Different Seasons is a collection of four stories written by master of horror Stephen King.
Each follows a different season and more than one has been made into a movie.
We begin with Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.
Andy Dufresne has been imprisoned for killing his wife. He maintains his innocence while incarcerated however evidence is stacked against him and no one believes he didn’t cause the death of his wife.
In prison with him are Red, who befriends Andy and is one of the only people to wonder if Andy is indeed telling the truth about his innocence. Red also moves contraband in and out of the prison and is tasked with finding different items for Andy to use.
Eventually Andy escapes prison with the help of some of the items that Red brought into the prison. As Red is paroled, Andy makes contact with him and together they live their lives out in Mexico. This particular novella is what the Shawshank Redemption is based on.
Our second story is Apt Pupil.
Our main character, Todd Bowden, believes that a new German immigrant may not be who he says he is. Todd believes that though the man is calling himself Arthur Denker he is actually a war criminal named Kurt Dussander. Todd believes that Kurt is responsible for a number of war crimes and begins to track him obsessively.
One day Todd believes he has enough information to prove or disprove his theory and confronts Arthur. When Arthur confirms Todd’s theory they both begin a killing spree that only stops when one of them finally loses his own life. This was also a movie.
Our third Story is The Body.
A coming of age story about four boys who set out to find something and in finding that something, they discover truths about themselves and each other.
One summer’s day, four boys begin an adventure to search for a missing boy their own age. The boy had gone out several days previous but hasn’t returned. Authorities and his parents have been looking for him for several days. Though he is presumed dead they can not prove this.
The group of boys, Vern, Gordon, Chris, and Teddy share stories, hopes, and dreams about the future while searching for the missing boy.
They eventually come across the boy’s corpse at the same time as Vern’s older brother. There is a kerfuffle as both groups of friends decide what to do with the body. Eventually an anonymous tip is called in about the location of the missing boy.
The story is told from the point of view of adult Gordon who has just discovered something horrifying about Chris.
This was made into Stand by Me.
Our final tale is The Breathing Method
Told from the point of view of a doctor who is in a story telling club for men, this is the story of Sarah Stanstead. A young woman who is determined to have a child no matter the cost.
Sarah comes to Dr. Mccarron (our story teller) as a young woman who is pregnant and unwed. A generally horrible thing to most people. Sarah also has the further complication of having no money to raise a child. A further point that the doctor mentions. This doesn’t matter to Sarah. She is going to have a baby and that’s that.
As Sarah progresses in her pregnancy her doctor has no choice but to admire her resilience and her intensity and tenacity.
The doctor teaching Sarah some breathing techniques (hoo hoo hee, hoo hoo hee…I can vividly remember not hoo hoo heeing, but looking at the clock wondering why there were four numbers on it because that seemed like something I needed to know in the throes of labour) and promises to be there when Sarah has her baby.
But as the day arrives and Sarah is attempting to get herself to the hospital there is a horrible accident. The doctor must deliver the baby in a very strange way. As only King can write.
