My Pile-On Exemplar

There was one particular book that gave me the idea “pile on the circumstances”. The idea struck me so fully that I added it to my Windows desktop. This was a custom desktop I had made that had animation on it, and live links to files on my computer. This was back in Win98. The book is one of my favourites; in fact I have it listed at #5 on my list of favourite horror books at Bob’s Reviews. The book is  Cujo by Stephen King.

The book was chockfull of incidences that compounded upon each other to make for a small set of situations that seemed absolutely fated. If a couple of those circumstances had not fallen into place then the outcomes of the story could have been very different. The book itself could have been very different. This convergence, this conflagration built up the tension. It made the book. Not only was it a set of incidences that formed the plot, but it was also a set of lesser plots that formed into a single overarching plot.

This all hails back to the last three, and other previous posts, of this blog. As such it must be said that Cujo is not only a powerful book in its own right, but it is also a huge cornerstone of the “relational series” of Castle Rock books. As a part of that tapestry it drew upon the book before it,  The Dead Zone, and it impacted the future of the series starting with  The Dark Half. It is the familiarity that is brought to the story that gives it more strength than any stand-alone could wish to deliver.

These are the kinds of forces that shape a most enjoyable experience, a fan-base, and a market. It all builds upon itself forming something greater than any of the individual parts on their own. Not only that, but it makes for a phenomena, and who can argue with one of those in their repertoire.

Mood: level.
Music: King for a Day by Green Day and Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt.

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