Fairy Tale won King the 2023 Goodreads Choice Award for Fantasy, and it deserves it. It is the perfect gateway drug for a King skeptic who says, "I don’t like scary books." It is also a balm for long-time Constant Readers who have missed the epic scope of The Stand or The Eyes of the Dragon .
If you told me a year ago that Stephen King would write a story that feels like a lost collaboration between Hayao Miyazaki and H.P. Lovecraft, I would have asked where to sign. With Fairy Tale (U.S. Edition), the Master of Horror does exactly that—he trades in the rusty brakes of a ’58 Plymouth for the squeaky wheel of a rusty bicycle, and the result is nothing short of magical. Fairy Tale -U.S. Edition- by Stephen King EPUB
(Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local library’s OverDrive). Just remember: When you hear the sound of a turning wheel and a dog barking, don’t look back. Fairy Tale won King the 2023 Goodreads Choice
For those hunting for the of this modern classic, you are in for a hefty, rewarding download. Clocking in at over 600 pages, this is not a quick jaunt to grandma’s house. It is a slow, deliberate descent into the well. The Setup: Radar the Dog The novel introduces us to Charlie Reade, a high schooler carrying the weight of a drunk father and a dead mother. But this isn’t The Shining . The horror here starts with empathy. When Charlie hears an old recluse (Mr. Bowditch) fall off a ladder, he steps up. In return, Charlie inherits a locked shed in the old man’s backyard—a shed that contains a staircase leading to another world. Lovecraft, I would have asked where to sign
★★★★☆ (4.5/5) One half star off for the slightly bloated second act. But Radar gets five stars all on her own. Have you read Fairy Tale? Did you prefer the "real world" chapters or the Empis chapters? Let me know in the comments below.