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A Death
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About the author
Stephen King
2,499 books886k followersStephen 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
October 16, 2021
*3.5 stars*
Set in the old west, ‘A Death’ by Stephen King may be short, but it’s certainly not lacking in any way. It’s about a man accused of theft, and the rape and murder of a 10 year old girl. It had all the suspense you’d expect from King, and the ending was completely unexpected!
Set in the old west, ‘A Death’ by Stephen King may be short, but it’s certainly not lacking in any way. It’s about a man accused of theft, and the rape and murder of a 10 year old girl. It had all the suspense you’d expect from King, and the ending was completely unexpected!
October 1, 2021
'A Death' has no supernatural elements and it's also set in the old west. It seems it was Wyoming, but I could be wrong. Neither of those things make this a favorite of mine. I'm not so much a fan of Westerns. Still, this was a decent little story about a sheriff arresting a man.
The duration of the story, as reader, we are trying to figure out of the man was really guilty of the crime or not. The crime is horrific and then man we see at the beginning doesn't seem capable of it, he seems dim-witted and slow and rather docile.
I was surprised at the ending and I enjoyed the story. I do feel like King shines with the supernatural, it's his natural storytelling element. It is well written.
The duration of the story, as reader, we are trying to figure out of the man was really guilty of the crime or not. The crime is horrific and then man we see at the beginning doesn't seem capable of it, he seems dim-witted and slow and rather docile.
I was surprised at the ending and I enjoyed the story. I do feel like King shines with the supernatural, it's his natural storytelling element. It is well written.
January 23, 2023
Not sure how, but my review for "A Death" was somehow moved to "Bazaar of Bad Dreams". So I'm deleting that one and copying my review to the correct book.
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Original review posted in 2015:
I've been underwhelmed by the last couple of King books I've read... until this little gem. It's mind-blowing to me how the pen that wrote this excellent little story is the same one that wrote... that other one. (Honestly, I'm still not convinced.)
Anyway... This is a great little story - about misconceptions and leaping to judgement.
King is the master of the short story. He has the reader in the palm of his hand and molds us to think the things he wants us to think. I have MISSED this King. It's so great to see a story like this, to see that he is still amazing in this arena, and can still bring characters to life in such detail with so few pages, and sometimes only with a handful of words. And for such a short story to have the kind of impact that this one has... it's impressive. I only wish it was longer.
Definitely worth the few minutes it will take to read it. Go do it!
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Original review posted in 2015:
I've been underwhelmed by the last couple of King books I've read... until this little gem. It's mind-blowing to me how the pen that wrote this excellent little story is the same one that wrote... that other one. (Honestly, I'm still not convinced.)
Anyway... This is a great little story - about misconceptions and leaping to judgement.
King is the master of the short story. He has the reader in the palm of his hand and molds us to think the things he wants us to think. I have MISSED this King. It's so great to see a story like this, to see that he is still amazing in this arena, and can still bring characters to life in such detail with so few pages, and sometimes only with a handful of words. And for such a short story to have the kind of impact that this one has... it's impressive. I only wish it was longer.
Definitely worth the few minutes it will take to read it. Go do it!
December 27, 2020
Well, I did not see that ending coming.
January 31, 2021
This is one of the weaker stories of this collection. While the suspense does build up, casting doubts within the readers' minds, the final execution falls flat. I wish there had been a little more clarity on Barclay being a "fool": it felt rushed and abruptly cut short. King does this often in this collection, which makes it either disappointing, if deliberate, or frustrating, if not.
January 1, 2025
My favorite of the shorter stories in the Bazaar of Bad Dreams, A Death is a simple premise, told plainly, with a completely unexpected ending that genuinely surprised me. This isn’t the flashiest story in the collection, and from reading other reviews it isn’t among the most popular, but I found it to be the most unique and memorable read in the collection.
January 16, 2024
read for a class! i liked this :)
January 18, 2021
A western with no supernatural elements, A Death is a simple story about an execution. It’s here, if you haven’t yet noticed, that death is a prevailing theme in A Bazaar of Bad Dreams. To this point, every story has dealt with death in some way. The story follows the arrest, trial, and conviction of Jim Trusdale for the murder and molestation of a young girl.
Throughout the story, doubt is cast on whether or not Trusdale could have committed the crime. The sheriff becomes convinced of his innocence and tries desperately to find another suspect. This is another story written for the twist, so I won’t spoil it, but I will say that it was unimpressed. King continues with well-written, thematically hollow stories that end leaving both you and the story feeling incomplete.
Throughout the story, doubt is cast on whether or not Trusdale could have committed the crime. The sheriff becomes convinced of his innocence and tries desperately to find another suspect. This is another story written for the twist, so I won’t spoil it, but I will say that it was unimpressed. King continues with well-written, thematically hollow stories that end leaving both you and the story feeling incomplete.
