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The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand | Christopher Golden, Brian Keene

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It's tricky putting together an anthology based on a well-known, LONG book. Because there's a lot of material you could expand upon, and while I respect the authors' creative impulse to take inspiration as they find it, I don't know that that matches up with the readers' interest in what they'd like to see more of based on The Stand. Half of this book or more, dwells on stories involved in the admittedly lengthy beginnings of The Stand: 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/?!people are sick, people are dying, those left are dreaming, need to find a way out, [ then have to choose a community, have to meditate on where they fall in an impending war between agents of good and evil.] While each author had a different story to tell, it's hard not to see them blurring together when so many focus on the early days of sickness, death, chaos, and figuring out where to go. I think it's very understandable post-COVID, 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 3/? that the initial plague times are what captured so many imaginations, people who wanted to write about a moment that mirros what they've experienced in their lifetime. But in The Stand, the beginning stages let us get to know an emerging cast of characters and start following them on their journeys, while in this short story anthology, you get the same plot beats, over, and over, and over, until basically part 3.
2mo

Robotswithpersonality 4/? The reading process for me, just made clear that what I wanted to see was
a) more backstory on certain characters (didn't get it)
b) tales that actually take place outside the events in The Stand - aka what happened AFTER? Suffice to say, a horror anthology is not the best place to go looking for HEA. 2mo

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Robotswithpersonality 5/? It's useful to recognize my unreasonable expectations both because it might warn off those who are looking for the same thing, and because it lets me judge the book as whole more fairly, on its own merits. And there are stories in here I LOVED. ♥️

I do wish there had been more of part 3 and 4 than there was of part 1 and 2, though if there were too many 'post-apocalyptic life sucks' stories, as opposed to those with a more hopeful end, 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 6/? it would have gotten as redundant in tone as part 1.

That said, here's my brief reaction summary of each of the stories - I THINK I've avoided spoilers.

Room 24: Yuck

⚠️stalking, domestic abuse, child death 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 7/? The Tripps:
Mother Abagail mention, violence and poverty experienced by urban Black populations in America, repeated references to what drug trade has done to Block communities, Flagg's influence leading to destruction of families

⚠️gore, child death

Bright Light City:
Great pacing, action, get a feel for characters immediately, real personal stakes, just a bit of hope by the end, my kind of horror ♥️
2mo

Robotswithpersonality 8/? ⚠️mention of animal cruelty

Every Dog Has Its Day:

Still intense, but grateful for that ending

⚠️Animal death, suicidal ideation

Lockdown:
I like the detail of a historian referencing 1918 flu and probable outcomes, refreshing to see people listening to experts, influence of the Walking Dude or just humanity trying to keep its own little slice to itself? 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 9/? In a Pig's Eye:
Went gross in the details a bit, but a hopeful end for hero and heroine, and again a smaller echo of the good v evil, the choice humanity makes in plague conditions

⚠️animal cruelty, cannibalism, gore

Lenora:
A favourite. ♥️
So much grief, but so heartbreakingly tender

⚠️mention of child death, torture, animal cruelty, animal death, suicide attempt 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 10/? The Hope Boat:
Left me feeling a little blank. Realistic reaction, situation, but didn't feel I was sharing in the emotional turmoil of the character, possibly story not done a service by being preceded by one that rocked me.

⚠️Child death 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 11/? Wrong Fucking Place, Wrong Fucking Time:
I KNEW the C. Robert Cargill would end up being a favourite. I knew he could throw down western style with sci fi/robots but I had no idea he could so handily do meta-horror. Truly fantastic.
I loved his Sea of Rust series, but now I definitely want to investigate his horror short story collection We are Where the Nightmares Go. ♥️ If you like Stephen Graham Jones horror, I think you would love this. 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 12/? Prey Instinct:
Mourning a loss of queer relationship, loved one, amidst the plague, backed by AIDS crisis, morphed into fear of all comers, feels like there's also a theme of female violence unleashed, prey and predator, does feel like it was the beginning of something rather than a whole on its own.

Grace:
I mean...being in a spaceship above the earth is already a terrifying concept for me. Adding life and death stakes influenced by the 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 13/? forces prevalent in The Stand just heightens things. I do appreciate that ending.
⚠️Suicide

Moving Day:
I liked the writing style, this sense of small town individuals but somewhat wholesome v. horrible experiences, on the cusp of a coming of age narrative, for what I know of this author's writing, tragic ending of only female characters listed sounds typical

⚠️Suicide 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 14/? La Mala Hora:
Just something about the writing style didn't grab me, melodramatic in perfect stakes to be meleodramatic, but I was getting soap opera over sincerity

The African Painted Dog:
Here for an animal POV and that ending, just wish things weren't so miserable in the middle

⚠️Animal cruelty, animal death 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 15/? Till Human Voices Wake Us, And We Drown:
Nope. Too much weird ass shit that didn't end up amounting to much. Not even sure how to phrase the content warnings beyond 'ick'.

