Book Review: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

Full Dark, No Stars is a collection of 4 novellas in which King explores the "dark side" to people, and how exactly would you react if placed in certain situations? For example, what would you do if you found out that your husband of over 20 years has been hiding a dark secret? How would you react if a a psychopath raped you and left you for dead? If given the opportunity to pass your hardships onto someone else...would you?

"Life is fair. We all get the same nine-month shake in the box, and then the dice roll. Some people get a run of sevens. Some people, unfortunately, get snake-eyes. It's just how the world is."

One of my favourite aspects, and one of the most horrifying things, about this collection is that some of these scenarios could actually happen. You could very easily find yourself in a situation where you don't know your spouse as well as you thought you did. And there is definitely the potential to encounter brutal rapists/murderers whilst driving down quiet backroads. Although there is a slight supernatural element to 1922, there is still the very real possibility of making one single bad decision that will continue to impact and haunt you for years. Even the story Fair Extension would make you question how far you are willing to go to save your own ass at the detriment of someone else.

1922 was a great opener for the collection, it was scary, hard-hitting, and sucks you into the story very quickly. One of the best short stories (or novellas, whatever) that I've ever read from King. It was brilliant! Next up was Big Driver, which was hard to read at times; it was brutal, visceral and terrifying, especially reading this as a woman. I can't deny that I have recently felt uneasy driving down the backroads around my house...maybe stick to main busy roads in future! Fair Extension was awesome, I loved how King juxtaposed the fate of the two families. I'd read an entire book based on that story and idea. Lastly, A Good Marriage. This was one I felt slightly less excited about reading about as I had already watched the adaptation last year and just thought it was okay. But I REALLY enjoyed this one - Darcy is a badass. I can't even begin to imagine what I would do in that scenario.

It's very easy to see where the title for this collection comes from - these are dark, heavy stories, with pretty much no light or positive outcomes. I thoroughly enjoyed each story and would probably give each individual novella five stars, which is very rare when it comes to collections of short stories or novellas. I can honestly say I was sad to come to the end of this collection and I think I now have a new book to recommend to people who are looking to venture into the world of King. Highly recommend this one!!

King, I missed you.

Johann

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