September 23, 2025
call me gullible but i am so easily convinced by an unreliable narrator my ex really wasn’t lying when he said i was easy to manipulate!!!
July 6, 2021
A very short story I came across through the reading assignment of a course I am doing.
Story is setup in Medieval time when there were wagons and execution was public. Story revolves around a case where suspicious person is accused of theft, rape and murder of a small girl. Throughout the story suspect pleads guilty but due to lack of evidence and public's strong hatred towards him, he pays the heavy price. But who was the actual killer ? Was he still enjoying his freedom or suspect was simply lying. Climax is too good, very unexpected and actually disgusting.
It's really a different kind of story especially from King.
Story is setup in Medieval time when there were wagons and execution was public. Story revolves around a case where suspicious person is accused of theft, rape and murder of a small girl. Throughout the story suspect pleads guilty but due to lack of evidence and public's strong hatred towards him, he pays the heavy price. But who was the actual killer ? Was he still enjoying his freedom or suspect was simply lying. Climax is too good, very unexpected and actually disgusting.
It's really a different kind of story especially from King.
September 24, 2021
It was a great short story of around 5 pages and it took ~20 minutes to read. I read it from the book “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams” where King includes his other short stories and poems. I have to say—I enjoyed it more than I thought. Stephen was correct, it’s not as similar to his usual style of writing, but the suspense was definitely there. A Death is one of those stories that you might find boring (at least for me), but the ending had left me intrigued and baffled. I do recommend this if you’re looking for a quick read!
June 15, 2021
For some reason I thought this was a novella, not a short story. Anyhow, takes place in South Dakota before it became a state. A guy is accused of murdering a little girl and is brought to old west justice. But is he innocent? The answer is grisly; well, powdery. And fun.
June 24, 2021
Well I saw that ending going a completely different way.
September 22, 2025
Interesting end huh hmmm
February 11, 2023
Didn’t see that coming. I thought the end would be the opposite. I did enjoy that this is different from King’s other works. It’s set maybe out west during the gold rush. Short story with great details that I expect to normally come from a longer read. It almost begins to grasp how life, accusations, and trials were much different in the past.
August 27, 2023
I don't always enjoy Stephen King, but when I do, it's a non-comtemporary setting, plot-driven with no internal dialogue, and sparse.
read it here https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
read it here https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
January 12, 2021
3.5 stars
April 5, 2021
Courte nouvelle efficace. 👌
November 2, 2021
I have to say I liked this one a lot, I felt bad for the guy because he seemed so ignorant that he couldn't have been guilty... but the ending twist whew. I did not see that coming.
January 29, 2022
Not bad.
June 21, 2022
Good short
October 12, 2022
In its short time, it offers a simple but clever, thought-provoking ending that leaves you pondering about the unyielding kindness and brutal selfishness of men.
January 25, 2023
This feels like an alternate universe green mile. I loved this story.
July 25, 2023
Solid suspenseful story until the end, but then it fell flat and I couldn’t connect to it
December 25, 2023
The buildup was great; simple but captivating. I found the ending, however, and unlike other readers did, flat and abrupt.
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Free 🇵🇸
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Free 🇵🇸
February 6, 2024
7.5 out 10
August 1, 2024
Jim Trusdale is a slow-witted man sentenced to death for a crime he may or may not have committed. He’s believed to be hiding a silver dollar from the ten year old girl he supposedly murdered. It doesn’t matter either way, he’s deemed guilty before his trial even begins.
A straightforward whodunnit story with an unexpectedly ambiguous ending. Jim Trusdale’s intelligence, maliciousness and motive are all up in the air. It’s hard to say if he’s guilty or framed, cunningly wicked or depressingly unaware. No matter the answer, the dreary and foreboding outcome and atmosphere of the tale are solid.
A straightforward whodunnit story with an unexpectedly ambiguous ending. Jim Trusdale’s intelligence, maliciousness and motive are all up in the air. It’s hard to say if he’s guilty or framed, cunningly wicked or depressingly unaware. No matter the answer, the dreary and foreboding outcome and atmosphere of the tale are solid.
August 6, 2023
I enjoyed this quite a bit. It felt a bit like a Dark Tower side story (I really need to finish that). Or perhaps I just want to think that because otherwise I just read a cowboy story and I don't quite want to admit to that. This felt very Stephen King and was a very quick read (I guess that part did not feel very Stephen King, admittedly) and definitely worth the time.
Also,
October 28, 2025
a short story published in the new Yorker in 2015. the first on my list as I work through all of the Stephen King collection. It takes place in the black hills of south Dakota before it became a state. a Death of a little girl followed by a kangaroo court.
June 2, 2021
جالب نبود.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews