Obits is another entry by Stephen King in his 2016 collection of short stories titled The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. In it an aspiring young writer, Michael Anderson, uncertain about his own abilities and prospects, gets hired as an obituary writer for an off-beat on-line magazine after he sends them a draft of a prank, scathing obituary he wrote about a recently deceased celebrity. His nasty obit columns continue...except now he's being paid for them and they quickly become the magazine's most popular item. Rejected by his boss after asking for a pay raise, he angrily writes an imaginary obituary about her and then throws it away...only to discover a few hours later that she actually died. It soon becomes clear to him...as well as to a colleague with whom he is infatuated...that he has the "gift" of being able to cause others' deaths by writing their obituaries. And the story goes on from there...
What captured my interest the most about Obits was the way King showed how Anderson...and his colleague...both became increasingly seduced by the power that he had with his obituaries. The full ramifications of all this came out in the end, though...but Anderson would never be the same again. This story won some kind of award and I can understand why: not necessarily for its horror or suspense value, but more for its examination of how people can get themselves psychologically dependent...to the point of obsession...on very unhealthful and even dangerous things, especially when the element of power comes into play. Get the book (I recommend the public library) and read it!
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