Mr. Harrigan's Phone

by Stephen King

Craig is a youngster in a small Maine town hired by a rich old businessman to read and do the odd chore after he retires. After winning some cash off a lottery scratcher gifted by Mr. Harrigan, the kid buys his friend an iPhone. The device gets buried with Mr. Harrigan when he dies, though communication continues beyond the grave in chilling fashion.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Novella, Fantasy

88 pages, Paperback

Published April 21, 2020

About the author

Stephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.

Reviews

[LIsa Noell "Rocking the chutzpah!"]

Well, I'll confess that I'm totally cheating on my Goodreads book count. I'm still 4 books short of my yearly pledge of 100 books. So....a few short stories should catch me up!😂😕
I wasn't as enamored with this story as others were. For me, it was incredibly boring. It was a decent tale, just not for me.
I did like the denouement at the end about smart phones. I, like just about everyone else have one, but I mostly use it for the McDonald's, taco bell or Panda express app! Hey, when a person is desperately trying to gain weight, B1G1 free is a huge deal! Also, who can turn down a free big mac? Not I!😜
Mostly, my phone is usually in my pajama drawer! And I seldom wear p.j.'s!
Want to get hold of me on the phone? Most people call my eldest daughter and tell her to tell me to answer the damn phone! Oops.😤😬

[Montzalee Wittmann]

Mr Harrigan's Phone
by Stephen King
I have read this before in a 4 novels in one book treat from King. It was my favorite story in that book. Just felt like I wanted a fun re-read.

[Анастасія ꒰⁠⑅⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠꒱⁠˖⁠♡]

Здається поки найулюбленіший твір у Кінга.

[Charley Rains]

Another great short story from my favorite author!

[Cari]

Quite touching story of an unlikely friendship that —quite possibly — extends beyond the grave. Pure, entertaining Stephen King.

[Anirudh Mannattil]

A beautiful telling of life, grief, adolescence and inter-generational opinions on the Industrial Revolution; the good and bad it brought to modern society.

King might be renowned for his horror, but he is also a legend in drama; weaving the threads of a riveting tale masterfully without losing control. The best proof that pacing a story at light speed is unnecessary for audience engagement if a slow and gradual approach acts as a much better alternative.

Ali Hazelwood and all the other feminists will never understand or reach the greatness that is King, if they continue down their path of erotic romance. King keeps romance in the background throughout his story, focusing on more significant aspects such as the pure joy of friendship, the everlasting memories built upon the ups and downs a young man encounters and a brief but impactful discussion on the Technological whirlwind in the late 2000s and it's impact through the eyes of two very different individuals; a teenage Christian boy still new to life and an old man with a wealth of experience and knowledge.

A treat to the eyes, and a delicious thought-provoking meal for the mind.

Thank you, Stephen King, for this glorious short story.

99/100

[Jen]

I had typed out a whole review of this and then a weird iPhone glitch just happened that caused the whole thing to be deleted. 😡

Now I can’t be bothered to rewrite it again.

So I’ll just say that this is a strong short story from King. Liked it better than the movie but not as much as some of his other greatest short stories/novellas.

4 stars

[Klare]

The first short story from “If it Bleeds” book.

I tried the movie after reading this one but I liked the book better.

[Nikki]

Underwhelming ending with a beautiful build up.

[Panda]

Mr. Harrigan's Phone (Chapters 1-5) narrated by Will Paton is part of If It Bleeds

The audiobook is just over 3 hours at 1x speed, has high quality audio that is easily understood from 1x to 2x speed, as preferred.
Will Paton does a fantastic job of narrating Mr. Harrigan's Phone, completely pulled me into the story, took me for a ride and dropped me off before I realized it was over.

Mr. Harrigan's Phone is a coming of age story of a young boy, Craig, in small town Maine. Craig, with his father's permission, is hired by the small towns newest resident, a retired Mr. Harrigan, to do a few small jobs after school a few times a week.
This sweet story of the love of a building friendship, growing up, and loss follows Craig from the age of 9 through college.
OK, it's not all sweet.

Recommend.

[Merel Hillenaar]

Great story about, in my opinion, trouble with letting people go/dealing with reality. And as a result of the trouble with letting go, keep finding reasons to deny reality/holding on to someone that is actually not there anymore. Not 5 stars because I personally would have liked to know more about the background of Craig, for example the relationship with his parents.

[Sharon Borton]

Ooh what a fun and chilling story! All I’m going to say is well done again Stephen King!

