Five books into my Great Stephen King Re-Read (2024 Edition), this was a novel I was sincerely looking forward to revisiting. Like DESPERATION before it, I remember truly loving this book the first time around.

Unlike my re-read of DESPERATION this one didn't disappoint. I loved this one all over again.

I was amazed at how much of the story I'd forgotten. I had the opening few chapters clearly, but, by the time Noonan got to Sarah Laughs, I'd forgotten damn near all of it. I'm kind of glad I did, as it allowed me to basically re-read it and experience it much like the first time.

There's so much I loved here. The horror was quite subtle for the first three-quarters, allowing King to also examine Noonan's relationships with Jo, with Matty, with her daughter, with the extended family and townspeople, and while I'm sure some readers found it somewhat self-indulgent and "that crazy Stevie overwriting again" I found it essential to how the story played out.

On top of that, King's examination of grief was given the space it needed to breathe, which I appreciated. I find that, in stories, it's given short shrift, making it feel like it's felt and dealt with in a couple of weeks. It felt real here.

The other aspect I loved—and I'm guessing it's something more that authors would respond to—was King's portrayal of Noonan's creative process and the writing process in general. In fact, it was kind of killing me and every time King brought it up, I kept thinking that I should be writing.

Was it a perfect book? No, but very few are. But did King grab me pretty much from the first page and hold me until the last one? Hell yes.

I was going to say this is one of his best "latter year" novels, but looking at my shelves, it's very clearly closer to the middle output. But he was having a fairly solid streak, with the one-two punch of GERALD'S GAME and DOLORES CLAIBORNE, then ROSE MADDER (a book that I feel has been undervalued), then THE GREEN MILE, DESPERATION, and now this one.

But this particular one? This is one I point to when asked why I love Stephen King. ( )

(1998)Very good ghost story about a writer who is haunted by his wife and a women raped by ancestors of a local man. (Amazon)No longer content to be the prolific provider of text, King grabs the audio reigns to recount this haunted tale of grief, young love, and otherworldly visits. When 40-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan returns to his lakeside cabin to process his wife's death, he finds the place a beacon for nightmares and ghoulish visits. But there's hope in Kingsville, as this struggling writer falls in love with a young widow named Mattie and her 3-year-old psychic daughter, Kyra. If you've never heard King speak, be warned: 19-plus hours of his western Maine, nasal-drenched tones may be more than some listeners can bear. But there's a certain warmth and believability to King's voice--after all, it's his book and he is a middle-aged bestselling novelist--that jive well with Noonan's character.

This is a hard book for me to review. It’s got great creepy atmosphere and the mystery at its heart is fun to unravel. At the same time, it’s a hot mess of disjointed reveals, cartoonish villains, unconvincing romance, and a murderous revenant that I felt more sympathy for than almost any other character. Plus, the author gets unpleasantly meta, with the (author) main character musing on the injustice of fiction writers everywhere killing off their characters as a convenience when they aren’t sure what else to do with them, then… you guessed it. Unlike most SK books, I was ready for this one to be over long before the final pages.

Hardcover version, which has been on my shelf since I bought it brand new in 1998. I’d never written a review, so this is a re-read for the 2018 Halloween Bingo. I’ve decided to use Stephen King for my Wild Card author, but I’m holding onto it for now until I decide where best to play it. ( )

Stephen King is a master of his craft...that is all. ( )

Fun read. Like a movie.