Rating: 
Summary: Every one a chiller
Review: King's first collection of short stories since 1993 ("Nightmares and Dreamscapes") shows the horror master still at the top of his game. There isn't a dud in the bunch. King chose the order of the stories by shuffling all the spades in a deck of cards plus the joker; and the serendipitous result, he says, created a nice balance between "the literary stories and the all-out screamers." But these stories are already a nice balance in themselves: eerie and spare, chilling and vivid, full of strong voices and real characters getting a jolt of terror out of an ordinary day.Like the horror writer in "The Road Virus Heads North," who stops off at a yard sale on his way home. Or the divorcing couple who get the true measure of one another in a bloody encounter with a maitre d' in "Lunch at the Gotham Café." Or the woman in the acidulous marriage whose sense of déjà vu keeps getting sickeningly stronger on her second honeymoon in "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French." An O.Henry prize winner (and one of King's least favorite stories), first published in "The New Yorker," reveals the roots of an old man's fear in a boyhood encounter with the devil on an idyllic stretch of trout stream in rural Maine. Another "New Yorker" story, "All That You Love Will Be Carried Away," is a poignant, haunting tale of a lonely traveling salesman whose graffiti collection engenders a life or death dilemma. The story King says is his favorite, because of its unexpected shift from humor to horror, "L.T.'s Theory of Pets," turns on a gruesome twist at the end, which didn't stick with me half so much as the chilling aftermath of a choice forced on a college kid during his hitchhiking encounter with Death in "Riding the Bullet," first made famous as an e-book. In a Dark Tower story, "The Little Sisters of Eluria," prequel to King's seven-volume (book five, now completed, is 900 pages) "magnum opus," Roland is attacked by green mutants and wakes in a gleaming hospital tent staffed by "nurses of death instead of life." Teeming with romance, adventure, horror and heroics, this story has a literally creepy ending. The title story, "Everything's Eventual" features a naïve young high school drop-out with a certain talent but no clear ambition, who discovers his dream job is a nightmare. Though the stories are in a randomly chosen order, "Autopsy Room Four" is the ideal opener, a pitch-perfect blend of black humor and visceral horror told by a golfer who wakes up on an autopsy table. Inspired by a "Twilight Zone" episode, King gives it a thoroughly up-to-date twist. The poignantly low-key "Luckey," about a motel chambermaid who receives a "luckey" quarter as a tip, is an appropriate closer too. Gritty, but plaintive too, the story holds a hopeful note. Most stories are told in the first person and King's narrators - young, old or middle-aged - seem to speak right into your ear, so immediate and expressive are their voices. They are, mostly, ordinary people whose ordinary lives take a heart-stopping turn. There are also a couple of successful horror writers and a few motel rooms, including the haunted one, room "1408." King accompanies each story with a short note about its inspiration and development, and sometimes a few words about how the writing went and what he thinks of the story now. An introduction laments the lack of outlets for the short story form and shares a few of his marketing ventures. Short stories, says King, do not come easy. His are pared down and cut close to plot, character and setting, with each of these elements honed and none of the manic digressions you sometimes find in his novels. A terrific collection, imagination harnessed.
Rating:
Summary: Everything's Comin' Up Roses
Review: Stephen King just gets better and better. His fourteen short stories highlight his mastery of a difficult form of writing. I particularly liked his down home remarks at the beginning or end of each story explaining a little about how he happened to write it and what he was trying to achieve. King has the uncanny ability to talk directly to the reader, one-on-one as if you are the only person in the world. The stories have been previously published (I had read the four that first appeared in "The New Yorker"), but I was delighted to have them in book form and reread them with great pleasure. For all you Dark Tower fans, there is an excellent addition, "The Little Sisters of Eluria." Not one of the fourteen stories disappointed me; they were varied: humorous, reflective, and scary. If you think the Old Master might have lost his touch at scaring you sideways, try "The Road Virus Heads North." Some particular favorites: the title piece "Everything's Eventual" told by an oh-so-believable teenaged boy made this sinister tale poignant as well as inevitable. King saw a handsome couple arguing in a fancy New York restaurant and somehow came up with "Lunch at the Gotham Café" (see cover of book for illustration. Be sure to check the back cover as well!). I'll let SK tell you about the whys of "In the Deathroom." "This is a slightly Kafkaesque story about an interrogation room in the South American version of Hell. In such stories, the fellow being interrogated usually ends up spilling everything and then being killed (or losing his mind). I wanted to write one with a happier ending, however unreal that might be. And here it is." But we know in our hearts that it isn't going to be that "happy," don't we? "Everything's Eventual" is an unqualified blue ribbon group of short stories. I predict new King fans on the horizon
Rating:
Summary: Still the Master Storyteller
Review: It was a real pleasure to read a book that reinforced all of the things that I like about Stephen King's writing. King's aim is, first and foremost, to entertain his reader, to engage him, to reach out from the page and take hold of him. This seems like something that every writer would want to do, but how true is that really? It seems like most writers want to create something that is either "good" or "successful," those being code words for "literary" and "bestseller," respectively. Which writers, however, tell you again and again that they wish most of all to entertain? Few, if any, besides Stephen King have this aim. Read the introduction to Everything's Eventual or any of On Writing or the various non-fiction pieces he has written over the years and you will see that this is true. King entertains by pulling his reader in, by talking to him from the page. If King is really rolling, as you are reading you will feel as though you are being addressed by him. The short story, with its tight structure and limited length, proves to be especially potent when combined with King's desire to take you in. He leads you one way, then another. He steps over the line and gives you gore, but only because it is absolutely necessary, and when you finish a story you