Bag of Bones

Bag of Bones – Stephen King

Evan’s ESS = 10 out of 10

Erin’s ESS = 9 out of 10

Content = R (Language, Violence, Adult Concepts, Brief Nudity, Spooky Lake Cabin)

Why:  Bag of Bones is perhaps the most underappreciated Stephen King novel of all time.  He’s written close to a gazillion novels, all with mass appeal, but this haunted love story is a slight departure from his fascination with all things horror.  Not that we want for you to assume for a second that Mr. King went soft.  Specifically, we challenge anyone to not get the heebie-jeebies the first time Mike Noonan enters his lake cabin; Sara Laughs.  Seriously, we’re not even kidding.  If you don’t feel needles walking up your spine then you may need to poke yourself with a sharp stick to make sure you haven’t fallen asleep. 

Stephen King has a way of getting under the reader’s skin and Bag of Bones is no different.  You will long to rescue Mattie Devore from her wretched situation and then two pages later you’ll want to kick Max Devore in the shin as hard as you can.  You will also learn some important lessons about the damaging effects of writers block and if nothing else, we guarantee you will reevaluate ever placing letter magnets on your refrigerator.  Bag of Bones won both the British Fantasy Award and the Bram Stocker Award and contains 7.5 times less gore than the typical Stephen King novel.  It’s rare that a book enters into your subconscious and becomes real, but that’s exactly what will happen when you read Bag of Bones.