Rat

by Stephen King

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

3 pages, Unknown Binding

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

[Daniel Volpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best story in the collection. This one felt like old school King and had some creepy moments.

[Donna Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drew Larson teaches creative writing at a small New England college. He has a few published short stories but longs to write a complete novel.

Drew goes to an isolated Maine cabin near the Canadian border. Here he struggles with a terrible cold, a serious storm and a talking rat.

Although this is a short story, it packs a serious punch. As the rat states, “You knew I was a rat when you took me in.”

[Zach Schiff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the other under-100-page stories in "If It Bleeds," this was interesting but didn't connect like a Stephen King story should have. It took a real long time to get where it was going, and then when it got there, it didn't do much.

And it might have been the weakest ending I've ever read.

[Lars · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short story from 'If it Bleeds' and the best of the book. Re-read it, absolutely brilliant. No gore, no horror, just a bit of psychology (or not?).

[Panda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rat (Chapters 21-62)is the final story in the If It Bleeds collection, narrated by Steven Weber.

The audiobook is a bit under 3.5 hours at 1x speed, has high quality audio that is easily understood from 1x to 2x speed, as preferred.
Steven Weber narrates this short story well, easily becoming the main character.

Rat is a unique take on a story as old as time. A kind of get rich quick/leapfrog to the finish line tale that is written around a young struggling family who live in a small close knit town. It is very well written and another old school type King story that is enjoyable if you have read hundreds of similar type stories or if this is your first time with this type of tale.

I liked it a lot, despite being queasy at the title.

Recommend.

[Chris DiLeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this numerous times. Such a brilliant spoof (parody? satire?) of the writing struggle. Writer's Block for many is not a dearth of words or story but an abundance of it and the challenge is making choices. King is having a great time exploring this through a character who is desperate to finally get a completed novel written. The Faustian bargain he makes with a talking rat (it works, trust me) is a fascinating one for us writers to consider. As ever, King is fascinated with the creative process, with the magic of storytelling, and with that indefinable and ineffable thing we call talent. King, of course, has that in abundance.

[Becky Meitzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting little short story, that will keep my from being out in the wilderness all alone.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good story about a writer working on a novel in a cabin. He gets sick and in his fevered state deals with a supernatural rat.

[Jason S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun take on the Monkey's Paw, just wish the consequences felt more grave for the protagonist.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite of the short stories in “If It Bleeds”. It felt like some of King’s best stories. It’s a psychological thriller that follows an author struggling to finally write his novel and slipping into insanity. Or is he? Since it’s King, you don’t really know.

It was a quick and compelling read and kept me guessing which way it was going to turn next. Great story.

4.5 stars

[Nick Katenkamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might have been my favorite of the collection but I admit it is a pretty dumb story. Dumb yes, but interesting also. The talking rat was a bit silly but for me it worked and gave a standardly solid, if unspectacular King horror tale.

[#DÏ4B7Ø Chinnamasta-Bhairav]

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To SEE a WORLD in a Grain of Sand,
And a HEAVEN in a Wild Flower,
Hold INFINITY in the palm of your hand
And ETERNITY in an Hour"
~ William Blake ~

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“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.” Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is form.
Form is not different than Emptiness;
Emptiness is not different than form
~ Heart Sutra ~

Like the ocean and its waves,
inseparable yet distinct

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" I and The Father are one,
I am The Truth,
The Life and The Path.”

Like a river flowing from its source,
connected and continuous

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Thy kingdom come.
Let the reign of divine
Truth, Life, and Love
be established in me,
and rule out of me all sin;
and may Thy Word
enrich the affections of all mankind

A mighty oak tree standing firm against the storm,
As sunlight scatters the shadows of night
A river nourishing the land it flows through

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[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen King’s Rat, a novella from his If It Bleeds collection published in 2020, is in my opinion his best novella of the last 20 years. It may seem a fairly straightforward piece of literary horror about writer’s block and creative ego inflation, but beneath the surface lives a deep pool of fairy tale tradition. Drew Larson is just a guy who wants to finally finish a novel, but in King’s world, he becomes the latest in a long line of mortals who strike an impossible deal with an unlikely adversary.

