Riding the Bullet

Fast paced and ends too soon. Choices and decisions make up your life. Each one creates a new path that you have to take. Some meet back up, but most move away from each other, never to meet. Fear, greed, power, Good nature. Take them as you will. Sometimes what you wish for, isn't always ask it seems.

This book was super creepy and keeps your attention. However I watched the movie before reading the book and loved the movie. I wasn't disappointed in this book at all but I enjoyed the movie more. It is the only time I thought the movie was better than the book.

As a "Constant Reader" I found Riding the Bullet to be in the typical SK character developement with the always present twisted end. Well worth the time and money it took to purchase this Audiobook. So stick out your thumb and take the first ride to the world of SK!

Another victory for Stephen King.
Like always I wasn't let down by the master of scare, I am really no fan of short stories but now and then King comes around with a real winner just as he did with this one.

Since the description of this book says it has 400 pages, I was a little surprised to find the digital version has just about that many 'locations' ... the DTB must have VERY LARGE TYPE or HUGE MARGINS. It's a so-so story, but awfully short. I had to go back to see what I'd paid for it. Too much: $3.99 for 400 locations while 'Infinite Jest' with more than 25,000 locations was $9.99 - what's up with *that!?

Although the story was enjoyable, I based my purchase of the Kindle edition on the Print Length of 400 pages listed in the item description and was disappointed to discover that, rather than a full-length novel, I had received a short story.

the store, please correct your misleading item description!

I ordered this collectible edition and had to return it twice. The first time I received the item I noticed there was a UPC (price code) sticker directly attached to the dust jacket, making this otherwise collectible item far from valuable. I tried peeling the sticker off but could tell it was going to tear the dust jacket so I stopped. I returned the item and explained why I had returned it. I asked for a replacement, since I really wanted this book, and the replacement copy arrived two weeks later...and it had a sticker on the dust jacket! Forget it. I returned it again and asked for a refund.

Stephen King, Riding the Bullet (Scribner, 2000)
[originally posted 10Apr2000]

After many rumors that the accident in 1999 had stopped King from writing, seeing something-- anything-- from him is a relief. Of course, King characterizes any work this small (seventy pages) as a short-short, and it was probably meant more to test the idea of electronic distribution more than it was as a King release. (And it was a smashing success, actually, with half a million downloads in the first week, but we'll see what happens when they try to charge for one.)

Taking it in that light, and reviewing it form the standpoint of its format, I have to also take into account the program used to view it, Glassbook, which is an absolute disaster. Instability and crashing are probably the least of its woes. [ed. note 15Aug13: Glassbook was acquired by Adobe in 2001 and folded into Acrobat Reader, dying a quiet, obscure, unheralded, and completely deserving death.] And dammit, I hate the whole reading-on-the-computer screen thing, even if the typeface, size, and amount of whitespace were quite nice, unlike most ebooks. I want paper and ink and something I can hold in my hand. The computer revolution won't keep me from buying paperbacks any time soon.

That said, the tale itself: it's pretty much stock King, with the same kind of tone and simplicity as the stories in Hearts in Atlantis; a guy hitchhiking home from the University of Maine gets a ride with a rather odd driver who makes him question his own life, and its utility, in relation to that of his dying mother. It has the same strengths as any piece of King's writing, especially that of King's trademark ability to characterize, and to make small details into memorable mementos. Still, I found myself not liking it as much as the Atlantis material (and I'm wondering whether this is an outtake of that). Perhaps it's only because of the format--I can't tell. One way or the other, if you like King, go for it. If not, you're not missing much. This is a revolution that's not going to happen. ***

I was thoroughly impressed how Stephen King spun such a short succinct story that left me spooked and satisfied. It is said that the mark of a good cook, is how well that person can prepare simple dishes. I am now convinced that the mark of a good author is how well he/she can tell a short story. There are times when you read a story, only to ask yourself, "that's it?" at the end. This book never left me feeling like I was reading anything less than a full account of what happened to a young hitchhiker, on his way back home.

As an avid reader, it has been some time since a book has been able to activate my spook factor, but this short story did. This book drew me in, and didn't let me go, until the last word. If you don't believe me, get it for yourself. I'm confident that when you're finished, you will too be blown away.

