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    Riding the Bullet
    Riding the Bullet
    Riding the Bullet
    Ebook62 pages1 hour

    Riding the Bullet

    By Stephen King

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    From international bestseller Stephen King the first ebook ever published—a novella about a young man who hitches a ride with a driver from the other side.

    Riding the Bullet is “a ghost story in the grand manner” from the bestselling author of Bag of Bones, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and The Green Mile—a short story about a young man who hitches a ride with a driver from the other side.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScribner
    Release dateMar 14, 2000
    ISBN9780743204675
    Author

    Stephen King

    Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. 

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    Reviews for Riding the Bullet

    3.5/5

    330 ratings15 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Great presentation of King's novella and Garris' screenplay/director's notes.
    • 2/5
      I had not read anything by Stephen King, so I picked this up on a whim because it was short. It struck me as just a typical hitchhiking/ghost story kids might tell over a campsite in the woods. I'll have to try one of his earlier works.
    • 4/5
      A short and sweet ghost story. The narration was great and the person really mastered the accent familiar to Maine. It looks into the relationship of mother and son. King at his best.
    • 1/5
      I am a huge Stephen King fan, but hate to say that I really did not enjoy this short story. There was a fair amount of suspense as Allen makes his way to the hospital and has his 'encounter', but after that the story just went downhill for me...or perhaps I just didn't get the ending.
    • 4/5
      The story was pretty good. Typical King. I enjoyed reading it, and especially liked the ending.
    • 5/5
      I finally had the opportunity to listen to this story. The narration was great and the person really mastered the accent familiar to the Maine territory. This goes a lot deeper than the paranormal aspect--it looks closer into the relationship of mother and son and all of the choices that both parties make. Would you really give your life for the other or would you hesitate with the true choice upon you? This works is masterful in working the lines between fantasy and reality, leaving one deep in thought and wondering if you would have done anything differently.
    • 4/5
      On March 14, 2000, shortly after his nearly fatal accident, King published Riding the Bullet as an e-book, exclusively, as his introduction to electronic publishing. Simon and Schuster worked with Softlock offering the 67-page novella for $2.50, payable by credit card. On the first day the demand for download was so high that Softlock suffered a lockup, preventing eager readers from accessing Riding the Bullet for a few days. Loyal King readers complained that availability was limited to those with credit cards, e-readers, and pcs. Mac owners couldn't download the book. Barnes and Noble and Amazon offered the download for free.In 2002 Riding the Bullet was published as one of 14 short stories in Everything's Eventual. In 2004 a movie version was released.
    • 5/5
      great pacing, nice twist, wonderful detail as always from King
    • 5/5
      It was a light and good read. I got chills from reading this! One of my faves!
    • 4/5
      It's creepy and sad story. A fun quick read, I like it
    • 4/5
      As a longtime Stephen King fan, I have read a lot, and I mean a LOT, of his books. But given how prolific of an author he is, and given how long he’s been at it, there are still plenty of King books, novellas, short stories, et all that I haven’t read yet. And while I’ve hit most of his more popular and famous works, it’s the ones that I’ve never heard of that continuously surprise me on my reading adventures. Be it “The Long Walk” (written under his Richard Bachman pen name) or “Charlie the Choo-Choo” (a children’s book based on the book within his “Dark Tower” series), King has popped up and shown me new things in the past couple of years. So when I was looking for something to listen to in the car, I just punched King’s name into the search bar to see what was available. It was then that I saw a title I had never heard of before: “Riding the Bullet”. Seeing that it was short and that I’m always trying to expand my King repertoire, I downloaded it.Even in a novella such as this one, King has created a cast of characters who feel so well explored and real that I got a sense for who they were and what motivated them. Specifically Alan Parker, our narrator and protagonist who is picked up by a ghost on the night his mother is sick in the hospital. As you read the story you get the sense that Alan has a strained relationship with his mother; though they are really all the other one has, Alan also notes moments in their past that could be seen as abusive. You understand the love he has for his mother and why he would drop everything to try and hitchhike down to see her when she has a minor stroke and ends up in the hospital. But taking this into account, even without King saying how deep this tension and complexity to their relationship goes, it makes things down the line seem believable in the face of incredulity.I really enjoyed how king took the old urban legend/ghost story of the Phantom Hitchhiker and turned it on it’s head, with the hitchhiker being the one who is potentially in the presence of a ghost who leaves a trinket behind. In the usual story a person picks up a hitchhiker on the side of the road on a dark night. Usually it’s a man picking up a young woman. They talk and connect, telling each other their names and about their lives, and the driver drops the hitchhiker off to wherever she wants to go. They part on friendly terms, but as the driver is driving away he realizes that she left a sweater, or a scarf, or something behind. He tracks down where she lives based on her name, and when he brings the object back to the house, a family member will ultimately tell the driver that “She died ten years ago” or something to that effect. It’s a classic. In this case the ghost is George Staub, the ghost of a man whose grave Alan had seen in a cemetery on his journey south. While on the short but terrifying ride with George, Alan notices the button that the ghost is wearing: “I Rode The Bullet At Thrill Village, Laconia”, a rollercoaster that Alan once had the chance to ride when he was a child. But when he and his mother got to the front of the line, he chickened out. Now instead of trying to return the forgotten object (as there is no question that Staub is a ghost from the get go), it serves as a reminder for what happened that night, and the consequences to what happened in the car between Alan and Staub.What I liked most about this story is that there is a certain ambiguity to it. The ambiguity isn’t whether or not Alan was picked up by a ghost that night, as that much is clear. But the ambiguity is placed within the choice that Alan makes (which I don’t want to reveal), and whether he ultimately has any culpability in the potential consequences that may, or may not, come because of it. It kind of digs into philosophy about what children owe to their parents, and what parents want from their children. As the story carries on beyond the encounter with the ghost, Alan has to grapple with these questions. He’s convinced that because of his actions, something bad will happen to his mother…. And the tension of this, of finding out whether or not this is the case, definitely had me on the edge of my seat in the car. I think that there wasn’t really a good release for the tension I was feeling, and that I could have used more story to really unwind from all of it. As it was, it just kind of tapered off, and I was left wanting a bit more.I should also mention that Josh Hamilton was the narrator for this audiobook, and I thought that he did a great job. I know him best from when he played Serge on “Absolutely Fabulous” and also from a driver’s ed video I watched when I was a teenager (I WISH I COULD FIND THIS VIDEO). It’s so important to have a person who really dives into the story they are reading, and I was totally immersed in his narration.Overall, I enjoyed “Riding The Bullet”, both for it’s effective suspense and for the bittersweet pathos that it had. Stephen King is so good at both horror and humanity, and “Riding the Bullet” is a solid example of both.
    • 4/5
      :) It's great to see Stephen King's work on Scribd.

