惊魂子弹飞车 (2000)

《惊魂子弹飞车》是史蒂芬·金所著的中篇小说，是世界上首本在网络上发行的电子书，当时定价每本2.5美元，结果其下载量超过五十万次，成为商业电子书上的一个里程碑。2002年，金将故事收录在短篇小说集《史蒂芬金的14张牌》内。2004年，有美国导演将故事改编成电影，并找来老牌影星奥斯卡最佳男主角奖得主克里夫·罗勃逊客串，可惜票房仍然不及预期。

故事简介

柏克是缅因州大学的学生，一日突然收到母亲邻居的来电，告知母亲中风入了医院，柏克马上希望乘便车回家。柏克走到偏远的地方拦截便车，一直都没有人理会他，中途更在坟场中失足晕倒。柏克醒后遇到一个自称乔治的人让他坐便车，不过柏克记起乔治的名字刚刚才在墓碑上出现，只是上了车后无办法离开。乔治告诉柏克，他是带走灵魂的使者，要柏克决择带走柏克的灵魂还是母亲的灵魂，他选择带走母亲的灵魂。柏克终于去到医院，发现母亲没有生命危险。母亲出院后，柏克变得珍惜母亲，关系大大改善。

Riding the Bullet is a horror novella by American writer Stephen King. It marked King's debut on the Internet. Simon & Schuster, with technology by SoftLock, first published Riding the Bullet in 2000 as the world's first mass-market e-book, available for download at $2.50. That year, the novella was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction and the International Horror Guild Award for Best Long Form. In 2002, the novella was included in King's collection Everything's Eventual.

Publication

During the first 24 hours, over 400,000 copies of Riding the Bullet were downloaded, jamming SoftLock's server. Some Stephen King fans waited hours for the download.

With over 500,000 downloads, Stephen King seemed to pave the way for the future of publishing. The actual number of readers was unclear because the encryption caused countless computers to crash.

The total financial gross of the electronic publication remains uncertain. Initially offered at $2.50 by SoftLock and then Simon & Schuster, it was later available free for download from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

In 2009, Lonely Road Books announced the impending release of Riding the Bullet: The Deluxe Special Edition Double, by Stephen King and Mick Garris, as an oversized slipcased hardcover bound in the flip book or tête-bêche format (like an Ace Double) featuring the novella Riding the Bullet, the original script for the eponymous 2004 film by Mick Garris, and artwork by Alan M. Clark and Bernie Wrightson. The book was available in three editions:

Collector's Gift Edition: limited to 3000 slipcased copies (not signed)

Limited Edition of 500 copies (signed by Mick Garris and the artist)

Lettered Edition of 52 copies (signed by Stephen King)

Plot summary

Alan Parker is a student at the University of Maine who is trying to find himself. He gets a call from a neighbor in his hometown of Lewiston, telling him that his mother has been taken to the hospital after having a stroke. Lacking a functioning car, Parker decides to hitchhike the 120 miles (200 km) south to visit his mother.

He ends up riding with an old man who continually tugs at his crotch in a car that stinks of urine. Eventually frightened and glad to escape the vehicle, Alan starts walking, hitchhiking his next ride. Coming upon a graveyard, he begins to explore it and notices a headstone for a stranger named George Staub, which reads: "Well Begun, Too Soon Done". Sure enough, the next car to pick him up is driven by George Staub, complete with black stitches around his neck where his head had been sewn on after being severed and wearing a button saying, "I Rode The Bullet At Thrill Village, Laconia."

During the ride, George talks to Alan about the amusement park ride he was too scared to ride as a kid: The Bullet in Thrill Village, Laconia, New Hampshire. George tells Alan that before they reach the lights of town, Alan must choose who goes on the death ride with George: Alan or his mother. In a moment of fright, Alan saves himself and tells him: "Take her. Take my mother."

George shoves Alan out of the car. Alan reappears alone at the graveyard, wearing the "I Rode the Bullet at Thrill Village" button. He eventually reaches the hospital, where he learns that despite his guilt and the impending feeling that his mother is dead or will die any moment, she is fine.

Alan takes the button and treasures it as a good (or bad) luck charm. His mother returns to work. Alan graduates and takes care of his mother for several years, and she suffers another stroke.

One day, Alan loses the button and receives a phone call; he knows what the call is about. He finds the button underneath his mother's bed and, after a final moment of sadness, guilt, and meditation, decides to carry on. His mother's "ride" is over.

Film

A movie adaptation of the story, starring Jonathan Jackson, Barbara Hershey and David Arquette, was released in 2004.