Drew, a struggling writer with several unfinished novels and a mental breakdown behind him, retreats to his family’s remote cabin in the woods to begin what is to be his final and greatest attempt at writing. Already we’ve got the fairy tale setting down pat: the cabin, the isolation, the howling wind, even a few colorful side characters thrown in. When things start to go off the rails, the rat enters with dramatic aplomb, just another creature in a long line of magical helpers and tricksters. The funny thing is that Drew realizes this; he and the rat even have an entire conversation about it. But that doesn’t stop him from striking the Faustian deal that will allow him to finally finish a novel.

Like the enchantments of European fairy tales or the pacts of Faust and Rumpelstiltskin, Rat blurs the line between metaphor and literal magic. There is a chance, even in the reader’s mind, that all this really is just in Drew’s head; especially since Drew is sick and high on cough medicine when the event occurs, and, perhaps more crucially, the rat speaks to him only through his mind and through the medium of conversations from Drew’s past. But then, people start dying.

Rat’s pared-down quality gives it the flavor of a folk tale, and it’s this, along with the humorous nature of Drew’s break-down and his stubbornness, that really gives Rat its resonance. King is telling us that we can still have fairy tales, even quirky, macabre ones. And as a reader, I found myself really liking the experience of being in Drew’s head, despite what a self-involved asshole he was. Rat was, pure and simple, a great story.

[Suzie Q · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another writer’s block story by SK. The main character Drew is a short story author with a passion to write a novel. The story eludes to the fact that he tried writing a novel in the past and it drove him crazy that he couldn’t get thru it and almost burnt his house down.

Is starts with him walking home and seeing a saloon that gave him the inspiration to write a western. So he tells his wife that he’s gonna go to his dad’s cabin in the woods to clear his mind to write. The wife is worried that he’s gonna have another nervous breakdown, but he convinces her to let him go and fulfill his dream of completing a novel. Against her better judgment, she agrees to let him go a few weeks. It starts off pretty good the first few days that he’s there, but he ends up getting sick and starts getting writers blocked again. Then he finds out there’s a storm coming and his wife wants him home, but he refuses to go. So now he’s stuck in this cabin in the woods, sick with a bad cold that he caught from an attendant at a gas station. During the storm, he comes across a rat that he was going to put out its misery, but decided to let the rat in out of the storm, thinking that he would just let it die in the warmth. But since he was nice to the rat, the rat granted him a wish. He tells the rat that he wants to complete his novel, but the rat tells him that someone he loves will die in exchange for his novel to be completed. Drew requested that a friend that already has stage for cancer dies since he’s probably gonna die anyway. But the friends cancer goes in remission and he actually gets killed in a car wreck with his wife. Drew feels responsible. He has one more encounter with the rat where he wants an explanation ad the rat basically tells him he’s a rat, what does he expect. Cute story.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt like classic Stephen King to me. We don’t know what happened. Was the rat real or not?

I liked the insights into an author’s mind. I believe one of the was as simple as trying to determine whether he should use hollow-eyed or sunken-eyed and whether there be a hyphen for either. That idea or aspect of the process hadn’t occurred to me.

I’m also intrigued by the idea of the butterfly effect. What choices do you make that could impact others? What is the chain of events of cause and effect? Could there be a link between someone’s death and an action I take?

But there’s also a more sinister lesson in terms of who we choose to spend our time and who we do deals or dealings with. “You knew I was a rat when you took me in.”

I love that the book within a book had an open ending. That’s classic Stephen King, too.

[Jeffrey Hyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Rat” is a quietly unsettling, character-driven story that explores creativity, obsession, and the hidden cost of success. Stephen King builds tension through isolation, physical decline, and psychological unease rather than outright horror, letting ambiguity do much of the work.

