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 there is something 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
King knows what he is doing, and has done for a longtime. His pacing, ear for dialogue and pure storytelling ability are all on display in The Institute
When an eleven-year-old boy is found murdered in a town park, reliable eyewitnesses undeniably point to the town's popular Little League coach, Terry Maitland, as the culprit. DNA evidence and fingerprints confirm the crime was committed by this well-loved family man. Horrified by the brutal killing, Detective Ralph Anderson, whose own son was once coached by Maitland, orders the suspect to be arrested in a public spectacle. But Maitland has an alibi. And further research confirms he was indeed out of town that day. As Anderson and the District Attorney trace the clues, the investigation expands from Ohio to Texas. And as horrifying answers begin to emerge, so King's propulsive story of almost unbearable suspense kicks into high gear. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy but there is one rock-hard fact, as unassailable as gravity: a man cannot be in two places at the same time. Can he?
It was the children who saw - and felt - what made the town so horribly different. In the storm drains and sewers It lurked, taking the shape of every nightmare, each one's deepest dread. As the children grow up and move away, the horror of It is buried deep - until they are called back.
A perennial classic from Stephen King - timeless and topical. Soon to be a major motion picture from Paramount. The house looked right, felt right to Dr Louis Creed. Rambling, old, unsmart and comfortable. A place where the family could settle; the children grow and play and explore. The rolling hills and meadows of Maine seemed a world away from the fume-choked dangers of Chicago. Only the occasional big truck out on the two-lane highway, grinding up through the gears, hammering down the long gradients, growled out an intrusive threat. But behind the house and far away from the road: that was safe. Just a carefully cleared path up into the woods where generations of local children have processed with the solemn innocence of the young, taking with them their dear departed pets for burial. A sad place maybe, but safe. Surely a safe place. Not a place to seep into your dreams, to wake you, sweating with fear and foreboding.
@2@A generous collection of thrilling stories - some brand new, some published in magazines, all entirely brilliant and assembled in one book for the first time - with a wonderful bonus: in addition to his introduction to the whole collection, King gives readers a fascinating introduction to each story with autobiographical comments on their origins and motivation...@3@@2@The No. 1 bestselling writer has dazzled readers with his genius as a writer of novellas and short story fiction since his first collection NIGHT SHIFT was published. He describes the nature of the form in his introduction to the book: 'There's something to be said for a shorter, more intense experience. It can be invigorating, sometimes even shocking, like...a beautiful curio for sale laid out on a cheap blanket at a street bazaar.'@3@@2@In THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS there is a curio for every reader - a man who keeps reliving the same life, repeating the same mistakes over and over again, a columnist who kills people by writing their obituaries, a poignant tale about the end of the human race and a firework competition between neighbours which reaches an explosive climax. There are also intriguing connections between the stories; themes of morality, guilt, the afterlife and what we would do differently if we could see into the future or correct the mistakes of the past.@3@@2@Effervescent yet poignant, juxtaposing the everyday against the unexpected, these stories comprise one of King's finest gifts to his constant reader as well as to those fascinated by the autobiographical insights in his celebrated non-fiction title ON WRITING.@3@@2@'I made them especially for you', says King. 'Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth.'@3@@2@TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS@3@@2@Introduction @16@Mile 81 @16@Premium Harmony @16@Batman and Robin Have an Altercation @16@The Dune @16@Bad Little Kid @16@A Death @16@The Bone Church @16@Morality @16@Afterlife @16@Ur @16@Herman Wouk Is Still Alive @16@Under the Weather @16@Blockade Billy @16@Mister Yummy @16@Tommy @16@The Little Green God of Agony @16@That Bus Is Another World @16@Obits @16@Drunken Fireworks @16@Summer Thunder@3@
Hodder are boosting Stephen King's backlist with new covers, new author branding and a marketing campaign that directs readers to the right King title for them.
Hodder are boosting Stephen King's backlist with new covers, new author branding and a marketing campaign that directs readers to the right King title for them.
