You Like It Darker

So today I finished my latest Stephen King book. It has been a long time between drinks. So much so, that I can't even remember the last King book I read. He has gone through phases in his career, and I must admit, I am more a fan of his earlier works. When I was a mid to late teenager, and in my 20's, I voraciously consumed everything he produced. As is my wont though, I no longer hold any of those books, having turned over my belongings on numerous occasions throughout my life. I remember living in Bentley in Perth, around 2002, and having a drug rehab' group come over, and telling them to take it all. That included furniture, kitchen ware, gold clubs, collectible toys, books, the lot. I have done this numerous times in my life. Why, I am not entirely sure. Sometimes, I need a reset I guess. I have been feeling this way of late too, hence why my eBay listings have seen somewhat of a surge. Anyway, I digress. I was inspired to write this post today because of one thing - the afterword in King's book, You Like It Darker. The book itself was ok, nothing special, although a couple of the stories had a certain spell about them. Interestingly, reading the afterword, a couple of them were penned in King's heyday, and sat in his unpublished archives until now. I wonder if that is what drew me to those tales? But it was the overall message I took from the last section of the book, and that was that to me, King was saying goodbye. Hey, he is 75yo, has been writing for well over 40 years, probably more like 50, and is clearly not needing the income!

So I was inspired to write this homage to King, to respect the influence he had on my younger years, and to recognise what it means to be able to inspect, study and perhaps even embrace one's darker side. King's writings were often "darker" and often inspired by what we, as modern western people at least, see as those things that go bump in the night, and to be feared. I loved his early novels - The Stand, Salem's Lot, It, they all stood out. What really stood out in those days though, was his short story collections. Such as Skeleton Crew and Night Shift. So much so, that once I bought this new short story collection, I decided to grab second-hand versions of the older two, to revisit them, after several decades. As with the new book, I suspect they will both go into the donation box once read, but I do relish the idea of revisiting old experiences one more time. If it's my kids reading this post, and for whatever reason, you have never picked up a Stephen King book before, I recommend you try one of his older ones. I must admit, that afterword tugged at my heartstrings for what I felt it meant, and it did give me motivation to go back and revisit some of the works that meant something to me, so much earlier in life.