If It Bleeds
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''If It Bleeds'' is a collection of four previously unpublished novellas by American writer
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
. The stories in the collection are titled "Mr. Harrigan's Phone", "The Life of Chuck", "If It Bleeds", and "Rat". It was released on April 28, 2020. The audiobook is read by
Will Patton William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series ''Falling Skies''. He also appeared in the films ''Remember the Titans'', ''Armageddon'', ...
,
Danny Burstein Danny Burstein (born June 16, 1964) is an American actor and singer, most known for his work on the Broadway stage. A seven-time Tony Award nominee, Burstein won the 2020 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance as Har ...
, and
Steven Weber Steven Robert Weber (born March 4, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Brian Hackett on the television series ''Wings'' which aired from April 1990 to May 1997 on NBC, as Sam Blue in '' Once and Again'', and ...
.


Contents

The four novellas contained in the collection are:


Mr. Harrigan's Phone

Craig gets a job working for the retired Mr. Harrigan, who gifts Craig a winning lottery ticket. Craig then buys Mr. Harrigan a cell phone using some of the money won from the lottery ticket. Eventually, Mr. Harrigan dies and later, Craig leaves a voicemail on Mr. Harrigan's old phone about a bully. The bully is later found to have died by suicide. Craig then decides not to use the phone with Mr. Harrigan's number and switches to a newer model. Later, after the drunk driver responsible for a loved teacher's death receives a light sentence, Craig calls Mr. Harrigan's phone and leaves a voicemail about the drunk driver using his old phone. The drunk driver is then found to have died by suicide; following this, Craig throws his old phone into a lake.


The Life of Chuck

The story is split into three acts given in reverse chronological order. They are given in chronological order here: * In Act 1: 'I Contain Multitudes', Chuck is orphaned and is brought up by his paternal grandparents, where his love of dancing develops. His grandparents always keep their house's
cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...
locked, but eventually Chuck unlocks the room and sees himself dying of a brain tumor at the age of 39. * In Act 2: 'Buskers', Chuck sees a drummer busking and starts dancing. A young girl joins him, dancing with Chuck as a crowd surrounds them. After dancing, Chuck suffers a bad headache and walks away dejected. * In Act 3: 'Thanks, Chuck', Marty drives home and sees a billboard showing an accountant sitting at a desk, underneath it says ’39 Great Years! Thanks, Chuck’ as the world appears to be slowly crumbling. That evening as Marty visits his ex-wife Felicia he notices Chuck's image appearing everywhere. In a hospital, Chuck is dying surrounded by his family. Marty and Felicia see the stars disappearing, then blackness.


If It Bleeds

Holly Gibney Holly Gibney is a fictional character created by American author Stephen King. Originally appearing in the Bill Hodges trilogy of novels (''Mr. Mercedes'', ''Finders Keepers'' and ''End of Watch''), she later appears as a major supporting charact ...
of the Finders Keepers detective agency sees footage of a horrific school bombing on TV. She suspects that there is something odd about the reporter Ondowsky who was first on the scene and that he may be a supernatural 'outsider'. Holly makes contact with an elderly former policeman who believes that the reporter feeds on the fear of traumatic emotions, and Holly realises that Ondowsky must be stopped. She, Barbara, and Jerome must all work together to take down Ondowsky. Gibney is one of King's recurring characters, having appeared in his ''Bill Hodges'' trilogy (''
Mr. Mercedes ''Mr. Mercedes'' is a novel by American writer Stephen King. He calls it his first hard-boiled detective book. It was published on June 3, 2014. It is the first volume in a trilogy, followed in 2015 by ''Finders Keepers (King novel), Finders Keep ...
'', ''
Finders Keepers Finders, keepers, sometimes extended as the children's rhyme finders, keepers; losers, weepers, is an English language, English adage with the premise that when something is unowned or abandoned, whoever finds it first can claim it for themself pe ...
'' and ''
End of Watch ''End of Watch'' is a 2012 American action thriller film written and directed by David Ayer. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as Brian Taylor and Mike Zavala, two Los Angeles Police Department officers who work in South Central Los An ...
''), and in '' The Outsider''.


Rat

Writer and academic Drew Larson has published several short stories, but has been unable to complete a novel. Then he has the inspiration to write a Western thriller, and is determined to complete it. He sets out to an old isolated family cabin, and begins to write, but bad weather and sickness set in. Drew strikes a sinister bargain with a rat; it offers to get rid of his writer's block in exchange for one of Larson's loved ones dying. Thinking that Larson's imagination is getting the best of him he agrees and goes about his day. Finally, when the storm clears Larson returns home to his family. The novel is successful, his friend recovers from a previous illness but is then killed with his wife in an automobile accident.


Reception

''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
''s Brian Truitt awarded the collection three and a quarter of four, saying, "King still owns the fright business like none other, but the iconic author will keep you up late at night engrossed in four tales about our dreams and our frailties." ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
'' said of the release, "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." ''
Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
'' summed up the release as "Vintage King: a pleasure for his many fans and not a bad place to start if you're new to him."


Film adaptations


Mr. Harrigan's Phone

On July 10, 2020, ''
Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...
'' reported that
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
had acquired the film rights to ''Mr. Harrigan's Phone'', produced by
Blumhouse Productions Blumhouse Productions (; also known as BH Productions or simply BH) is an American film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum. It is known mainly for producing horror films, such as ''Paranormal Activity'', ''Insidio ...
and Ryan Murphy. It premiered on October 5, 2022.


Others

"Rat" was
optioned In the film industry, an option is a contractual agreement pertaining to film rights between a potential film producer (such as a movie studio, a production company, or an individual) and the author of source material, such as a book, play, or s ...
by
Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as ...
, who intends to produce, star and direct.
Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction. Aronof ...
's
Protozoa Pictures Protozoa Pictures is an American production company founded in 1997 by American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, headquartered in New York City. It is mainly a handle for Aronofsky's filmography, but has financed other projects alongside Aronofsky's. ...
has optioned "The Life of Chuck", with Aronofsky to produce. ''If It Bleeds'' could be acquired by
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
, due to their use of the Gibney character in '' The Outsider''.


References


External links

* {{Stephen King 2020 short story collections American short story collections Short story collections by Stephen King Charles Scribner's Sons books