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I am so nostalgically looking back to a better time when certain fantasy creatures were still true monsters and not twinkling, soft, freaking feeling emo snobs.

Somehow the Lovecraftian, subtle, rising horror aspect King was so strong at the beginning of his career diminished over the years and there was not much of it left in the newer books I´ve read. Characterization, descriptions, action scenes, suspense, everything great as usual in the new works, but this special meta cosmic existential horror vibe and feeling of the first few and the drug fueled King years went missing afterward. Especially his first short story collections show this, they are epic, gothic horror masterpieces, while his new ones are much more dealing with human related meta topics dipped in some mystery and horror ghost magic. I love all, fanboy for life, jay, but somehow this old school style was more unique, especially because it sadly isn´t manufactured anymore nowadays, shame on you, damn mainstream ruining everything.

Some soft spoilers ahead, but nothing too specific worth mentioning, just meta.

So enjoy it even more if it´s the first time, look at all the red herrings, McGuffins, and Chekhovs King is throwing around to mix them with symbolism and innuendos, enjoy how the pathetic, weak humans stagger towards perdition, laugh whenever evil scores the next bloody goal, and be a happy witness of the moment when the legend of the greatest horror writer of all times starts unfolding by using the ancient trope of rabies symptoms made folk tales.

Google that, by the way, it´s so cool, the time until someone infected with rabies dies, how they behave to smell and light, what happens to their brains and libido, nature is amazing. It must have been so much fun to be locked up during long, cold, mountain winters with no change to escape, knowing that a few of the citizens and families may turn into real, freaking vampires. „Mommy is eating daddy, I fear she'll come for us when she is hungry again.� Thanks to stupid rabies vaccination and general scientific, social, and medical progress, these amazing massive real life zombie vampire role playing games are now sadly just a reminiscence of the past, but at least literature can let one undergo it again.

Did I read Dracula? I am not sure, but the pop culture reference potential of both the original and this darker retelling is immense and how King let it escalate seems to be much more entertaining than what I know about the original. Sorry, classic literature, King just owns you. This idea of whatever evil coming to town, or always being in town and waking up again, becoming more and more extreme in its manifestations is one of the core elements of both King´s work and humankind itself. Could also be seen as an allegory about a snowball effect, tiny origin, huge massacre style. Or, how appropriate and contemporary, a virus.

It´s kind of making me twinkle in anger when I think about how true, hard topics have been mainstream flanderized

until nothing of the cool, original content was left to fit to appeal to the teeny target audience. Shame on you, americanization and disneyfication, you murdered evil, torturing monsters to turn them into sensible, romantic love interests that freaking understand woman, what´s wrong with you? That´s so sick and disgusting, I will possible once unsubscribe my Disney+ account in a beer ridden anger act of defiance. Just joking, they have Marvel and Star Wars too. Wait, my long time memory is just telling me in one of its rare appearances that I don´t watch TV anymore. Damn.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: