Stephen King does it again.
I feel like there are two types of people in this world: those who like Stephen King and those who think they don’t like him. If you’re not a fan it’s probably because you tried one of his books and it scarred you / scared you for life. But here’s the thing – he’s not all horror and gore.
It’s fitting that my 100th post is a Stephen King review – I’ve been reading him for 40 years! Recently someone asked me to name my favorite King book and it was impossible. There’s old-school horror King (Christine, Pet Sematary, It); poignant King (The Body, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption); time-traveling King (11/22/63); lyrical, poetic, philosophical King (Doctor Sleep, Elevation, The Life of Chuck); deliciously devilish King (Needful Things); and impossible to classify King (The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon). Then there’s the modern horror King of the Mr. Mercedes trilogy, the books that introduced Holly Gibney to the world. Oh, how I’m looking forward to Holly, coming out this fall.
I started reading his 2022 novel Fairy Tale but at just over 600 pages in hardcover it was daunting (and heavy). I decided to try the audio version instead and it turned out to be the best decision. The narrator was magnetic, he drew me in immediately. And the story just unfolds into something beautiful and unexpected.
Fairy Tale took me by surprise because, despite the title, it was a slowly dawning realization that the book is a true fairy tale. It has all the elements of a story by the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen, but it doesn’t start out full-on fantasy, it’s a gradual thing.
The story begins and we meet teenage Charlie. He’s King-esque in that he’s a good kid (mostly) but he’s gone through a lot in his young life. His mom died tragically and his dad took it hard. But they got past it and have settled into their lives: dad works and Charlie – tall and strong and athletic – goes to school and plays sports.
Then Charlie’s life takes a turn. He investigates a neighbor’s barking dog, ends up helping and befriending the neighbor, and falls a little in love with the dog, Radar.
Sidebar about the dog: If you read Stephen King you’ll understand how nervous I got about Radar. King has no problem disposing of beloved pets and so I had a low level of anxiety most of the way through the book. “He better not kill off the dog,” I kept muttering to myself.
Back to Charlie and the neighbor, Mr. Bowditch. He’s a crotchety old fellow with a whopper of a secret. There’s another world within ours, he tells Charlie.* The passageway, a winding stone staircase, happens to be in Bowditch’s backyard. And that’s not all, there’s gold and magical powers in the other world. Powers that enabled Bowditch to extend his life and basically reverse time. Magic that might work on an old dog, too…
Would you dare to go down an ancient staircase into the earth, into another world?
Guess what, Charlie does. And as he makes his way, meeting the inhabitants and beginning his quest, you start to realize this IS a fairy tale! Charlie IS a prince!
King’s created an original story but there are plenty of references to well-known fairy tales and the works of H.P. Lovecraft. There are princesses, princes, ogres. monsters, armies, kingdoms, towers, and gates, all woven into something thrilling and new. There’s also pure wonder in Fairy Tale. Wait until you meet the cricket!
Fairy Tale has a satisfying ending. Take your time, read it in chunks. Or better yet, listen to a few chapters at a time like it’s an old-time radio show. Savor it, let it settle, and wonder where it will go, how it will work out.
Stephen King knows what he’s doing. Let him tell you about what happened once upon a time.
*In an added bonus, King himself narrates this small but important portion of the book!
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