5.7.22
Completed Pet Semetary annnnd wow. That book gave me nightmares. Towards the end when Louis started to break into the cemetary to steal his son's body I was overcome with the urge to stop reading. I was so laser-focused on that story until then and I kept getting distracted. I also kept jumping and gasping everytime my husband would walk into the room. I was on edge. I tried to finish the book but had work early the next day so put it down. At that point finishing it felt more like an obsession than a desire. I did finish it and have been in an odd stupor since then. I don't think it's just the book though. I've been having a tough time lately and this book has really wormed itself inside my skull.
There's so much that got me in this story. Poor Rachel being forced to care for her sick sister when she was 8 years old. I can identify with this quite a bit. I was often left to care for myself and my younger siblings at an even younger age and hold alot of resentment towards my parents because of this. Rachel's shame and guilt for wanting Zelda to die...I have had a family member who had passed and even though I loved them and cried when I learned of thier death and collapsed on my way to the coffin and had a meltdown during the viewing, I know that thier death did provide relief for the many people that person abused and life did become easier once they passed.
Towards the end I kept getting so annoyed because I thought, "gosh! why don't these dumb-dumbs call the police so they can shoot down the demon child?" but I tried to imagine myself in Louis, Rachel, and Jud's shoes...if it were my friend? my family? would I call the police? especially if I were in a position in which my livelihood pretty much depends on my husband keeping his job? Would I think I could handle what is going on myself and try to stop it or fix it to save face and preserve my way of life as much as possible? I like to think I would recognize the signs faster than Rachel and never leave Louis alone afte the death of thier child. Would I have the strength to not let the Micmac burial grounds influence me to do something as horrific as digging up my dead child to rebury in some spooky fucking woods filled with monsters? I like to think that if I were Jud Crandall I would have followed my first impulse to head off to Pleasantview Cematary and intercept Louis before he dug up his son instad of waiting for him at the damn house when the hard part was already done. It's easy to think that we would make the smart choice or the right choice when we aren't having to think while treading in a swamp full of shit. More often than not I think most people, myself included are really kinda bumbling along and stuff just turns out alright.
5.2.22
Finished Christine a few days ago. I really enjoyed it. I think it may be my favorite King novel yet. I may have mentioned before that this was my first time reading the book although I had seen the movie. I feel like this was a book that was strong throughout. A great beginning, middle, and ending. I loved how it ended with Dennis' paranoia that Christine may be back. I'm a fan of those ambiguous endings. Is he being paranoid? Is Lebay coming back to take revenge? How? didn't Lebay leave Christine to attach himself to Arnie and lost out? what happened to his ghost? Anyways, I also liked the operation sting by the police and the uncovering of the old murder of Lebay's wife. My favorite scene of the book was when Arnie was giving Dennis a ride home in Christine after they celebrated New Years together. I could perfectly imagine Dennis talking calmly while seeing the ghosts in the car and the lights becoming eyes. I don't have much to say about this book really other than it was very good. There are some stories that push my buttons (good or bad) and I can dissect and go on about. This one didn't push any buttons it was just entertaining as heck. I heard that Bryan Fuller will be taking on a new Christine adaptation and i'm excited to see what he does with it.
I started Pet Sematery a couple days ago and again, hooked right from the beginning. Now I have read this book back when I was a teenager and it gave me nightmares. I also saw the movie from the 80's (again, nightmares), and watched the newest adaptation (no nightmares but scared to go into my own house by myself). I just got to the nighttime walk of Louis following Pascow into the woods and it is giving me the creeps!
THE STEPHEN KING PROJECT
Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. I started reading King's stories when I was very young, maybe around 8 years old or so. At the time most of what I was reading went over my head but the horror aspects stuck with me. It was something I shared with my grandmother when I was young. She had multiple floor to ceiling bookcases in her apartment, all filled with horror and fantasy novels. Of course, all of Stephen King's books were on that shelf as well. I had read quite a few but in 2020 when I started to listen to a podcast called The Kingcast I realized I hadn't read as many of his stories as I thought and wondered, how many of them are out there?
When I was young I read some of his classics: The Shining (what I considered my absolute favorite and will probaly write an essay on at some point), IT, Carrie, The Green Mile, Pet Sematary, and a handful of his short stories. The vast majority of his works I had only seen adaptations of though or just knew what they were about since my grandma would sometimes paraphrase them when I was little when I asked her to tell me stories. So I decided to start what I refer to as The Stephen King Project . This is me reading every one of this published works in order of publication date. Let's just say...I read alot of King, talk about King's books alot, annnnnnd people who drift into my sphere are all a-freaking-ware that this is what i'm doing.
So 2021 I started this thing and got through the following: CARRIE, SALEM'S LOT, THE SHINING, RAGE, THE STAND, NIGHT SHIFT, THE LONG WALK, THE DEAD ZONE, FIRESTARTER.
This year I have completed the following: ROADWORK, CUJO, THE GUNSLINGER, THE RUNNING MAN, DIFFERENT SEASONS.
I am currently reading DANSE MACABRE and CHRISTINE.
Now, I am not just reading Stephen King books. Sometimes, a break is needed from horror and I need something very light. For instance, I am reading Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol by Mallory O'Meara and have a couple Caitlin Doughty books on deck as well. I really enjoy focused reading though and have a few other "projects" slated. I don't know if I will start another reading project after I have caught up with all of King or perhaps, I will and just have them intertwine. I do plan on doing so more in depth writing though about the stories I read and what I liked/disliked. I don't know if I will go back and cover the books I have already read or not.
For instance, I know I will be writing about The Shining since that was the first King book I read and everytime I read it, it's like reading a whole different story. There are other stories of his though I read and will probaly never read again and not write about other than to say that it didn't float my boat (like Rage and Roadwork).
4.18.22