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Fairy Tale
- Author
- Stephen King
- Narrator
- Seth Numrich, Stephen King
- Publisher
- Hodder & Stoughton
- Publish Date
- 6 September 2022
- Run Time
- 24 hours 6 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Rating
- 4.8 (9 reviews)
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What to expect
Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself - and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it.
Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world.
King's storytelling in Fairy Tale soars. This is a magnificent and terrifying tale about another world than ours, in which good is pitted against overwhelming evil, and a heroic boy - and his dog - must lead the battle.
(P)2022 Simon & Schuster Ltd
Critics Review
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I read (in one long, long sitting) Stephen King's fabulous Fairy Tale and it was just such a trip! A trip to a magical, terrifying land where wonders and horrors are one. But also a trip back home- to that prose that lulled me into nightmares in my teens. The voice of the King
Guillermo del Toro
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Stephen King has all the daring, enchantment and even romance of a classic bedtime story, but King's signature unsettling style will keep you sitting up straight and wide-eyed rather than drifting off to dreamland
Vanity Fair
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There is a splendid climactic battle . . . King's delight in the world he has created is infectious and there's much to revel in here
Daily Telegraph
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With ogres and castles, maidens and pots of gold, this is a fairy story through-and-through. Because it's Stephen King's, it's a Once-Upon-A-Time tale like no other
Daily Mail
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Fairy Tale is a multiverse-traversing, genre-hopping intertextual mash-up, with plenty of Easter eggs for regular King devotees . . . allusions and homages abound . . . a page-turner driven by memorably strange encounters and well-rendered, often thrilling action
New York Times Book Review
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Fairy Tale is vintage, timeless King, a transporting, terrifying treat born from multiple lockdowns which, in true King style, puts its finger right on that tender point which is the threshold between childhood and growing up
Guardian
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The latest addictive thriller from King
The List
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King's reputation precedes him, and his spellbinding new novel is magnificent and terrifying
Living North Magazine
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The hailed King of masterful writing has pierced the page with mighty words once again, releasing a whopping fantasy novel, reminiscent of the haunting magnificence of those Brothers Grimms . . . Fairy Tale soars, allowing you to bask happily ever after in its unforgettable spell
Buzz Magazine
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A blazing flash of creativity . . . King's best book in over a decade
Esquire
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A really enjoyable and enthralling read, both exciting and enchanting, and yet another captivating tale from the pen of Stephen King
The Afterword
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A fantasy gem . . . King tells this wonderfully fantastical tale with such effortless skill that the reader cannot help but fully invest in Charlie and all the characters, his evocation of late 20th-century small-town USA and its people pitch perfect, and his descriptions of the parallel world of Empis . . . vividly terrifying
Irish Independent
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Some brilliantly written escapism . . . featuring a loyal dog, a grieving hero and childhood fears and dreams made real . . . King at his finest
Evening Standard
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A spellbinding tale that bursts with imagination
Woman's Own
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Stephen King is the world's greatest storyteller. Fairy Tale had me enchanted from page one. I remain in total awe at his genius
David Walliams
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Magnificent . . . a doorstop chronicle of small-town America, and the battle between good and evil. Classic King, and clearly written with joy . . . He is one of the best writers on childhood and teenagers, which continues in Fairy Tale
Richard Osman, The Sunday Times
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The master storyteller returns with a spellbinding story of mysterious houses, parallel worlds and reluctant heroes as an ordinary high school kid discovers a portal to a universe populated by classic fairy tale archetypes
Waterstones
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If you've ever enjoyed classic King - coming-of-age stories grounded as much in suburban neighbourhoods as in supernatural fairylands - you will enjoy this
Literary Review
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A dark, dazzlingly inventive fantasy novel
Daily Mirror, Best Books of 2022
User Reviews
Book 4.8
Narration 5.0
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4.0 5.0
I was a little dubious about this book, im a big King fan but this is a slight departure for SK, a modern inverted fairy tale (as you might expect from the title!!) it has his usual elements of well drawn characters and great dialogue. The standout for me was the narration which for me (I’ve listened to well over 100 audiobooks) is easily in my top 3.
monoped 2025-02-26 -
5.0 5.0
I wasn't sure that I would like this, despite being a Stephen King fan but wow, what a fantastic tale which drew me in and would not let go - all 24 hours of it.
If you're able to be flexible on your usual choice of genre or King, then I recommend you give this one a whirl. The narration is nothing short of brilliant as is the story - as you would expect.GardensofPaper 2025-01-21 -
5.0 5.0
Absolutely brilliant well worth listening too
Julie60 2023-12-26 -
5.0 5.0
If you're wondering about Stephen Kings latest book, it's as enthralling as so many others are.I highly recommend this, you don't even need to be a King fan to enjoy. If this is the first time you've read one of his books you're in for a real treat. The characters are so well developed it feels like they live next door. Go ahead, treat yourself
Howard John Johnson 2022-09-14
Details
- Author
- Stephen King
- Narrator
- Seth Numrich, Stephen King
- Duration
- 24 hours 6 minutes
- Release Date
- 6 September 2022
- ISBN
- 9781399705448
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Hodder & Stoughton
- Genre
- Fantasy, Epic fantasy / high fantasy, Contemporary fantasy / Low fantasy
- Rating
- 4.8(9 reviews)
- Narration
- 5.0(9 reviews)
Synopsis
Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher - for their world or ours.Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself - and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it.Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world.King's storytelling in Fairy Tale soars. This is a magnificent and terrifying tale about another world than ours, in which good is pitted against overwhelming evil, and a heroic boy - and his dog - must lead the battle.(P)2022 Simon & Schuster Ltd
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