Review: If It Bleeds

Gaby Meares

If It Bleeds is a collection of 3 long stories and a novella, with varying degrees of success. The novella brings back one of King’s favourite characters, Holly Gibney, who features in the Mr Mercedes series and The Outsider. There are many references to both these earlier stories, and having read them adds texture and context to this story. Holly is horrified to discover that the outsider that she helped destroy was not a one-off and she knows it is her destiny to destroy this creature too. Holly Gibney polarises King readers; some are mystified by her popularity, others think she’s the bees knees - I fall into the later group so I found this story engrossing and rewarding.

Mr Harrigan’s Phone is, by far, my favourite story of the collection. King is a master of conveying a character’s emotions, particularly those of loss and sorrow. Young Craig’s feelings at the loss of his friend Mr Harrigan are visceral. King also explores the current addiction to phones and social media. Craig introduces Mr Harrigan to the wonders and benefits of the internet via a mobile phone. But as Mr Harrigan says to Craig when he suggests progressing to a laptop,

‘It’s like you taught me to smoke marijuana and enjoy it, and now you’re saying, “If you like pot, you’ll really like heroin.”’
In 70 odd pages, King gifts the reader with a story full of compassion and empathy. Pure gold.

The Life of Chuck was the weakest link in this collection. The idea that our world would be destroyed by its rotation slowing has already been posited by Karen Thompson Walker in The Age of Miracles back in 2012. So I was already on the back-foot with this story. I expect King to always be original, at least! I just didn’t really get this story, or it’s strange structure. However, it did have a great line that (almost redeems it): ‘…fascination is fear’s twin brother…’ - yup!

Rat is the last story is the collection and King returns to a familiar theme: writers and what makes them tick. What happens when a writer hits the wall? Would he make a Faustian pact to regain his mojo?

It’s easy to dismiss popular writers like Stephen King as being ‘not literature’, and the book-snobs refuse to read him. Well that’s their loss. Sometimes he drops a pearl in his story-telling and takes your breathe away.
‘[Drew] went outside…to look at the stars. He was always stunned by how many you could see once you got away from the light pollution. God had spilled a jug of light up there, and beyond the spill was eternity.’