The mysterious rat—never fully explained—serves as a haunting symbol of the bargains artists make when desperation and inspiration collide. While the ending is more reflective than shocking, it lingers in a way that feels true to the story’s themes.

A strong, thoughtful read that may not satisfy readers looking for traditional scares, but one that showcases King’s subtle mastery and insight into the creative mind.

[Dan Costin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This erratically paced Novella explores creativity, desperation, and the dangerous bargains people strike to achieve their dreams. The cautionary tale follows Drew Larson, a struggling writer and English professor whose past attempts at writing novels have ended poorly. Determined to finally finish his “great American novel,” Drew retreats to his family’s remote cabin in northern Maine. He encounters a talking rat who offers Drew a Faustian bargain: the successful completion of his novel in exchange for the death of someone Drew loves. The eerie cabin setting, the storm, and the rat create an atmosphere that blurs the line between hallucination and supernatural menace.

[Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I read this in one sitting when I should have gone to bed, but it was short enough I didn’t want to go to sleep without finishing it. A fun little story, although the ending let me down. Why are so many of King’s short stories so tame, the rat here is honestly not even a bad guy, he’s just chilling. I wanted more spooky happenings to occur in the cabin! The atmosphere is deliciously creepy as always though.

[Joanne West · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've only recently started reading SK and I have really enjoyed most of his books however sometimes I read one and get really into it them it takes a weird turn and I feel like it's totally lost me - this is one of those!
It's a great story and I was engaged until the rat appeared then I was just like what?

[Michael Rosenblum Jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story, although I wish it was a little longer. Kind wish that King also created the book Drew is writing in the story.

It harkened to classic king where an animal is anthropomorphized into a contributing member of the story, this one’s true intention and (possible) identity being dubious.

[Елена Козина · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tastes as good as well-known King's creations. Entertaining, ironic and a bit creepy short story. Totally recommended!

По стилю рассказ не уступает другим уже ставшим классикой творениям Кинга. Одновременно ироничный и немного жутковатый. Рекомендую!

[Rambling Irishman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final short in Kings new novella (If It Bleeds) and I must say a fantastic finish to a great collection of shorts.
The plot of 'Rat' drew me and I was not expecting the elements that came through. I enjoyed this entire book from start to finish.
5/5 Mr King, thank you.

[Tim Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rat concludes the If It Bleeds collection. King really gets into the mind of a character who is losing that mind. I probably would have ended it differently but the whole thing did justice to itself. 3.5 stars, rounded down.

[Heidi Aschenbrenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story! I really enjoyed it. I jumped ahead in my chronological reading so I could see The Life of Chuck adaptation as soon as it's out, and I had recently read Bag of Bones a few books ago. It was interesting to me how much of the initial premise was the same here and in Bag of Bones, and is set in the same location. And then the protagonist even chides himself for being classist while thinking similar thoughts to the protagonist of Bag of Bones, who many have criticized as being classist without being self-aware of it (though I think there is some self-awareness there).

This is one of those stories that I felt drawn in so much that I wondered if I was getting sick while the protagonist was in the midst of his illness. I like that it's not clear whether something supernatural is happening or not. I enjoy the whole riding out the storm situation with no ability to contact anyone.

Probably the best of the collection.

[Chris DiCarlo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rats granting wishes like genies now?! I woulda killed it on sight. Classic King storytelling, making a short simple tale about an author struggling to write his first novel into a psychological conversation piece. Also cool that the family lives in Falmouth in the sorry; the town next to mine.

[Joshua Cullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A straight forward short story, not much to rave on about. The concept was solid, and I was invested. The Rat itself I wanted more of, more interactions, more dialogue and more consequences. But, it ended up being quite predictable.

[RaChelle Holmberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enclosed in an anthology, what a freaky scary fairy tale type story. Downloaded from my public library, it was a hair-raising read! Yikes!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best story in If It Bleeds.

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not really sure how to explain how I feel with this book.

Typical. Grimm like? I am not sure but it was a great read.

[Rissa (rissasreading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this was my second favorite from If It Bleeds