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.

If you are interested in my ongoing project with #BrianKeeneRevisited, you can check out that Master List as well.

Gwendy’s Final Task is the final book in the Gwendy trilogy cowritten by Stphen King and Richard Chizmar.

I have a strong and longstanding bias against Stephen King collaborations. I have to mentally set that aside when taking up such a book. Upon revisited Gwendy’s Button Box, I liked the story better the second time around.

When Richard Chizmar came out with a sequel and King opted not to participate in writing it, I thought, oh good, I’m off the hook here. King wrote the introduction to the second book, but that was it. I figured that was the end for Gwendy and Richard as part of my #StephenKingRevisited effort.

I finished off Billy Summers in 2021 and I was finally completely caught up with Stephen King’s catalog. Fairy Tale was announced for September of 2022 and I was looking forward to that being my next read from King. Then, the third Gwendy book came out and King had participated in the writing again. I was back on the hook and had to read book two before starting on this one. I was already going with my #BrianKeeneRevisited reading and now had to make time for two more installments of Gwendy and the posts for the third book.

So, I’m not as excited going into this read as I often am for a Stephen King offering. I’m carrying a lot of baggage that’s no real fault of the book. Even when I would count a Stephen King book near the bottom of his catalog, I still tend to enjoy it ultimately. That is mostly what I expect to happen here as we end Gwendy’s story.

So, shedding my prejudices and opening my mind as much as I can from the flawed place I occupy, let’s join Gwendy one more time for her final task.

My next post in this series will be After Gwendy’s Final Task found 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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