The king of horror fiction Stephen King is shortly to return with a brand new collection of short stories, You Like It Darker, which will be published by Scribner on May 21, 2024 – and today, Entertainment Weekly have revealed that one of the stories is a sequel to his 1981 doggy disaster novel Cujo.
The story, titled Rattlesnakes, follows: “a grieving widower [who] travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance — with major strings attached.” EW also shares with us an exclusive excerpt of the short that confirms the widower in question is Vic Trenton, the father of little Tad, who [SPOILERS for a 42 year old story!] tragically perishes after a vicious onslaught from the eponymous rabid St. Bernard.
Alongside, Rattlesnakes, EW also reveal the full list of titles contained within You Like It Darker:
- “Two Talented Bastids”
- “The Fifth Step”
- “Willie the Weirdo”
- “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream”
- “Finn”
- “On Slide Inn Road”
- “Red Screen”
- “The Turbulence Expert”
- “Laurie”
- “Rattlesnakes”
- “The Dreamers”
- “The Answer Man”
EW go on to share some details of some of the other terrifying tales:
The other tales include Two Talented Bastids, which explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills, and Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream, about a brief and unprecedented psychic flash that upends dozens of lives. In The Dreamers, a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored while The Answer Man asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful.
You can pre-order You Like It Darker from most of your favorite bookstores right now; and here’s a full look at the book’s cover, courtesy of EW!:
