You Like It Darker: Stories
Stephen King
May 2024 · Simon and Schuster · Narrated by Stephen King, Will Patton, and Maggie Siff
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49 reviews
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20 hr 33 min
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About this audiobook
Winner of the 2025 Audie Award for Short Stories/Collections
Includes an afterword written by Stephen King and read by Sean Patrick Hopkins
Includes a bonus story, “The Music Room”
NAMED A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP 10 HORROR BOOK OF 2024
WINNER OF THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD FOR HORROR
FINALIST FOR THE 2025 LOCUS AWARDS
“Stephen King knows You Like It Darker and obliges with sensational new tales” (USA TODAY): From legendary storyteller and master of short fiction Stephen King, an extraordinary collection of stories that are “a master class in tension and full of King’s dark humor” (The New York Times Book Review).
“You like it darker? Fine, so do I,” writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of twelve stories that delve into the darker part of life—both metaphorical and literal. King has, for half a century, been a master of the form, and these stories, about fate, mortality, luck, and the folds in reality where anything can happen, are as rich and riveting as his novels, both weighty in theme and a huge pleasure to read. King writes to feel “the exhilaration of leaving ordinary day-to-day life behind,” and in You Like It Darker, readers will feel that exhilaration too, again and again.
“Two Talented Bastids” explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills. In “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,” a brief and unprecedented psychic flash upends dozens of lives, Danny’s most catastrophically. In “Rattlesnakes,” a sequel to Cujo, a grieving widower travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance—with major strings attached. In “The Dreamers,” a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored. “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.
“King’s skills as a storyteller remain undimmed” (The Minnesota Star Tribune) and his ability to surprise, amaze, and bring us both terror and solace is unsurpassed. “The titular darkness promised is as riveting and all-consuming as ever” (New York magazine). You like it darker? You got it.
Includes an afterword written by Stephen King and read by Sean Patrick Hopkins
Includes a bonus story, “The Music Room”
NAMED A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP 10 HORROR BOOK OF 2024
WINNER OF THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD FOR HORROR
FINALIST FOR THE 2025 LOCUS AWARDS
“Stephen King knows You Like It Darker and obliges with sensational new tales” (USA TODAY): From legendary storyteller and master of short fiction Stephen King, an extraordinary collection of stories that are “a master class in tension and full of King’s dark humor” (The New York Times Book Review).
“You like it darker? Fine, so do I,” writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of twelve stories that delve into the darker part of life—both metaphorical and literal. King has, for half a century, been a master of the form, and these stories, about fate, mortality, luck, and the folds in reality where anything can happen, are as rich and riveting as his novels, both weighty in theme and a huge pleasure to read. King writes to feel “the exhilaration of leaving ordinary day-to-day life behind,” and in You Like It Darker, readers will feel that exhilaration too, again and again.
“Two Talented Bastids” explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills. In “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,” a brief and unprecedented psychic flash upends dozens of lives, Danny’s most catastrophically. In “Rattlesnakes,” a sequel to Cujo, a grieving widower travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance—with major strings attached. In “The Dreamers,” a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored. “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.
“King’s skills as a storyteller remain undimmed” (The Minnesota Star Tribune) and his ability to surprise, amaze, and bring us both terror and solace is unsurpassed. “The titular darkness promised is as riveting and all-consuming as ever” (New York magazine). You like it darker? You got it.
Winner of the 2025 Audie Award for Short Stories/Collections
Includes an afterword written by Stephen King and read by Sean Patrick Hopkins
Includes a bonus story, “The Music Room”
NAMED A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP 10 HORROR BOOK OF 2024
WINNER OF THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD FOR HORROR
FIN...
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Ratings and reviews
49 reviews
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June 18, 2025
I quite enjoyed this book. I felt like life and growing were the themes of this book. I can't help but notice that the characters (the main ones) are older men. I wonder if this is a reflection of how King is maturing.
Jay Preston
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July 3, 2024
Another great book by Stephen King! These stories are amazing, my favorite being Danny Caughlins Bad Dream, the twists and turns are gripping! Will Patton is a fantastic story teller!
Neal Barker
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June 4, 2026
the story Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream from Stephen King's collection You Like It Darker You are completely right that psychic is too broad of a catch all term In the fields of parapsychology and literature several precise terms fit Danny's experience much better than a generic psychic flash Most Accurate Terms Premonition or Precognition This applies if Danny had the dream before the murder actually took place It means obtaining advanced knowledge of a future event through paranormal means Clairvoyance This is the most accurate term if the murder had already happened It means gaining information about an object person or location through means other than the known senses Somnambulistic Clairvoyance or Dream Clairvoyance This is the specific subcategory for a clairvoyant vision that occurs exclusively while the person is asleep Retrocognition applies if the dream acted as a psychic playback of a past event, allowing him to witness a crime that had already been completed & buried
About the author
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Never Flinch, the short story collection You Like It Darker (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), Holly (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.
Will Patton’s film credits include Halloween, Boarding School, Megan Leavey, American Honey, Meek’s Cutoff, A Mighty Heart, Remember the Titans, The Mothman Prophecies, Armageddon, and No Way Out. He starred in Swamp Thing on the DC Universe streaming platform and was seen in five seasons of the TNT series Falling Skies. He has won Obie Awards for his performances in Fool for Love and What Did He See? He is also known for his audiobook recordings of the work of Stephen King, James Lee Burke, Denis Johnson, and William Faulkner.
Will Patton’s film credits include Halloween, Boarding School, Megan Leavey, American Honey, Meek’s Cutoff, A Mighty Heart, Remember the Titans, The Mothman Prophecies, Armageddon, and No Way Out. He starred in Swamp Thing on the DC Universe streaming platform and was seen in five seasons of the TNT series Falling Skies. He has won Obie Awards for his performances in Fool for Love and What Did He See? He is also known for his audiobook recordings of the work of Stephen King, James Lee Burke, Denis Johnson, and William Faulkner.
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Never Flinch, the short story collection You Like It Darker (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), Holly (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), Fairy Tale, Billy...
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