Review: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's been awhile since I've read a Stephen King novel but after hearing his name over and over on some of my favorite books/reading podcasts during the Halloween season, I thought it was time to revisit him! As he had a new collection of short stories release in November, I thought that might be the perfect place to start. And it was!

I was pleasantly surprised by this collection. It is a dark/creepy/gruesome collection but I found it to be very good. I cannot deny it ... Stephen King is a really good writer. He can take the reader to incredibly dark places with his well written descriptions of violence and the depravity of men and women. There are 4 stories in this collection - 3 of which I really liked and 1 that was just okay. All in all, a really interesting collection of stories. The primary flaw that jumped out to me is that there were some plot points and situations used that I've seen before in other places so they felt a bit tired.

All in all, I really enjoyed the stories. I didn't want to put the book down and stayed up later than I wanted to a few nights to get to the end of a particular story. These four stories focus on the darkness that can be lurking around the corner ... that we invite in and that we encounter unexpectedly. I found a few of the stories gave me a great deal to think about beyond just being good stories in and of themselves.

If you're a horror fan, you'll enjoy this collection. If the dark/macabre isn't your thing, you should avoid this one. I'm really glad that I read this one! It's revived my interest in Stephen King. I may need to go back and read a few of his more recent novels!

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