You Like It Darker: the Sunday Times number one bestseller (May 2024)

King says in an afterword that he finds short fiction a challenge - but he’s produced a lot of it, and it’s always excellent. You Like It Darker, which refers to a Leonard Cohen song title, is a collection of the weird and macabre. It’s buttressed by two novellas. One is a kind of sequel to Cujo, or at least features the same protagonist. This time the scary animals in question are rattlesnakes. There’s also a long story (Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream) about a man who has a bad dream - which turns out to be real. It’s the jewel in the crown of this creepy catalogue - and could have been a full-length novel. There are also some stories which function more like short, sharp shocks. None of the tales outstays its welcome. The final one - The Answer Man - is excellent. King says it was a fragment stowed away and forgotten about, before its discovery by a family member - who thought it had legs. King duly obliged and wrote it up. Fans will need no persuading to give this a try - but for those who have never tried King before, You Like It Darker might be as good a place as any to start …

Some good stories. Very enjoyable

You Like It Darker is a strong collection that showcases Stephen Kings range.While I enjoyed the collection,it didn't quite hit the same level as some of his earlier work. Not the best, but not the worst either.

Great collection of Stephen King short stories, some of them gloriously twisted.

Even on off days, a bit like Volkswagen, he isnt the best author for every single story or book, but he is consistently good and therefore remains one of my go to authors. I no longer buy his books straight after release and wait a few months for the furore and price to come down. This collection of short stories is a case in point. Not every one is great but they are all readable, I can afford to wait a year and got myself a bargain book. A great writer, easy to read and for those new to his work you have a whole host of classic tales to enjoy from this prolific writer.

I had honestly forgotten what an absolute master this man is. I enjoyed every page of every story. The characters, dialogue and storytelling were all incredibly good. Thank you, Stephen.

Isn’t it great to still have new Stephen King material in 2024? The older I get the more I treasure these new books. Time in our world only travels one way and it’s well along the road for both myself and King. I’ve been reading his books since the late 70s. For much of my life I haven’t been much of a reader. I only really got the bug in the last 6 or 7 years but despite that I still bought and read most of Kimgs releases. There was just something exciting about a new Stephen King book. Like the release of a long awaited film or the release of an epic album. Anyway, Some Like It Darker (Some Like It A Little Dark may have been a more appropriate title) is a collection of short stories. 12 in all. Doesn’t sound many right? Well we have a couple here that are basically novellas so they take up a large chunk of the book, and at the other extreme a couple of 10 pagers! As always with a collection like this there are always going to be hits and misses for everyone and for me there were more hits than misses which made this a welcome addition to the collection. Rather than try to summarise each story I’m just going to score them individually: Two Talented Bastids - 3.5/5 The Fifth Step - 4/5 Willie The Weirdo - 5/5 Danny Coughlins Bad Dream - 5/5 Finn - 3/5 On Slide Inn Road -3/5 Red Screen - 3.5/5 The Turbulence Expert - 4.5/5 Laurie - 5/5 Rattlesnakes- 3.5/5 The Dreamers - 4/5 The Answer Man -5/5

Another great Stephen King novel, a really great read as always.

King has aged like wine. Stories remain with you. A few might be like a passing view..... But couple of real knockers in this collection

Jag har kommit till novell nummer 4 och har gillat varenda en hittills! Han kan än, Kingen! 😊

Livraison ok Etat parfait

Good stories, some of them thought provoking.

I have loved Stephen King’s stories since I saw Carrie as a teenager. This collection of dark matter brings out the goosebumps and makes you look under the bed!