Stephen King

From #1 New York Times bestselling author, legendary storyteller, and master of short fiction Stephen King comes an extraordinary collection of four new and compelling novellas—Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Life of Chuck, Rat, and the title story If It Bleeds—each pulling you into intriguing and frightening places. The novella is a form King has returned to over and over again in the course of his amazing career, and many have been made into iconic films, including “The Body” (Stand By Me) and “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” (Shawshank Redemption). Like Four Past Midnight, Different Seasons, and most recently Full Dark, No Stars, If It Bleeds is a uniquely satisfying collection of longer short fiction by an incomparably gifted writer.

If It Bleeds

Zachary Roberts

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone: 3.5

Life of Chuck: 3

If It Bleeds: 4.5

Rat: 4

Total: 3.75

Eva Ströberg

Five brilliant stars for four short stories, although some short stories are less interesting than the others.

I found If It Bleeds, the main story, the sequel to "The Outsiders" was intense and highly entertaining. We love Holly, and I found it amusing how they made Holly as African American in HBO series but she was supposed to be white in the book, not that it affects anything on the plot.

The first story about the iPhone was chilling! I got the goosebumps!

Ryan Mateyk

3.5 stars

I enjoyed these for the most part and would say most of the stories are worth the read. The standout was If It Bleeds for sure; Holly Gibney, especially after her portrayal by Cynthia Erivo in The Outsider is one of King's best characters. He's totally and self-admittedly obsessed with her and it shows because she's just the best. The story itself is a quasi-spin-off from the Outsider, with Holly chasing down a twisted relative of the original outsider. Also, it's really long and basically a novel by itself but it doesn't reach the 800 page mark so I guess that's why it's considered a King short story/novella. 

Mr. Harrigan's Phone and Rat were decent stories, one concerning a teen who finds he can contact his old man friend who died using his old iPhone, the other concerning a writer who makes a deal with the devil... in the shape of a rat. Both were original and a quick Google tells me they've already been optioned for film - excited to see what Ryan Murphy can bring to the phone story, and Ben Stiller to Rat. 

The fourth story here was just like... a jumble of ideas I guess that I didn't really care for. The Life of Chuck was told in three parts in reverse chronological order. First part, the world is ending and there's an ominous billboard advertising a man named Chuck's "retirement", subsequently followed by radio ads, skywriting, computer ads. Second part, a businessman named Chuck dances in the street with a random sad girl to a busker's drum beats and has a wonderful time. Third part, an orphan named Chuck grows up with his grandparents in the presence of a haunted room that remains locked until both grandparents die and Chuck finally enters and sees something. That's basically it and it did nothing for me, hunni!

Kaitlin Simpson

Some Decent Stories Inside

I’m not a King fan at all, but this was a book club selection. I thought some of the short stories were good. I liked Mr Harrington’s phone and Rat. The rest of the stories were really long winded and redundant for my taste, but that’s King for you. If you like his writing style and creative mind then you’ll like this collection of stories.

All four stories were captivating. Each of them are connected—not by plot or character—but by the questions: “What does it mean to live?” and “What does it mean to die?” 

Rachel Stratton

Cody Degen

** spoiler alert **
           2 stars Mr. Harrigan's Phone
3 stars The Life of Chuck (didnt say the title in the book)
3 stars If It Bleeds
2 stars Rat

3/4 on stories saying the title in the story, at least. 

Didnt feel at all like these stories were necessary. But I think my biggest issue is just that I find the way King inserts current and recent pop culture into his stories to be like nails on a chalkboard for me. It completely takes me out of the story. May be personal preference, I dont know. The first half of the first story was particularly bad in this regard. I wanted to shoot myself in the face every time Mr. Harrigan had some preternatural insight into the future of the internet.

M. Marques

Lara Engle

I loved it all. In general, these stories seem rather gentle compared to many King tales, but that doesn't make them weak. King's mastery of character and the hidden places of the human soul shines here. Further, I will always love Holly Gibney and any story she inhabits. The title novella in this collection is Holly's first stand-alone, and she holds her own.

Jacqueline Englund

I think if it wouldn’t have been for the main short story “If it Bleeds”, this would only have been a 3 star read for me. But since I loved the Outsider, I also really loved this short follow up.
The other three stories were not bad by any means, but they were just not as creepy as I had hoped.

