Review: Revival

Revival by Stephen King is dark and captivating, but not very ambitious; its substance and terror could have been preserved at the length of a short story or novella.

In 2008, King himself published N. (as part of Just After Sunset), a story which is similarly inspired by Lovecraft and Arthur Machen’s The Great God Pan, and which also explores themes of madness and the darkness that lies beyond. N. packs its horror very tightly in comparison with Revival, which spends unavoidable but not especially rewarding time with one of King’s recurring themes, addiction.

What makes Revival enjoyable is not the narrator, but the character of Charles Jacobs. King paints a portrait of a man ultimately obsessed with one thing: the violent, relentless exposure of truth. I would have loved to see more of his journey, and his impact on others, and less of Jamie Morton who is, at the end of the day, just not that interesting a character.