The mark of a good storyteller is to be drawn into the story immediately, to keep thinking about it and want to return to it if interrupted part way. King is a master storyteller who uses such simple language to craft his page-turning tales. The four in this book all have a touch of the supernatural, but they are character driven. My only criticism is that the "If It Bleeds" story could have been significantly shortened to eliminate the uninteresting personal life travails of the protaganist.

A wonderful collection of short stories that are incredibly varied. My personal favorite concerned a unique vampire hunt which follows a protagonist of a different Stephen King story. They all are enrapturing and moving, I found it hard to stop reading between sittings.

It's no "Different Seasons." Or "Four Past Midnight." But, it certainly works as a collection of stories. I think Stephen King is extremely underrated and undervalued as a short fiction writer. While I'm a Constant Reader and love the long novels I don't recall ever having to grind through his short stories or novellas. I really liked all of these stories. If you're new to Stephen King I might recommend Salem's Lot or the short story collection "Skeleton Crew." To start. But, if you have followed his career over the years. This volume is an entertaining trip.

Honestly, I was not as entertained reading If It Bleeds as I have been reading past works of Stephen King. If It Bleeds is King's newest release (as of April 2020) that is not as strong as some of his other literary tales. It is a book containing four novellas. These novellas are titled Mr. Harrigan's Phone, Life of Chuck, If It Bleeds and Rat. Mr. Harrigan's Phone is very unsettling in the beginning and middle. This is everything we want from a Stephen King story. However, I feel as if King could've gone so much further and continued the story to make it as dark as possible. In this, the story feels cut off and unfinished. Life of Chuck at least comes full circle while having an ending that gives readers a sense of closure. Although, even this story is bland with forgettable characters and a concept that made me wonder what the point of the story was. The second half of the book begins to get better as If It Bleeds has very memorable characters. Holly Gibney, being the main character, has been featured in many of King's beloved novels such as Mr. Mercedes and The Outsider. So, it was very exciting to have a riveting tale that is full of suspense featuring Holly as the center of attention. Rat is a twisted tale that is extremely memorable. The story is very simplistic, but dark and terrifying at the same time. Stories like these are why I am so drawn to Stephen King books. At the end of the day, If It Bleeds features two novellas that readers are better off without (Mr. Harrigan's Phone, Life of Chuck) and two novellas that do the book justice after reading the bad ones (If It Bleeds, Rat). Three stars. - @BlingThrash15 of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library

Another Stephen King short story collection to add to the impressive list. It’s interesting bringing characters from novels back around again, because their story just isn’t finished and they still have more to say. King is already very good at scaring your socks off, which happens at least once here! But pay attention and you might just find something to warm your heart. I’d also like to take this time to kindly ask you, library book reader, please stop dog- ears on library books. This is where you fold the page down to use as a bookmark to hold your place. This copy had dog-ears every few pages. You can do this to your own books that you pay for, but please don’t do it to expensive library books that pass through many hands. If you fear you will always lose a bookmark, try an audiobook.

The title story is satisfyingly full of Finders Keepers characters. SK is a master at people. Here he asserts that the monsters that harm us, and feed off our pain & grief may be a virus, an alien among us. He also contemplates his rocking chair.

Really enjoyed Mr Harrigan's Phone, If It Bleeds and Life of Chuck. Rat was my least favourite - it gave me the jitters.

Another sure-to-please collection by King. There's horror King and then there's unnerving King. These stories are more of the latter. The master storyteller will take you for a ride with phone calls with the dead, a deal with the devil, monster chasing, and even one with an apocalyptic slant told in reverse. I just love how he mixes the weird stuff with average people living everyday lives. Longtime fans will slurp it up, and newbies will scramble for his back list. 4 stars.

Stephen King-always brilliant and definitely always original. I thoroughly enjoyed the further adventures of Holly Gibney in his title story, If It Bleeds and the other stories are King at his very best. This great book was worth waiting for and I look forward to his next. Be prepared to be scared!

I liked all of the stories in this book, and meeting Holly again was a pleasant surprise. I hadn't read any reviews so had no idea what to expect with this book. There's nothing super-scary here, but I love the characters from Mr. Mercedes and The Outsider. "Rat" was a cool story, and it deals with questions of morality, conscience, and what people are willing to do for success.