Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales
by Stephen King
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Includes the story "The Man in the Black Suit"—set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, MaineFrom #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King, the iconic, spine-tingling story collection that includes winners of an O. Henry Prize and other awards, and "Riding the Bullet," which attracted over half a million online readers and became the most famous short story of the decade, as well as stories first published in The New Yorker, "1408," made into a movie starring John Cusack.
show more "Riding the Bullet" is the story of Alan Parker, who's hitchhiking to see his dying mother but takes the wrong ride, farther than he ever intended. In "Lunch at the Gotham Café," a sparring couple's contentious lunch turns very, very bloody when the maître d' gets out of sorts. "1408," the audio story in print for the first time, is about a successful writer whose specialty is "Ten Nights in Ten Haunted Graveyards," or "Ten Nights in Ten Haunted Houses," and though Room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel doesn't kill him, he won't be writing about ghosts anymore. And in "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French," terror is déjà vu at 16,000 feet.
Whether writing about encounters with the dead, the near dead, or about the mundane dreads of life, from quitting smoking to yard sales, Stephen King is at the top of his form in the fourteen "brilliantly creepy" (USA TODAY) tales assembled in Everything's Eventual. Intense, eerie, and instantly compelling, they announce the stunningly fertile imagination of perhaps the greatest storyteller of our time.
Stories include:
-Autopsy Room Four
-The Man in the Black Suit
-All That You Love Will Be Carried Away
-The Death of Jack Hamilton
-In the Deathroom
-The Little Sisters of Eluria
-Everything's Eventual
-L.T.'s Theory of Pets
-The Road Virus Heads North
-Lunch at the Gotham Café
-That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French
-1408
-Riding the Bullet
-Luckey Quarter. show less
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PaperbackPirate from Stephen King in the introduction: "...if these stories work for you, buy another collection. Sam the Cat by Matthew Klam, for instance..."
PaperbackPirate from Stephen King in the introduction: "...if these stories work for you, buy another collection. ...for instance...The Hotel Eden by Ron Carlson..."
Member Reviews
This is my favorite King collection! All 14 of these stories are touching, terrifying, deeply immersive, and overall a wild ride. My favorite is of course the title story-- so frightening but also so endearing-- but close runner-ups include "The Death of Jack Hamilton" (because who doesn't love a Western?) and "The Man in the Black Suit" (because who hasn't encountered the devil?). This collection also includes "The Little Sisters of Eluria," a precursor to King's famed Dark Tower series, which is fun with or without context. This collection has gore, blood, insane maitre d's, paintings come alive, hotel rooms come alive, dead bodies come alive, fun, murder, and a good old-fashioned time loop. I highly recommend! - Jane
Once a year or so I will listen to an audiobook of one of Stephen King's novels or collections, usually without much enthusiasm. Occasionally I'll skip ahead or abandon one of them in the middle. For this collection, I experienced more mixed feelings. The title story and a few of the others were great. Genuinely well-written, riveting and so forth, but I was not much interested in the majority of them, which ranged from passable to unacceptable in my opinion. I could write a huge list of literary misdemeanors he might or might not have committed, but instead, I think it is valuable to look at what he accomplishes with his good stories.
Time is often slowed down to a crawl. His narrators will observe an often tragic event in microscopic show more detail. The autopsy story was done in this mode. I will say it was an effective story, and opened the collection well enough, but I found myself wishing I could take a red editor's pencil and strike out every third line. Tighter editing would have benefited several of the stories IMHO. The second story was nearly flawless. A well-composed, restrained character study and an examination of that border between reality and the underground irreality we all encounter at some point or another.
There was a gunslinger story, on par with the rest of the series, but not quite essential overall.
Then "Everything's Eventual" really got me. Some of his best stories are not horror. When he relies on blood and guts many of his deeper themes take a back seat. I'm thinking of Needful Things and Duma Key. His best novel I've read so far is Lisey's Story, which King claimed at one point in his career to be his best, though not his favorite.