'''½
Riding the Bullet is a horror novella written by Stephen King. This short-story does not contain the typical blood, gore, and blatant suspense that you may expect when you think of horror, but it offers the subtle, f*ck with your head variety. It's a story about making an impossible choice, and those types of themes most always prompt self-reflection. That's where the horror comes in play. What would you do in a similar predicament?

They don't call Stephen King the king of horror for nothing!

My favorite quote:
"I know something now that I didn't before. The worst stories are the ones you've heard your whole life. Those are the real nightmares."

A young university student finds out his mother has had a stroke and so rushes home to see her, hitch-hiking as his car is in the shop (no mention of possible buses or trains he could alternately use), and he is picked up... by a dead man.

This is standard Stephen King fare with his interest in all manner of ghosties and ghoulies, and the encounter with the dead guy isn't that great but what saves the story is the man's reminiscences of his mum. He looks back at his childhood, his mum's sacrifices being a single mother working several jobs to get him into college, and her current situation now - and it's surprisingly effective.

Maybe because it has a firm basis in reality and is something most of us will deal with in our own lives - the death of a close loved one, a parent - and what it means to contemplate our own mortality.

And, if you've got "Everything's Eventual", King writes in his introduction that the story is his way of dealing with his own mother's death. And, sentimental though it is, the sentiments and situation were real enough to make me roll a tear at the inevitable end. For that alone it's a powerful story, the added ghost is just the icing on the cake.

Speaking of "Everything's Eventual", this story is included in that book along with 13 other stories (including 1408), as well as a lengthy introduction by King and notes before each story. It's definitely worth paying a few pennies more than the price of this e-book.

A college student learns his mother has just had a minor stroke. Because he has not been able to afford the repairs on his car, he has to hitchhike to see her. Along the way, he is given rides by some unusual characters, one of which is not quite human. This particular driver leads the main character and the reader into a real Stephen King nightmare.

I loved this story. It is scary, yet it has a message. The characters are amazingly developed, and the reader, Josh Hamilton, is a reader who adds to the wonder of the story. This one cannot be missed.

Pretty good read, dissapion ted that it wasn't longer like all of the other works of Stephen King. I felt sorry for alan when he asked told that he actually had to choose who should die? Him or his mom? I really liked his thought process about how at first he would give his life for his mom any day of the week but then it switches to how young he is and how he has his whole life ahead of him and how his mom scarificed a lot to get him into the university. "What he was asking himself was "Can I really just throw away all of my mother's hard work?"

I won't spiol the story for any new readers out there but I will say that once again, stephen King delivers an awesome story and he really makes the characters real so that you really feel for them

Stephen King first published "Riding the Bullet" as an online e-book in 2000. This was the first time a story by a top-selling author was first published electronically, and only later in traditional media, and because of this it got a lot of publicity at the time.

Since then "Riding the Bullet" has been released as an audio book on CD or cassette, and as an audio download. It is also included in "Everything's Eventual", a collection of 14 short stories in print form.

In his introduction to "Everything's Eventual" Stephen King bemoans the fact that "Riding the Bullet" got a lot of attention just because it was the first e-book-only publication by a major author, but absolutely no attention based on the merits of the story itself. So now I'll focus on the story, just in case Mr. King happens by - wouldn't want to disappoint him, right?

"Riding the Bullet" is a ghost story about a young guy who is hitchhiking home to visit his sick mother and gets picked up by a dead man driving a Ford Mustang. The dead man gives him a simple choice: either you or your mother die, and you get to choose which one!

The young guy in the story has to make a choice. You, the reader, also have to consider what you'd choose if you were in this situation. Come on, now, be honest, who would you choose?

There's a flashback to when the young guy was a 12-year-old boy visiting an amusement park together with his mother. He pestered his mother to stand in line with him to ride the scariest attraction, "The Bullet", but when they finally got to the head of the queue he chickened out. He made his choice then, not to ride The Bullet.

What will he choose now?

The story is not too complicated or sophisticated, but it is well told. In particular, the characters seem very real, even the ghost, and the story is told in a way that makes it believable and entertaining.

The audio version is read by Josh Hamilton who has just the right youthful voice to make it sound correct. It is only 1 hour and 33 minutes. (The cassette and CD versions say "approx. 2 hours" on the packaging, but this is deceptive marketing.)

Recommended, although the audio version is over-priced compared to buying "Everything's Eventual" as a book and getting an additional 13 stories.

