Ned Dameron (1943–2022)

Normally I wouldn't review a children's book. Nothing against them but it doesn't seem quite right due to me not being the "true" target audience, the speed the books can be read, the reduced attention span of their target audience, and the lack of character and story development. Writing a children's book is definitely different than writing a horror novel; reviewing them in the same manner isn't really fair. Since I have children, I obviously have read more than a handful but let's stick show more to the hard truth: the reason that I'm reviewing this book is because it was written by Stephen King.

The story involves Charlie the Choo-Choo from the Dark Tower series and tells a little about his history. As a children's book, the book works. It follows the traditional story flow and is not scary or spooky. If you read the text only, then the story is absolutely appropriate for children. It's when paired with the pictures by Ned Dameron that the story gets creepy. Charlie the Choo-Choo looks just off enough to be creepy. The coloring is also not vibrant nor happy; it adds to the creepy factor. And then there is the more subtle items like the children off the train are happy and smiling but the children on the train are crying and sad. Most kids should like the book but I don't see it becoming one of their favorites. (Neither my 10 year old nor my 4 year old were taken by the book, pun not intended.) Fans of the Dark Tower series will enjoy it but keep in mind that at 24 pages of a children's book, it's not filling in any gaps in the mythos. Instead it's providing a small splash of color to one of the characters. show less

Esse livrinho consta na saga Dark Tower de Stephen King e foi lançado separadamente sob o pseudônimo de Beryl Evans como material promocional da mal fadada versão pra cinema. Devo confessar que esse é meu primeiro livro do King, sempre fiquei com o pé atrás de me aventurar em livros de mil páginas de um gênero que não sou entusiasta, mas como amo literatura infantil dei uma chance a esse aqui.
O curioso é que são as ilustrações da face do Charlie que tem um pé no horror, o show more texto em si só aparenta o horror da condição humana que toda boa literatura infantil lança mão para ser didática em termos morais e éticos.
Também não dá para evitar pensar que esse livrinho é uma espécie de Christine para crianças. show less

I love that Stephen King published this as a real book. This children's book plays an important part in his Dark Tower series. King published it as a real book under the pseudonym, Beryl Evans, the author of the book in Dark Tower. The illustrations are perfect and show the evil and fear that lurks beneath the surface of the seemingly innocent story but all Dark Tower readers know the actual truth

While this can be read on its own for its own sake, I wouldn't really recommend it. The story is fine aside from some rather obvious sexual innuendo (Thank you, Stephen King!), but the real horror is in the drawings.

What appears to be laughing, happy children in Charlie's passenger cars are actually crying, wailing, and zonked-out. Charlie's expression seems to be one of a slightly dim, thuggish brute.

The subtlety in this children's book is really delightful. Scary. Disturbing. :) I love show more it.


YES. This is written by Stephen King, and it firmly belongs in the reading order of the Dark Tower series.
(Dark Tower - 3.5)

So evil. And when read with DT, as the same book referred to in The Waste Lands, it takes on a magnitude more of existence. :) show less