If It Bleeds by Stephen King

If it Bleeds is a collection of four new novellas —Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Life of Chuck, Rat, and the title story If It Bleeds— each pulling readers into intriguing and frightening places.

A collection of four uniquely wonderful long stories, including a stand-alone sequel to The Outsider.

News people have a saying: ‘If it bleeds, it leads’. And a bomb at Albert Macready Middle School is guaranteed to lead any bulletin.

Holly Gibney of the Finders Keepers detective agency is working on the case of a missing dog – and on her own need to be more assertive – when she sees the footage on TV. But when she tunes in again, to the late-night report, she realizes there is something not quite right about the correspondent who was first on the scene. So begins ‘If It Bleeds’ , a stand-alone sequel to The Outsider featuring the incomparable Holly on her first solo case.

Dancing alongside are three more long stories – ‘Mr Harrigan’s Phone’, ‘The Life of Chuck’ and ‘Rat’ .

The novella is a form King has returned to over and over again in the course of his amazing career, and many have been made into iconic films, If It Bleeds is a uniquely satisfying collection of longer short fiction by an incomparably gifted writer.

The Reason

I probably wouldn’t have picked this book up so soon if it wasn’t because I really wanted to read Holly, and there was a story included in this book, If It Bleeds, that also features Holly, that might’ve been spoiled if I read Holly first. I loved Holly’s story, but the others were really great too!

The Quotes

“My grandmother used to say a person shouldn’t call out unless they want an answer. I’ve always thought that was good advice.”

“Love is a gift; love is also a chain with a manacle at each end.”

“Because there really is a second world. It exists because people refuse to believe it’s there.”

“When an old man dies, a library burns.”

“Henry Thoreau said that we don’t own things; things own us. Every new object—whether it’s a home, a car, a television, or a fancy phone like that one—is something more we must carry on our backs.”

The Stories

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone
I got sucked in to this story, I loved it so much. I love the connection between Craig and Mr. Harrigan, and how wholesome it was. I still thought their relationship was wholesome throughout the story, even when the story got creepy and sinister. I don’t think I’d mind someone looking out for me, although of course, I don’t condone the methods. It also makes sense that Craig would go to the extreme and ask Mr. Harrigan to take extreme actions because of how volatile emotions can be at that age and in the raw moments. I realized there was a movie starring Jaeden Martell as Craig and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan, and of course I had to watch it. I thought the movie stayed quite true to the story, and I loved the casting. Such a great story!

The Life of Chuck
This story was confusing at first, but it goes backwards, and the more we find out about Chuck, the more I like him, or the little snippets of things we see about him anyway. I didn’t connect as much with this story, because it’s the shortest one and we don’t go deep into it, but there’s a sense of potential. I wonder how it would fare if King decides to explore Chuck’s life further.

If It Bleeds
This is the title story, and the one that features Holly Gibney. I’ve read The Outsider and I loved it. And I also remember really loving the relationship between Holly and Ralph, but there are a lot of details I don’t remember. I read The Outsider before reading the Mr. Mercedes series, so I didn’t have that context of who she was before, but I still really loved her in The Outsider. This one was really good too, even if it wasn’t a full novel-length story. I love the tension we get between Holly and her mother, and their complex relationship. I feel like King captured their complicated relationship so well; the push-pull of loving her mother yet wanting to get away from her toxicity. I also love how incredibly courageous Holly was – there’s this quote about how courage is not the absence of fear, but doing the thing in spite of the fear, and in that vein, Holly is the most courageous person I’ve ever had the privilege to read about. Holly is such an inspiration and I love her so much.

Rat
Rat was also a really great story and I got sucked into that age-old story of the struggles of being an author, and how writing consumes you. Drew was such an interesting character. I’m not really sure what to think about him; is he a good person? A good husband and father? A good friend? Or was he a horrible and selfish person, and just making “good” choices because he knows they are the “right” ones and not because he wants to? There’s lots of plausible deniability to go around. I also love that distinction of how the rat was an “it” when Drew wanted to kill it, and a “he” when Drew wanted to let him live.

My Thoughts

I love Stephen King and it seems like he just keeps getting better and better every time. I love how nuanced his characters are. I love how he tells the best stories, and how it’s so easy to get immersed in them. I love how he’s aware of writing cliches and points them out, and it works for the story. I love these stories, in this book, and I can’t wait to read more, about Holly Gibney, and about any story King wants to write.

My Feels

I mean, is it not obvious enough? I love the stories. I love the characters. I am in awe of King’s masterful storytelling. I love how the characters came to life, how they were so relatable, how their relationships were portrayed so well. I love how deeply I connected to their human-ness, and that’s everything.

My Rating

5/5 stars. I loved all the stories. The Life of Chuck isn’t the best compared to the other three stories, but they are more than good enough to compensate, and the book as a whole deserves 5/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?