Stephen King's least scary novel might be his best

Blazing Reader,

It's Halloween Day — and I should probably be recommending some scary novel for you to read.

Truth is, I've never been a fan of horror novels.

Hence, I was never attracted to Stephen King novels.

Until I saw the 1994 movie, The Shawshank Redemption, which is based on King's 1982 novella with a slightly longer title, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

The movie, I feel, had a better developed plot, better ending and a more sinister villain. It's simply a better story, after having gone through a few more rounds of editing.

The novella, however, outshines the movie in two ways:Firstly, you really get into Red's head. As in the film, Red is the old-timer at the prison who narrates the story of Andy Dufresne, a well-to-do banker, wrongly convicted of killing his wife. Throughout the novel, King's writing style is so raw, Red's voice feels like you are talking to him face-to-face.

The novel version of Red is grittier than the Morgan Freeman version. He starts off as a man who tried to kill his own wife (so he could cash in on her life insurance), ending as a redeemed character that you might let babysit your kids (or, at least, walk your dog).

Red's also not black, but an Irishman with red hair — hence the name.

The second advantage the novella has over the movie is the attention to detail — including how to smuggle cash into prison (in your colon), the aftermath of gang rape and exactly how Andy pulls off the grand finale that literally had my jaw drop.

In 2012, Empire Magazine's 20,000 readers voted The Shawshank Redemption the best film of all time. Well, the original novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, is one of my all-time favourite pieces of literature.

Originally published as part of an anthology, you can now purchase it as a standalone novella (with a clever cover that only makes sense after you know the story). If, like me, you're more into hope than horror, head on over to my Blazing bookshop to buy a copy of King's haunting story of personal redemption.

John C.A. Manley

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.