Stephen King Books That Make Great Bedtime Reading

I know some of you will say "all of them."  But which Stephen King books are actually best to curl up with late at night?  Are there certain books you prefer to read before bed?

My list:
1. Books ABOUT Stephen King.  It's true.  I'm more likely to read books that discuss King's books than I am to actually read a Stephen King book.

2. Short books.  I'm not very daring right before I fall asleep.  So novella's and short stories fall nicely into this category.  Only -- I have a confession.  Don't hate me, okay?  I'm not really a short story guy.  It's an odd relationship.  Some of them are great, but it's difficult to invest time, knowing the relationship won't last.  Novella's are just perfect, though.  Satisfying, without requiring a lot of commitment.

The Mist, The Langoliers, 1922, A Good Marriage, Blockade Billy are a few of my favorites.

3. Books I just can't part with.  I read The Stand day and night because I just couldn't stop.

4. Booklets and paperbacks.  Those little parts of the Green Mile were great bedtime reading.

So what Stephen King books do you prefer before falling asleep?

P.S., I know some of you want that bed.

Four Past Midnight Journal 2: NOVELLAs

I'm wondering why King's Four Past Midnight gets sold on individual story at a time -- while Full Dark No Stars gets sold as one big book.  Does it matter?  Sure.  It's the difference in 1 audible credit verses 4.  Or, 1 month's payment verses FOUR.  Different Seasons is also broken up.

Know why I like Four Past Midnight? I do think the stories are pretty good.  I also think it is because I read them at a time when reading Stephen King was a little dangerous -- a little naughty.  I was a teen and it was pretty cool to read Stephen King.  I was pretty new to the world of Stephen King, having just come off The Stand and the first few Dark Tower novels, so I had a sense that anything could happen in a SK novel.  King novels did things that would never even come up in the books our High School teachers handed out.  I tried to endure Cat's Cradle, but really didn't know what Mr. Vonnegut was talking about.  King I did understand. 

So my excitement about this book my be as simple as emotional association; I read it when I was happy to be reading anything by Mr. King.  Some of the elements of the stories did disappoint me; but I still liked them.

I LOVE NOVELLAS!

I was first introduced to the wonderful world of Novella's with John Steinbeck's The Moon Is Down.  It was a great story -- and it was short!  As a kid in school, I was a big fan of the entire idea of a short novel.  The only problem was, the teachers wanted us to read those short novels faster.  The short novel was far better than the chopped novel -- parts of novels all cut up in "reader" textbooks.  Who wants to read the Readers Digest version of Great Expectations?

Novella's are often written in a big burst of energy.  They are just short novels that feel like the author is exploding all over the page!  It seems like you can sometimes feel the writers raw energy as he works, pressing an idea forward as if he is about to get run over by a train.

Animal Farm has been inflicted on numerous school children -- and for good reason!  Orwell tells his story with that raw energy of an idea being hammered out.  The story is a parable of government and power; how those promising to help  the underdog quickly use power to get special privileges.  Animal Farm is more than a Social Studies lesson, it's brilliant writing.  Farm Animals plot the overthrow of a farmer; I thought it was a great story!

My favorite King novella is THE MIST.  Again, you can feel King's energy flowing as he writes.  He is driven by a story that has to get out, and quick.  In fact, he doesn't even have  time to end it! So it's not processed through deeply -- it's just gutted out.  But sometimes what we find when a writer just goes with a story is delightful.  I kind of like those  paperback editions of The Mist that appeared in bookstores to promote the movie.  Something about seeing it all by itself -- kinda naked -- was great.  It didn't need all those other stories crowding around, it was ready to stand on its own two feet!

My favorite novella's:

• A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens (But no more movies, please)
• Nightfall, Isaac Asmov 
• The Time Machine, HG Wells
• The Moon Is Down, John Steinbeck
• Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
• Animal Farm, George Orwell
• The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury exists in some strange world of novel/short novel/book of short stories.  What is it?  All the stories make a novel.  But not a long novel.  The narrative flow is uneven, but beautiful.  What is this thing? -- it's just Bradbury being wonderful.