From my perspective, King's work appears to be a 45,000-page internal monologue spewed across various outrageous and tangentially connected scenarios with recurrent supernatural events cropping up among the same set of stock characters. That is not to say there is no variety or interest to be found. I find myself returning frequently to his work, more so than Dan Simmons or some of the other writers I have never found a love for. Most of the time, he has a solid hook, and pulls off the beginning of a story or a novel with aplomb.
I know this collection will satisfy King fans and it shouldn't offend casual pretend-fans like me. It's worth a listen. show less
Time is often slowed down to a crawl. His narrators will observe an often tragic event in microscopic show more detail. The autopsy story was done in this mode. I will say it was an effective story, and opened the collection well enough, but I found myself wishing I could take a red editor's pencil and strike out every third line. Tighter editing would have benefited several of the stories IMHO. The second story was nearly flawless. A well-composed, restrained character study and an examination of that border between reality and the underground irreality we all encounter at some point or another.
There was a gunslinger story, on par with the rest of the series, but not quite essential overall.
Then "Everything's Eventual" really got me. Some of his best stories are not horror. When he relies on blood and guts many of his deeper themes take a back seat. I'm thinking of Needful Things and Duma Key. His best novel I've read so far is Lisey's Story, which King claimed at one point in his career to be his best, though not his favorite.
From my perspective, King's work appears to be a 45,000-page internal monologue spewed across various outrageous and tangentially connected scenarios with recurrent supernatural events cropping up among the same set of stock characters. That is not to say there is no variety or interest to be found. I find myself returning frequently to his work, more so than Dan Simmons or some of the other writers I have never found a love for. Most of the time, he has a solid hook, and pulls off the beginning of a story or a novel with aplomb.
I know this collection will satisfy King fans and it shouldn't offend casual pretend-fans like me. It's worth a listen. show less
I very much enjoyed this collection of short stories by Stephen King. While some of the stories fall clearly within the realm of his reputation as a king of things that go bump in the night, others are more literary, and there are pieces in both categories that really shine.
The best of the bunch: "The Road Virus Heads North" was deeply creepy, and kept me awake and a little antsy for a good bit after I finished it. "The Little Sisters of Eluria" is a great little slice from the life of Roland, of Dark Tower fame, and makes this collection worth picking up for DT series fans. 'Everything's Eventual" is dark, complex, and simply excellent. "Riding the Bullet" is compelling, honest, and somehow finds a balance between feeling driven by a show more sense of love and feeling driven by a sense of dread.
There really weren't any stories in this collection that I didn't enjoy, although I think that "Luckey Quarter" was the weakest of the set.
Overall, an excellent collection. King says in the introduction that he mourns the short story as a dying art form, (something that he will claim with greater passion in his introduction to The Best American Short Stories: 2007.) With this collection, he laid a powerful reminder in front of me that the genre is a rich a lovely one. I certainly hope that the prognosis is not so bad as it may seem. show less
The best of the bunch: "The Road Virus Heads North" was deeply creepy, and kept me awake and a little antsy for a good bit after I finished it. "The Little Sisters of Eluria" is a great little slice from the life of Roland, of Dark Tower fame, and makes this collection worth picking up for DT series fans. 'Everything's Eventual" is dark, complex, and simply excellent. "Riding the Bullet" is compelling, honest, and somehow finds a balance between feeling driven by a show more sense of love and feeling driven by a sense of dread.
There really weren't any stories in this collection that I didn't enjoy, although I think that "Luckey Quarter" was the weakest of the set.
