Title: Gwendy's Button BoxAuthor: Richard Chizmar, Stephen King
Series: The Button Box #1
First Published: May 16, 2017
Publisher: Cemetery Dance Publications
Pages: 180
Genre: Coming of Age, Horror, Thriller
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library, Purchased
Rating:
Synopsis:
The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told... until now.
There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.
At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game.
One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: "Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me."
On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat...
Journey back to Castle Rock again in this chilling new novella by Stephen King, bestselling author of The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, and Richard Chizmar, award-winning author of A Long December. This book will be a Cemetery Dance Publications exclusive with no other editions currently planned anywhere in the world!
Buy the Book: Amazon, PublisherReview
What a fast and fun little read, Gwendy’s Button Box takes a unique spin on the wish trope and the powerful burden of choice. Young Gwendy is presented with a mysterious gift, a button box with different colored buttons and levers, the functions of which are unknown. She is given ownership of this box by a mysterious man whose intentions are unclear and whose presence seems to haunt her everywhere she goes.
Now the story is a little predictable, anyone that is familiar with the wish trope will know some of the themes that go along with it. It is also made immediately apparent who the main antagonist is, so as a reader I ended up just waiting for the eventual clash between Gwendy and this character.
Despite the simple plot, I found that I liked most of the characters. Gwendy is a pretty average kid, determined and knows her own mind, it was refreshing to see a female lead that had believable fears and concerns but was far from weak. She is intelligent and conscious of the responsibility placed on her and readers watch her grow. I actually feel that this would be a suitable book for young adult readers as Gwendy’s experiences and development are highly relatable: the pressure to be in shape, to do well in school, changing friendships, bullying, first love.
Mr. Farris was also an exciting character because he is just so ambiguous, the smiling man with a black coat and a bowler hat. What are his true goals in placing the button box in the care of a child? Even though he is clearly a threatening character there is also something disarming about him, I greatly enjoyed his character.
I thoroughly enjoyed Gwendy’s Button Box, more so than I expected. It was a refreshing little novella though if you’re looking for a thrilling scare-fest as you might expect from these two authors, you won’t find it here.
Quote
“Secrets are a problem, maybe the biggest problem of all. They weigh on the mind and take up space in the world.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Richard Chizmar
Richard Chizmar is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author.
He is the co-author (with Stephen King) of the bestselling novella, Gwendy’s Button Box and the founder/publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine and the Cemetery Dance Publications book imprint. He has edited more than 35 anthologies and his short fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including multiple editions of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustee’s award.
Chizmar (in collaboration with Johnathon Schaech) has also written screenplays and teleplays for United Artists, Sony Screen Gems, Lions Gate, Showtime, NBC, and many other companies. He has adapted the works of many bestselling authors including Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Bentley Little.
Chizmar is also the creator/writer of the online website, Stephen King Revisited. His fourth short story collection, The Long Way Home, was published in 2019. With Brian Freeman, Chizmar is co-editor of the acclaimed Dark Screams horror anthology series published by Random House imprint, Hydra.
His latest book, The Girl on the Porch, was released in hardcover by Subterranean Press, and Widow’s Point, a chilling novella about a haunted lighthouse written with his son, Billy Chizmar, was recently adapted into a feature film.
Chizmar’s work has been translated into more than fifteen languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.
About Stephen King
Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. He made his first professional short story sale in 1967 to Startling Mystery Stories. In the fall of 1971, he began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co., accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write full-time. He has since published over 50 books and has become one of the world’s most successful writers. King is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to the American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts.
Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to a number of charities including many libraries and have been honored locally for their philanthropic activities.
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