by Augustus Rodriguez, Lampoon Editor

Stephen King’s newest book combines all types of horror with many short stories.

Stephen King is a famous horror author with him writing classic horror novels like Carrie, The Shining and IT. 

Now Stephen King’s newest book, You Like It Darker, has left readers with horrors they haven’t read before in a Stephen King story. 

The newest book is a treat to Stephen King fans, as all of these short stories come from scrapped ideas from throughout his whole career. 

The story consists of twelve unique short stories: “Two Talented Bastids,” “The Fifth Step,” “Willie the Weirdo,” “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,” “Finn,” “On Slide Inn Road,” “Red Screen,” “The Turbulence Expert,” “Laurie,” “Rattlesnakes,” “The Dreamers,” and “The Answer Man.”

He did not just pick up these scrapped ideas; rather, he reshaped them into their own standalone stories. 

These scrapped stories include a sequel of Cujo, one of his previous novels, various scrapped characters, a different ending to one of his works titled Salem’s Lot and even ideas for previous known books that didn’t make it to the final products. 

It’s also very impressive that Stephen King has different types of horror for each story. This allows the stories to be able to stand on their own two feet. If a short story doesn’t suit your liking or isn’t your type of horror, then Stephen King will offer you something new in the next story. 

Although Stephen King is known for psychological horror, he seems to experiment with new types of horror. These range from Gothic fiction, religious horror, folk tale horror and even experiments with “Lovecraftian” horror. 

Each one of these stories has its own thrills and joys when reading it. They almost mimic Stephen King’s old works, which shows that he still has the momentum to write as he did so many years ago.

These new stories bring in a sort of fresh air into the horror genre, as most horror stories today struggle with personal narratives when it comes to their characters. 

With this book, the characters of every short story are easy to remember, and it is easy to see what the characters are going through and their struggles. 

The ideas of the stories come from different parts of King’s career as a writer. The unpublished stories can range from the early 1970s – before King got his big break – to all the way in the 2000s.

It’s really easy to know which stories come from each time period. The short stories have a great way of telling what the tropes are.

Many of these stories deal with content that Stephen King never really touched upon—hence why they became scrapped ideas.

His mastery of storytelling and character development makes these short stories feel like full-fledged novels, not unlike those that he usually puts out. 

His mastery in the horror genre is impressive, as he almost has dipped his toes in every type of horror and has made it feel like he usually writes in these new styles. Instead of writing about how scary the dark is, he usually writes about what’s inside the darkness and why you should fear it. 

It’s a bit similar to another book that is related to Stephen King. In the 1990s, writer Stephen J. Spignesi compiled The Lost Works of Stephen King, which showcases all of Stephen King’s unpublished works. 

The only difference between the two books is that You Like It Darker sticks to a theme really well, while the latter is just a bunch of Stephen King stories bunched together. 

The only major con of this book is pretty straight forward: some of the stories are really a testament of their bygone time. They would have really been instant classics if Stephen King were to release them during the era that they were written in. 

The stories are well written, but as the popularity of elevated horror and psychological horror rises in the genre, these scrapped stories really show their age. 

Another potential issue is how abrupt some of the stories end, and how they move on to the next story. Certain stories in You Like It Darker, however, have wonderful and clear cut endings like “Rattlesnakes” and “Two Talented Bastids.” 

It felt like Stephen King prioritized some stories to give his full attention, instead of giving that same full attention to all of the stories. The stories are wonderful to read, but some of them would have been better if they had gotten a bit more love to them and some more pages to read. 

Even with these issues, the book still has its moments and is a genuinely great read. It’s also very beginner friendly for those who want to get into the horror genre but don’t know where to start. 

If you want to have a good scare or read some never-before-seen Stephen King book ideas, You Like It Darker is a good pick to read. You can pick up You Like it Darker at your nearest bookstore.