      This story was a little too formulaic to count among King's best work, but it's still an enjoyable read and the moral choice that the story hinges upon is quite memorable. It might not be something that would convert non-fan to the cult of Stephen King, but for all us devotees it's worth the short time it takes to read.
    • 4/5
      Hitchhiking is dangerous now days as you don't know what kind of a person is behind the wheel of the vehicle, but it is more dangerous if you are reading about it in a Stephen King book!

      A college student is trying to get home as he finds out that his mother is dying and he decides to hitchhike to get there faster. His first ride is twilight zone weird (what do you expect as you are in a King book), but his next ride makes him go cold and shivery as the man behind the wheel is supposed to be dead.

      Thus begins the ride of his life and he then remembers the warnings from his mother about hitchhiking. What happens on his ride with the ghost man? Does he make it in time to see his mother? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book.

      This was a short and to the point kind of book which encompasses the fear of hitchhiking as you never know "who" or "what" will be picking you up.

      Moral of the story: Do not hitchhike and if it is Stephen King behind the wheel, all I can say is: RUN!

      Four stars for this one!
    • 3/5
      I'm a pretty big fan of Stephen King, and when this novella came up on Scribd, I jumped at the chance to read it.

      It was okay, I guess, but not really what I've come to expect from King. The story is occasionally creepy, but never scary. It's often predictable, and although the ending is a bit unexpected, there's never anything in it to truly shock me.

      Oh, the writing style is perfect, and I love the candid way that the author speaks to the reader, so no issues there. It's definitely got Stephen King's signature in that respect. I just... expected a bit more, is all.
    • 4/5
      USA, ca 1995Den unge mand Alain Parker læser filosofi på universitetet. Han får en besked om at hans mor Jean Parker er blevet indlagt med et slagtilfælde og tager på tommelfingeren hjem. Første lift er med en gammel mand, hvis bil stinker forfærdeligt, så han stiger hurtigt af og går lidt rundt for at trække frisk luft. Det er på en kirkegård og han bemærker en gravsten, hvor der står George Staub på. Andet lift er med en mand, der undervejs præsenterer sig som George Staub. Til sidst er han overbevist om at han er oppe at blaffe med døden selv og siger "Tag hende. Tag min mor, men lad være med at tage mig." og så falder han ud af bilen og vågner op ved Staubs gravsten.Stik imod hans forventning overlever moderen faktisk og de har syv gode år sammen, inden hun dør.Stephen Kings udgave af Blaf med Døden. Findes også i novellesamlingen Everything's Eventual.

