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Dedication
"Dedication" is a short story by Stephen King first published as part of the 1988 short story anthology Dark Visions and reprinted in King's 1993 short story collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes.
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
46 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1988
About the author
Stephen King
2,237 books894k 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 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 25, 2022
Story 2 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator Lindsay Crouse
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator Lindsay Crouse
January 20, 2026
A bizarre short story of a woman whose encounter with a “bruja” (aka a witch), ends up leading to some rather interesting outcomes. I’ll just leave it at that as far as plot goes. As usual, King’s writing is phenomenal but the story itself was just okay.
November 19, 2020
What the actual fuck when through his mind to have a story about a black woman licking a white man's cum out of shit?
This is insulting and disgusting on so many levels it should get banned and burned.
This is insulting and disgusting on so many levels it should get banned and burned.
August 9, 2022
Gross. And also, why?
July 19, 2023
4.75*
From Nightmares & Dreamscapes
This story gets a lot of hate for being gross (and it's absolutely disgusting), and I was disturbed more than I ever have been before.
But isn't that the point of horror? To be disturbed? I thought it was great...
From Nightmares & Dreamscapes
This story gets a lot of hate for being gross (and it's absolutely disgusting), and I was disturbed more than I ever have been before.
But isn't that the point of horror? To be disturbed? I thought it was great...
July 5, 2021
0.5 stars
November 21, 2022
So, a lady cleans up a guy's "mess" in a disgusting way. Why is this one of the longer stories in the book so far?
January 10, 2023
Probably the least disgusting story I've ever read. Jk it's gross.
March 3, 2023
Wow. Stephen King did a lot of coke, huh?
May 12, 2025
What in the actual hell. This one was so grimy and disturbing—I felt like I needed to scrub my brain afterward. But also?? Weirdly powerful. Like, the story is horrifying, but the desperation in it hit. That line—
“People who don’t need bruja can afford to laugh at it… same reason why people who don’t need prayer can afford to laugh at that.”
—#BARS. That line stuck with me hard. She’s literally scraping together hope and survival with whatever magic she can find, and it’s not pretty—but damn, it’s real.
And then… make love to Mother Thumb and his four daughters???
EXCUSE ME??? I had to stop reading and stare at the ceiling for a full minute. That’s a line I’ll never forget for all the wrong reasons. King is SICK for that one. Holy smokes. Grotesque doesn’t even cover it. The stuff with the hotel cook and the extraction?? I had a visceral reaction. I was just like: oh, we’re doing this now. Okay. Sure. Great.
But at the same time, there’s this twisted kind of beauty to it. A mother doing whatever it takes to make sure her son doesn’t end up a loser like his father. And somehow, despite all the grossness and wild bruja magic, it lands emotionally.
Definitely not a comfort read, but one I won’t forget anytime soon and thats the point of horror.
Room 1163 was a probably a nod to 11/22/63 and JFK?? Like King does this kinda stuff all the time, slipping little references in. The number 63 being the room number feels way too specific to be random.
And it kind of fits too. In 11/22/63 it’s all about rewriting history and saving someone from a terrible future. And in Dedication, the mom’s literally doing everything—magic, grotesque rituals, everything—to make sure her kid doesn’t turn out like his dad. She’s trying to change fate in her own way. No time travel, just bruja and pure desperation.
I swear King’s always connecting his universes like that. He’s wild for it.
“People who don’t need bruja can afford to laugh at it… same reason why people who don’t need prayer can afford to laugh at that.”
—#BARS. That line stuck with me hard. She’s literally scraping together hope and survival with whatever magic she can find, and it’s not pretty—but damn, it’s real.
And then… make love to Mother Thumb and his four daughters???
EXCUSE ME??? I had to stop reading and stare at the ceiling for a full minute. That’s a line I’ll never forget for all the wrong reasons. King is SICK for that one. Holy smokes. Grotesque doesn’t even cover it. The stuff with the hotel cook and the extraction?? I had a visceral reaction. I was just like: oh, we’re doing this now. Okay. Sure. Great.
