Unpublished short story discussion thread

[WeDealInLead]

Would there be any interest (or point) to this? I don't mean just really obscure stories only a handful of collectors are keeping a tight lid on.

King has a bunch of newer stories still available, the most recent one being in the newest issue of Esquire (you can't miss it and you'll know what I mean when you see it).

[mae]

Do you mean uncollected stories?

[jhanic]

Pablo, I think he means stories that have never been published officially.

John

[mae]

Well, the one in the newest issue of Esquire ("That Bus Is Another World") is officially published. Unpublished would be a story that was never published in any official medium.

[WeDealInLead]

You know what I mean. We can nitpick terminology or discuss stories. Yes, published in magazines etc. but not published in collections.

[mae]

Well, I'd love to discuss those uncollected stories (and even some unpublished that have floated around the Internet for years). For the record, here are all the major uncollected stories (stories that were published somewhere but never in a King book), not counting the juvenilia or jokes or stories that were later revised into other longer works:


The Glass Floor
Slade
The Blue Air Compressor
Weeds
The Night of the Tiger
Man with a Belly
The Crate
Before the Play
The Reploids
The Old Dude's Ticker
Throttle
Ur
Morality
Premium Harmony
Herman Wouk is Still Alive
Under the Weather
Mile 81
The Little Green God of Agony
The Dune
In the Tall Grass
A Face in the Crowd
Batman and Robin Have an Altercation
Afterlife
Summer Thunder
Bad Little Kid
That Bus Is Another World

[WeDealInLead]

All right, I started the thread, I feel like I should be the first one to post some thoughts. I posted the reviews here (https://nottooterrible.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/2-for-1-tuesday-two-new-stories-by-stephen-king/)

But I'll post them here too (I posted these on my blog and most people are casual King readers and comics reviews get the most visits): I’m a big fan of most things Stephen King. Other than a few novels and short stories, he has remained solid throughout his career. With these two stories, he reminds us he’s still at the top of his game.

That Bus is Another World was published in the August issue of Esquire. In it, our man Wilson is on his way to what could be the watershed moment of his life and career. His appointment with an oil company could mean everything and the gig is quite simple – he is to pitch an ad that will pacify and appease the public outraged over an oil spill. In short, it would be his job to turn that frown upside down. He has always been a cautious man and he goes to extreme lengths (arriving hours early, planning routes, backup plans etc.) to ensure nothing will stand in the way of his getting to that interview on time. Absolutely nothing can go wrong.

While in the cab, he witnessed a murder on the bus in the next lane over. The murderer even made eye contact and dared him to do something. And this, dear fellow Constant Reader is where the going gets good. King put us right into Wilson’s head and we’re to witness his inner conflict. Alert the authorities, snap a picture of the killer, do something, anything or keep your head down? Paragraph pro, paragraph con until Wilson told the cab driver to let him out early. I wanted to believe there was hope for him and he ran back to the bus or to find a cop. The truth is much more pragmatic and colder: the cab was stuck in traffic and he thought he could get there faster if he walked.

This story is not unlike Morality, in that it’s exactly about that – would you do something morally reprehensible to protect your own or somehow improve your life? Is morality something we aspire to, a word we live by but only as long as it’s safe and it doesn’t truly test us? What happens when life puts us in the position to make hard choices?

Summer Thunder was originally published in an anthology of all-new stories called Turn Down the Lights. The book was a surprise announcement, meant to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Cemetery Dance, one of the biggest indie book publishers. It sold out quickly but tracking down a copy on eBay, Biblio or Abe shouldn’t be too hard.

This is one of those “idea” stories. Not much actually happens as far as plot and action are concerned. Instead it carries emotional weight and aims at the reader’s heart. It resonates and cuts on a very personal and intimate level. King pulled this one out of a really deep and dark place and that’s saying much, if you know King at all. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world and in it, two friends who are possibly last men on the planet say good-bye to each other. Faced with his mortality and the inevitable, our protagonist gets in the car and goes for one last ride.

If That Bus is Another World felt a little like an opening chapter to a novel, Summer Thunder was an epilogue to one. Storyteller supreme, with these two stories King reminds us he’s still on the throne and his work here is far from finished.


There are two more King reviews there; Doctor Sleep by TDT member RC65 and Mister Mercedes I wrote last month.

