Stephen King’s Duma Key is full of the dark, psychologically creepy story line that we have come to expect from the horror master. It’s eerie, spooky, and takes place in Florida. In short, the novel is great fun.
The story follows Edgar Freemantle, hard-working Minnesotan contractor who gets his arm eaten and skull crushed by a twelve story tall crane at a terrible working accident. Things aren’t the same after that. His vision is fuzzy, red. He’s angry and suicidal. His wife leaves. His daughters are grown up and gone. He’s on his own.
For rehabilitation and healing he moves to the land of “the newly wed and living dead” in a rented beach home and takes up painting. He finds out he has a knack for it, but then, strange things start to happen.
The novel is an insightful look into the nature of memory, healing, and seeing Florida from a different angle. As an example, Edgar takes on one of Florida’s greatest clichés—the painted sunset over the gulf, among other (scary) things…
This book is great. It’s one of my favorites. It paints a vivid picture of Florida’s Gulf Coast and tells a thoroughly spooky and satisfying tale. I can strongly recommend this book for those who aren’t scared of those things that go bump in the night.
