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.

I’m rooting for Fairy Tale by Stephen King to be great. I preordered it on January 24^th of this year and received it the day I sat down to write this Before post here at the beginning of September. As with any book, I’ve seen some mixed reviews out of the early press on it. I’m pretty forgiving when it comes to a Stephen King book though, I think. Once you are attuned to an author’s voice, I think that tends to happen. At least for me it does.

From what I know about the plot, he is running the risk of repeating himself a little, at least in premise. The boy helping out the old man and finding more than he bargained for is a well King has dipped into a few times. Apt Pupil is one notable example. Mr. Harrington’s Phone is another recent use of the premise. If he’s going there a third time, it will need to diverge enough in the set-up to prove itself to be something different.

I know to look for the shed out back as the place of magic in this story too. That will give me something to focus on in the set up.

The idea of the other world where this kid might eventually go in the vein of Narnia, replacing a wardrobe with a shed, calls back for me the short story “Cookie Jar”. In that tale, which was first released for free online and then later in a formal collection, we get a glimpse of a fantasy world from high above. Something terrible happens down in there, but we don’t get the full story. Maybe this is the extension of that. If I had to guess, I’d think we are more likely to visit that Stephen King world than to get another visit to the world of the Dark Tower itself again.

I also think of what I consider to be King’s best book 11/22/63, wherein we begin with a lovely setup and then find a tucked away doorway into another time.

I am looking forward to reading this book, and as I said, I have high hopes. I’m not sure if this will be categorized as a horror tale in the end. We’ll have to see what King’s version of fantasy is at this stage of his life and career for this particular tale.

Let’s see if we can pick the lock on this shed and find what other worlds than these might be hidden inside.

My next post in this series will be After Fairy Tale found on the Master List of all my Stephen King Revisited posts. You might also be interested in my Brian Keene Revisited series found on the Master List of his books.

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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