Abandoned by Booklikes

I read this book as part of Horror Afficonados January group read on Goodreads.

I honestly don't know what happened with this one. I usually love Stephen King's short stories and novellas. Heck I re-read them all of the time. Even though I may not love all of the stories, I still manage to love the entire collection as a whole. This time I either did not like, felt meh to okay, to just that's good about the stories. None of the stories floored me or had me sitting around checking my windows and doors to make sure that they stayed locked. Instead I was all, oh I hear a stair creaking and would go back to reading. That's not normal people!

Mile 81- (2 stars). I liked this one okay when it was first published as it's own standalone. Stephen King reworks it a bit and it really does not hang together well. I could read the old sections and new sections quite clearly and the flow was all wrong in this one. The main protagonist, Pete Simmons, in this one also was turned into more of a jerk too. I should not be rooting against you while reading. He is all of 10 years old and King gives him the mannerism of a 16 year old boy.

Premium Harmony- (1 star). I get what King was trying to say in this one, it just didn't work at all. I felt like I was being held down and forced to watch the aftermath of a car crash. I wasn't interested in anything that was going on at all.

Batman and Robin Have an Altercation- (2 stars). Once again I get what he was doing, the only thing that was surprising about this one was the end. Other than that, nothing moved me much that way or the other. King is usually able to imbue so much in his short story characters. I felt like the main character was totally flat in this one.

The Dune- (3 stars). Just because the ending was great. I knew it was coming, but since everything else in the story felt same old same old, this was a typical King ending that made me think of his stories in Graveyard Shift.

Bad Little Kid- (3 stars). Interesting premise, but this one should have been a novella. There was too much going on here and in the end things felt rushed.

A Death- (5 stars). I thought this one was really good. It actually left me with a big old question at the end too which was good. Part of me wonders if the ending as is is the true ending, or is someone else doing a sleight of hand.

The Bone Church- (1 star). Sorry, I could not get into this poem. I felt myself cringing in places.

Morality-(3 stars). Once again an interesting premise that did not have a satisfactory ending. I felt like I was reading someone else and not Stephen King. I keep wracking my brain, but I seriously feel like I may have read something similar to this before.

Afterlife- (5 stars). This was really good and I liked the whole set-up. One wonders though, what door would you choose if given an option?

Ur- (2 stars). I read this thing way back when it was the first free kindle short on Amazon. In fact I think it came for free with my Kindle. I remember thinking it was interesting them. It really doesn't hold up now. Back when Kindles were new it made a lot of sense for this story to be set up the way it is. However, I have to forget everything I know about my Kindle and just accept certain things. Just like with Mile 81, it is updated in certain places and it really should have been left alone.

Herman Wouk Is Still Alive- (5 stars). A tragic story from beginning to end.

Under the Weather- (3 stars). I knew where this was going from the very beginning. An okay story.

Blockade Billy- (3 stars). The first couple of pages were so boring. It took me a while to push through the story. It didn't get interesting until almost the very end.

Mister Yummy-(3 stars). Once again, an okay story. I really don't know what else to say besides I think it really didn't fit with the other stories that much.

Tommy-(1 star). All I could think of was being in college and when people did spoken poetry slams. Shudder.

The Little Green God of Agony-(3 stars). I was bored from beginning to end. I really don't know what to say since this is probably the second story that could be really seen as horror.

That Bus is Another World-(2.5 stars). This was not what I was expecting. And it really wasn't that great of a story.

Obits-(2 stars). I feel like I read this story before as well. Not exactly like this of course, but it reads similar to some other stories I have read.

Drunken Fireworks-(3 stars). Well I liked it better written than listening to it, that's for sure. I already listened to this last year and could not understand what the narrator was saying. Reading this was much better, though the story was still kind of meh.

Summer Thunder-(3 stars). I feel like King always seems to have these kind of and this is how the world end stories in his collection. This one felt anti-climatic though.

So all in all I wasn't blown away by the whole collection. I really didn't feel horror while reading these stories for the most part. Most of the stories just seemed sad and tragic. Which really don't fit with the prologue that King sets up for his constant readers. I thought I was going to be scared to the point of leaving my lights on.