Mile 81. Most dumbest story ever. Spoilers in case

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César Hernández-Meraz

Wants to be Nick, ends up as Larry
May 19, 2015
605
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Aguascalientes, Mexico
If you don't like the program, change the channel. I say this with much sincerity.

Usually, people can voice what they think about something they did not like. They can do so and state why they did not like it. For those cases, that phrase may not apply.

But in this specific case, where the one commenting is just mocking the work, not really adding anything interesting while doing so, either, I'd say it applies completely.

If we don't like something, we can say so. But to start with "most dumbest story ever" does not really indicate an intelligent discussion of the merits of the story will follow.
 

Mr Nobody

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2008
3,306
9,050
Walsall, England
Here's the thing: it's not really about the car. It's about the attitudes of people, particularly adults, and the way things can just go sideways. It's also about the kids, how they can accept the thing for what it is and handle it on its own terms. That's even pointed to in the story itself, with the line about how a 20 year old would see the situation vs how it was seen by a boy around ten years younger.
'The Raft', meanwhile, was about the nature of the thing as much as it was teens in college. It also addressed fear and the hopelessness that comes from prolonged fear and the apparent lack of rescue: do you stand on the raft, knowing the thing must eventually get you? Or do you think 'stuff it', leap into water to swim for it and hope for the best (though you're probably blob-food either way)?
But anyway, who's to say that the thing in the lake and the thing in the shape of a station wagon weren't actually one and the same thing? Think of it as The Continuing Adventures of the Blob from 'The Raft' and you're maybe halfway home.
 

carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
5,428
25,651
NJ
Dumbest and goofy story of all time. Its pretty much a station wagon this time instead of a black sludge in a lake. like The Raft.

The family that stopped to check on the horse lady, why couldnt they just mind their business and drive away back home or something?
Because SK deals in the "what ifs" which is much more interesting and why I have continued to read him for over 40 years.
 

Steffen

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2015
2,233
12,800
Just started reading TBoBD and I'm three stories in. I've always loved Steve's short story collections; each one is a different type of gem, but gems they all are. This story had a nice early 80s vibe like the stuff he did in Skeleton Crew: quick, lean and punchy. I like short stories where the monster shows up, does its thing, and we get a nice little end where the writer doesn't feel the need to over-explain the mystery.
 

Shoesalesman

Well-Known Member
Aug 12, 2010
1,814
4,093
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Listened to the audio CD in my car while driving at night. THAT was a trip.

I think the story focuses on how one choice leads to another and so on until an event snowballs into something that can't be stopped. The unsettling thing, as the initial poster suggested, is that if someone had made the decision to stop the cycle, to just keep on going and leave things be, people would have been spared. But no one stopped the cycle. And bad things happened. Good on that first poster for asking that age-old, burning question, "Why don't we just keep on truckin'?" Well done.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Dumbest and goofy story of all time. Its pretty much a station wagon this time instead of a black sludge in a lake. like The Raft.

The family that stopped to check on the horse lady, why couldnt they just mind their business and drive away back home or something?

Because SK deals in the "what ifs" which is much more interesting and why I have continued to read him for over 40 years.

I agree with you carrie's younger brother - how often do we see people slow down near an accident scene just to get a little glimpse (sort of morbid but it happens) when the best thing to do would be to just drive on (especially if paramedics/police are already in attendance)?

I think in this story (to be honest I have not read it!) someone initially stops to help the broken down station wagon.

This reminds me - I need to go buy this book - The Bazaar of Bad Dreams :facepalm_smiley::yes_pig::shame_pig:

(How is it possible this was published in 2015 and I STILL don't have a copy? :upset::icon_eek::eek-new:
 

moomby

Member
Mar 26, 2017
7
23
This reminds me - I need to go buy this book - The Bazaar of Bad Dreams :facepalm_smiley::yes_pig::shame_pig:

(How is it possible this was published in 2015 and I STILL don't have a copy? :upset::icon_eek::eek-new:

The variety is so great - from somewhat funny to creepy in a heartbreaking way to uplifting. How does he do all this with so few pages? And though so many of his full length novels are phenomenal, I really like that these stories require so little commitment.
 

Zone D Dad

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2017
359
1,829
Chicago Suburbs
I just finished this story. I didn't have a strong reaction to it either way. The only thing i really didn't like was the set-up with the kid (Pete?) and the vodka at the rest area. It felt extraneous. I found the other kids more interesting and would've liked to experience the events more exclusively from their point of view. I'm only on the third story at this point, but I always hold out hope for a gem like Survivor Type, Last Rung on the Ladder, One for the Road, 1408, etc.
 

91rewoT

Backwards Sister Member
Oct 20, 2009
3,039
2,743
Southern Wisconsin
Welcome to the board.
Dumbest and goofy story of all time. Its pretty much a station wagon this time instead of a black sludge in a lake. like The Raft.

The family that stopped to check on the horse lady, why couldnt they just mind their business and drive away back home or something?

Well. If they minded their business and drove away back home, or she didn't go up the stairs, or they didn't open the door, or he didn't look under the bed, there would be a lot of really short stories published, wouldn't there?

Welcome to the Board!
 

twiggymarie

Daughter of One
Mar 17, 2011
332
1,911
Texas, United States
I suppose the so called fans of Mile 81 would think a lamp that becomes evil would be "entertaining".


Come on seriously. An old muddy station wagon that's a rip off of The Raft. That's all Stephen King can come up with fir a new short story collection book?

Actually, he probably could. I mean, he made a steamrolling/folding machine pretty darn scary without much effort... :m_cool:
 

carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
5,428
25,651
NJ
I suppose the so called fans of Mile 81 would think a lamp that becomes evil would be "entertaining".
Well sure! If it was about a lamp that when you went to turn the switch on it seared your fingers to the switch and then before you knew it you were sucked into the light bulb and your skin started burning off and you went blind from the intense light and all the while your wife was looking at the lamp and seeing a little "insect" trapped inside the light bulb burning up... that would be entertaining! :)
 

Sigmund

Waiting in Uber.
Jan 3, 2010
13,979
44,046
In your mirror.
Welcome to the board.


Well. If they minded their business and drove away back home, or she didn't go up the stairs, or they didn't open the door, or he didn't look under the bed, there would be a lot of really short stories published, wouldn't there?

Welcome to the Board!


Backward sister in in the house!!!!

Welcome back. You've been missed.

>>>Hugs<<<
 
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doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
6,946
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dublin ireland
Welcome to the board.


Well. If they minded their business and drove away back home, or she didn't go up the stairs, or they didn't open the door, or he didn't look under the bed, there would be a lot of really short stories published, wouldn't there?

Welcome to the Board!
Thank you! There is a lot to be said for people not doing what we thnk they should.