feel like you've been for a ride; it's a giddy feeling. And in this book you get it 14 times. I've also always enjoyed King's rapport with his readers. He is not aloof about his writing, and telling his readers about his writing seems as enjoyable to him as writing the books themselves. In Everything's Eventual each story is either preceded or followed by a page explaining how the story came to be. There is no coyness about such things; just as there is no coyness in King's fiction. These stories speak for themselves, they are about what they are about, so what's wrong with a little background info? In fact, I think King recognizes that it is normal for readers to be curious about such things, and, not caring what a critic might think of such a move, he chooses, as he usually does, to indulge his readers. Why, does he bother doing this... any of this? I think it is because he is a born writer who happens to derive joy from a pastime that most people, including many of the most praised writers who ever walked the earth, find lonely and torturous. I love reading Stephen King because, in his typically insidious way, when I read his books it makes me wish that all of my reading were that fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Praise from a non-fan
Review: I've grown disaffected with Stephen King in recent years. While a fan of his early work like <i>Carrie</i> and <i>The Shining,</i> I felt that he gradually lost touch with the essence of his craft as his books swelled beyond all reason into foot-thick carnival funhouses where every page revealed a new, cheesy twist jumping out at the reader. I don't think I've truly enjoyed one of his novels since <i>Pet Cemetary,</i> and I stopped buying them years ago. But I must admit that <i>Everything's Eventual</i> seems to be a return to his original form. I haven't read every story yet, but tales such as "Autopsy Room Four" and "Everything's Eventual" are good reads. And in "1408" King did something I didn't think him capable of any more-he scared me, to the point that I was jumping at shadows after reading it. Mind you, as a fan since childhood of writers like Bierce, Poe, Chambers, Lovecraft, and Barker, I am Not Easily Spooked. If you enjoy tales of horror, I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Another great collection
Review: Stephen Kings short stories never seem to amaze me. Sometimes it almost seems like he's trying to teach some sort of life lesson through the story (Riding the Bullet) other times he's just trying to scare the hell out of you (Autopsy Room Four) not to mention just to hack and slash his way to glory (Lunch at Gotham). These elements are what make his novels great but shown separately in his short stories they really show that Mr. King is an extremely diverse and multi-faceted author.
Rating:
Summary: Is there another?
Review: I'm not a big fan of Stephen King or horror books, but this one really changed my mind. I went to the bookstore and thought of my hate for horrors. then I thought to tip the scale. add a horror to my archive. Should I say more. Yes i should.I don't know why but the 5th is my favorite. Exeptional value and worth every minute of your reading time. get it. get it. get it.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing.
Review: I've read several books by King over the years, and I've always been most fond of his short story collections (Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Skeleton Crew). I'd just read From a Buick 8, as you can imagine I wasn't too impressed with it, but I picked up EE in the hope that even if his recent full length novels were dull, maybe his short stories still had that "spark". Not the case, unfortunately. I had a bad feeling in my gut after the first story; Autopsy Room Four. It did not make as much of an impact as I thought it would, it was the typical "buried alive" business with a quick fix, happy ending. Yawn.
The closest I came to enjoying this book was with "The Man in the Black Suit", this left me with an overall "creeped out" feeling, but only to the level of the most mediocre stories in either N&D or Skeleton Crew. I found that most of these stories just do not go anywhere, they aren't what you would call horror, the subject matter is mildly disturbing at most. Perhaps if you hadn't of read King's earlier work, you may find this book a great scarefest. However, if you can compare it to his older stuff, you'll find there's no contest.
Rating:
Summary: Frighteningly Fun to Read
Review: Stephen King's "Everything's Eventual" is a must-have for any King fan. It features shorts you won't find anywhere else as well as some that were featured in other hard to find editions. There is something for everyone in this compilation. "Little Sisters of Eluria" will delight the Dark Tower fan as we learn a little about Roland on his quest for the Dark Tower. If you haven't read anything of this series, this is a good starting point. "L.T.'s Theory of Pets" is a somewhat humorous thriller, in a disgusting King way. "1408" really made me feel ill right along with the main character as he investigates the strange happenings in a hotel room where everything seems to add to 13. "Autopsy Room Four" is my personal favorite because of the real psychological fear involved, written from the viewpoint of someone about to be cut into for an autopsy, while still alive! This award winning compilation ("The Man in the Black Suit" won King an O. Henry award and two other stories have received other awards) is sure to please even the most critical horror reader.
Rating:
Summary: Everything a Winner
Review: Book is misnamed. Should be Everything a Winner! That's King and this is one of his best. If you're a short story fan, this is not one to miss. King, once again, packs a wallop in every ending. You won't be able to put it down!
Rating:
Summary: A Few Stinkers, But The Rest Make Up For Them
Review: This is a must-read for all horror buffs. "1408" is the best, I read it at 2 am, and let me just say, IT FREAKED ME OUT. It is about a writer who visits different "haunted places" and spends the night in them, and then writes about it. 1408 (add the digits and you get, 13)refers to the hotel room number of a seriously haunted room. The way he describes...well, just trust me, it is like the Stephen King of old (before he got paid per word). Some other great ones include, "The Road Virus Heads North", "That saying that you can only say in French", "lunch at Gotham cafe", "Autopsy room 4" and "Everythings Eventual." Also, the introduction he gives is interesting as he goes into the art of writing a short story and his opinion of the current state of short stories in general. Also it is noteworthy to know that there is a Dark Tower tie-in (the sisters of euluria). There are a couple of duds (Lucky Quarter and Riding The Bullet), but it does not matter, as the ones I mentioned earlier totally make up for the stinkers.
|
