The Fifth Step

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Not to be confused with "5th Step", an episode of the TV series Raines.
"The Fifth Step"
Short story by Stephen King
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Horror short story
Publication
Published inHarper's Magazine
PublisherDoubleday
Media typePrint, digital
Publication date2020
Chronology
 
Squad D 		 
If It Bleeds

"The Fifth Step" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 2020 issue of Harper's Magazine. It was collected in King's 2024 collection You Like It Darker.

Plot summary

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"The Fifth Step" takes place on a bench in Central Park.

Harold Jamieson is a 68-year old widower and retiree living in New York City. While reading the New York Times on a bench in Central Park one morning, he is approached by "Jack", an alcoholic salesman who is attempting to complete Alcoholics Anonymous' twelve-step program. Jack has reached step five - "admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs" - and at the behest of his sponsor has approached Jamieson, a stranger, to ask him to listen to his admissions.

After Jamieson agrees to listen, Jack lists his various wrongdoings, which include fighting with another student in fourth grade for no reason, stealing alcohol from his mother, buying alcohol for a homeless man, cheating at Brown University, smuggling cocaine over the Canadian border, lying to his employer, and lying to his wife. Jamieson becomes uneasy after Jack describes having wanted to beat his wife after she argues with him about his drinking.

As Jack prepares to leave, he confesses to Jamieson that he murdered his wife, and then stabs Jamieson between the ribs with an ice pick. As Jack leaves Jamieson–seemingly dying–on the bench, he admits that he enjoys killing people, describing it as "the chief of my wrongs",[1] before leaving and saying to the dying Jameison, "You’ll be in my prayers tonight", the last lines of the story.

Publication

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"The Fifth Step" was originally published in the March 2020 issue of Harper's Magazine.[1][2] In 2021, "The Fifth Step" was included in the anthology Best Crime Stories of the Year edited by Lee Child.[3] In 2024, "The Fifth Step" was collected in King's book You Like It Darker.[4]

Reception

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Writing for USA Today, Brian Truitt described "The Fifth Step" as having "one heck of a slowburn reveal",[5] while SFX described "The Fifth Step" as an "entertaining short sharp shock"[6] and Eric Eisenberg of CinemaBlend described it as "an effective quick-bite horror story [...] with a sharp twist at the end".[7] Justin Hamelin called "The Fifth Step" "a nasty little yarn that made me gasp aloud".[8] Writing in The New York Times, Gabino Iglesias described "The Fifth Step" as "a literary shanking — it's fast and violent in equal measure."[9] Reviewing You Like it Darker, Rob Merrill described "The Fifth Step" as the "darkest" story in the collection, stating "in just 10 pages [it] should scare anyone who's been paying attention to the true crime stories splashed across the screens of this country's tawdrier news sources."[10] Describing the story as "Twilight Zone-type", Mike Finn noted "how clearly, after a few deft paragraphs, I could see Harold Jamieson".[11] "The Fifth Step" was mentioned among "other distinguished stories of 2020" in The Best American Short Stories 2021, edited by Heidi Pitlor and Jesmyn Ward.[12]

A mixed review was received from the website EverythingStephenKing.com, which described "The Fifth Step" as "a nice story, well told" - noting "King's ability to create believable characters and situations has not diminished over the years" - but also as "forgettable", with a predictable ending.[13] Reviewing You Like It Darker for Bloody Disgusting, Jenn Adams suggested that "The Fifth Step" would "likely prove terrifying to those in Alcoholics Anonymous" but "feel[s] slight and may not evoke the same powerful response in readers without similar life experiences."[14] Also reviewing You Like It Darker, Brett Milam judged "The Fifth Step" to be the weakest of the 12 stories in the collection.[15]

Reviewing You Like It Darker for The Spectator World, Brice Stratford interpreted the collection as being a reflection on King's own life, with "the addict cataloging his life’s strengths and failings" in "The Fifth Step" referencing King's own substance abuse issues.[16]

Sassan Niasseri (writing for Rolling Stone) noted that "The Fifth Step" is a rare example of a story by King with a twist ending.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b King, Stephen (March 2020). "The Fifth Step". Harpers.org. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  2. ^ Vincent, Bev (2022). Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. becker&mayer! books. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-7-60376-82-9.
  3. ^ Child, Lee (2021). "The Fifth Step". Best Crime Stories of the Year. Vol. 1. Head of Zeus. ISBN 978-1-8-01105-71-2.
  4. ^ "You Like It Darker". StephenKing.com. 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  5. ^ Truitt, Brandon (May 21, 2024). "Review: Stephen King knows 'You Like It Darker' and obliges with sensational new tales". USA Today. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "You like it darker". SFX. May 15, 2024. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024 – via Readly.
  7. ^ Eisenberg, Eric (May 30, 2024). "Stephen King's You Like It Darker: a ranking of how much I want to see an adaptation of each story in the new collection". CinemaBlend. Retrieved June 4, 2024 – via Yahoo.com.
  8. ^ Hamelin, Justin (June 21, 2024). "Stephen King's You Like It Darker book review". RavenousMonster.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  9. ^ Iglesias, Gabino (May 31, 2024). "4 New Horror Books to Read, Including Stephen King's Latest Collection". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  10. ^ Merrill, Rob (May 30, 2024). "Book review: 'Cujo' character returns as one of 12 stories in Stephen King's 'You Like It Darker'". The Greeneville Sun. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  11. ^ Finn, Mike (May 31, 2022). "'You Like It Darker' (2024) by Stephen King, narrated by Will Patton". MikeFinnsFiction.com. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  12. ^ Pitlor, Heidi; Ward, Jesmyn, eds. (2021). The Best American Short Stories 2021. HarperCollins. p. 270. ISBN 978-1-3-28485-39-7.
  13. ^ "A Review: The Fifth Step". EverythingStephenKing.com. April 4, 2020. Archived from the original on September 9, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  14. ^ Adams, Jenn (May 20, 2024). "Stephen King's 'You Like It Darker' finds beauty and hope in nihilistic horror". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  15. ^ Milam, Brett (June 2, 2024). "Book Review: You Like It Darker". BrettMilam.com. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  16. ^ Stratford, Brice (May 15, 2024). "Stephen King's You Like it Darker shows a master at his peak". The Spectator World. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  17. ^ Niasseri, Sassan (June 10, 2024). "Kündigt Stephen King mit „Ihr wollt es dunkler" seinen langsamen Abschied an?". Rolling Stone (in German). Retrieved June 11, 2024.

See also

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