Needful Things

"Everybody loves something for nothing...even if it costs everything." Stephen King.

Stephen King. The king of horror. Known for his gruesome stories, many of which have been made it to movies (although must fail to translate well on screen with a few exceptions). But I don't think the monsters in his stories are what is the scariest (yet I still have a hard time watching Pet Cemetery). Its the understanding he has of humanities weakness for evil. The picture he can paint of how an ordinary person can make those small choice that can lead to disastrous outcomes is terrifying. And its not always because of what the characters actually end up doing. The act that is so many of his cases leads to murder is not what scares the hell out of me. Its that each one of us is capable of making those choices that can lead to death. That I can make those choices.

My mom read Needful Things quite a few years ago. She was so frightened by the book that she put a chair under the door in the hotel room where she stayed in Kansas. She swore she'd never read another one of his books again. That was almost my dare to read it. It took me about 10 years to complete the dare. About 2 weeks to read the 700 plus page story. I didn't put any chairs under doors. But it was scary.

What is the cost of my soul? What would I pay for happiness? What happens to a community when people start caring more about objects that provide temporary fulfillment but ultimately lead to hate, violence, destruction and death? What does it look like in my life? In the real world, what temporary pleasures will I try to fulfill at the expense of loving God and loving others?

Villains in King's stories don't start out usually as mass murderers. Well, some do. Some look like the new guy in town working down the street with a green awning and smooth talking. They alter themselves to seduce their victims in choosing to do acts many of the characters may have sworn they wouldn't compromise. They were just doing "tricks" in the novel. Tricks that set of the destruction of a community. The nice man with the green or brown or gray eyes finds the weakness of the individual and feeds half-truths and attractive lies. The evil spreads but often starts covered in sugar. But something changes. New villains emerge. The normal person makes a choice to put themselves greater than others. Greater than their family, friends or neighbors. In the horror stories, small choices lead to more choices that grow to frightening results. Monsters arise.

--What choices do we make? Do I make? Choosing myself over others? It may seem small. But at what point will many small judgements lead to hate? White lies lead to outright deception? Taking what is rightfully mine lead to stealing? How many small decisions to assert false superiority lead to slavery or racism or even genocide? Where does it stop? But most often the more important question seems to be, where does it start? What is my part in where we are in our world? What is each of our parts in how we gotten to the sadness in our world? And how can we bring back good or redeem our world?

The heroes of Stephen King's stories...Often people with faults who have recognized their part, their faults in the story. Not masked avengers with capes and super powers. Humans. Broken humans. Who have also made mistakes. Who have maybe been a part of the problem during part of the story. But have figured out the lies of the villains and their own part. The heroes that have decided that their community, family, and neighbors are worth saving. And as impossible as their choices are, these heroes choose the possibility or even reality of injury and/or death to give others life.

--Will I be the person that recognizes the lies I've believed? Will I be the person who can see beyond my needs and weaknesses and chose things that will bring life to others? Will I make sacrifices in my life for my neighbor? What would it look like if more people chose to be this kind of hero?

The king of horror. A teacher in what makes us human. The stories are a mirror for our propensity for evil, our potential for good. Not for the faint of heart. But the stories remind me of who I am, who I could be, who I should strive to be. And they get those chemicals in my brain and body that bring fear and in a bizarre way a little bit of pleasure. On to some other stories for now though!