12. 'Can't You Read Something A Bit, Well, Chirpier?'
Um no, you can't. It's not all psychological horror, aliens, serial killers, infections, wife-beaters and monsters. Stephen King is surely one of the world's greatest for putting your favourite character in an I'm-definitely-going-to-die situation, and then miraculously finding a loop hole for them to get out of it. Think Stu Redman almost dying in The Stand and then Tom Cullen saving his life. Or Bill Hodges surviving a crazy heart attack in Mr Mercedes and waking up to find hed saved a whole bunch of teeny bopper lives. The bits where people die under the most horrendous of circumstances are balanced out by the depths of humanity that run throughout SKs books. (Ok, granted, John Coffey in The Green Mile didnt get quite the same Collect £200 As You Pass Go ticket. Pass the tissues quickly...).