    Book preview

    Riding the Bullet - Stephen King

    I’ve never told anyone this story, and never thought I would—not because I was afraid of being disbelieved, exactly, but because I was ashamed . . . and because it was mine. I’ve always felt that telling it would cheapen both me and the story itself, make it smaller and more mundane, no more than a camp counselor’s ghost story told before lights-out. I think I was also afraid that if I told it, heard it with my own ears, I might start to disbelieve it myself. But since my mother died I haven’t been able to sleep very well. I doze off and then snap back again, wide awake and shivering. Leaving the bedside lamp on helps, but not as much as you might think. There are so many more shadows at night, have you ever noticed that? Even with a light on there are so many shadows. The long ones could be the shadows of anything, you think.

    Anything at all.

    •   •   •

    I was a junior at the University of Maine when Mrs. McCurdy called about ma. My father died when I was too young to remember him and I was an only child, so it was just Alan and Jean Parker against the world. Mrs. McCurdy, who lived just up the road, called at the apartment I shared with three other guys. She had gotten the number off the magnetic minder-board ma kept on her fridge.

    ’Twas a stroke, she said in that long and drawling Yankee accent of hers. Happened at the restaurant. But don’t you go flyin off all half-cocked. Doctor says it wa’ant too bad. She’s awake and she’s talkin.

    Yeah, but is she making sense? I asked. I was trying to sound calm, even amused, but my heart was beating fast and the living room suddenly felt too warm. I had the apartment all to myself; it was Wednesday, and both my roomies had classes all day.

    Oh, ayuh. First thing she said was for me to call you but not to scare you. That’s pretty sensible, wouldn’t you say?

    Yeah. But of course I was scared. When someone calls and tells you your mother’s been taken from work to the hospital in an ambulance, how else are you supposed to feel?

    She said for you to stay right there and mind your schoolin until the weekend. She said you could come then, if you didn’t have too much studyin t’do.

    Sure, I thought. Fat chance. I’d just stay here in this ratty, beer-smelling apartment while my mother lay in a hospital bed a hundred miles south, maybe dying.

    She’s still a young woman, your ma, Mrs. McCurdy said. It’s just that she’s let herself get awful heavy these last few years, and she’s got the hypertension. Plus the cigarettes. She’s goin to have to give up the smokes.

    I doubted if she would, though, stroke or no stroke, and about that I was right—my mother loved her smokes. I thanked Mrs. McCurdy for calling.

    First thing I did when I got home, she said. So when are you coming, Alan? Sad’dy? There was a sly note in her voice that suggested she knew better.

    I looked out the window at a perfect afternoon in October: bright blue New England sky over trees that were shaking down their yellow leaves onto Mill Street. Then I glanced at my watch. Twenty past three. I’d just been on my way out to my four o’clock philosophy seminar when the phone rang.

    You kidding? I asked. I’ll be there tonight.

    Her laughter was dry and a little cracked around the edges—Mrs. McCurdy was a great one to talk about giving up the cigarettes, her and her Winstons. Good boy! You’ll go straight to the hospital, won’t you, then drive out to the house?

    I guess so, yeah, I said. I saw no sense in telling Mrs. McCurdy that there was something wrong with the transmission of my old car, and it wasn’t going anywhere but the driveway for the foreseeable future. I’d hitchhike down to Lewiston, then out to our little house in Harlow if it wasn’t too late. If it was, I’d snooze in one of the hospital lounges. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d ridden my thumb home from school. Or slept sitting up with my head leaning against a Coke machine, for that matter.

    I’ll make sure the key’s under the red wheelbarrow, she said. You know where I mean, don’t you?

    Sure. My mother kept an old red wheelbarrow by the door to the back shed; in the summer it foamed with flowers. Thinking of it for some reason brought Mrs. McCurdy’s news home to me as a true fact: my mother was in the hospital, the little house in Harlow where I’d grown up was going to be dark tonight—there was no one there to turn on the lights after the sun went down. Mrs. McCurdy

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