Hi all. I'm Pete and I've been a King fan for 40 years (since I was 12)
I've tried to read everything written by the man and that includes some stories that I'm not sure made it into his regular collections (things he wrote for horror anthologies)
I was looking for one today online and couldn't find it anywhere.
I could swear that the title of it was "To Be A Man"
It was about this typical beta male who pines for this girl but is strictly friend-zoned.
One night he goes to a seedy bar and while he's in this horrible men's room, standing in filth at the urinal,he reads the words "to be a man" written on the wall. He dismisses it as macho posturing but somehow he's become infected. Afterwards, he ignores the girl which make her pursue him. They get together, he cheats on her, slaps her around once in a while, basically becomes the bastard she used to cry on his shoulder about. All because he was infected with this uber maleness in a creepy bar bathroom.
It's always possible it's not a King story (I'm 52 and I've done a ton of reading in my lifetime) but I've always thought of it as one of my favorite King stories because it was so unusual. Any help would be greatly appreciated
I've tried to read everything written by the man and that includes some stories that I'm not sure made it into his regular collections (things he wrote for horror anthologies)
I was looking for one today online and couldn't find it anywhere.
I could swear that the title of it was "To Be A Man"
It was about this typical beta male who pines for this girl but is strictly friend-zoned.
One night he goes to a seedy bar and while he's in this horrible men's room, standing in filth at the urinal,he reads the words "to be a man" written on the wall. He dismisses it as macho posturing but somehow he's become infected. Afterwards, he ignores the girl which make her pursue him. They get together, he cheats on her, slaps her around once in a while, basically becomes the bastard she used to cry on his shoulder about. All because he was infected with this uber maleness in a creepy bar bathroom.
It's always possible it's not a King story (I'm 52 and I've done a ton of reading in my lifetime) but I've always thought of it as one of my favorite King stories because it was so unusual. Any help would be greatly appreciated