Stephen King 2026 Read-Along discussion

Alas, spooky season is over (although it's all year round for Constant Readers!) and it's time to continue trekking along in the Buzzwordathon Challenge by reading something with the word "Only" in the title. We couldn't find a full-length King novel fitting that prompt so we went with a short story this month, which works out well as everyone is preparing for the upcoming busy holiday season. In November we will be reading "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French” from 2002's short story collection, Everything's Eventual.

The story focuses on a married woman in a car ride on vacation constantly repeating the same events over and over, each event ending with the same gruesome outcome. In his closing remarks, King suggested that Hell is not "other people," as Sartre claimed, but repetition, enduring the same pain over and over again without end.

It was originally published in the June 22, 1998 issue of The New Yorker magazine. This story has been adapted as part of Stephen King's Dollar Baby Program. One adaptation, titled "That Feeling" by writer/director/editor Paul Inman, was completed in 2021 and debuted in film festivals in 2022. There it won several awards including, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Score, and Best International Short Film. It was also an Official Selection at the Stephen King Rules Film Festival in Davenport, IA, where many of the Dollar Baby films were presented online with Stephen King's blessing for the first time.

There are at least three other known official Dollar Baby versions of this short story, one of which is a twelve minute version available to watch on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEMtP...

Who else is excited to read this story? Of course, you can always read the full book, which is one of his best short story collections in my humble opinion, but it's never required. We hope you all have a bountiful November and a joyous start to the holiday season!

Hi everyone! I’m actually in the middle of the Survivor type(Skelton crew) it’s different lol can’t wait to pick up November .. have a great month :)