JOYLAND

JOYLAND

By Stephen King

Last night I took a walk after dark
A swingin’ place called Palisades Park
To have some fun and see what I could see
That’s where the girls are
I took a ride on a shoot the chute
That girl I sat beside was awful cute
And after while she was holdin’ hands with me
My heart was flyin’ up like a rocket ship
Down like a roller coaster
Back like a loop the loop
And around like a merry go round
We ate and ate at a hot dog stand
We danced around to a rockin’ band
And when I could, I gave that girl a hug
In the tunnel of love
You’ll never know how great a kiss can feel
When you stop at the top of a ferris wheel
When I fell in love down at Palisades Park – Palisades Park, written by Chuck Barris

This is a very mild story for a Stephen King novel. It’s a nostalgic look back at 1973, when things were simpler, or at least when they seemed to be. It’s about a young man aching from the broken heart of a first love, friendships that began and ended, and friendships that began and lasted a lifetime. It’s about a summer between college semesters for three young people and how that summer affected them, in the moment and forever after.

Oh, there’s definitely a trace of the usual Stephen King chills and thrills. There’s murder and the supernatural, there’s mystery and who-done-it intrigue. But even though these things are the true basis for the story, they don’t overtake the story, which is simple and very sweet at times. I was never scared to death by anything in the book (and Stephen King has scared the living daylights out of me sometimes) but I was intrigued by this short little tale. It was a good read for a rainy day like today.

Reviewed October 2018