SK works as a therapy after horrible personal tragedy? anyone else?

[apollocandybar]

I read a lot of SK's works. I have never been able to get into Dark Tower stuff, but everything else, I've devoured, many of them several times over again.

Those close to me think it's odd that I 'enjoy' reading stories like '1922' where murder and the aftermath - the gritty, realistic aftermath - plays such a pivotal part in the plot. They think it's odd for ME in particular, because when I was 20 years old, my grandfather was brutally murdered by his son, my uncle. He essentially beat him to death. Then he put the body in the bedroom of the apartment they shared, and went and bought some meth and got high. After 2 days, the body began to stink, so he knew he had to do something. After some more crank, he rolled his father's body in a quilt, put it in a wheelchair with a baseball cap on top, and took him down by elevator to the parking lot. Threw him in the trunk of his car and then drove down to the river and dumped him. He washed up two days later, and detectives came to my door with the news. The aftermath of that - the clean, neat, judicial aftermath - was awful in its own right. But the immediate aftermath - the part I wasn't there for, only my uncle and my grandfather's body - is something I do think about from time to time. Revisiting this through macabre tales of murder might seem like a terrible idea, and yet somehow... it helps me. In '1922' particularly, the murderer is a bad guy, but at his core, not a monster. I think that helps me. To understand that murders can and do happen, but that people aren't necessarily monsters if they kill another person. Of course, the rats aspect fulfills my selfish need for retribution, too.

SK's books are a kind of therapy for me. It's been several years now since the murder. My uncle died in prison long before he reached parole date. I guess I just wanted to post this to say, I suppose for many (or most), these stories are just a dark jaunt for fun. And they are for me too, in a way. But they also help me work through my unusual and unique 'issues' and see things from others' perspectives.

Is there anyone else out there who has had a similar experience? I've only ever heard of the opposite - like some members of my family can't even watch Law & Order now, it's too similar. Me? I love The First 48. I love it when they catch the bad guys. I just can't stand it when they notify the families. I always have to mute the TV and leave the room for that. Even 14 years later, it's just too much.

[jcadams]

Thank you for sharing such a personal experience. I identify with Pet Semetary. As many on here know, my stepdaughter was run over because of a man speeding and talking on a cell phone. SK describes perfectly the heartache, and aftermath of such a tragedy. I have read PS so many times and I always feel the same way. King knows just how to tell a horrible story so that you understand the human emotions involved. I close this book at the end, every time, thinking that as awful as losing my stepdaughter was for all involved, we should be treasuring the time given, because life is too short, and only God should be deciding on when our time is up. There are no take-backs or do-overs in real life.

[GNTLGNT]

...his work has brought me through many a dark time...

[Gerald]

I think many times people commit murders not because they're horrible persons, but because they're driven to a 'point of no return'. They can't see another way to solve their problems and it all just becomes too much.
I've been close to an attempted murder of a neighbour (luckily he survived) and it certainly is something that leaves a deep impression and evokes all sorts of emotions.

I think that, yes, stories can work as a therapy. It is in fact how many therapists work: they let you imagine certain situations and then let you work through those with their help.

[AchtungBaby]

I know this isn't the same at all as losing a loved one, a job, etc., but a year or so ago I was terribly sick - extremely high fever, vomiting, all that. I couldn't get out of bed for close to a week...I think it was the flu. Anyway, Dreamcatcher really helped take my mind off all that. I finished the book, and when I did I felt better. (...maybe I should have read The Stand...or maybe not...)