5 Reasons to Invite Stephen King’s The Outsider In

Of course that never happened, and not a one of those years has gone by without a new book from the master of horror and suspense. To be fair, he did say he would still pick up the pen if a great idea came along.
The great ideas have definitely been flowing lately. The past decade has brought up some of the very best books of his long career, including a trilogy of police procedural thrillers that proved he’s still up for new challenges. And the more we hear about his next book, The Outsider, coming this May, the more excited we are to read it. The synopsis promises a return to classic King material—a small town American town hiding a rotten core, supernatural forces inflicting terrifying events on well-drawn characters, and everyday heroes somehow finding a way in a world gone mad.
The story is set in the town of Flint, where detective Ralph Anderson arrests a teacher named Terry Maitland for the rape and murder of a young boy. Although Terry insists he’s innocent, DNA evidence says otherwise, and Terry goes to prison. But the evil doesn’t end there, and Ralph soon realizes he’s dealing with something beyond his experience of human depravity—something supernatural, that preys on children.
That’s about as perfect a King setup as we can imagine. But if you want more reasons to be excited about The Outsider, here are five of them:
It’s Stephen King
Is there a better, more consistent writer working right now? We can’t think of one who can match King for quality and prolificness. Just in the last decade, he’s published Under the Dome, 11/22/63, Mr. Mercedes, two great collections of short stories, and more. In other words, he’s been on a tear, and we’ve every reason to expect The Outsider is going to be the cherry on top of the bloody sundae.
That Cover
If you’re just mildly disturbed by the idea of a supernatural force that violently abuses children, we’d direct your attention to The Outsider‘s cover: disorienting and terrifying, ominous and stark, save for those burning red eyes. A good deal of King’s recent output has focused more on the procedural aspect of storytelling, drifting into thriller territory—and while those books have been terrific, it’s exciting to see a cover that promises a return to what he does best. Specifically, forcing us to check under the bed before we turn out the lights at night.

Back to Basics
The teasing plot blurb also hints at a return to an old-school King template we haven’t seen in a while: small-town terror. King codified the idea of a small community hiding—and being fed on by—immense, inhuman evil. Books like It, Needful Things, and ’Salem’s Lot show us a nightmare version of our world, one in which solid, comforting small-town values are weaponized by malevolent forces beyond our understanding. In the later stages of his career, King has drifted away from that core story, and while his evolution as an artist has been exhilarating to witness, The Outsider’s a thrilling promise of an older, wiser King reexamining the terrifying themes of his youth fills us with a sense of dark anticipation.

Timely as Ever
Over the years, King has masterfully integrated pop culture and the feel of the times into his work. When you read Carrie, you can sense the 1970s pulsing through the page; Needful Things reflects the go-go excesses of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Based on what we know about The Outsider, we can expect something calibrated to the anxieties of today, incorporating our current dialog about sexual abuse and harassment, Black Lives Matter, and apprehensions about technology’s hold on our lives. When the world’s going crazy, you need a release—and a good Stephen King nightmare is just what the doctor ordered.

One Last, Horrifying Thought
Finally, let’s quote the recent review of The Outsider from Kirkus: “If you’re a little squeamish about worms, you’re really not going to like them after accompanying King through his latest bit of mayhem.” Worms, people. Worms. Stephen King has ruined many nights of sleep with images of clowns in the sewers, bloated post-plague corpses in the darkness, lobstrosities—but this prominent mention of worms leads us to think this one is going to offer a freak-out for the ages. Naturally that only makes us want to read it more. May 22nd can’t come soon enough.
Preorder The Outsider, available May 22,2018.