stories being read while I straighten my desk, wash dishes, or even take a break and relax. And it is an honor to hear King sit right by me, as I snuggle up to him, and await his voice to explode and tell me his horrors so beautifully. "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe," is an extremely fabulous story. It is a very busy story; the climax is filled with a massive amount of activity. When Steve Davis arrives home his wife has flew the coup. Steve has just stopped smoking, and when his soon-to-be ex-wife's lawyer sets up a luncheon at the Gotham Cafe to discuss the details of the divorce. What's that spot on the maitre'd's jacket? Looks like blood. What a perfect time to quit smoking, eh? Is he feeling withdrawals? This is definitely King at his most horrific: Insanity running amok. "1408," This is my favorite of by far. Ghost stories will always get my attention. Especially, if they are doused with a lot of dialogue. Mike Enslin is a "ghostwriter" of sorts. He writes non-fic stories about ghosts. Although, he is skeptical and isn't a firm believer in ghosts himself, he enters the prestigious Dolphin Hotel. The hotel hasn't been used in twenty years, he stayed in the room 1408. Doing the math he has to admit the oddity of it all, the ironic number thirteen, and he stays on the fourteenth, oh, I mean, the thirteenth floor. What is odd about three lopsided pictures? Still life? There was something shocking about the image as well as how Mike didn't 'record' the instance on the tape. Mike has to get a hold of himself, he didn't believe he was being haunted but he worried he was being hypnotized by the hotel manager, Mr. Olan. Ashtray on the desk, book of matches with the Hotel Dolphin on the front of it. King's reading kept the story menacing, with insipid scenes he kept the listener in chills. The scene with the bloody woman and her wicked toothy smile, was captured through King's assured voice. If you want another truly heart thumper scene: the telephone call. (worse than listening to Wheel of Fortune) King's voice during this phone scene was almost too spooky. As he reads about the 'voice' pouring out of the room, its hungry voice. King has a fever for haunted hotels. 1408 certainly ranks up there with his "The Shining" novel. "In the Deathroom," Fletcher is an American reporter held in the "deathroom" a torture chamber in the South America. Fletcher, is offered a cigarette repeatedly. The room is definitely a 'deathroom' and Fletcher knew its gray atmosphere spoke many deathly tales. He felt his immediate death approaching and he desperately conceives of a plan that will free him, rather in death or freedom, one or the same to him at this point. His only hope is that final drag on a cigarette, one last cigarette, please. I was shocked these tales didn't take place in Maine (Castle Rock or Dury) but they took place in New York City. "In the Deathroom" reminds me a lot of one of my favorite tales of King's: Gerald's Game and even Misery, due to the fact, torture was inflicted in a particular room. The theme of SMOKE AND BLOOD is just that. Dealing with smoking with horror and gore bloody scenes. Stephen King is not only a writer but the true storyteller. Within his voice through the tells, you will be convinced that you see that cold gray floor in the deathroom. His acting shines through most in "The Deathroom" he is definitely putting himself and all he knows into that tale. In each tale: Fletcher, Mike, and Steve are transformed, and all linked together due to their habit of smoking, or their taste for it. He is the King of grotesque in Gotham Cafe, King of eerie in the ghostly room 1408, and King of fear in the "deathroom" --Stephen King is just that KING!
Rating:
Summary: Collection
Review: I have bought every thing that has come out by King. I have his work in all forms but I like the CD's. I can work around the house or just sit back and listen to them. I hope that the books that are not on CD will come out in them.
Rating:
Summary: Stories are good, but . . .
Review: Blood and Smoke is an audio collection of three Stephen King short stories. All three are great. Lunch at the Gotham Cafe concerns the events than transpire when a divorcing couple meet at a restaurant where the Maitre'D isn't quite dealing with a full deck. It's a good but not great story. The Deathroom is a claustrophobic and probably improbable tale of a journalist taken in for questioning by a third world government. 1408 is the real prize on this collection -- a chilling tale of a haunted hotel room that cost me several hours of sleep. BUT. But. All three stories are now available in written form in the collection Everything's Eventual. You do not have to buy this audio tape if you plan to buy that book -- that is unless you have a yen to hear King read his stories (and do a fairly good job of it).
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