_We can kill it._ Just talking about shaft. > _Like most people in the media-soaked twenty-first century, Holly has become inured to the violence men (it’s mostly men) done to each other in the name or religion or politics…_ > > Stephen King, **If It Bleeds** Ironically, considering how the famous journalism aphorism goes, **If It Bleeds** comes third in the collection. After the Bill Hodges Trilogy and **The Outsider** , this cements Holly Gibney as a character capable of supporting her own story and supporting cast as well as being King’s favourite. This time round, we have the return of much of the supporting cast from the earlier Hodges books. There is Jerome, who is treated much better this time around. As this book was not part of the initial trilogy plan, there’s a limit to how much you can say this was part of the initial outline, but Jerome’s embracing of his black family history in this book does much to make up for his minstrel routines in his first couple of appearances. It seems almost like where Hodges allowed Holly to be herself, Holly allows for Jerome to become his own character. Though I don’t like to comment too much on the race parts of King’s works as I am sorely unqualified to do so, this feels much like King apologising for his earlier presentation of Jerome’s character. At times it may come across as a bit of a monologue of depth rather than more subtle character work, but I welcome it nonetheless. Jerome, as well as his sister, have quietly become some of the more interesting characters as a result. But the reason for the season is Holly Gibney. It’s odd revisiting this story, as this was actually my first exposure to her a few years ago when I picked the book up. I was unaware of her past, and the continuity mentions of Brady Hartsfield, the Outsider and Bill Hodges were lost upon me. Instead, though I enjoyed the closest we’ll ever get to a Stephen King Christmas special, this story didn’t have quite the impact it does now. Holly’s interactions actually carry weight, especially in her relationship with her mother that forms the emotional backbone for Holly in the story. Something like that makes sense as part of the ongoing story for an ongoing character, rather than a one-off instalment of a singular character. Interestingly, there is a growing feeling that there is some force guiding Holly to increasingly encounter these paranormal events, as if ka has a bigger plan for her. As this is a series that is evolving unplanned and organically, it will be interesting to see how King resolves this in future books with Holly. Rather than an impossible murder mystery played out in **The Outsider** , this one decides to play about with the rules established by **The Outsider**. From that book, we have the idea of a creature that could shapeshift its face and form to different unfortunates, and gruesomely murder children to feed off their fear. There was the undercurrent fear of true crime serial killers and pedophilia at play. This time around, King decides to take on a more satirical approach with the utilisation of the media, no doubt informed by Trump’s weaponisation of Fake News during his first term of presidency. At the very least, with Holly’s mother being a confirmed Trump voter we are under no uncertain terms as to King’s sympathies. The clue that first puts Holly onto Ondowsky’s trail is the quickness of his arrival to the scene of the school bombing, further deepened by the almost imperceptible glee and hungry look he has when broadcasting people’s very real fear, grief, terror in the face of tragedy. A point is made about people rubbernecking an accident, which Holly steadfastly denies she does, and we as an audience understand that impulse. The internet has made it so much easier for us to find the horrors of the world through a simple search, or even just stumbled upon in our social feeds. Most people online have a story of finding the thing they regret seeing, but network news, especially since the advent of the 24 hours news cycle, had fed that impulse further and further. The need for journalists to find and report on the biggest story has made the aphorism ‘if it bleeds, it leads,’ only worse. Journalists dream of being the next Woodward and Bernstein, but their Watergate success came from the diligence and hardworking. The fast track route to big network journalism leads to a need to be in the right place at the right time, to save your juiciest stories for your book or to unquestioningly repeat the party line from your inside source. Comparing that journalistic urge to be first with the big story to a literal vampiric monster may be a bit on the nose, but at the same time it’s kinda fair. In the age of Trump, where Fake News and the need for sensationalism has overtaken