"All this happened, more or less."

I began reading Stephen King’s work in 6 th grade after falling in love with the brilliant movie Stand by Me . Finally, I thought: a story reflected the realities of negotiating puberty, friend groups, and problematic family dynamics in a way that didn’t minimize the thoughts, actions, and desires of young people (1). King’s keen insight into human motivations, fears, and longings is what has reignited my interest in his work (after years of reading children’s books to my kids and academic texts for college), and this insight is what makes the novella “A Good Marriage” found in the compilation Full Dark, No Stars , so satisfying. No vampires haunt this tale. No creepy ghost twins hang out in the hallway. Not a single clown beckons from a gutter. No, the scariest aspect of this story is that it reminds us that monsters are unfortunately and undeniably real, but they look like ordinary people. Sometimes, they are people lucky enough to be part of a good marriage . When Darcy’s ordi...