Kovach's Last Case:
Main character feels very personable, the kind of detective I'd be happy to read in a series, but this story definitely felt like the introduction to something we didn't see completed.
2mo

Robotswithpersonality 16/? Make Your Own Way:
Felt like a western transposed to modern day, not traditionally a girl and her horse story kind of person, but I appreciate an independent heroine

I Love the Dead:
I'll admit what I've heard of Malerman didn't make me think I'd like his writing, and in this instance I was proved right. Tense without a reason or real pay off, following a perspective I didn't find engaging
2mo

Robotswithpersonality 17/? Milagros:
Refreshing to get a perspective outside the US, but as the narrative was very much classic short horror, the defeat of hope, not to my taste

Legion of Swine:
Just a moment, really, but as written by S.A.A Cosby, it was a compelling moment

Keep the Devil down:
Pacing drove me crackers, but I actually like the sorry, felt like a full arc
2mo

Robotswithpersonality 18/? Across the Pond:
Extra dark in the UK, but it does lend balance to the collection to have stories from Flag's followers' perspective as well, which is about the only positive thing I have to say about it
⚠️SA

The Boatman:
I've had Tananarive Due on my TBR for a while but I think this story is going to help me actually pick up one of her books, vivid characters, great pace, I wanted there to be more of the story because I liked the writing 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 19/? but it didn't necessarily feel incomplete as a short story

The Story I Tell is The Story of Some of Us:
Knew I could already enjoy Paul Tremblay's writing from Horror Movie. I've heard the character name mentioned associated with another of his novels, I'm impressed that the story managed to feel complete without me having read the book. Great voice, distinctive palaver, kind of sweet and melancholy as well as horrific.
2mo

Robotswithpersonality 20/? The Mosque at the End of the World:
Excellent. Feels like one of the few stories that used the plague as a jumping off point to tell a truly complete and unique story, I do wonder if that geographical and cultural distance from many of the US-centric stories added to that feeling of freshness, but regardless this was superbly engaging storytelling: and that fantastical showdown reveal? *Chef's kiss*. ♥️
2mo

Robotswithpersonality 21/? Abigail's Gethsemane:
MMM, put it this way, if I wasn't an atheist, this probably would have hit differently. I think there's an interesting parallel in here about individual and community struggles of Black people in the face of systematic racism, and particularly racially-motivated violence, and the struggle of a person of faith with doubt in the face of evil.
⚠️Racism, hate crime murder/lynching 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 22/? He's a Righteous Man:
Damn. That ending, that final line, the twist, the symbolism, the commentary. Perfectly haunting.♥️

Awaiting Orders in Flaggston
Well that was bleak.
⚠️ Torture
2mo

Robotswithpersonality 23/? Grand Junction:
Again, no surprise that I liked a story from an author I've loved before. I feel like the father/son dynamic, the many faces of evil are themes I recognize from The Book of Accidents. Well structured arc and twist, great ending.

Hunted to Extinction:
Impressive to consider a future post-Stand that's actually darker than what was on page in cannon, intriguing fantastical element, and hey! Finally a story set in Canada! 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 24/? Came the Last Night of Sadness:
Catherynne M. Valente coming in clutch with a future element hinted at the end of The Stand, and building on an event in the book that it never occurred to me could go in this direction, and expanding wildly from there, classically from her, the sense of horror is swimming amidst the fantastical, a young woman who is more, and her choices 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 25/? The Devil's Children
A possible post-Stand future relegating status to comparative immunity, the threat of infection and wiping out communities on a smaller scale than the plague, with a heck of a reversal by the end. I think there's also some underlying commentary about historical travesties: medical testing on minority populations without their knowledge or consent, forcing indigenous populations into reservations, not honouring treaties. 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 26/? The plot was just right for the amount of pages, but I feel like to carry such heavy themes, it needed to be longer, to explore them in depth. 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 27/? The Unfortunate Convalescence of the SuperLawyer:
And the award for going the farthest out with the smallest of inspiration goes to...a fascinating, psychedelic alternative explored. That author's note at the end does a lot of heavy lifting. There's other aspects of the text that make me thing there are literary references, beyond Lord of the Rings, that I'm missing, possibly even from other Stephen King books I haven't read. 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 28/? One hell of a trippy ride. If you like stories that get a little meta about the idea of stories, I think you'll like this one.

Walk on Gilded Splinters:
Classic worst-case post-apocalyptic scenario, digital and print records destroyed, humankind has backslid into savagery and superstition, trying to claw back the hallmarks of civilization by crude guesswork and reinvention. Oh, and building a gospel around THAT character? No thank you.
2mo

Robotswithpersonality 29/29 ⚠️SA, mention of cannibalism 2mo

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