"On Slide Inn Road" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the October/November 2020 issue of Esquire. It was collected in King's 2024 collection You Like It Darker.
| "On Slide Inn Road" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by Stephen King | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| Language | English | ||
| Genre(s) | Horror short story | ||
| Publication | |||
| Published in | Esquire | ||
| Publisher | Hearst Communications | ||
| Media type | Print, digital | ||
| Publication date | 2020 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| |||
Plot summary
editThe Brown family–husband and wife Frank and Corinne, their children Billy and Mary, and Frank's Vietnam veteran father Donald ("Grandpop")–are driving to Derry, Maine, to visit Grandpop's sister, who is dying from cancer. The trip is being made in Grandpop's elderly Buick Estate station wagon. Grandpop has brought along various pieces of baseball memorabilia belonging to his sister (a former member of the Maine Black Bears who played shortstop in the Women's Baseball World Series) to show her, including her softball glove (with Dom DiMaggio's autograph), a Louisville Slugger with Ted Williams' autograph, and baseball cards.
The family have detoured down "Slide Inn Road", which Grandpop states is a shortcut to Highway 196. The road is initially asphalt, but eventually becomes dirt and then hardpan. Shortly after the family pass the remains of the eponymous Slide Inn - which burned down some time before - they reach a washout at the top of a hill, obliging Frank to reverse back down to the Slide Inn to turn the car around. As he reverses the car, Frank accidentally reverses into a ditch while attempting a three-point turn.
Billy and Mary walk to the remains of the Slide Inn, where a panel truck with a Delaware license plate is sitting with a flat tyre. As Billy looks into the flooded cellar hole, he sees a woman's leg protruding from the water. Billy and Mary are then confronted by two men, Galen Prentice and Pete Smith, who are implied to have murdered the woman. Billy attempts to lead the men to believe that he did not see the woman's leg.
After Galen and Pete help Frank push the Buick out of the ditch, Pete produces a .38 revolver and robs Frank and Grandpop of their wallets and Corinne of her purse. Grandpop, suspecting that Galen and Pete will go on to murder the family and steal the Buick, claims that he has $3,300 (equivalent to $3,885 in 2023) for his sister's funeral expenses in the trunk of the car. As Galen looks in the trunk, Grandpop hits him several times with the autographed baseball bat. Pete attempts to shoot Grandpop; Frank fails to react, but Billy seizes Pete's arm, enabling Grandpop to break his wrist with the bat and disarm him. Pete flees, while Galen is revealed to have died. The family retrieve the revolver and their possessions before leaving in the Buick to call the police.[1]
Publication
edit
"On Slide Inn Road" has been described as a "reimagin[ing]" of, and a "hat tip" to, the 1953 story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor,[2][3] to whom it was dedicated.[1] Writing for Popzara, Trent McGee described it as "reimagin[ing] Flannery O'Conner's most famous story [...] by way of Raymond Carver, with a characteristically King-style conclusion that brings it all together."[4] Michael Washburn suggests that the story "has an obvious debt not only to Flannery O'Connor's 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find,' which King acknowledges at the end, but to King's own 2012 story 'Batman and Robin Have an Altercation'".[5]
On Slide Inn Road was first published in the October/November 2020 issue of Esquire.[6] In 2024, "On Slide Inn Road" was collected in King's book You Like It Darker.[7]
Reception
editReviewing You Like It Darker for Bloody Disgusting, Jenn Adams described "On Slide Inn Road" as one of two stories featuring "unpleasant older men bonding with a younger generation – King's version of generational trauma." Adams suggested that "On Slide Inn Road" "harken[s] back to the unflinching horror of [King's] earlier career" and is "admittedly fascinating in [its] sheer nastiness and cruelty" but "lack[s] the emotional punch of the collection's longer tales".[8] Bev Vincent stated that "On Slide Inn Road" "feels like one of King's early crime stories".[9] Writing in The New York Times, Gabino Iglesias described "On Slide Inn Road" as "a master class in tension [...] full of King's dark humor."[10] SFX described "On Slide Inn Road" as an "entertaining short sharp shock".[11] Rob Merrill described "On Slide Inn Road" as featuring "horror tempered with heart".[12]
Reflecting on King's own age at the time of writing, Brett Milam noted Grandpop as an example of "many of King's protagonists [being] purposefully old and retired",[13] while Sassan Niasseri (writing for Rolling Stone) described the story as "a defense of old age".[14] Brice Stratford (writing for The Spectator World) interpreted the stories in You Like It Darker as being a reflection on King's own life, with "On Slide Inn Road" being an "exploration of old age and mortality".[15]
Mike Finn described "On Slide Inn Road" as "the story of a life-or-death moment that shows the different assessments of and reactions to threat, made by three generations in a family" and "a thriller centred on a tense, tightly written action scene, made three-dimensional by the vivid depiction of the family".[16] Reviewing You Like It Darker, Michael Washburn judged "On Slide Inn Road" to be the strongest story in the collection, noting that "King uses deft touches to etch in the differences among the social media-savvy kids in the car, their white-collar parents, and the old-timer." Washburn interpreted "On Slide Inn Road" as intentionally drawing a contrast between "the banker who sternly observes progressive etiquette [who] proves a weakling and a coward" and "the old deplorable [who] shows what he is made of", suggesting, "'On Slide Inn Road' will not lead to invitations to cocktail parties or PEN America functions for King" and "it is by far one of the most perceptive things he's done in a long time."[5] Similarly, Brice Stratford noted "...it is the problematic, repugnant old man who must risk himself to save his family, and the pompous, progressive son who fails when it really counts. King is not simplistic."[15]
References
edit- ^ a b King, Stephen (October 30, 2020). "On Slide Inn Road". Esquire.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
- ^ Angelique, Grace (May 20, 2024). "Stephen King's new book "You Like it Darker" features classic horror with a fresh twist". Culture.org. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ Bancroft, Colette (May 13, 2024). "Stephen King brings horror, and mercy, in 'You Like It Darker'". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on May 13, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ McGee, Trent (June 4, 2024). "You Like It Darker (2024)". Popzara.com. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ a b Washburn, Michael (June 4, 2024). "Book Review: 'You Like It Darker'". BookAndFilmGlobe.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ Vincent, Bev (2022). Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. becker&mayer! books. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-7-60376-82-9.
- ^ "You Like It Darker". StephenKing.com. 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
- ^ Adams, Jenn (May 20, 2024). "Stephen King's 'You Like It Darker' finds beauty and hope in nihilistic horror". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^ Vincent, Bev (May 20, 2024). "Bev Vincent explores You Like it Darker by Stephen King". CemeteryDance.com. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^ Iglesias, Gabino (May 31, 2024). "4 New Horror Books to Read, Including Stephen King's Latest Collection". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^ "You like it darker". SFX. May 15, 2024. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024 – via Readly.
- ^ Merrill, Rob (May 21, 2024). "'Cujo' character returns as one of 12 stories in Stephen King's 'You Like It Darker'". KQED.org. Associated Press. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ Milam, Brett (June 2, 2024). "Book Review: You Like It Darker". BrettMilam.com. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ Niasseri, Sassan (June 10, 2024). "Kündigt Stephen King mit „Ihr wollt es dunkler" seinen langsamen Abschied an?". Rolling Stone (in German). Retrieved June 11, 2024.
- ^ a b Stratford, Brice (May 15, 2024). "Stephen King's You Like it Darker shows a master at his peak". The Spectator World. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
- ^ Finn, Mike (May 31, 2022). "'You Like It Darker' (2024) by Stephen King, narrated by Will Patton". MikeFinnsFiction.com. Retrieved June 8, 2024.