Editing Riding the Bullet

{{Short description|2000 novella by Stephen King}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox novella | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| name             = Riding the Bullet
| image            = Riding the Bullet.png
| caption          = Cover of the original e-book release 
| author           = [[Stephen King]]
| country          = United States
| language         = English
| series           =
| genre            = [[Horror fiction|Horror]] 
| publication_type = [[Online]]
| published_in     = ''[[Everything's Eventual]]''
| publisher        =
| media_type       = [[e-book]], print ([[hardcover]])
| pub_date         = March 14, 2000
| preceded_by      =
| followed_by      =
}}
'''''Riding the Bullet''''' is a [[Horror fiction|horror]] [[novella]] by American writer [[Stephen King]]. It marked King's debut on the Internet. [[Simon & Schuster]], with technology by SoftLock, first published ''Riding the Bullet'' in 2000 as the world's first mass-market [[e-book]], available for download at $2.50. That year, the novella was nominated for the [[Bram Stoker Award]] for [[Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction|Superior Achievement in Long Fiction]] and the [[International Horror Guild Award]] for Best Long Form. In 2002, the novella was included in King's collection ''[[Everything's Eventual]]''.

==Publication==
During the first 24 hours, over 400,000 copies of ''Riding the Bullet'' were downloaded, jamming SoftLock's server.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.planetpdf.com/enterprise/article.asp?ContentID=6358 |title= eBooks are Here to Stay| author=De Abrew, Karl |website=Adobe.com|date=April 24, 2000| access-date= December 15, 2009}}</ref> Some Stephen King fans waited hours for the download.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/jan-june00/e-books_sidebar.html |title=The Business of EBooks|work= News Hour with Jim Lehrer transcript|publisher=PBS|date=March 16, 2000|access-date=December 15, 2009}}</ref>

With over 500,000 downloads, Stephen King seemed to pave the way for the future of publishing. The actual number of readers was unclear because the encryption caused countless computers to crash.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000813mag-king.html?scp=10&sq=riding%20the%20bullet&st=cse |title=What is Stephen King trying to prove?|work=New York Times Magazine|date=August 13, 2000| access-date=December 15, 2009}}</ref>

The total financial gross of the electronic publication remains uncertain. Initially offered at $2.50 by SoftLock and then Simon & Schuster, it was later available free for download from [[Amazon.com|Amazon]] and [[Barnes & Noble]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.businessweek.com/ebiz/0012/ec1226.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010420095851/http://www.businessweek.com/ebiz/0012/ec1226.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 20, 2001 |title= For Softlock, the Rights Stuff Wasn't Good Enough|author=Ferguson, Kevin Ferguson| work=Business Week|date=December 26, 2000| access-date=December 15, 2009}}</ref>

In 2009, [[Lonely Road Books]] announced the impending release of ''Riding the Bullet: The Deluxe Special Edition Double'', by [[Stephen King]] and [[Mick Garris]],<ref>{{cite web|website=Lonely Road Books|url=http://www.lonelyroadbooks.com/books/riding-the-bullet/|title=Riding the Bullet|date=May 8, 2013 }}</ref> as an oversized [[slipcase]]d hardcover bound in the [[flip book]] or [[tête-bêche]] format (like an [[List of Ace double novels|Ace Double]]) featuring the novella ''Riding the Bullet'', the original script for the [[Riding the Bullet (film)|eponymous 2004 film]] by [[Mick Garris]], and artwork by [[Alan M. Clark]] and [[Bernie Wrightson]]. The book was available in three editions:
* Collector's Gift Edition: limited to 3000 slipcased copies (not signed)
* Limited Edition of 500 copies (signed by Mick Garris and the artist)
* Lettered Edition of 52 copies (signed by Stephen King)

==Plot summary==

Alan Parker is a student at the [[University of Maine]] who is trying to find himself. He gets a call from a neighbor in his hometown of [[Lewiston, Maine|Lewiston]], telling him that his mother has been taken to the hospital after having a [[stroke]]. Lacking a functioning car, Parker decides to [[hitchhike]] the 120 miles (200 km) south to visit his mother.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/03/19/daily/032000king-bullet.html?scp=2&sq=riding%20the%20bullet&st=cse |title=Click if You Dare: It's the Cybercrypt|author= Lehmann-haupt, Christopher| work=The New York Times|date=March 20, 2000|access-date=December 15, 2009}}</ref>

He ends up riding with an old man who continually tugs at his crotch in a car that stinks of urine. Eventually frightened and glad to escape the vehicle, Alan starts walking, hitchhiking his next ride. Coming upon a graveyard, he begins to explore it and notices a [[headstone]] for a stranger named George Staub, which reads: "Well Begun, Too Soon Done". Sure enough, the next car to pick him up is driven by George Staub, complete with black [[surgical suture|stitches]] around his neck where his head had been sewn on after being severed and wearing a [[Pin-back button|button]] saying, "I Rode The Bullet At Thrill Village, Laconia."<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/03/19/daily/032000king-bullet.html?scp=2&sq=riding%20the%20bullet&st=cse |title=Click if You Dare: It's the Cybercrypt|author= Lehmann-haupt, Christopher| work=The New York Times|date=March 20, 2000|access-date=December 15, 2009}}</ref>

During the ride, George talks to Alan about the [[amusement park ride]] he was too scared to ride as a kid: The Bullet in Thrill Village, [[Laconia, New Hampshire]]. George tells Alan that before they reach the lights of town, Alan must choose who goes on the death ride with George: Alan or his mother. In a moment of fright, Alan saves himself and tells him: "Take her. Take my mother."

George shoves Alan out of the car. Alan reappears alone at the graveyard, wearing the "I Rode the Bullet at Thrill Village" button. He eventually reaches the hospital, where he learns that despite his guilt and the impending feeling that his mother is dead or will die any moment, she is fine.

Alan takes the button and treasures it as a good (or bad) luck charm. His mother returns to work. Alan graduates and takes care of his mother for several years, and she suffers another stroke.

One day, Alan loses the button and receives a phone call; he knows what the call is about. He finds the button underneath his mother's bed and, after a final moment of sadness, guilt, and meditation, decides to carry on. His mother's "ride" is over.

==Film==
[[Riding the Bullet (film)|A movie adaptation]] of the story, starring [[Jonathan Jackson (actor)|Jonathan Jackson]], [[Barbara Hershey]] and [[David Arquette]], was released in 2004.

==Reception==
''[[F&SF]]'' (''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'') reviewer [[Charles de Lint]] praised the novella as "a terrific story, highlighting King's gift for characterization and his sheer narrative drive."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2000/cdl0008.htm |title=Books to Look For|website=SFsite|date= August 2000}}</ref> 

In contrast, ''[[The New York Times]]''{{'}} Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, who read the book in both available online formats (computer download and an e-book supplied by the publisher, neither of which permitted a user to print out a copy), was more critical. He disliked reading digital content on a [[backlight|backlit]] monitor ("I was also restlessly aware of the unusual effort it was taking to read onscreen") and the book's content ("after getting off to such a strong start, Mr. King writes himself into a corner that makes Alan's scary adventure seem something of a [[shaggy dog story]]"). He concluded: "reading 'Riding the Bullet,' I sorely missed the solidity of good old print on paper. And who knows, maybe old-fashioned print would have made Mr. King's story seem a little more substantial?"<ref>{{cite news|date=March 20, 2000|title=BOOKS OF THE TIMES - Click if You Dare: It's the Cybercrypt|author=Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Stephen King short fiction bibliography]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{isfdb title|id=92656}}

{{Everything'sEventual}}
{{Stephen King}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riding The Bullet}}
[[Category:2000s novellas]]
[[Category:American novellas]]
[[Category:Horror novellas]]
[[Category:Novels set in Maine]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Horror novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Novels first published online]]
[[Category:Novellas by Stephen King]]