...always thought this was just a "test shot" for The Dark Half and then realized "DUH", TDH was released before this story....still liked it though, and it's a device King has used more than once.....
Reminded me a lot of the Twilight Zone episode "A World of His Own." That and
Word Processor of the Gods, but having not read Tommyknockers, I wondered if the green light he fell into was connected at all to that story? I loved this one. It reminded me of Bachman's cynicism, with an ending that I think surpasses Word Processor. What a powerhouse for an unreleased story to add to the collection! In that sense, it might be my favorite, and also just because it feels like such a complete story, whereas some of my other favorites were missing tiny pieces here and there. Looks like
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet was published in '84. Anybody have any idea when Umney was written? The ending of Umney does include one instance of the (what I thought was a) unique metaphor.