[Merlin1958]

All right, I started the thread, I feel like I should be the first one to post some thoughts. I posted the reviews here (https://nottooterrible.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/2-for-1-tuesday-two-new-stories-by-stephen-king/)

But I'll post them here too (I posted these on my blog and most people are casual King readers and comics reviews get the most visits): I’m a big fan of most things Stephen King. Other than a few novels and short stories, he has remained solid throughout his career. With these two stories, he reminds us he’s still at the top of his game.

That Bus is Another World was published in the August issue of Esquire. In it, our man Wilson is on his way to what could be the watershed moment of his life and career. His appointment with an oil company could mean everything and the gig is quite simple – he is to pitch an ad that will pacify and appease the public outraged over an oil spill. In short, it would be his job to turn that frown upside down. He has always been a cautious man and he goes to extreme lengths (arriving hours early, planning routes, backup plans etc.) to ensure nothing will stand in the way of his getting to that interview on time. Absolutely nothing can go wrong.

While in the cab, he witnessed a murder on the bus in the next lane over. The murderer even made eye contact and dared him to do something. And this, dear fellow Constant Reader is where the going gets good. King put us right into Wilson’s head and we’re to witness his inner conflict. Alert the authorities, snap a picture of the killer, do something, anything or keep your head down? Paragraph pro, paragraph con until Wilson told the cab driver to let him out early. I wanted to believe there was hope for him and he ran back to the bus or to find a cop. The truth is much more pragmatic and colder: the cab was stuck in traffic and he thought he could get there faster if he walked.

This story is not unlike Morality, in that it’s exactly about that – would you do something morally reprehensible to protect your own or somehow improve your life? Is morality something we aspire to, a word we live by but only as long as it’s safe and it doesn’t truly test us? What happens when life puts us in the position to make hard choices?

Summer Thunder was originally published in an anthology of all-new stories called Turn Down the Lights. The book was a surprise announcement, meant to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Cemetery Dance, one of the biggest indie book publishers. It sold out quickly but tracking down a copy on eBay, Biblio or Abe shouldn’t be too hard.

This is one of those “idea” stories. Not much actually happens as far as plot and action are concerned. Instead it carries emotional weight and aims at the reader’s heart. It resonates and cuts on a very personal and intimate level. King pulled this one out of a really deep and dark place and that’s saying much, if you know King at all. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world and in it, two friends who are possibly last men on the planet say good-bye to each other. Faced with his mortality and the inevitable, our protagonist gets in the car and goes for one last ride.

If That Bus is Another World felt a little like an opening chapter to a novel, Summer Thunder was an epilogue to one. Storyteller supreme, with these two stories King reminds us he’s still on the throne and his work here is far from finished.


There are two more King reviews there; Doctor Sleep by TDT member RC65 and Mister Mercedes I wrote last month.


Pretty good reviews, WDIL!! Not bad at all. I'm a fan.

[Jon]

Bill is an SK fan??

[Bev Vincent]

From an interview with Charles L. Grant (1981):

Among the stories I'd submitted to Cavalier was one I thought had a really nice twist. It was about a vampire who's a coal miner--so he can more or less be on the job all the time, since he's underground where it's always dark. There's a cave-in, and this vampire drinks all his mates' blood while they wait for the others to dig them out. Of course, when he goes out into the sun, he sort of evaporates.

[Mattrick]

In terms of actual unpublished works. There was a rumour that King wrote something he considered so scary he didn't want it to be released until after his death, though I've never known if there was any validity to that.

[mikeC]

I think a lot of these newer stories are just "bummers", I read the thunder one and was like "Why? What was the point of that?" Both Dune and Thunder seemed like abandoned stories rather than true short stories. the narrator for Dune was excellent though.
Although depressing I did love Morailty.
Face in the crowd was good and Tall Grass was awesome.
Mile 81 was also really good.

[cowboy_ed]

In terms of actual unpublished works. There was a rumour that King wrote something he considered so scary he didn't want it to be released until after his death, though I've never known if there was any validity to that.
that sounds like something i'd read in a fanzine in 1991

[Mattrick]

It is an old rumour lol

[mae]

I actually find the newer stories quite strong and literary, starting I guess with Premium Harmony. So you're seeing his stories in more magazines like Harper's and The Atlantic.

[bugen]

I've just read Mr. King's "Summer Thunder" in Cemetery Dance issue #72 and thought it was a nasty but wonderful story and by the end I was smiling, for while the human race had been obliterated in the post-apocalyptic tale, the main character's at-world's-end actions gave me a feeling of triumph for all of us.

Highly recommended.