[alex (junior year version)]

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone by Stephen King

Content Warnings:

Language: 3-4/10 (not much swearing at all, a couple f*cks, sh*ts, damns and stuff like that)

Horror/Scary Level: 0/10 (not scary at all, maybe one small part when he is describing one of the text messages could be a tiny bit creepy but overall, not scary)

Synopsis: Our main character, Craig, lives in Harlow, Maine, where he lives with his dad. He starts working for Mr. Harrigan at 5-ish and basically just reads to him and takes care of his house. Mr. Harrigan is a super rich guy who picked to live in a small town to escape tourism. Eventually, Craig gives Mr. Harrigan an iPhone and shows him how to use it, which prompts Craig to bury it with him when he dies. But, Craig gets a text message from Mr. Harrigan after he’s died. Is this just a prank, or is it something else…

Review: This novella was super sweet and cutesy! The relationship between Craig and Mr. Harrigan is a great example of how well Stephen King (or as I call him, Steve) writes relationships between characters. If you’re looking for a story to start off your journey with Steve, this is a pretty good one! I even thought that it could be more creepy than it was, which is strange coming from someone who doesn’t like horror. It’s not a masterpiece or anything, but it’s still a fun and interesting novella!

3.5 ⭐️

[John Allen]

King's "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" is an icy, deadly tale using simple skeleton of a story to maximum affect

Craig, a kind young man, befriends a billionaire, John Harrigan, and a a dialogue ensues which forms a lasting bond. He slowly comes to realize that Harrigan has mote than a touch of the cold, suspicious and outright vicious streak that the "self made" financial successes of the world often do.

Eventually, Harrigan dies and leaves him an ample sum of money. Craig asks that the iPhone he purchased for Harrigan is buried with him. He receives a couple off color messages, and every real enemy he encounters die in unlikely ways. He even asks Harrigan to kill someone for him.

This is about the dangers of virtual reality, but King doesn't allow the prose to get lost in internet ethos. This is a chilling tale, and masterfully told.

[B G]

Realmente yo sólo había pedido el libro If it bleeds y me han colado esta historia en el mismo volumen. Así que bueno, me la he tragado.
Típico vibe estadounidense que suele agradarme del autor. Por lo demás, okay, sin más. Las historias ambientadas así más en el presente no me dan mucho más en general.

[Evelina🍒🍸🏙️]

I liked reading this book and it is perfect for people who want to get in to reading! I took a break for about a month and a half which is why it took so long to read for me.

[Reagan]

I wasn’t expecting much from this, and it’s definitely not the same vibe as SK’s other texts, but the ending lines were 👌

[Joshua Cullen]

This is one of King’s better short stories. The way he is able to build up your love for the characters in such limited time is outstanding. The story flowed beautifully and by the end, I was so upset that there wasn’t more.

I love the questionable ending, I want more, please give us more.

I was going to include my review of Mr Harrigan’s Phone with the review of the entire collection, but this story deserves its own, and I don’t want to forget it, or lose it among the other stories in the book.

[Bree]

I found the film so boring when I watched it when it came out, so I was a little reluctant coming to the short story. But, it’s Stephen King so of course I had a good time. 3 1/2 stars I think. Pretty cool premise, and the natural conclusion is for Craig to become a murderer a la Death Note style with the power he holds, and he doesn’t, which is kind of nice.

[Rory Clingham]

The thing that makes this short story such a pleasant read is how understanded it is.

It is really a coming of age story about a young boy who befriends a lonely old man, and how he grapples with the grief of losing another male role model who taught him a lot and left a lasting impression in his life.

Not my favourite short story, but pretty good!

[Launa]

I understand short stories are meant to be short. But this was way to short to actually achieve anything. Great premise and great writing, has so much potential, would love to see a longer adaptation. I feel this way about a lot of Stephen kings short stories.

[Haley Hall]

First ever Stephen King book and I’m glad I started out with a short story. A nice appetizer of ghostly adventures that was quick and to the point with a nice wrap up. Excited to read more from him!

[Lesa Wade]

An easy read about a young boy who discovers that technology maybe isn't all it's cracked up to be.

[Karen ReadsALot]

Implied creepiness.

[Heather]

Great short read. Lovely characters

[Mihai Solotchi]

Youth is a wonderful thing,
What a shame it’s wasted on children

[Heather]

This was an interesting read. The dark twists were unexpected.

[Danielle]

More unnerving than horrific, the set up to the actual plot of the story was my favourite part and seemed to drag once Mr Harriman was out of the picture. It still managed to be entertaining, but not much more for me.

[Daphneee W ♡]

3.75

[Stephen Bayliss-White]

Great build up, touched on some interesting themes about grief and letting go. Absolutely did not come together in the slightest by the end.