reporting, it’s only a small step to have journalists go ahead and _make_ the news. It’s not exactly a new idea – Bond film **Tomorrow Never Dies** covers the same territory for example – but where MAGA extremism is fed by the news to make homegrown terrorists, who believe in Q, antivax and that Trump has their best interest at heart, it has only remained and become more relevant. That the bombing the sets the whole thing off is at a school only highlights that the damage affects those weakest or most vulnerable in society. America seems to have an obsession with elections for every level of government, I have seen many stories of local government being essentially infiltrated by right wing nuts who want to inflict their conspiracy theories upon the population. The history of Ondowsky show that though it has gotten worse, it isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. The shortness of the book means that though this is a theme of the book, it isn’t as fully developed as it may have been in a book, nor do I think Stephen King is that interested in writing that book. Just as much is given over to developing this theme as is to developing Holly’s character. Had this been more a standalone story, with a character other than Holly at its centre (and I want to iterate I do like Holly as a character!), King may have given space for the themes and satirical elements to develop separately. It feels simply like a variation of **The Outsider**. At its brief length, it isn’t unwelcome or unnecessary, and another outing for the outsider-type monster is certainly fun. It’s a brief fun excursion back to King’s favourite character: it doesn’t need to be anything more. Sometimes it’s just fun to hang out with characters we like fighting monsters we fear all in time for a Christmas dinner. **Observations and Connections** As it is a sequel to **The Outsider** and the Bill Hodges Trilogy, I won’t mention references back to those books unless it feels important to highlight. However, the speculation from **The Outsider** is worth reiterating here. Considering the feeding habits of the creature of this story, maybe this is similar to Pennywise’s from **It**. Its long history on television discounts it from being spawn from a missed egg, but we’ve seen similar creatures such as Dandelo from **The Dark Tower VII** and Ardelia Lortz from **The Library****Policeman**. King hasn’t said anything definitive about it (when asked on the **Kingcast** , he just told the host to get a life!), but as always the marginalia of King’s world is a fun place to speculate. Holly mentions the magazine **Inside View** , as well as its coverage of the Night Flier. The magazine first appeared back in **The Dead Zone** , and a story about the Night Flier appeared in a story called, funnily enough, **The Night Flier** from **Nightmares& Dreamscapes**. A very obscure one. There is a mention of Mr Rabbit Trick being Holly’s childhood stuffed toy, which King mentions in **On Writing** as being a very early King story. Part of the story is set in Pittsburgh, specifically Monroeville Mall. This place was famously used as the location of King’s buddy George Romero on **Dawn of the Dead**. It’s surprising that film fan Holly doesn’t mention it. Joe Hill also wrote **Bobby Conroy Comes Back From the Dead** (collected in **20th Century Ghosts**) set behind the scenes of said film. Another story in the collection with notable **19** s: the bombing that starts the book happened at 2:**19** (coincidentally the title of a Tom Waits song), the numbers to the code of Holly’s building, the date Holly contacts Ralph is **19** th December, and there’s a **91** (swapped numbers!) year old who lives at **19** Lafayette Street. There is obviously no way King could have known in writing this what was going to happen, but setting this at the end of 2020 does pose some interesting questions about how COVID behaved in King’s universe. The story mostly, probably gets away with it. The mall is notably empty at least, though the streets are quite full at the story’s close. Funnily enough, though I haven’t read it yet, I know COVID is somewhat addressed in the next Holly book. Finally, there is a brief mention of killer clowns. This is not a reference to Pennywise in **It** , but that weird rash of clown sightings in 2016 that everyone thinks was promo for a film that came out a year later, forgetting that the first occurrence of it was in 2013 in Northampton. **UP NEXT:** I smell a **Rat**. ### Share this: * Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook * Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X * More * * Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit * Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon * Like Loading... ### _Related_

