The last thing Howard Cottrell remembers is entering the woods to find his golf ball. He wakes up as he is being rolled into an autopsy room, but is completely paralyzed and unable to let the attendants know he is still alive.
Community Thoughts:
Posted By: Sweetpea - 10/13/2009 - 3:45 PM EST
it was scary
Posted By: Jake - 01/10/2009 - 9:30 PM EST
WOW!! A couple of years back i finally got over my fear of dying but not really being dead.... now that fear is back... but i really LOVED this story! But it also makes me wonder if that actually happens... like when we all die are still in our bodies??? Scary thought but most King novels get me thinking... It's probably because I'm paranoid. lol
Posted By: Britt - 01/02/2009 - 5:03 PM EST
This story makes you wonder and moreover fear the thought that you might be wrongly considered dead. To be awake during your own autopsy and not be able to move. To be able to feel everything but not even make a sound. This is just another brilliant idea from Mr. King.
Posted By: Terry - 12/14/2008 - 6:57 AM EST
I just read "Autopsy Room Four" for the first time. I am definitely one of those people that has had the "premature burial" fear since childhood. I remember reading Poe's version as a teen and seeing the Joseph Cotten episode that you refer to. I wanted to mention another episode on the subject and I can't remember what series it was. I thought it was a newer versiojn of takes on Alfred Hitchcocks themes. Maybe "Night Gallery?" Anyway I DO remember the name of the episode. "The Final Escape". A woman in prison wants out and bribes the grave digger with her gorgeous embellished gold lighter. He can have the lighter if he gets her out. She has to wait for the bessl in the tower to ring signaling that someone has died in the prison. She has to merely crawl into the coffin with the corpse, get buried and the grave diggger digs her up a few hours later and she is free. Well doesn't she follow directions perfectly and after being buried waits patiently for the gravedigger to rescue her as she lays in wait in someone elses coffin. She finds her trusty lighter in her pocket and lights it and realizes that the corpse next to her is the gravedigger. It is absolutely terrifying. Even though you can't stand the inmates manipulative character you all of a sudden feel sick and sorry for her. Autopsy Room Four scared me and made me laugh! Great combo! Thanks.
