- After the Flood (1957)
- After the Carnival (1984)
- Six Phone Calls (1985)
- Derry: The First Interlude
- Ben Hanscom Takes a Fall
- Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil (I)
- One of the Missing: A Tale From the Summer of '58
- The Dam In the Barrens
- Georgie's Room and the House On Neibolt Street
- Cleaning Up
- Derry: The Second Interlude
- The Reunion
- Walking Tours
- Three Uninvited Guests
- Derry: The Third Interlude
- The Apocalyptic Rockfight
- The Album
- The Smoke-Hole
- Eddie's Bad Break
- Another One of the Missing: The Death of Patrick Hockstetter
- The Bullseye
- Derry: The Fourth Interlude
- In the Watches of the Night
- The Circle Closes
- Under the City
- The Ritual of Chud
- Out
- Derry: The Final Interlude
- Epilogue: Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil (II)
Derry: The Second Interlude
So now we begin our Trilogy of Narratives with a story that develops Mike a lot, since we haven't really gotten that so far. This is a LONG interlude, and I found it even more tedious on the second reading. Again I am left with my old conclusion: a lot of this might have worked better as a separate short story.
Mike writes about his relationship with his father, particularly his experiences in the military and with Butch Bowers. This is the first time we really meet Butch as well. Finally, after a lot of buildup, the interlude climaxes with the story of the Black Spot and the horrific fire of 1930 (at which point, Dick Hallorann from The Shining makes a cameo). It certainly shows King's diversity that he goes from writing about the horrors of werewolves to that of domestic abuse to that of a fire, but it he does it well. There is nothing supernatural about this section until the last two pages.
First Mike's father reveals that he saw a giant bird with balloons sweep down from over the fire, which Mike recognizes as the same bird he saw four years ago. Personally, I think a clown sighting would've hit the point home a little better. After that, Mike finishes the section by telling us he woke up the next morning with footprints leading up to where he was sleeping and a balloon floating beside him. The balloon had a picture of Mike's face on it and as Mike screamed, the balloon popped. Now THAT is creepy and a nice way to end the interlude. It reminds us that as tangential as all this may seem, it all comes back to that same mystery. Of course, it also raises the question: why didn't Mike call the others immediately after that happened rather than wait three more months as he does?
And with that, we now enter the "Grownups" section of the novel.
Mike writes about his relationship with his father, particularly his experiences in the military and with Butch Bowers. This is the first time we really meet Butch as well. Finally, after a lot of buildup, the interlude climaxes with the story of the Black Spot and the horrific fire of 1930 (at which point, Dick Hallorann from The Shining makes a cameo). It certainly shows King's diversity that he goes from writing about the horrors of werewolves to that of domestic abuse to that of a fire, but it he does it well. There is nothing supernatural about this section until the last two pages.
First Mike's father reveals that he saw a giant bird with balloons sweep down from over the fire, which Mike recognizes as the same bird he saw four years ago. Personally, I think a clown sighting would've hit the point home a little better. After that, Mike finishes the section by telling us he woke up the next morning with footprints leading up to where he was sleeping and a balloon floating beside him. The balloon had a picture of Mike's face on it and as Mike screamed, the balloon popped. Now THAT is creepy and a nice way to end the interlude. It reminds us that as tangential as all this may seem, it all comes back to that same mystery. Of course, it also raises the question: why didn't Mike call the others immediately after that happened rather than wait three more months as he does?
And with that, we now enter the "Grownups" section of the novel.