Short Story Monday - Jerusalem's Lot by Stephen King

I haven't participated in Short Story Monday since I finished the last of Neil Gaiman's. So it seemed fitting, if I was going to continue, that I should fall back on an old favorite: Stephen King. Actually, I kind of fell into this one as well. I went to the library looking for collections of short stories. I just wasn't sure where to begin. I spent a while searching for something recent. My library isn't exactly the most up-to-date library there is. It's only a small branch of the Peoria Public Library. But they try. What the lack in actual books, they make up for in customer service!!

Anyhoo, what I did find was an older book of 13 Short Horror Novels, by authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, HP Lovecraft, George R. R. Martin.....and yes, Stephen King. Jerusalem's Lot was originally published in 1978 for the collection Night Shift. I really don't think I ever read this before. I do know that I didn't read one of his earlier collections, and it must be this one, because this story was brand new to me. Now we all know the story of 'Salem's Lot. It was actually the first King I ever read. A town filled with vampires. But this story is actually quite different, and yet, equally frightening.

Jerusalem's Lot isn't so much as story as a collection of letters and journal entries from a man named Charles Boone in October of 1850. Mr. Boone inherited the old family estate in Maine from a cousin. Since he was the last of the bloodline, Chapelwaite was his. Mr. Boone and his friend (and servant) Calvin moved into the old mansion. Most of the people in the small village of Preacher's Corner felt the men were mad for moving into the place. Chapelwaite had a very bizarre and sinister history for the Boone family, and no one wanted to go near it. Things went bump in the night behind the walls and in the basement.....sounding like very large rats.

Then, one day, Calvin discovers some old papers and a map to the deserted town of Jerusalem's Lot. The two men set off for the town, only to find that no one has set foot there in many years. Everything is just abandoned....even by the animals of the area. At the center of this deserted village is a church, but unlike any church either man has ever entered. The cross in inverted and there is a sacrilegious picture of the Madonna and Child. On the pulpit is a book, written in Latin entitled De Vermis Mysteriis (The Mysteries of the Worm). When Charles touches the book, the entire church starts to shake, and it feel like something is moving in the ground beneath.

Reading a story by Stephen King is like coming home to an old friend. He is truly a talented storyteller. Is there really something going on? Is his family really cursed? Or is Charles Boone just mad?? The history of the Boone family is strange, disturbing, and a touch frightening. And as with all things Stephen King, the bump in the night is never truly vanquished. He always leaves you with that last little tidbit just to let you know it really isn't safe to be near Jerusalem's Lot!!

Hmmmm.....once I finish this collection, maybe it's time to dig out my old Stephen King books for another go!

Random Thoughts and New Releases

Is it just me, or is anyone else out there extremely excited for Stephen King's new book, Duma Key?? It just came out yesterday, and I still have some Christmas money left. So....I HAVE to get to the bookstore....SOON!! There are not a lot of books out there I will buy right away. Money is tight, and I really don't have the space anyway. But when Stephen King puts out a new novel, I will definitely be in the mood to buy it! And this one looks so good.

Besides the new Stephen King, I'm anxiously awaiting the new Colleen Gleason as well. The Bleeding Dusk is Book 3 of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles. Chris just wrote an excellent review of it here. The first 2 books were great, and even though they are in the "Romance" section (a place I generally don't hang out!), they are so much more than that. Colleen really knows how to build the suspense. Book 2, Rises the Night, was pretty dark, and I can't imagine this one will be any different. Release date is February 5th....just a few weeks away!! It seems like it is forever coming!!

On a rather sad note, I was extremely disturbed by the news of Heath Ledger's death. Not incredibly mainstream, he was still one of my favorite actors. Since the first time I saw him in 10 Things I Hate about You, I knew he was something special. (of course, that is one of my favorite movies!) He was never afraid to take chances either. Not many actors would have taken on a role like Ennis in Brokeback Mountain. He did a fabulous job of it too. He also looks deliciously creepy as the Joker in the newest Batman movie, The Dark Knight, a movie I can not wait to see. I really feel bad for his little girl. Hollywood definitely lost a shining star in Heath.

Stephen King is Cool

What can I say? Stephen King is probably my very favorite author. I've spent many a night, pouring over one of his novels. Some are so good, they give me shivers. Others, not so much. But every one of them has a piece of Uncle Steve inside.

When I was reading EW this week, Stephen's editorial on all things Cool made me laugh! He really knows his stuff sometimes. "Cool and the Gang" is a must read article, so do! Stephen King is cool....just ask him! "You can find definitions in various slang dictionaries, but the meaning of cool is beyond definition. And, as I said, beyond modification. It just is, man."

Right now, I have my Ipod on, and the first song that came up in my shuffle is White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane. Now THAT'S cool!

I also just got a copy of The Melancholy Fate of Capt. Lewis by Michael Pritchett from Early Reviewers at LibraryThing. New, FREE books to review are cool!

Tony Soprano was the epitome of cool. I mean, come on. I find myself wildly attracted to the danger of him, and I'm certainly not alone. How else do you explain James Gandolfini as a sex symbol? Enough said.

Paul Newman, in Cool Hand Luke. Just as the name indicates, he was cool!! Anyone who could eat 50 hard-boiled eggs in an hour without dying has to be cool! Besides, he has baby blues to die for!

Sarah Michelle Gellar, as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was cool. She was a bad-ass when she needed to be, but there was also a soft-side to her. That is cool. And if you've never seen her in Cruel Intentions, you should watch it. She's so cool, she's frosty!

Book blogs are cool. I love reading them. I love writing them. And I love making friends through them. It's about time that books aren't seen as nerdy.

According to Uncle Steve "cool is not a way of life; it's a state of being" and I totally agree. So, I'm asking you, dear readers....what do you think is cool?

50 Things about a Legend and the Passing of a Friend

I found this published in the Toronto Star today. Since Stephen King is my favorite author, I thought it was appropriate. 50 Reasons to Love Stephen King. I have to agree with all of them!! (I too, thought Tommy Knockers was crap and the long version of The Stand was the best!) But what interested me the most is the criticism King receives for not being a "literary" author. When he received a U.S. National Book Awards lifetime achievement award, literary Critic Harold Bloom wrote an Op-Ed piece for the Boston Globe called Dumbing Down American Readers.

He says: "another low in the shocking process of dumbing down our cultural life. I've described King in the past as a writer of penny dreadfuls, but perhaps even that is too kind. He shares nothing with Edgar Allan Poe. What he is is an immensely inadequate writer on a sentence-by-sentence, paragraph-by-paragraph, book-by-book basis. The publishing industry has stooped terribly low to bestow on King a lifetime award that has previously gone to the novelists Saul Bellow and Philip Roth and to playwright Arthur Miller. By awarding it to King they recognize nothing but the commercial value of his books, which sell in the millions but do little more for humanity than keep the publishing world afloat."

Personally, this offends me. I like Stephen King's novels. I like his writing. His books reel me in hook, line and sinker. And I think he gets a bad wrap from the critics. His answer to Bloom's slam was "What I'm interested in is attacking readers' emotions because I don't think reading should be an intellectual affair." When I'm reading, I want to be entertained. I've read a lot of "literary" type books. John Banville's The Sea won the Booker Prize a couple of years ago. It bored me to tears! Watching paint dry was more interesting to me! Maybe I'm just a reverse literary snob!

On a much sadder note.....I read that Natalie from Nattie Writes lost her battle with cancer this morning. She will be sorely missed. Please take a moment and pray for her 2 daughters.

Later!