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Tim

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The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand

by Christopher Golden (Goodreads Author)

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Tim said: " PART ONE: DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS

Room 24 by Caroline Kepnes:
Just about the most unhinged, fucked up two main characters I can think of in recent memory. I was pretty intrigued throughout, some straight outta pocket moments not too far off from King (e PART ONE: DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS

Room 24 by Caroline Kepnes:
Just about the most unhinged, fucked up two main characters I can think of in recent memory. I was pretty intrigued throughout, some straight outta pocket moments not too far off from King (even in parts of The Stand, i.e. The Kid), and some pretty solid writing. First time reading Kepnes and wouldn't be opposed reading her again. Ending was a bit of a flop, could have used more there.
7/10

The Tripps by Wrath James White:
This was awesome and had everything I was looking for in this collection - an excellent horror read overall. A bit over the top and gruesome at times, but that's what horror should read like... should make you feel uncomfortable. This also brought up one of the highlights that this collection has to offer, by having different perspectives and cultures writing about the same situation as King did. This taking place in a ghetto/poverty stricken setting just wouldn't seem right written by King or by someone that isn't African American. They still could, but would come off awkward.
Really dug his writing style - just the right amount of descriptions to keep me immersed and could visualize everything very clearly. Seemed like a nod to The Shining with their mom breaking through the door which was cool (if that was intended). Looks like White's catalog is in the shock/underground/extreme horror genre - could see some of that in this story, and would be super intrigued if he broke out into the mainstream with one of his next novels but kept his brash edge. Would pick that up immediately.
9.5/10

Bright Light City by Meg Gardiner:
Had a good time with this one - thought she nailed the post-apocalypse feel of Vegas being shut down and emptied out. Had a fun & fast paced beginning as well. Can't say I loved or hated her writing style, very short sentences which may be pretty common with other thriller writers. Thought her dialog and character moments felt a bit stilted. Won't be running to Gardiner's back catalog, but wouldn't dodge a book from her that sounded interesting either. Have seen this same anticlimatic "running towards the light" sort of ending many a time - and sure enough, wasn't very satisfying here as with the many other times we've seen it done.
7/10

Every Dog Has It's Day by Bryon Smith:
A lot I liked here - had a few moments that pulled at the heart strings. Corey and his concern for his dog, being abandoned by his sister, the girl that's following him around and just wants some sort of companionship. I did like his writing and would read more, however, there was a chase scene as they're following the dog sound that was ~2 pages long and started to drag. What I'm really appreciating so far out of all of these are just how much of The Stand is linked, and how much we're getting Randall Flagg and/or Mother Abigail in each story. I figured there would be strong linkages, but getting more than what I expected and the dark man was just as intimidating as ever here.
8/10

Lockdown by Bev Vincent:
A decent story showing the quarantined and lockdown of a small island community with only 15 ppl. The gathering of these ppl and discussions on what to do moving forward did remind me a little of the community in Boulder during The Stand, as they start to rebuild. Outside of that - there's not much to this one and feels a little forgettable. Characters themselves are very forgettable, and outside of an interesting situation during the ending of this story - the ending (or final sentence at least) felt very anticlimactic.
6.5/10 ...more "

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(page 150 of 800)
— Apr 10, 2026 03:14PM

Apr 08, 2026 12:17PM · see review