The plan is to reread all of Stephen King’s works in the order that they were published. Richard Chizmar of Cemetery Dance had the vision. I’m doing it because I am a writer and I want to improve my fiction. And I love Stephen King’s stories. I think there is something to be learned through this process.

You can also go back to the beginning and read Before Carrie or any of my other posts up through this one and beyond by checking out this link to the Master List of all my #StephenKingRevisited posts.

Another release in 2018, Elevation is dedicated as “Thinking of Richard Matheson.” It is weird to read a short Stephen King book.

We appear to be walking into a doctor’s office for a second opinion, but it turns out to be the retired doctor’s house and it will be the only opinion, for what it’s worth.

“Except for the clothes thing.” Good mystery teasing, but these details are included in the sales copy. We’re catching up with the story and to the point where the back cover copy took us.

Strong hints of Thinner in the plot premise the character faces. This story is arguably better than Thinner.

“13 is the age of tasteless gifts” is a great line.

We get mentions of the King universe tabloid Inside View, Night Flier, and The Slenderman again. Castle Rock and its population are described as Trumpian in nature. A local band renames itself “Pennywise and the Clowns.”

A man tries to do right by a same sex couple having trouble in this infamous town in very ordinary ways.

This appears to be an allegory for dying. Sort of an unhappy ending reinterpreted as a happy one. I’m curious if Stephen King might do more divergent type books like this one in the future.

My next post in this series will be Before The Institute which will be linked on the Master List of all my Stephen King Revisited posts.

Jay Wilburn

Jay Wilburn has a Masters Degree in Education that goes mostly unused since he quit teaching to write about zombies. Jay writes horror because he tends to find the light by facing down the darkness. His is doing well following a life saving kidney transplant. Jay is the author of Maidens of Zombie Kingdom a young adult fantasy trilogy, Lake Scatter Wood Tales adventure books for elementary and middle school readers, Vampire Christ a trilogy of political and religious satire, and The Dead Song Legend. He cowrote The Enemy Held Near, Yard Full of Bones, and The Hidden Truth with Armand Rosamilia. You can also find Jay's work in Best Horror of the Year volume 5. He is a staff writer with Dark Moon Digest, LitReactor, and the Still Water Bay series with Crystal Lake Publishing.

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