It Grows on You

The audio CD short story collection It Grows on You by Stephen King was a pleasure to listen to.  I didn’t love every story, but it was well worth it anyway.

The first story, and the titular one, is about a house which seems to have a life of its own.  Sort of a very basic Rose Red.  It is read by the author and while it doesn’t have a spookiest feel, it is engaging.

The Fifth Quarter follows a man out to seek revenge for his friends death and at the same time piece together a treasure map, which was the cause of his friend untimely end anyway.  Gary Sinise reads and does a great job.  He has just enough grittiness in his voice and a great sense of timing.

My favorite story of the bunch was You Know They Got a Hell of a Band, read by Grace Slick.  Slick’s voice is lovely to listen to and her slightly androgynous tones work perfectly.  This story follows a married couple, who are lost in Oregon, and of course the husband will not turn around but insists on trying to find his own way.  As the road they are traveling on gets smaller and smaller, and finally is nothing more the a faint path, the sense of fear grows.  Unexpectedly they come upon a idyllic town.  A banner proclaiming “Free Concert Tonight” is strung over the road.  The little town does, in fact, have a hell of a band, but the really price of hearing it is far too much. To me this story seems so Stephen King, ifI didn’t know he was the author, I would attribute it to him.

Lastly, Frank Muller reads The Night Flier.  I couldn’t help thinking that this vampire story was meant to capitalize on one of the biggest trends right now, but it is no Twilight.  When a reporter for a sketchy tabloid magazine pursues some evidence of a killer who believes himself a vampire, he becomes obsessed with getting the money shot for his magazine.  At all costs he needs to prove that he was able to find this guy himself.  The urgency of his thoughts really moves you along in this one as the action gets faster.  I was reminded of The Mist in the ending, but not for any obvious reason.

Any fan of Stephen King will not want to miss this collection, and at only 5 cds it doesn’t require the time of a lot of his works.