Overall, an excellent collection. King says in the introduction that he mourns the short story as a dying art form, (something that he will claim with greater passion in his introduction to The Best American Short Stories: 2007.) With this collection, he laid a powerful reminder in front of me that the genre is a rich a lovely one. I certainly hope that the prognosis is not so bad as it may seem. show less
I think many (most?) King fans will admit that King is at his best in the short form. King's full-length novels can sometimes ramble and fail to end, while his short works exploit the horrifying imagination that has made him famous. This collection generally holds to that truism, with the stories ranging from thoughtful to straight-up horrifying. In my opinion, none of the stories are duds but "That Feeling You Can Only Say What It Is in French" and the title story, "Everything's Eventual" are real standouts. I will say that I was surprised by how many of these stories had no really supernatural/horror element to them and simply relied on the everyday cruelties people carry out to tell the story. It was an interesting mix for someone show more whose name is so synonymous with the horror genre. show less
These stories are already a nice balance in themselves: eerie and spare, chilling and vivid, full of strong voices and real characters getting a jolt of terror out of an ordinary day. Like the horror writer in "The Road Virus Heads North," who stops off at a yard sale on his way home. Or the divorcing couple who get the true measure of one another in a bloody encounter with a maitre d' in "Lunch at the Gotham Café." Or the woman in the acidulous marriage whose sense of déjà vu keeps getting sickeningly stronger on her second honeymoon in "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French." One of King's least favorite stories, (his choice when asked), that was first published in "The New Yorker," reveals the roots of an old man's show more fear in a boyhood encounter with the devil on an idyllic stretch of trout stream in rural Maine. Another "New Yorker" story, "All That You Love Will Be Carried Away," is a poignant, haunting tale of a lonely traveling salesman whose graffiti collection engenders a life or death dilemma.
Not one of the fourteen stories disappointed me; they were varied: humorous, reflective, and scary. This book is really for King fans who've read all of his other works. If you haven't read the classics, read those first, then read this book - otherwise you'll never know how good King really is. show less
Not one of the fourteen stories disappointed me; they were varied: humorous, reflective, and scary. This book is really for King fans who've read all of his other works. If you haven't read the classics, read those first, then read this book - otherwise you'll never know how good King really is. show less
Alates sissejuhatusest ja süngelt lummavast avaloost “Lahkamispalat nr 4” kuni “Õnneraha” viimaste lehekülgedeni viib Kingi vaieldamatult meisterlik keelekasutus lugejat paratamatult judinaid tekitavale tundele, et King on tõesti ühenduses tumedate jõududega. Raamatusse on koondatud Kingi parimad lood läbi aegade, kaasa arvatud O. Henry auhinna võitnud “Kuulisõit”, mis avaldati algselt e-raamatuna, kartuses sellest kujunevat tavaraamatute kirstunaela. Esimest korda paberile jõudnud lugu räägib Alan Parkerist, kes asub pöidlaküüdi abil teele oma sureva ema juurde – paraku viib see reisimismeetod teda kaugemale, kui ta oleks iial osanud arvata. Kõige tulihingelisematele Kingi fännidele on suurimaks show more maiuspalaks kindlasti “Eluuria väikesed õed”, esmakordselt kogumikus “Legendid” ilmunud lühiromaan, mille tegevus toimub Kingi pidevalt laienevas Sünge Kantsi universumis. Samuti on kogumikus lood “See tunne, mida saab väljendada ainult prantsuse keeles” (kaasahaarav lugu põrgust naise hinges), “1408” (kummituslike reisijuhtide autor satub silmitsi oma suurima hirmuga), “Kõik on mõeldav” (raamatu nimilugu poisist, kelle unistuste töö kujuneb tõeliseks õudusunenäoks), “L. T. teooria lemmikloomadest” (üllatava lõpuga lugu abielulahutusest) jt. Ei saa öelda, et Kingi raamat sobiks öökapiraamatuna rahulikku und tooma, kuid samas on see kaasakiskuv ja põnev lektüür, mis imeb endasse kõik need, kes tüdinud rahulikest ja rutiinsetest olukirjeldustest või läägevõitu armastusromaanidest.
Lugude saateks esitab King tutvustavad esseed, mis avavad lugejale konkreetse loo tausta ja autori kavatsusi. show less
Lugude saateks esitab King tutvustavad esseed, mis avavad lugejale konkreetse loo tausta ja autori kavatsusi. show less
As always, Stephen King always delivers. This is a great collection of stories that scare but also make you think and feel. King is able to deliver scares with typical horror story subjects like death, mutants, and the undead: but he can also take the most ordinary object or circumstance and make you think twice before you turn the lights out at night. Things like a button, quarter, geometric shapes or lunch at the local cafe will haunt your thoughts after these tales.
