Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

Book:  Full Dark, No Stars 

Author:  Stephen King 

Grade:  A- 

Recommended To:  All SK fans, plus everyone else. 

I love Stephen King.  I've read nearly everything that he's ever written with the exception of that crazy Dark Tower series that took too long to come out.  I even ordered one of his banned books from the UK just so I could have it in my collection.  (It is called Rage, and it isn't exactly banned, just not printed anymore because it is about a school shooting that has perverse similarities to Columbine, but was released prior to the shooting.)

SK is at his peak when he writes about people in everyday situations that become hairy.   For a bit, he dabbled in psychological horror (Duma Key, Lisey's Story, Dreamcatcher) which I found unappealing and difficult to grasp.  Now it seems that it is back to basics and King is doing what he does best.  This happened with his 2010 book Under the Dome and he did it again with Full Dark, No Stars.  

This is a book of 4 short stories that are on-the-edge-of-your-seat horror.  In one, a husband and son kill the wife and their lives unravel into crime and a schizophrenic break.  In another, the hardest to read in my opinion, a female writer is raped and left for dead, but then seeks revenge.  He ends the book with a story about a wife who discovers that her husband is a serial killer.   I recommend that these stories be digested slowly, one at a time, otherwise it is nearly overwhelming.

King is excellent at assaulting you with situations that could perversely happen in your own life and leaving you thinking about these stories for days and weeks to come.  I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a Stephen King fan or to anyone who wants a creep-tastic evening.

I don't have much negative to say about this work, and I would probably have give it an A if those weren't so hard to come by.  Pick up this book - it will not disappoint.

Happy (or horror?) Reading