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Post by wireman on Oct 20, 2021 12:05:45 GMT
Today, we will discuss The Gingerbread Girl by Stephen King from the collection Just After Sunset
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Post by spideyman on Oct 20, 2021 15:07:18 GMT
There is a little history behind the original publication of Gingerbread Girl. It became a world wide event for a SK birthday gift from the SKMB. Some may remember.
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Post by spideyman on Oct 20, 2021 15:08:05 GMT
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Post by wireman on Oct 20, 2021 16:51:13 GMT
One situation common to many stories of terror is isolation. A cabin in the woods or other remote location limits a character's ability to get help. Stephen uses isolation here but with a bit of a twist because it's isolation that seems secure. There's only one road in and a bridge tender is watching it so no one that doesn't have a house there or is a guest of a home owner. Plus, it's a fairly wealthy neighborhood so the last thing the reader expects is to have a serial killer living there. When characters go to a cabin in the middle of hillbilly land, the reader is kind of expecting serial killers to be lurking around.  I liked that Stephen was able to use isolation in a wealthy neighborhood full of vacation homes.
This is an excellent story but an exhausting one to read because of how long and difficult the escape takes and how brutal it is. It's so methodical, it seems to make the reader as exhausted as Emily. The way Emily dealt with the tragedy of her daughter is what ends up saving her.
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Post by spideyman on Oct 20, 2021 17:29:36 GMT
Absolutely agree that reading this novella brought about pure exhaustion. Once again SK manages to make the reader part of the main character. The reader sees the changes in her as she first accepts the grief, then trains and finally uses that power to escape. Loved the ending, his inability to swim was his downfall. I can almost picture a shark fest!
Vivid imagery throughout the story.
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Post by Wicked Esther on Oct 20, 2021 17:31:01 GMT
This is an excellent story but an exhausting one to read because of how long and difficult the escape takes and how brutal it is. It's so methodical, it seems to make the reader as exhausted as Emily.
That's exactly what I came here to say. The long ,detailed description of Emily trying to remove the duct tape and free herself from the chair was hard to read. It makes the reader empathize with Emily, though--it's almost as if we're forced to endure the struggle with her. I wanted to root for her but I was too anxious to even do that! |
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Post by wolf on Oct 20, 2021 19:48:37 GMT
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Post by Wicked Esther on Oct 20, 2021 21:57:28 GMT
Absolutely agree that reading this novella brought about pure exhaustion. Yeah-- I'm struggling to find the right word, but there was another feeling in addition to exhaustion. Not quite hopelessness, but something close to it. I read this story late last night and I damn near yelled and woke people up when the innocent bystander on the beach got the treatment with the ol' murder scissors. He was just a minor character, but Pickering's brutality really upset me there. Again, I'm sure it was done so that the reader could relate to the horror Emily was experiencing. I won't forget this story any time soon, that's for sure. |
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Post by wireman on Oct 22, 2021 16:34:18 GMT
For next Wednesday, we shall have a black cat cross our path before Halloween. Next Wednesday's discussion will be for The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe
We will return to Just After Sunset the following Wednesday.
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Post by edwardjohn on Oct 27, 2021 21:55:46 GMT
Stephen King has a unique gift that I don't think any other author has: he can make any kind of story read like a thriller; I was enthralled by even the mundane stuff at the beginning about the destruction of Emily's marriage; what a special writer he is. And when it does get to the stuff on the island ... wow.
The story is relatively simple, but as with most SK things, its the execution that's amazing; I echo what everyone else has said about Emily's escape from the murderer. And what Joe says is right, the unexpected, weird setting plays into things. My sole criticism with this story is that it doesn't begin on the island. Why didn't Steve simply set it on the island at the very beginning; he could have set up the scene there much more comprehensively. And he could have got to all of Emily's marriage problems through interactions with other characters. But I digress ...
I guess if there's a moral/point to this story: its not to trust anyone? Anyone can be something that they are not? Or perhaps its not to shut yourself away from society?
Anyway, the stellar end sequence is brilliant. I thought this was a much better tale than Willa; I wouldn't have believed it was even from the same author if I didn't know it was SK! Its that good! Let's hope all the others are as excellent!
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Post by neesy on Oct 28, 2021 17:31:44 GMT
Today, we will discuss The Gingerbread Girl by Stephen King from the collection Just After Sunset
Oh boy - this is a good one - it's been a while since I read it but I recall it being a great story
Very creepy
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Post by neesy on Oct 28, 2021 17:35:14 GMT
There is a little history behind the original publication of Gingerbread Girl. It became a world wide event for a SK birthday gift from the SKMB. Some may remember.
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![]() ![]() <button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm">Attachment Deleted</button> That is so great Spidey!
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I liked that Stephen was able to use isolation in a wealthy neighborhood full of vacation homes. 
.....Sai showed me the coolest pics of it all! 🙂💔❤