The cell rings twice, and then his old partner in his ear... 'I'm at the scene of what appears to be a murder-suicide. I'd like you to come and take a look. Bring your sidekick with you, if she's available...' Retired Detective Bill Hodges now runs a two-person firm called Finders Keepers with his partner Holly Gibney. They met in the wake of the 'Mercedes Massacre' when a queue of people was run down by the diabolical killer Brady Hartsfield. Brady is now confined to Room 217 of the Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, in an unresponsive state. But all is not what it seems: the evidence suggests that Brady is somehow awake, and in possession of deadly new powers that allow him to wreak unimaginable havoc without ever leaving his hospital room. When Bill and Holly are called to a suicide scene with ties to the Mercedes Massacre, they find themselves pulled into their most dangerous case yet, one that will put their lives at risk, as well as those of Bill's heroic young friend Jerome Robinson and his teenage sister, Barbara. Brady Hartsfield is back, and planning revenge not just on Hodges and his friends, but on an entire city. The clock is ticking in unexpected ways ... Both a stand-alone novel of heart-pounding suspense and a sublimely terrifying final episode in the Hodges trilogy, End of Watch takes the series into a powerful new dimension. The extract above is abridged from End of Watch.
Hodder are reissuing and rejacketting all seven volumes in Stephen King's epic, fantasy series The Dark Tower in anticipation of the brand new Dark Tower novel, THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE, coming in April 2012.
Castle Rock is a small town, where word gets around quickly. That's why Scott Carey wants to confide only in his friend Doctor Bob Ellis about his strange condition: he's losing weight, without getting thinner, and the scales register the same when he is in his clothes or out of them, however heavy they are. Scott also has new neighbours, who have opened a 'fine dining experience' in town, although it's an experience being shunned by the locals; Deidre McComb and her wife Missy Donaldson don't exactly fit in with the community's expectations. And now Scott seems trapped in a feud with the couple over their dogs dropping their business on his lawn. Missy may be friendly, but Deidre is cold as ice. As the town prepares for its annual Thanksgiving 12k run, Scott starts to understand the prejudices his neighbours face and he tries to help. Unlikely alliances form and the mystery of Scott's affliction brings out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others. From master storyteller Stephen King, our 'most precious renewable resource, like Shakespeare in the malleability of his work' ( Guardian ), comes this timely, upbeat tale about finding common ground despite deep-rooted differences. Compelling and eerie, Elevation is as gloriously joyful (with a twinge of deep sadness) as ' It's a Wonderful Life.'
Stephen King's most riveting novel since THE STAND, in which every chapter ends on a cliffhanger -- a Maine town and its inhabitants are isolated from the world by an invisible, impenetrable dome
Desperation is a deserted mining town in the Nevada desert. It's not a place to visit by choice, and the few unhappy travellers who are forced to stop there witness the familiar-looking town undergo a terrible transformation. In the struggle between good and evil, sacrifice may be the only answer.
Hodder are boosting Stephen King's backlist with new covers, new author brand lettering and a marketing campaign which directs readers to the right King title for them.
A solitary finger pokes out of a drain. Novelty teeth turn predatory. The Nevada desert swallows a Cadillac. This collection of Stephen King stories takes a roller-coaster ride through the macabre and monstrous, via explorations of good and evil.
A collection of terrifying stories that reveal a shudderingly detailed map of the dark places that lie behind our waking, rational world. This is the horror of ordinary people and everyday objects that become strangely altered, a world where nothing is ever quite what it seems.
A collection of four novels written by Stephen King under the pen name of Richard Bachman. The novels included are "Rage", "The Long Walk", "Roadwork" and "The Running Man". Each is a story of shock and suspense in the future.
When a man crashes his car into a petrol station, he brings with him the foul corpses of his wife and daughter. He dies and it doesn't take long for the plague which killed him to spread across America and the world. From the author of "The Tommyknockers", "Misery" and "Pet Sematary".
A collection of four stories on the theme of "midnight", the moment when the familiar world gives way to an alternative reality, and a new and terrifying world is revealed. By the author of "Carrie", "The Shining" and "The Dark Half".
