Author | Stephen King |
---|---|
Audio read by | |
Cover artist | Will Staehle |
Language | English |
Genre | Supernatural fiction, horror, crime fiction |
Publisher | Scribner |
Publication date | April 21, 2020 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (hardcover) |
Pages | 448 |
ISBN | 978-1-9821-3797-7 |
OCLC | 1122461355 |
Preceded by | The Bazaar of Bad Dreams |
Followed by | You Like It Darker |
If It Bleeds is a collection of four previously unpublished novellas by American writer Stephen King. The stories in the collection are titled "Mr. Harrigan's Phone", "The Life of Chuck", "If It Bleeds", and "Rat". It was released on April 28, 2020. [1]
The audiobook is read by Will Patton, Danny Burstein, and Steven Weber. [2]
Craig gets a job working for the retired Mr. Harrigan, who gifts Craig a winning lottery ticket. Craig then buys Mr. Harrigan a cell phone using some of the money won from the lottery ticket. Eventually, Mr. Harrigan dies and later, Craig leaves a voicemail on Mr. Harrigan's old phone about a bully. The bully is later found to have died by suicide. Craig then decides not to use the phone with Mr. Harrigan's number and switches to a newer model. Later, after the drunk driver responsible for a loved teacher's death receives a light sentence, Craig calls Mr. Harrigan's phone and leaves a voicemail about the drunk driver using his old phone. The drunk driver is then found to have died by suicide; following this, Craig throws his old phone into a lake.
The story is split into three acts given in reverse chronological order. Act 3 comes first. They are given in chronological order here:
Holly Gibney of the Finders Keepers detective agency sees footage of a horrific school bombing on TV. She suspects that there is something odd about the reporter Ondowsky who was first on the scene and that he may be a supernatural 'outsider'. Holly makes contact with an elderly former policeman who believes that the reporter feeds on the fear of traumatic emotions, and Holly realizes that Ondowsky must be stopped. She, Barbara, and Jerome must all work together to take down Ondowsky.
Gibney previously appeared in King's Bill Hodges trilogy ( Mr. Mercedes , Finders Keepers and End of Watch ), The Outsider , [3] and subsequently appeared in her own book, Holly, published in 2023.
Writer and academic Drew Larson has published several short stories but has been unable to complete a novel. Then he has the inspiration to write a Western thriller and is determined to complete it. He sets out for an old isolated family cabin and begins to write, but bad weather and sickness set in. Drew strikes a sinister bargain with a rat; it offers to get rid of his writer's block in exchange for the death of one of Larson's loved ones. Thinking that his imagination is getting the best of him, he agrees and goes about his day. Finally, when the storm clears Larson returns home to his family. The novel is successful, his friend recovers from a previous illness but is then killed with his wife in an automobile accident.
USA Today 's Brian Truitt awarded the collection three and a quarter stars out of four, saying, "King still owns the fright business like none other, [and] the iconic author will keep you up late at night engrossed in four tales about our dreams and our frailties." [4]
Publishers Weekly said of the release, "The four never-before-published novellas in this collection represent horror master King at his finest, using the weird and uncanny to riff on mortality, the price of creativity, and the unpredictable consequences of material attachments." [5]
Kirkus Reviews summed up the release as "Vintage King: a pleasure for his many fans and not a bad place to start if you're new to him." [6]
On July 10, 2020, Deadline Hollywood reported that Netflix had acquired the film rights to Mr. Harrigan's Phone , produced by Blumhouse Productions and Ryan Murphy. [7] It premiered on October 5, 2022, to mixed reviews.
On the same day Mr. Harrigan's Phone was acquired by Netflix, The Life of Chuck was optioned by Darren Aronofsky's production company, Protozoa Pictures. Three years later, the project was acquired by Intrepid Pictures. Mike Flanagan wrote and directed the film, with the script completed prior to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. Tom Hiddleston portrayed Chuck and Mark Hamill portrayed Albie. FilmNation Entertainment managed international sales. [8]
Rat was optioned by Ben Stiller, who intends to produce, star and direct. [9]
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Mike Flanagan is an American filmmaker, best known for his horror work. Flanagan wrote, directed, produced, and edited the horror films Absentia (2011), Oculus (2013), Hush, Before I Wake, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald's Game (2017), and Doctor Sleep (2019). He created, wrote, produced, and served as showrunner on the Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021), The Midnight Club (2022), and The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), also directing and editing some episodes of each.
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The Outsider (2018) is a horror novel by the American author Stephen King. The novel was published by Scribner.
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Holly Rachel Gibney is a fictional character created by American author Stephen King. Originally appearing in the Bill Hodges trilogy of novels, she later appears as a major supporting character in The Outsider and as the main character in If It Bleeds, a novella included in the collection of the same name, and the novel Holly.
Mr. Harrigan's Phone is a 2022 American horror drama film written and directed by John Lee Hancock. It is based on the novella of the same name by Stephen King from the collection If It Bleeds. The film stars Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell, Joe Tippett, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste. It follows Craig who has a strong friendship with retired businessman John Harrigan; both get their first iPhones after the former wins a lottery. Despite the latter's death, a supernatural connection persists between them through their phones, one of which is buried alongside Harrigan.
Holly is a 2023 crime novel by American author Stephen King. It was published on September 5, 2023, by Scribner. The novel follows Holly Gibney, who made her first appearance in Mr. Mercedes (2014). She also appeared in Finders Keepers (2015) and End of Watch (2016), and later was a major supporting character in The Outsider. She was also the central character in If It Bleeds, a novella in the 2020 collection of the same name. An excerpt from Holly was published in Entertainment Weekly on January 23, 2023. King has confirmed plans for another novel featuring Holly Gibney, titled We Think Not.
The Life of Chuck is a 2024 American science fiction drama film written and directed by Mike Flanagan. It is based on the 2020 novella by Stephen King. Tom Hiddleston plays the title role, with Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, and Jacob Tremblay in supporting roles.