_This just in_ Behind the scenes at BBC News. > _Here I will try to be honest. (Of course that’s what I_ would _say, isn’t it?)_ > > Stephen King, **If It Bleeds** author’s note Unlike **Different Seasons** or **Full Dark, No Stars** before it, there isn’t an obvious theme that unifies the collection here. In fairness, the linking to the seasons in **Different Seasons** is tenuous, but does serve to bering the collection together as a neater whole. **Full Dark, No Stars** has the darkness of human actions to link them all together in their various manifestations. As a collection of novellas, this has more in common with **Four Past Midnight** , being a rough assembly of our otherwise unconnected stories. However, this has the distinction of being quite a bit better than **Four Past Midnight** as a whole, but it is a struggle to think about what links the stories together. I think part of the difficulty comes from the title of the collection. Taken from the ironically placed third story in the collection, the title **If It Bleeds** suggests some more of the unsettling type of horror that King indulges in. And yet, regardless of whether you take the second part of the phrase ‘ _if it bleeds_ ‘ to be ‘ _it leads_ ‘ or ‘ _we can kill it_ ,’ the actual stories contained tend to be rather bloodless affairs. Most of the worst violence, whether it be the suicides in **Mr Harrigan’s Phone** or the death of the creature in **If It Bleeds** happen off page. Sure, we know what happened. But it is unlike King to spare the fountaining gouts of blood and gore that populates most of his stories, even the ones that aren’t so immediately horrific. In which case, why this title? I think it has almost to do with the fact that King is almost acknowledging how little blood there is. It’s an ironic choice of title, as though it is going to be placed in the horror section of your local bookshop there are far more bloodier affairs, even by King himself, that may grab your attention over the stories contained here. If it bleeds, it leads – that’s why you have that Clive Barker or Eric LaRocca book in your hand rather than ol’ humble Stevie King. I kid, but the stories contained are perhaps different than what you would expect. **The Life of Chuck** is an emotional experiment in form and structure unlike almost anything I’ve read, let alone by Stephen King. As a result, it’s probably the highlight of the collection just because its form is so odd that it sits in your brain weeks after you’ve read it. It concerns itself with the inherent tragedy of death and the value of not just life but all those moments that are beautiful and fleeting. King often writes about love, hope, and how those qualities win out over against darkness. But with **The Life of Chuck** , there is no villain except time and death, making it so those themes of love and hope become all the more prominent when contrasted with the simple, normal death of Chuck. It is with that the stories central theme becomes more prominent. The stories within here are about the value of life, making the collection’s title of **If It Bleeds** that more ironic. These are not necessarily the bloody stories you might expect to be shouted about from the rooftops of Stephen King, but more the human interest stories you find on the news towards the end of a bulletin. **Mr Harrigan’s Phone** is about the value placed upon the unlikely friendship between its main character and Mr Harrigan; **If It Bleeds** is about the monstrousness of a creature that places no value on life except for what benefits it; **Rat** is about losing a friend to something you thought you valued more. **If It Bleeds** in particular is interesting in contrasting the monster of the piece with Holly Gibney, who we have seen grow into accepting those around her and being part of the world instead of feasting upon its darkness. It’s not the strongest theme, and does require a bit of teasing out, but I think it can be read as the collective theme of the book. Naturally, each story has its own ideas and themes as well, yet it is important at the same time to consider these as a whole too. It’s not something new, as I think King has covered these themes elsewhere throughout his bibliography, and **The Life of****Chuck** aside the stories are hardly groundbreaking. But there is something to seeing the master at his craft still turning out stories of this quality. It’s not his strongest collection, but at the same time it is far from his weakest. ****Links to the other stories:**** * **Mr Harrigan’s Phone** * **The Life of Chuck** * **If It Bleeds** * **Rat** **UP NEXT:** If not now, then **Later**. ### Share this: * Facebook * Twitter * More * * Reddit * Mastodon * Like Loading... ### _Related_

