2. 'Cain Rose Up', 3. 'Here There Be Tygers', and 4. 'Strawberry Spring' (All 1968).
In a busy first week of lockdown, I've been setting remote learning for my students, answering millions of (usually ridiculous) questions, chasing my tiny tornado of a toddler, and ploughing through the first big group of King's short stories. I'll admit that I hadn't realised just how many short stories King had published before Carrie came out in '74; I even had my copy out and ready when I started compiling my list of his works and organising it. It wasn't to be. King was pretty prolific even before Carrie made him a household name. If you don't include Jumper and Rush Call , by my count he'd written eighteen stories and one essay before his big break. Rather than dedicating a blog post to every story, I thought I'd put them together into groups which felt connected, not necessarily by theme or subject matter, but by a feel of the writing. Occasionally, where a story really speaks to me, I'll give it its own post. Cain Rose Up From t...