Rennie Petersen

On March 14, 2000, shortly after his nearly fatal accident, King published Riding the Bullet as an e-book, exclusively, as his introduction to electronic publishing. Simon and Schuster worked with Softlock offering the 67-page novella for $2.50, payable by credit card.

On the first day the demand for download was so high that Softlock suffered a lockup, preventing eager readers from accessing Riding the Bullet for a few days. Loyal King readers complained that availability was limited to those with credit cards, e-readers, and pcs. Mac owners couldn't download the book. Barnes and Noble and the store offered the download for free.

In 2002 Riding the Bullet was published as one of 14 short stories in Everything's Eventual. In 2004 a movie version was released.

Riding the Bullet was a great book. It was exciting from the beginning to the end. There was never a time where I was bored or when the book was dull. It got right to the action and it was "short but sweet". It was about a man who gets a phone call saying that his mother had a stroke and is in the hopital. Even though he is told it is nothing serious, the man is very worried because his mother is an overweight smoker who is in her mid fifties. The hospital is 100 miles away and his car does not work. He decides to hitch a ride. An old man picks him up. he drives him about halfway there and drops him off near a graveyard. The man begins to walk through the graveyard. As he is doing this, he is also thinking about his mother, and all the things she used to say. One of her favorite sayings was "Fun is fun and done is done". The man looks at a tombstone. It says someone's name, and the date that he died. Underneath of that it said "Fun is fun, and done is done". The man is startled and falls backward. He gets up and then finds a ride with a young man about his age. The man has a button on his shirt that says " I rode The Bullet at Thrill Village." There is something strange about the man. It smells like chemicals in his car, and there is a huge scar going all around his neck. The man soon finds out that the man giving him a ride is dead. The dead man locks the car doors and speeds up. He starts questioning the man. The dead man knows all about the other man and his mother. He knows that she is sick and in the hospital. When the man asks the dead man who he is, the dead man replies, " I am like a messenger, except my job is worse than that of an angel." The dead man tells the other man that he must decide between his mother and him. Whichever one the man chose would live, and the other one would die. The man struggled to think but in the end he said "Take her. Take my mother. Spare me." The dead man reached back and touched the other man's chest. He then pushed him out of the car. When the man woke up he was back in the graveyard. He figured it was just a dream, but then he looked down at his chest and saw a button; the same button that the dead man was wearing. The dead man pinned it on his shirt just before he threw him out of the car. The man is scared and he hitches a ride to the hospital. As he walks in he doesn't know what to think; "Is she alive? Is she dead?" You'll have to read the book to find out how it ends. This was a great book and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes exciting horror books. If you like authors like Stephen King or R.L. Stine then you will love this book.

Riding the Bullet is a compact, entertaining short story. Josh Hamilton does a good job narrating the story--performing 5 unique character voices. One of the better books-on-tape I've heard. Thematically, this reminds me of another Stephen King effort--the miniseries Storm of the Century.

The movie adaptation is awful. The story is a little thin on plot so the director added pointless story turns and new characters.

An easy read in Stephen King's typical short-story style: quick, but still a thriller in every way! While not as gory or graphic as some of his other writing, this one goes more for the psychological scare than the gross-you-out kind. Wanna go for a ride with a dead man? Wanna take a walk through a cemetary in the dark? Wanna choose between life and death? How will you survive your roller coaster ride on the Bullet?

This audio version of the short story is very well done. Josh Hamilton as the reader does a very good job. This is typical King material but lacks true punch as a horror novel. The underlying morale of the story was not lost on me and I do enjoy philosophical undertones the King adds to many of his novels. Still, the story did not scare me or even enthrall me. In that, I found it lacking.

me parece un libro muy interesante que tiene todo el misterio y terror que puede generar un hombre como stephen king. si bien lo sigo practicamente desde que naci (tengo 20 años) cada nuevo libro que hace me sorprende mucho mas. este libro tiene un encanto para mi , ya que ademas de desesperarme por encontrar la direccion del lugar donde estaba, lo unico que queria era poder leer un ultimo libro el cual escribio en tan poco tiempo. lo unico que puedo decir de este libro no es encontra del escritor sino de ustedes, en realidad hubiera sido bueno que lo traducieran al español,ya que este libro es realmente bueno y me gustaria poder tenerlo en mi lengua materna