Podcast Episode · The Losers' Club: A Stephen King Podcast · 04/11/2025 · 1h 40m

YouTube video by Poppy

_This just in_ Behind the scenes at BBC News. > _Here I will try to be honest. (Of course that’s what I_ would _say, isn’t it?)_ > > Stephen King, **If It Bleeds** author’s note Unlike **Different Seasons** or **Full Dark, No Stars** before it, there isn’t an obvious theme that unifies the collection here. In fairness, the linking to the seasons in **Different Seasons** is tenuous, but does serve to bering the collection together as a neater whole. **Full Dark, No Stars** has the darkness of human actions to link them all together in their various manifestations. As a collection of novellas, this has more in common with **Four Past Midnight** , being a rough assembly of our otherwise unconnected stories. However, this has the distinction of being quite a bit better than **Four Past Midnight** as a whole, but it is a struggle to think about what links the stories together. I think part of the difficulty comes from the title of the collection. Taken from the ironically placed third story in the collection, the title **If It Bleeds** suggests some more of the unsettling type of horror that King indulges in. And yet, regardless of whether you take the second part of the phrase ‘ _if it bleeds_ ‘ to be ‘ _it leads_ ‘ or ‘ _we can kill it_ ,’ the actual stories contained tend to be rather bloodless affairs. Most of the worst violence, whether it be the suicides in **Mr Harrigan’s Phone** or the death of the creature in **If It Bleeds** happen off page. Sure, we know what happened. But it is unlike King to spare the fountaining gouts of blood and gore that populates most of his stories, even the ones that aren’t so immediately horrific. In which case, why this title? I think it has almost to do with the fact that King is almost acknowledging how little blood there is. It’s an ironic choice of title, as though it is going to be placed in the horror section of your local bookshop there are far more bloodier affairs, even by King himself, that may grab your attention over the stories contained here. If it bleeds, it leads – that’s why you have that Clive Barker or Eric LaRocca book in your hand rather than ol’ humble Stevie King. I kid, but the stories contained are perhaps different than what you would expect. **The Life of Chuck** is an emotional experiment in form and structure unlike almost anything I’ve read, let alone by Stephen King. As a result, it’s probably the highlight of the collection just because its form is so odd that it sits in your brain weeks after you’ve read it. It concerns itself with the inherent tragedy of death and the value of not just life but all those moments that are beautiful and fleeting. King often writes about love, hope, and how those qualities win out over against darkness. But with **The Life of Chuck** , there is no villain except time and death, making it so those themes of love and hope become all the more prominent when contrasted with the simple, normal death of Chuck. It is with that the stories central theme becomes more prominent. The stories within here are about the value of life, making the collection’s title of **If It Bleeds** that more ironic. These are not necessarily the bloody stories you might expect to be shouted about from the rooftops of Stephen King, but more the human interest stories you find on the news towards the end of a bulletin. **Mr Harrigan’s Phone** is about the value placed upon the unlikely friendship between its main character and Mr Harrigan; **If It Bleeds** is about the monstrousness of a creature that places no value on life except for what benefits it; **Rat** is about losing a friend to something you thought you valued more. **If It Bleeds** in particular is interesting in contrasting the monster of the piece with Holly Gibney, who we have seen grow into accepting those around her and being part of the world instead of feasting upon its darkness. It’s not the strongest theme, and does require a bit of teasing out, but I think it can be read as the collective theme of the book. Naturally, each story has its own ideas and themes as well, yet it is important at the same time to consider these as a whole too. It’s not something new, as I think King has covered these themes elsewhere throughout his bibliography, and **The Life of****Chuck** aside the stories are hardly groundbreaking. But there is something to seeing the master at his craft still turning out stories of this quality. It’s not his strongest collection, but at the same time it is far from his weakest. ****Links to the other stories:**** * **Mr Harrigan’s Phone** * **The Life of Chuck** * **If It Bleeds** * **Rat** **UP NEXT:** If not now, then **Later**. ### Share this: * Facebook * Twitter * More * * Reddit * Mastodon * Like Loading... ### _Related_

‘If It Bleeds’ by Stephen King Stephen King’s Enduring Legacy and If It Bleeds Few authors have shaped modern storytelling quite like Stephen King. From haunted hotels to small-town ter…

YouTube video by S8Cblog

YouTube video by OsoAnimation

ALT: a close up of a man 's face with the words if it bleeds below it

YouTube video by legolambs

YouTube video by fabrizio autore