Stephen King Fans discussion

Discuss this story from Four Past Midnight here!

There are bits of this story that stick with me. It's an odd piece and not one of his best but it still has elements that make you remember it.

***Spoiler***

I have read only the first three stories and this one is my favorite so far. It was boring at the beginning but after Dave began to tell the librarian story I was hooked. The rape shocked me, I wasn't expecting it. The story was too serious all of a sudden but then the thing about the licorettes pulling the monster out of Sarah's neck was a little ridiculous but just perfect to alleviate the tension. This one will surely stay with me for a while.

I read this book probably 6 years ago, but for some reason, I have no memory of it at all. Wierd, huh? I am definitely looking forward to this reread! I'm sure it will all come back to me then. :)

The Library Policeman is Four Past Midnight's masterpiece, in case any of you were wondering. :)

Kathy wrote: "I read this book probably 6 years ago, but for some reason, I have no memory of it at all. Wierd, huh? I am definitely looking forward to this reread! I'm sure it will all come back to me then. :)"

I guess you had to find your Library Policeman too...

It's weird. I didn't remember it either, though it had been a few years longer than 6 since I read it the first time.

Definately not my favourite from Four Past Midnight - I found this disturbing at the beginning, with an ending that totally flopped - but hey, each to his own.

I'm not finished with this one yet but I did get to the scene where the librarian has those crazy teeth and is eating licorice. Someone told me it would ruin Red Vines for me forever. I really just want a bunch of Red Vines now. And huge sharp teeth to eat it with.

This one stuck out in my mind from my readings while younger, mostly just b/c of what happened to Sam as a child. But I didn't remember much else about it, so re-reading was great. I thought this story was entertaining, and creepy, but it didn't scare me too badly.

King's inspiration for this one cracked me up.

This sounds cool. I'll have to add it to my tbr shelf.

Didn't like the homosexual rape scene. Also thought this story was pretty tedious.

Almost a prequel to The Outsider

I think this story is one of his best. The rape scene is completely unexpected, or at least was by me, but made perfect sense. People do suppress awful memories and why not? They can't help you in any way. I also thought the AA angle was so incredibly personal for him at the time.

Was the licorice bit at the end a bit over the top? Yes, but at the same time, when I am really IN a King book, nothing seems so. I just go with it.

I cannot abide the smell of red licorice. Twizzlers, yes, because they don't smell like real red licorice. Ick!

The rape scene ruined me

I didn't remember this story at all despite having read the collection long ago (I remembered something at least from each of the other stories). Reread it recently. The best of the four, but ...

I don't understand the monster's abilities. It can transform itself and feed off fear and I guess hypnotize people, okay. It goes into hibernation after a big feeding, okay. It can shift a whole library back in time? Was that just an illusion, either external or something planted in the MC's mind (and also in the other character's minds during the big confrontation? When there was physical damage happening, was there a present-time equivalent damage taking place to the shelves, the fire extinguisher, etc?) Why did the library appear old when the MC first entered it? Was the creature waiting there just for him, or was it lurking randomly and he just happened to be the first to show up and it instantly plucked those details from his suppressed trauma and implemented them before he even entered the building? In the past, it had a whole prolonged existence in the community, but this time it's only affecting the MC? It physically transformed into the Library Policeman when it went to his house, right? Was the book he took from the past, or did it exist in the present day library when he borrowed it? If the former, did it really exist when he had it in his personal possession? If the latter, did the real library system ever notice it was missing?

Hopefully you start to see my confusion. Is there any clarity to be found for any of this?