But at the same time, there’s this twisted kind of beauty to it. A mother doing whatever it takes to make sure her son doesn’t end up a loser like his father. And somehow, despite all the grossness and wild bruja magic, it lands emotionally.
Definitely not a comfort read, but one I won’t forget anytime soon and thats the point of horror.
Room 1163 was a probably a nod to 11/22/63 and JFK?? Like King does this kinda stuff all the time, slipping little references in. The number 63 being the room number feels way too specific to be random.
And it kind of fits too. In 11/22/63 it’s all about rewriting history and saving someone from a terrible future. And in Dedication, the mom’s literally doing everything—magic, grotesque rituals, everything—to make sure her kid doesn’t turn out like his dad. She’s trying to change fate in her own way. No time travel, just bruja and pure desperation.
I swear King’s always connecting his universes like that. He’s wild for it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2023
Martha Rosewall, a black housekeeper at the Le Palais hotel, receives the first novel of her son Peter with a dedication to her. Time to celebrate with a colleague of her, Dolores William. But soon this positive circumstance turns into complete horror. What has Mama Dolorme, a bruja woman, to do with her son's success? What is it with the question after the natural father? Why does Martha say Peter Jeffries, a racist author, is the real father of her son? What did she do? This is one of the most unusual and controversial horror stories I read for quite a while. It starts slow but turns into a real creeper. The ending is also very scary. If you aren't afraid of some disgusting details (one of King's most explicit) you definitely should have a look at this relatively long story. Masterly crafted. I can highly recommend it!
March 4, 2021
Yes, indeed his most disturbing, racist and sexist one
April 20, 2021
2 out of 5
November 25, 2023
The writing is alright, and it’s a familiar theme for King (a woman trying to escape domestic violence), but one I feel he tackled much better in Dolores Claiborne.
September 1, 2024
The fuck did I just read?
May 15, 2025
Stephen King can literally tell a good tale about anything.
August 9, 2025
steve-o whiffs this one
issues with tone, character
ending almost saves
issues with tone, character
ending almost saves
March 23, 2026
Absolutely foul, but also intriguing 🤣 I felt my gorge rise on more than one occasion but you know king likes to do that sort of Thing.
April 5, 2026
this one also did not click for me... just not a very fun read and kind of wtf?
October 4, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
http://thebookcornerchronicles.com/20...
This short story is included in the “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” which I will be reviewing pretty soon.
To be fully honest here, short stories written by Stephen King always miss the mark with me. I always end up not liking his short stories and I don’t know why it is so.
And this short story isn’t any different from Stephen King’s other short stories ive read in the past.
The characters in this short story in my opinion were very boring and uninteresting.
The plot in this one is meh as well because it was very slow, boring and uninteresting. And to be honest writing I’m writing this review the next day after reading this short story and I cant recall what the short story was about because I just didn’t bother remembering this short story because I didn’t like it so much.
The writing style here in my opinion didn’t feel like something written by the one and only master of horror. But rather by someone who have never written any books or short stories before
http://thebookcornerchronicles.com/20...
This short story is included in the “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” which I will be reviewing pretty soon.
To be fully honest here, short stories written by Stephen King always miss the mark with me. I always end up not liking his short stories and I don’t know why it is so.
And this short story isn’t any different from Stephen King’s other short stories ive read in the past.
The characters in this short story in my opinion were very boring and uninteresting.
The plot in this one is meh as well because it was very slow, boring and uninteresting. And to be honest writing I’m writing this review the next day after reading this short story and I cant recall what the short story was about because I just didn’t bother remembering this short story because I didn’t like it so much.
The writing style here in my opinion didn’t feel like something written by the one and only master of horror. But rather by someone who have never written any books or short stories before
July 10, 2023
It takes balls to write a story this bizarrely focused around one off the wall, disgusting act. Once the deed is done, I was waiting for something else to happen, but no, King just writes a 60-page short story about a woman eating semen and that's it. It's so dumb, it's bad, but it left an impression.
December 9, 2023
Possibly the worst short story I have ever read. A complete waste of anyone's time. 🗑
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews