Stephen King - If It Bleeds Review: 5 Ups & 1 Down

While sentimentality is the focus here, that doesn't mean that there aren't some genuine thrills to be found. The titular story is the best example of that.

In it, Holly sends a package to Ralph Anderson, the protagonist of The Outsider, detailing her investigation into a domestic terrorist attack. As a result of this framing device, it's not made clear until the very end if she is going to come out of this thing alive. The uncertainty progressively ramps up the tension as the story goes on.

This is also where King's character writing comes into play. Since Holly is such a lovable character and her fate is cleverly kept in the shadows, it makes not knowing if she'll stop the bad guy or die trying a horror in itself. The only way to find out is to walk hand and hand with her through the darkness.