Really, story length should not matter.  Often I don't know what a book is!  Is Joyland a novel  or a novella?  I dunno.  I guess you could do a word count, but in the end, does it really matter?  Nope.

New Novella: Mile 81

I spotted this first at Lilja's Library.  http://www.liljas-library.com/

King has a new novella coming out as an ebook, titled "Mile 81."  The 80 page ebook will be available on September 1, 2011 and will cost $2.99.

No details are given.  Mile 81 is a rest area that appears in Dreamcatcher (p.525).

Novella: The Crate

Did you know that there is a Stephen King novella called "The Crate"? It doesn't appear in my copy of The Lost Work Of Stephen King. Probably because it isn't really lost -- it's just been rare to find a copy. And it appears it hasn't been over pursued. It is the same work that the Creepshow segment is based on.

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According to Bev Vincent's website, Stephen King's novella "The Crate," first appeared in Gallery magazine in 1979. Vincent notes that it was later collected in The Arbor House Treasury of Horror and the Supernatural in 1981. http://www.bevvincent.com/king-stories.html

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Now Available!

This is interesting because Cemetery Dance has just announced that they are including The Crate in their latest edition of Shivers. Cemetery Dance is getting a special place in my heart these days! And my bookshelf. Here's the deal -- anything they print (by King) quickly increases in value because they are a small publisher. Just try finding a copy of the CD edition of From a Buick 8.

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Edited by Richard Chizmar, Shivers VI is a heafty 410 pages. It includes not only King's work, but Peter Straub, Al Sarrantonio, Jay Bonansinga, Lisa Tuttle, David B. Silva, Melanie Tem, Brian Hodge, Brian Keene, Alan Peter Ryan, Blake Crouch and Jack Kilborn, Bev Vincent, Brian James Freeman, Norman Prentiss, and many others.

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Cemetery Dance calls The Crate Kings "long lost novella." It was written in the late 1970s and they say it hasn't seen print in over 30 years. Of course, this novella has not appeared in King's collections; which is a surprise since we thought Nightmares and Dreamscapes pretty much cleaned out his vaults!
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trade paperback: $20
limited edition hard cover: $40
http://www.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/PROD/chizmar15

Cemetery Dance: Blockade Billy

Cemetary Dance has this news on the upcoming novella, Blockade Billy. The trade hardcover is $25, but if you want a copy you should order now:

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Cemetery Dance Publications is pleased to announce Blockade Billy by Stephen King, an original, never-before-published novella that only the King of Horror could have dreamed up! Even diehard baseball fans don't know the true story of William Blakely, but in just a few weeks you'll be holding this dark tale in your own two hands so you can read it for yourself.
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That's right! This Cemetery Dance exclusive trade hardcover edition is already rolling at the printer and will be arriving at our warehouse in mid-April. This beautiful hardcover edition also features stunning cover artwork by Glen Orbik and eight gorgeous pieces of interior artwork by Alex McVey.
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About the Book:

Even the most diehard baseball fans don't know the true story of William "Blockade Billy" Blakely. He may have been the greatest player the game has ever seen, but today no one remembers his name. He was the first — and only — player to have his existence completely removed from the record books. Even his team is long forgotten, barely a footnote in the game's history.
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Every effort was made to erase any evidence that William Blakely played professional baseball, and with good reason. Blockade Billy had a secret darker than any pill or injection that might cause a scandal in sports today. His secret was much, much worse... and only Stephen King, the most gifted storyteller of our age, can reveal the truth to the world, once and for all.
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This original, never-before-published novella represents Stephen King at his very best, and this Cemetery Dance hardcover edition brings it into print for the very first time.
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A Few Words from Stephen King on Blockade Billy:"I love old-school baseball, and I also love the way people who've spent a lifetime in the game talk about the game. I tried to combine those things in a story of suspense. People have asked me for years when I was going to write a baseball story. Ask no more; this is it."
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Special Bonus With Your Order!For a very limited time only, we'll be including an authentic William "Blockade Billy" Blakely baseball card with every copy of the trade hardcover edition we ship. Just place your order through our website and we'll do the rest!
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Important Note #1:

This novella is not scheduled to be reprinted in King's new collection due out this fall, and we're only printing a small number of first edition copies compared to what Stephen King's New York publishers print for a brand new book. We'll be filling direct orders first and then distributors, online stores, and the chains if there are copies left available after we've taken care of our regular customers. Please order directly through our website to guarantee yourself a copy.
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Important Note #2:

Please use our website store to place your order for this title. Phone and email orders probably won't get processed for several weeks due to the influx of orders, emails, and media inquiries we're currently handling. If you have questions about this title, please visit the FAQ before you contact us.
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Important Note #3

Although our server company is well prepared for today's announcement, there is a chance the webstore might not be able to handle all of the traffic. If the site or store crashes while you're attempting to place your order, please wait 10 minutes before returning to the store to try again. Clicking reload multiple times will only make the problem worse. Thank you for your patience.
Deluxe Signed Special Edition:Lonely Road Books, the publisher of Dark Forces: The 25th Anniversary Special Edition and Riding the Bullet: The Deluxe Special Edition, will be publishing a deluxe signed edition of Blockade Billy, but official details won't be announced until closer to the publication date.

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Order here: http://www.cemeterydance.com/sh/king04.html

New Novella: Blockade Billy 4.20.10

stephenking.com has announced the upcoming release of Blockade Billy. thisi s a novella that will be published by Cemetary Dance and available on April 20th, 2010. King seems to be doing a lot of novella's since finishing Under The Dome. Here's the publicity info:

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Even the most diehard baseball fans don't know the true story of William "Blockade Billy" Blakely.He may have been the greatest player the game has ever seen, but today no one remembers his name. He was the first — and only — player to have his existence completely removed from the record books. Even his team is long forgotten, barely a footnote in the game's history. Every effort was made to erase any evidence that William Blakely played professional baseball, and with good reason. Blockade Billy had a secret darker than any pill or injection that might cause a scandal in sports today. His secret was much, much worse... and only Stephen King, the most gifted storyteller of our age, can reveal the truth to the world, once and for all. This original, never-before-published novella represents Stephen King at his very best, and this Cemetery Dance hardcover edition brings it into print for the very first time.

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also check out:http://charnelhouse.tripod.com/

Favorite Novella

Stephen King's upcoming book in November "Full Dark, no Stars," is once again an offering of four novella's. This time they all have the theme of retribution and one of the novellas is about Hemingford Home. We all remember Hemingford Home (Nebraska) as the residence of Mother Abagail in The Stand. On the S.K. message board, Bev Vincent points out that in the novel IT, Ben Hanscom lived there as well.
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This will be the third book of four Novellas:
Different Seasons
Four Past Midnight
Full Dark, no Stars
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Novellas are strange creatures. They're not novels -- exactly. So they don't get published as single volumes, unless they become famous (or you have to read them in school). Steinbeck wrote lots of them. When they're famous, they're just called short novels.
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I'm looking forward to Full Dark, no Stars. What a delightful offering after the massive Under The Dome.
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Favorite King novella's:
The Mist
The Langoliers
The Body
Blaze
The library Police
The Sun Dog
Graveyard Shift
The Running Man
Umney's Last case
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(Is The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon a novella?)
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Now, just as a note, I liked the movie Secret Window a lot more than the book. I thought it was much tighter and pulled things together that were left hanging in the print version.
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Ever notice that most of the Bachman books are novella's? Of ocurse, the Regulators was the longest, and Thinner a normal length novel.
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Favorite novella's -- not by Stephen King
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Stevenson
Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck
The Pearl, Steinbeck
The old man and the sea, Hemmingway
A Christmas Carol, Dickens
The Hound of the Baskerville's, Conan Doyle
Frankenstein, Shelly
Animal Farm, Orwell
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Not so favorite novella's for me include "Heart of Darkness." Every English teacher in the world can now be mad at me. . . but that's it! I can't stand Heart of Darkness. There, I said it.
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The sweet thing for Constant Readers is that King is good enough to give us four novella's all at once. And honestly, I enjoy the novella much much more than the short story.