A post for other paraskavedekatriaphiles

Everything's Eventual
Stephen King

I love when Friday the 13th comes around. I guess that makes me a paraskavedekatriaphile. In theory. You'd think that the day (or at least the night) would feature lots of Friday-the-13th-type movies. You think they'd at least play Friday the 13th, Part I, but in recent memory they haven't played a single scary movie in the past few Friday the 13ths. It's really annoying.

I have EIGHT HUNDRED channels and yet I STILL cannot find a single good movie on Friday the 13th.

So let's read instead. I thought a little Stephen King in honor of Friday the 13th might be nice.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Now I have an admission: I'm a King fan who doesn't often read his books. I read the Dark Tower books, which I loved. But for some reason I haven't read much of his other stuff, whether because I've already seen the movie, or because it didn't get a good review, or simply because I'm too busy reading other stuff. Everything's Eventual, however, has been brought to my attention because of the success of 1408, a movie I haven't seen and probably won't see for at least a year despite my furious desire to see it.

Why? I rarely go to the movies. I can't be penned in such a small space with so many strangers. I just can't do it. For this reason, I've been to a movie theater three times in as many years, to see The Village, 300, and most recently, Transformers (which I didn't even see the end of; I had to leave just before the big showdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron. Long story.)

gee, I wonder who won?

Since I've obviously used up my yearly theater quota, it's clear I won't be seeing 1408 any time soon. Better get the book.

Everything's Eventual has been slammed on Amazon, and I'm not quite sure why. No one buys Stephen King expecting Shakespeare. And while it's true that not all of the stories in the collection are awesome, there is enough for anyone who enjoys a spooky tale to enjoy.

First, let me clarify that most of these stories have appeared in one form or another before (another gripe on Amazon was that these stories were not "new" to readers). Consider yourselves warned if this is a problem for you. For example "Riding the Bullet" was previously published as an e-book and a few stories were previously published in The New Yorker (unfortunately not during my tenure as a subscriber). These stories were new to me, so I'm a happy duck as far as that goes.

To briefly recap a few of the 14 stories contained herein: "The Little Sisters of Eluria" returns to the adventures of The Dark Tower's Roland Deschain and explains another bit of the history of this character (although you can enjoy the story without being a DT fan). "Autopsy Room Four" recounts one man's terrifying experience of being dead to the world, even though he is most certainly still alive. "All that You Love will be Carried Away" is the story of a man planning to commit suicide. As most people know, "1408" is a story about a haunted hotel room. Sure, he already wrote The Shining; does that diminish the quality of the story?

Many people seem to think so, as the most common problem Amazon reviewers had with these stories is that they were not original. That may be true, but I'll say again: no one expects Shakespeare from King, they expect a good story, and a good story is exactly what King delivers here. There are only so many stories under the sun; repetition is bound to occur. Thankfully, there are clear differences between similar works like The Shining and "1408," and fans of chilling stories should find plenty to like here.

In a nutshell: Not King's best work, sure, but an enjoyable read nonetheless. Not all the stories deliver chills, but most will definitely entertain you one way or another.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4.5 out of 6 stars