If It Bleeds

My favorite story here is Mr. Harrigan's Phone. The Life of Chuck is somewhat innovative, but didn't quite work for me. If It Bleeds is a competent monster-hunting detective story. Rat is very much a "been there, read that" story of a writer alone in a cabin in the woods.

There is a certain predictability to much of King's fiction (often with a trace of unpleasant laddishness in his male characters), and that is the case with these stories. The plot beats here are familiar ones, but fans of King or of supernatural horror will enjoy these novellas.