Stephen King 2025 read-along discussion

Hello again fellow Constant Readers!! I'm not sure about you but summer is definitely in full swing in my neck of the woods and I tend to read a lot more horror and thrillers in the warmer months. Which is what makes our June pick so perfect because it's not one I would normally gravitate to. Keeping in the theme of BooksandLala's Buzzword Readathon, June's buzzword is "other". Try as we might we could not find ANY books or short stories written by King with the word "other" in the title...so please forgive us for taking a few liberties with this. We're picking "other" horror and have decided to read Danse Macabre!

Danse Macabre was originally published in 1981 and is King's first published non-fiction book. The book focuses primarily on horror fiction in print, TV, radio, film and comics, and the influence of contemporary societal fears and anxieties on the genre. It has been republished multiple times over the years, but most recently on February 23, 2010, with an additional new essay entitled "What's Scary". The backbone of the text is King's teaching notes from several college courses he taught in the 1970s. However, Danse Macabre has a casual, non-linear writing style and expresses a desire to avoid "academic bullshit".

In the introduction, King credits Bill Thompson, the editor of his first five published novels, and later editor at Doubleday, as being the inspiration for its creation. King states Thompson ultimately convinced King that if he wrote such a genre survey, he would no longer have to answer tedious, repetitive interview questions on the topic. Even though King states that he was initially frightened by the idea of such a project, the idea wouldn't leave his head.

Without going too much into the synopsis of the book, I did want to mention the main points. In the book, King classifies the genre into three well-defined, descending levels: terror, horror, and revulsion.

He describes terror as "the finest element" of the three, and the one he strives hardest to maintain in his own writing. Citing many examples, he defines "terror" as the suspenseful moment in horror before the actual monster is revealed. "Horror," King writes, "is that moment at which one sees the creature/aberration that causes the terror or suspense, a "shock value". King finally compares revulsion with the gag-reflex: a bottom-level, cheap gimmick which he admits he often resorts to in his own fiction if necessary, confessing:

"I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud."

I've always been intrigued by King's non-fiction and even though I've only read one so far I'm stoked to see what knowledge he has to offer us with this. Who wouldn't want to feel like they were in a class being taught by the master himself? Let us know down below if you're planning on joining us for this ride in June! And as always, happy reading! :)

I’m not sure about this one:( not really a non fiction reader even for Mr King