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Author Information
966+ Works 867,771 Members
Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine, on September 21, 1947. After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, he became a teacher. His spare time was spent writing short stories and novels. King's first novel would never have been published if not for his wife. She removed the first few show more chapters from the garbage after King had thrown them away in frustration. Three months later, he received a $2,500 advance from Doubleday Publishing for the book that went on to sell a modest 13,000 hardcover copies. That book, Carrie, was about a girl with telekinetic powers who is tormented by bullies at school. She uses her power, in turn, to torment and eventually destroy her mean-spirited classmates. When United Artists released the film version in 1976, it was a critical and commercial success. The paperback version of the book, released after the movie, went on to sell more than two-and-a-half million copies. Many of King's other horror novels have been adapted into movies, including The Shining, Firestarter, Pet Semetary, Cujo, Misery, The Stand, and The Tommyknockers. Under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, King has written the books The Running Man, The Regulators, Thinner, The Long Walk, Roadwork, Rage, and It. He is number 2 on the Hollywood Reporter's '25 Most Powerful Authors' 2016 list. King is one of the world's most successful writers, with more than 100 million copies of his works in print. Many of his books have been translated into foreign languages, and he writes new books at a rate of about one per year. In 2003, he received the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. In 2012 his title, The Wind Through the Keyhole made The New York Times Best Seller List. King's title's Mr. Mercedes and Revival made The New York Times Best Seller List in 2014. He won the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 2015 for Best Novel with Mr. Mercedes. King's title Finders Keepers made the New York Times bestseller list in 2015. Sleeping Beauties is his latest 2017 New York Times bestseller. (Bowker Author Biography) Stephen King is the author of more than thirty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are "Hearts in Atlantis", "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon", "Bag of Bones", & "The Green Mile". "On Writing" is his first book of nonfiction since "Danse Macabre", published in 1981. He served as a judge for Prize Stories: The Best of 1999, The O. Henry Awards. He lives in Bangor, Maine with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. King's book, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories, made the 2015 New York Times bestseller list. (Publisher Provided) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales
- Original title
- Everything's Eventual
- Alternate titles*
- Ruumiinavaussali numero 4; Mustapukuinen mies; Kaikesta rakkaasta joutuu luopumaan; Jack Hamiltonin kuolema; Kalmanhuoneessa; Elurian pikku sisaret (show all 13); Kaikki on rentoo; L. T:n lemmikkieläinteoria; Lounaalla ravintola Gothamissa; Se tunne jolle on nimi vain ranskaksi; 1408; Luodin kyydissä; Onnenmyntti
- Original publication date
- 2002-03-19
- People/Characters
- Howard Cottrell; Katie Arlen; Gary; The Man in the Black Suit; Alfie Zimmer; Homer Van Meter (show all 30); Jack Hamilton; John Dillinger; Melvin Purvis; Joseph Moran; Volney Davis; Arthur Barker; Fletcher; Roland of Gilead; Walter o'Dim (The Man in Black); Sister Jenna; Great Sister Mary; Richard 'Dinky' Earnshaw; Mr. Sharpton; L. T.; Richard Kinell; Steve Davis; Diane Davis; William Humboldt; Guy; Mike Enslin; Mr. Olin; Alan Parker; George Staub; Darlene Pullen
- Important places
- Autopsy Room Four; Nebraska, USA; Little Bohemia Lodge, Wisconsin, USA; South America; The Deathroom; Eluria (show all 10); Maine, USA; Gotham Cafe; New York, New York, USA (Hotel Dolphin | Room 1408); Laconia, New Hampshire, USA (The Bullet in Thrill Village)
- Related movies
- 1408 (2007 | IMDb); Riding the Bullet (2004 | IMDb); Nightmares and Dreamscapes: Autopsy Room 4 (2006 | IMDb); Nightmares and Dreamscapes: The Road Virus Heads North (2006 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- This is for Shane Leonard
- First words
- It's so dark that for awhile-just how long I don't know-I think I'm still unconscious.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)So luckey, oh luckey me.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- This is the collection "Everything's Eventual" by Stephen King.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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