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"Night Shift - Battleground" by Stephen King

I don't know much about this movie, but
 I heard it's about a rubber wheel that kills people.
I dunno, don't ask.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

For this blog post, I will still be covering the book Night Shift by Stephen King. Right now I am a little over 100 pages and honestly, the stories have been getting to be a little lackluster lately. I mean, there's been one called "The Mangler" and it was about a possessed ironing machine that enjoyed killing people. Yeah. Kinda like that movie over there ------------>

Anyways, let's get on with Night Shift. After all the dumb stories about killer rats and ironing machines and whatnot, I reached a story that I knew I would enjoy at the very beginning. It's called "Battleground", and it starts on page 117. And I don't like this story because it was actually scary like it was supposed to be. I liked it because of its absolutely novel idea of conflict.

In "Battleground" you follow a man named John Renshaw as he receives a mysterious package. Once he gets home he notices that the box begins to move and shake on his table and destruction ensues.

Want to know what's in the box? Well remember those little toy soldiers from the Toy Story movies? Well it's basically about half a thousand of those guys with miniature rifles, helicopters, and even rocket launchers.

These little guys scramble out the of the box and immediately start attacking Mr. Renshaw, and it's absolutely hilarious. Miniature bullets that are similar to bee stings pepper Renshaw's body and mini helicopters fly and aim their tiny little scissor blades at his chest. All topped off by action figure sized rockets that can blow holes in walls! Why did they suddenly start attacking? Heck if I know, I'm only half-way through the chapter right now, laughing at Renshaw's ridiculous struggle.

I'm not even finished with it and it's already my favorite story from the book simply because of how hilarious it is. I really hope there are more of these kinds of stories in the book because I'm liking this way more than those horror stories.

*UPDATE*

After reading the story, I can yet again see Stephen King's siganture amount of description. In this story, King's ability to illustrate the character's thoughts and actions helps the reader to easily put himself into the shoes of John Renshaw, despite how ridiculous the situation is. In the beginning, Renshaw's suspicion of the package is expressed when he compares the box to a bomb. After he opens the package, his apartment immediately becomes a battleground, and Renshaw's mind is changed from slow and suspicious to rapid fire cursing and frustration at the miniature murderers in his apartment. This drastic change of characterization is easily translated to the reader through King's descriptions.

If you're curious of that "Rubber" movie then you should check out this link from Imbd:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612774/
Wow, apparently it begins by stating the movie shouldn't be taken seriously...

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 24, 2014 at 9:48 AM

    You make reading fun, and great, and yeah. Anyways you use great diction and hilarious writing all the while being informative and high-leveled thinking skills; like World 8-2.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownDecember 8, 2014 at 5:10 PM

      (Addition to previous comment) I'm that one guy that likes it short and sweet. So it figures that I really do enjoy short stories, that bring out a full plot without overcomplicating it, and leaving you thinking for (if done right) the rest of your life.
      Horror is definitely a subject that can take full advantage of this format; ever hear of Creepypastas?... Anyway a horror short story collection sounds loke a recipe for a good book!

      Delete

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