| "Cookie Jar" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by Stephen King | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| Language | English | ||
| Genre(s) | Horror short story | ||
| Publication | |||
| Published in | Virginia Quarterly Review | ||
| Publisher | University of Virginia | ||
| Media type | Print, digital | ||
| Publication date | 2016 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| |||
"Cookie Jar" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the spring 2016 issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review . [1]
13-year-old Dale Alderson is interviewing his 90-year-old great-grandfather, Barrett "Rhett" Alderson, for a school assignment. After telling Dale about radio programs he listened to before the advent of television, Rhett – suspecting that he only has months to live – decides to tell Dale a story he has never told anyone before.
In 1927, when Rhett is aged two, his mother Moira leaves the home she shared with her husband and their three sons, moving into a cottage on the other side of their town. Moira, who has bipolar disorder, mysteriously claims that this is necessary to protect her family. Rhett and his older brother Jack regularly visit Moira in her cottage, where she entertains them, including feeding them cookies from a large blue ceramic cookie jar that is always full.
Over time, Moira's behavior becomes increasingly erratic. She begins drawing an elaborate map on a wall of her cottage which she claims depicts "Lalanka", a country in another world populated by "entities": creatures that want to come to Earth to devour it. Moira tells Jack and Rhett stories about Lalanka, including a war between "Red Henry" and "Black John" in which Black John sets Lalanka's "Long Forest" on fire, and the existence of "Gobbits": monstrous creatures capable of producing a white mist, "forza", that kills small animals. Later, Rhett comes to believe that the stories were a distraction from the thing Moira truly feared: the blue cookie jar.
The visits continue until 1938, when Moria commits suicide. The boys are each permitted to take one item from her cottage as a memento, with Rhett taking the cookie jar. Rhett and Jack begin eating cookies every night to remember their mother, realizing after several days that the jar is inexplicably still full of fresh cookies. On one occasion, Rhett begins trying to empty the cookie jar, but gives up when it begins to refill; while replacing cookies in the jar, he notices that his watch stops when inside the jar.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the three brothers all enlist in the military, with Jack dying when his fighter plane is shot down during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Rhett participates in the Battle of Normandy, the liberation of France and the Western Allied invasion of Germany. In April 1945, he participates in the liberation of the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps, where the horrific sights he witnesses make him remember his mother's description of Lalanka. Rhett draws parallels between "Black John" and Adolf Hitler.
After returning from Europe, Rhett began working as an auto mechanic. In March 1946, he retrieves the still-full cookie jar from the attic of his father's home and finally empties it. When Rhett looks at the bottom of the empty jar, he sees an aerial view of what he recognizes as Lalanka. Rhett sees the burned remains of the Long Forest, a thick mist of forza, and a pedlar who is attacked by two Gobbits. Horrified by the sight, Rhett drops the cookie jar, which eventually refills once more.
Dale asks Rhett what became of the cookie jar; Rhett tells him that it is in the attic of Dale's uncle Bill's house. Rhett gifts the jar to Dale, telling him to be careful. Although Dale promises he will, Rhett privately suspects that Dale will himself empty the jar and look into it, reflecting that "in the end we all prefer the bitter to the sweet. It's our curse." [1]
"Cookie Jar" was initially published in the spring 2016 issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review . It was included in the paperback edition of King's short story collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams , released in October 2016. [2]
Justin Hamelin of Tom Holland's Terror Time wrote that "King continues to age like a fine wine as a writer", describing Rhett as "as enthralling as any of King's characters". [3] James Arthur Anderson describes "Cookie Jar" as "more literary than King's other fiction" and "an excellent story". [4] Stephen J. Spignesi notes that Cookie Jar" shares a similar framing device as Blockade Billy and The Green Mile , with "a retired senior citizen recounting an epic story from his past". [2]
An abridged radio adaptation of "Cookie Jar" was broadcast in three parts by BBC Radio 4 in October 2016 as part of its Fright Night Shorts series. [5]
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The Shining is a 1977 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It is King's third published novel and first hardcover bestseller; its success firmly established King as a preeminent author in the horror genre. The setting and characters are influenced by King's personal experiences, including both his visit to The Stanley Hotel in 1974 and his struggle with alcoholism. The novel was adapted into a 1980 film and a 1997 miniseries. The book was followed by a sequel, Doctor Sleep, published in 2013, which in turn was adapted into a film of the same name in 2019.
There have been many books published about Stephen King and his works.
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Forza is a series of racing video games with two main sub-series: Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon.
The Hound of Death and Other Stories is a collection of twelve short stories by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom in October 1933. Unusually, the collection was not published by Christie's regular publishers, William Collins & Sons, but by Odhams Press, and was not available to purchase in shops.
The Dollar Baby was an arrangement in which American author Stephen King would grant permission to students and aspiring filmmakers or theater producers to adapt one of his short stories for $1. King retains the rights to his work, but as he began to experience commercial success, he decided to use the Dollar Baby to help the next generation of creatives. The term may be used to refer to both the adaptation itself and the person adapting it; for example, "The Sun Dog" was made as a Dollar Baby and filmmaker Matt Flesher became a Dollar Baby upon adapting it.
Cookie's Fortune is a 1999 American black comedy film directed by Robert Altman and starring Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Liv Tyler, Patricia Neal, Charles S. Dutton, and Chris O'Donnell. It follows a dysfunctional family in small-town Mississippi and their various responses to the suicide of their wealthy aunt, some of them turning criminal. Musicians Lyle Lovett and Ruby Wilson have minor supporting parts in the film.
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According to books by Tyson Blue, Stephen J. Spignesi, and Rocky Wood et al., there are numerous unpublished works by Stephen King that have come to light throughout King's career. These allegedly include novels and short stories, most of which remain unfinished. Most are stored among Stephen King's papers in the special collections of the Raymond H. Fogler Library at the University of Maine, some of which are freely accessible to the library's visitors. However, others require King's permission to read. Additionally, there are a number of uncollected short stories, published throughout King's long career in various anthologies and periodicals, that have never been published in a King collection.
A cookie jar is a jar that holds cookies.
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams is a short fiction collection by Stephen King, published on November 3, 2015. This is King's sixth collection of short stories and his tenth collection overall. One of the stories, "Obits", won the 2016 Edgar Award for best short story, and the collection itself won the 2015 Shirley Jackson Award for best collection. The paperback edition, released on October 18, 2016, includes a bonus short story, "Cookie Jar", which was published in 2016 in VQR.
The Mist is an American science fiction-horror thriller television series developed by Christian Torpe. It is based on the 1980 horror novella of the same name by author Stephen King. The series aired for one 10-episode season on Spike from June 22 to August 24, 2017. Spike later cancelled the series on September 27 the same year.
Sleeping Beauties is a novel by Stephen King and his son Owen King, released on September 26, 2017. The book was first mentioned during a promotional appearance on the CBC radio program q. Of the novel, Stephen King stated, "Owen brought me this dynamite idea and I've collaborated a couple of times with Joe. I'm not going to say what the idea is because it's too good."
"The Night of the Tiger" is a short story by Stephen King. Originally written in the 1960s, it was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in February 1978.
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