Blood And Smoke

This is a collection of three stories, tied together in name by the fact that each protagonist smokes or used to smoke. Being an ex-smoker, I find the tie-in endearing. I listened to this on Hoopla, and each story was read by Stephen King himself. Another plus!
The first story, Lunch at the Gotham Cafe, was probably my favorite. It's about a couple who is splitting up after only a few years of marriage. They're to meet for lunch with their lawyers to discuss the details. Things go awry, to say the least!
The second story is one that was turned into a movie: Room 1408. I had only seen the last ten or fifteen minutes of the movie once, and I thought the story wouldn't really appeal to me. However, I was wrong. This is a story about an author who has made a living writing about haunted places--he wants to stay in Room 1408 in order to add to his newest book about haunted hotels. Things don't go quite as he'd assumed they would, however.
The final story, The Deathroom, is about a reporter who has been stationed in South America. He has found out more than the South American authorities would like for him to know, and he's been captured. He is told he will be released after he provides a certain amount of information. Whether or not he actually will be remains to be seen.

I wasn't too impressed with Blood and Smoke. I loved almost all of Stephen King's older books and enjoyed the last couple of books that he has written, but there were several in between that I just didn't care for. It was interesting to hear Stephen King read the stories, himself. "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" was just okay. I expected more when this story started and was a bit let down by it. "1408" was the best of the three stories and the only one that I would actually say I liked. I did not like "In the Deathroom." It sounded familiar to me from the beginning and I soon realized it was a story I had read in one of King's books and did not like the first time, so I stopped listening to it. This disappointed me because I was under the impression that all 3 of these stories were only available in Blood and Smoke.

Pointless stories with none of the usual panache I expect from Stephen King.

The stories here are good, but how does a smoking themed King anthology not include Quitters Inc?

The best part is the 1st half (the chat between the hotel manager & Mike) but nonetheless, the rest is filled with the horror of the ordinary stuff.

I found this audiobook at my local library's Wilbor page.

I have been a Stephen King fan for a long time, and his short stories, like his novels, vary a lot in quality. This collection, read by the author himself (in the audiobook form), is unified by the odd theme of smoking. Cigarettes play a part in each story, though only incidentally. I took it to mean maybe King misses smoking.....? Who knows. It made ME miss smoking...!

Lunch at the Gotham Cafe:

The quietest of the bunch. King is able to make ordinary characters interesting in extraordinary circumstances, and he has a real fondness for depicting the truly nutty nature of those who have dangerously lost their connection with reality. The sound of King loudly saying 'Eeeeeeee' will ring in my ears for days, now. Weird, but good-weird. This audio version may have been done recently, it sounds to me.

1408:

A writer is determined to spend the night in a haunted hotel room. Craziness ensues. King is always writing a bit of himself as character when he uses writer protagonists, and he seems to particularly enjoy making his author go crazypants before mauling or setting them on fire for good measure. This was a moderately scary story, though not much like what I've heard the movie was like. I have not seen the movie that's based on this story yet, and I am not sure whether I can, or will. Maybe, some day.

In the Deathroom:

An American journalist has been arrested to be interrogated/tortured in some South American country, and he's brought to an interrogation room featuring creepy adversaries and a chilling torture advice. The ending is a bit Jason Bourne, but still a decent story for its length. I sincerely HATE torture in stories, of ANY kind. It makes my guts clench, and I spend the night with a stomach ache. I almost didn't finish it. I'm glad it became all Jason Bourne at the end. I think it's the weakest of the three stories. King's voice seems younger in this story, as well, like he did this recording a good 20 years ago.


This collection is worth reading/listening to, if you have a few hours to kill, like most of King's work.
3 stars.