The eagerly awaited paperback edition of the No. 1 bestselling hardcover featuring a stand-alone sequel to The Outsider, and three additional irresistible novellas. News people have a saying: 'If it bleeds, it leads'. And a bomb at Albert Macready Middle School is guaranteed to lead any bulletin. Holly Gibney of the Finders Keepers detective agency is working on the case of a missing dog - and on her own need to be more assertive - when she sees the footage on TV. But when she tunes in again, to the late-night report, she realises something is not quite right about the correspondent who was first on the scene. So begins 'If It Bleeds', a stand-alone sequel to the No. 1 bestselling THE OUTSIDER featuring the incomparable Holly on her first solo case - and also the riveting title story in Stephen King's brilliant new collection. Dancing alongside are three more wonderful long stories from this 'formidably versatile author' (The Sunday Times) - 'Mr Harrigan's Phone', 'The Life of Chuck' and 'Rat'. All four display the richness of King's storytelling with grace, humour, horror and breathtaking suspense. A fascinating Author's Note gives us a wonderful insight into the origin of each story and the writer's unparalleled imagination

a stand-alone sequel to the No. 1 bestseller The Outsider, plus three irresistible novellas

Kristen Claiborn

I am a lifelong Stephen King fan so I will always give that man five stars. Short stories, however, leave me wanting more, though I suppose that's the point. "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" is fantastic, endearing and creepy as hell. "The Life of Chuck" was bizarre, I'm certain I walked around aith a thought bubble that only read "???" while I was reading it. It was nice to see Hilly pop up again! They are all good stories and definitely worth the read.

Janice Hopper

I could have sworn I'd already written about this book. Oh well.

Anyway, pretty good fare from Mr. King here. 

The first story, "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" is basically an old-fashioned creepy story. It's pretty effective for what it is, I think.

"The Life of Chuck" really impressed me. It's told from back to front in a pretty interesting way. It's more poetic (elegaic?) than what I see in a lot of King's work. I liked it. And there's a Whitman poem I won't ever look at in the same way again.

"If It Bleeds" is a Holly Gibney story. If you watched The Outsider on HBO (or, presumably read the novel), you'll know who Holly is. (Note: I read the book, and somehow she didn't stick in my mind. I am sure this is just me though. She was a VERY memorable character in the HBO series.)

I don't think it covers much new ground than the other book did though. Kind of a rehash, really.

The last novella, "Rat" about an author who has one last chance to write a novel, and what he goes through to get there, didn't catch in my mind like the others did. 

But a good collection withal.

Norma gruden

Mr. Harrigan's phone : 3.75
The life of Chuck : 4.5
If it bleeds : 4.5
Rat : 3.5

Hellboy TCR

Its 3.5 stars. .5 for the crispy/clear writing. I liked all 4 stories, but nothing exceptional here - "Harrigan's Phone" had only one scary element - the SMSs, "Chuck" had huge potential but an ordinary ending, "If It Bleeds" had a convenient twist and a typical ending even though the build up was top-notch - "Rat" was the best story for me in the book. His writing shined all through, esp in all small moments/side stories. Detailed review later.

Katheryn Sowers 

i did enjoy reading this. However I wasn't really creeped out like i hoped
Just a couple of moments when I was like "hm this is a bit unsettling" and moved on
I liked it tho

Emma Mullen

A solid 4 star read. The first story was by far the best of the four stories. I feel like this one is a story I would read again.

Celeste Richardson

I’ve honestly come to believe that King can simply do no real wrong in my eyes. And I’m still baffled by this turn around, as I vividly recall years of my life when I couldn’t get past the first chapter of anything he wrote. Whatever the catalyst for this change in taste might have been, I’m grateful for it. King is now firmly planted among my favorites. While not every book or story is a masterpiece, they’re all enjoyable. This newest collection of his is no exception. Below are micro-reviews for each of the four stories contained in this collection. Even if I didn’t adore them all, I had fun reading them.

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone: 4 stars
Love this as a coming of age story with an whiff of the supernatural. It has the nostalgic feel of so many of King’s coming of age stories, even though it takes place in a more modern setting. Equal parts cozy and unsettling. I love the relationships between Craig and the adults in his life. Especially his relationship with the title character. However, I now even more firmly believe that, not only can you not take it with you when you go, you really, really shouldn’t. Technology should never reach beyond the grave.
“I think our phones are how we are wedded to the world. If so, it’s probably a bad marriage.”

The Life of Chuck: 3.5 stars
A timely story, touching on our addiction to technology and how both its presence and its potential future absence so radically affects our lives. Can the world possibly go back to a time without the internet without humanity devolving into pocket dystopias? Act 3 is a very interesting portrayal of the world winding down, and the end coming with a whimper instead of a bang. Acts 2 and 1 are a sweet, intriguing life story. The way in which these three parts come together is ethereal and, according to King, up for debate. It’s a very intriguing concept that provides a lot of food for thought without giving anything approaching an answer. I both really enjoyed it and found it unsatisfying. My feelings about the story are mixed.
“The universe is large, he thought. It contains multitudes. It also contains me, and in this moment I am wonderful. I have a right to be wonderful.”

