On Slide Inn Road
| "On Slide Inn Road" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by Stephen King | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| Language | English | ||
| Genre(s) | Horror short story | ||
| Publication | |||
| Published in | Esquire | ||
| Publisher | Hearst Communications | ||
| Media type | Print, digital | ||
| Publication date | 2020 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| |||
"On Slide Inn Road" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the October/November 2020 issue of Esquire. It was collected in King's 2024 collection You Like It Darker.
Plot summary[edit]
The Brown family–husband and wife Frank and Corinne, their children Billy and Mary, and Frank's Vietnam veteran father Donald ("Grandpop")–are driving to Derry, Maine, to visit Grandpop's sister, who is dying from cancer. The trip is being made in Grandpop's elderly Buick Estate station wagon. Grandpop has brought along various pieces of baseball memorabilia belonging to his sister (a former member of the Maine Black Bears who played shortstop in the Women's Baseball World Series) to show her, including her softball glove (with Dom DiMaggio's autograph), a Louisville Slugger with Ted Williams' autograph, and baseball cards.
The family have detoured down "Slide Inn Road", which Grandpop states is a shortcut to Highway 196. The road is initially asphalt, but eventually becomes dirt and then hardpan. Shortly after the family pass the remains of the eponymous Slide Inn - which burned down some time before - they reach a washout at the top of a hill, obliging Frank to reverse back down to the Slide Inn to turn the car around. As he reverses the car, Frank accidentally reverses into a ditch while attempting a three-point turn.
Billy and Mary walk to the remains of the Slide Inn. There, a panel truck with a Delaware license plate has parked next to the ruins. As Billy looks into the flooded cellar hole, he sees a woman's leg protruding from the water. Billy and Mary are then confronted by two men, Galen Prentice and Pete Smith, who are implied to have murdered the woman. Billy attempts to lead the men to believe that he did not see the woman's leg.
After Galen and Pete help Frank push the Buick out of the ditch, Pete produces a .38 revolver and robs Frank and Grandpop of their wallets and Corinne of her purse. Grandpop, suspecting that Galen and Pete will go on to murder the family and steal the Buick, claims that he has $3,300 (equivalent to $3,885 in 2023) in the trunk of the car. As Galen looks in the trunk, Grandpop hits him several times with the autographed baseball bat. Pete attempts to shoot Grandpop; Frank fails to react, but Billy seizes Pete's arm, enabling Grandpop to break his wrist with the bat and disarm him. Pete flees, while Galen is revealed to have died. The family retrieve the revolver and their possessions before leaving in the Buick to call the police.[1]
Publication[edit]
"On Slide Inn Road" was first published in the October/November 2020 issue of Esquire.[2] In 2024, "On Slide Inn Road" was collected in King's book You Like It Darker.[3] "On Slide Inn Road" has been described as a "reimagin[ing]" of, and a "hat tip" to, the 1953 story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor.[4][5]
Reception[edit]
Reviewing You Like It Darker for Bloody Disgusting, Jenn Adams described "On Slide Inn Road" as one of two stories featuring "unpleasant older men bonding with a younger generation – King's version of generational trauma." Adams suggested that "On Slide Inn Road" "harken[s] back to the unflinching horror of [King's] earlier career" and is "admittedly fascinating in [its] sheer nastiness and cruelty" but "lack[s] the emotional punch of the collection’s longer tales".[6] Reviewing You Like It Darker, Bev Vincent stated that "On Slide Inn Road" "feels like one of King's early crime stories".[7] Reviewing You Like It Darker, SFX described "On Slide Inn Road" as an "entertaining short sharp shock".[8] Writing in The New York Times, Gabino Iglesias described "On Slide Inn Road" as "a master class in tension [...] full of King's dark humor."[9]
References[edit]
- ^ King, Stephen (October 30, 2020). "On Slide Inn Road". Esquire.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
- ^ Vincent, Bev (2022). Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. becker&mayer! books. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-7-60376-82-9.
- ^ "You Like It Darker". StephenKing.com. 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
- ^ Angelique, Grace (May 20, 2024). "Stephen King's new book "You Like it Darker" features classic horror with a fresh twist". Culture.org. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ Bancroft, Colette (May 13, 2024). "Stephen King brings horror, and mercy, in 'You Like It Darker'". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ Adams, Jenn (May 20, 2024). "Stephen King's 'You Like It Darker' finds beauty and hope in nihilistic horror". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^ Vincent, Bev (May 20, 2024). "Bev Vincent explores You Like it Darker by Stephen King". CemeteryDance.com. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^ "You like it darker". SFX. May 15, 2024. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024 – via Readly.
- ^ Iglesias, Gabino (May 31, 2024). "4 New Horror Books to Read, Including Stephen King's Latest Collection". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