If It Bleeds: 4.5 stars
Having now read Doctor Sleep, I love the stronger link this story makes between Doctor Sleep and The Outsider. There is also a small link to 11/22/63 that was unexpected, as well as allusions to IT. As one of my favorite things about King’s work is his tendency to self-reference and to link all of his works to one another, these links made me very happy. And while I understand that some King fans have a strong dislike for Holly, she seems to have grown on me with each of her appearances. By the time I read this novella, she had already won me over, so I was completely invested. This ended up being a much stronger, and better, story than I was anticipating.
“If it bleeds, it leads.”

Rat: 3.5 stars
I love the way King portrays writers in all their quirky, intelligent, vaguely superstitious, not-always-pleasant glory. In this story, he demonstrates once again how thin the line between creativity and madness can be, and how easily that line can be crossed. Take a sick day when you need one, folks. You never know when you drive yourself too hard if you’ll finally push yourself over the brink from which you can’t return. It’s a chance we all risk when we don’t cut ourselves some slack. The pursuit of art can be your end if you allow it. How much will you sacrifice for it? Also, this one got really weird. Interesting, though.
“It was like a splinter, one lodged in his mind instead of under his skin.”

Overall, this was a fun, if mixed, bag of stories. Even those I didn’t love were still entertaining and thought-provoking. I’m not positive I’ll revisit this particular collection in the future, but I’m still glad to have read it.

You can find  this review and more at Novel Notions.

Ender Ahmet Yurt

Birbirinden bağımsız 4 farklı hikaye. Hepsi de kendini içlerinde farklı Stephen King tarzını taşıyor. Özellikle Kan Varsa'da kitabın en uzun öyküsü ve daha önceki kitaplardaki Holly karakterinin tekrar ortaya çıkışını görüyoruz. Eğer Yabancı'yı okumadıysanız bu öyküdeki bazı göndermeleri anlamanız zor olabilir. Diğer öyküler ise biraz daha kısa olabilirdi. Ara ara tekrarlar var ama yazar detay vermeyi ve sizi başka yerlere götürüp bir anda korkutmayı seviyor, biliyorsunuz.

Hannah Futterman

* Mr Harrigan’s Phone - 3 stars 
* The Life of Chuck - 4 stars 
* If It Bleeds - 5 stars 
* Rat - 3 stars

Sabetha Danes

I really need to read blurbs but I probably won't start any time soon. I'd heard through random bookstagramers that this book continued with the story in The Outsider. Loved that book so picked this up.

Turns out this was a compilation of short stories. 2 before "If It Bleeds, and 1 after. Reading the book without realizing this made me ponder if they were at all connected. They weren't. 

The 3 unrelated stories, were quirky, and weird. They reminded me of episodes of The Outer Limits, short make you think reads. I personally think the one about Chuck would be HILARIOUS to see happen in real life, well not the end of the world part, just the over dramatic advertising about a person no one knew. The rat story was one to ponder, with the whole "at what cost" idea. It's a thought that is one redone, with selling souls, and crossroads. But I enjoyed King's take on it. 

Onto If It Bleeds. The Outsider left me with a spooky feeling, as the thought of a SPOILER was quite terrifying. So I am glad that King dove deeper into that idea, and approached it from a different angle. I am also thrilled to hear that Holly is one of Kings favorites, because I hope that means we'll be seeing more of her in the future. I LOVE her, and seeing more into her past, and catching up with how she is doing now was a great read. Though I would not recommend reading this story without reading The Outsider, while it reads very stand alone, I think to be able to fully understand Holly you need to read more about her first, as this is only a snip-it. 

Love King's writing style, and will always pick up his books without question.

Iris

Amy Maddess

The third story was so long that it should have been its own novel, and I just couldn’t pick up my interest level again after that. And the other stories had relatively uneventful, lazy endings.

Xavier Roy

As always, the Constant Reader will be delighted with these four stories.

"The four never-before-published novellas in this collection represent horror master King at his finest, using the weird and uncanny to riff on mortality, the price of creativity, and the unpredictable consequences of material attachments. A teenager discovers that a dead friend's cell phone, which was buried with the body, still communicates from beyond the grave ... A series of apocalyptic incidents [bears] out one character's claim that 'when a man or a woman dies, a whole world falls to ruin.' 'Rat' sees a frustrated writer strike a Faustian bargain to complete his novel, and in the title story, private investigator Holly Gibney ... faces off against a ghoulish television newscaster who vampirically feeds off the anguish he provokes in his audience by covering horrific tragedies"--Publishers Weekly (03/09/2020)

Morgan Moffitt

The title story - 'If it Bleeds' beautifully follows Holly from 'The Outsiders' in her first solo case. Loving a strong heroine, I found that her internal struggles within herself and the 'real' sense of evil occurring externally, developed really well in what is more a novella than a short story. 

The other stories, were done in Steohen King fashion, the exception being 'The Rat', another story of an author gone mad, is a bit overplayed - it's very Edgar Allan Poe levels of thematics, and like the first story "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" it tentatively denies the supernatural influences at work. 

If It Bleeds

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