Newsome, the sixth-richest man in the world, has been in an accident. He is relegated to his hospital bed, and must rely on nurses to empty his bedpans and clean his body. Being an extremely rich and spoiled man, Newsome has no grit. He refuses to put forth the effort required to recover physically from his accident, instead choosing to seek out someone that can be paid to erase his pain. Many have come and tried (enticed by the thought of getting rich quick), but all have either failed or been exposed as money hungry fakes. Running out of options, Newsome has contacted a man named Rideout, who claims that he can exorcise the pain from Newsome's body.
Is Rideout just another kook, looking to swindle a billionaire into separating from a sizeable chunk of money? Or is Rideout able to legitimately exorcise the pain from Newsome's body?
I have read quite a bit of Stephen King's work, and the master of horror rarely disappoints. This short story will not go down as a classic of his by any means, but it was a fun little read. The story is pretty standard fare as far as plot goes, but a great writer can make gold out of straw on occasion. Once the exorcism begins, the events unfold rather quickly, and the reader is treated to a number of events that are almost comical in the way that they take place. A less talented author would most likely not be able to pull this story off without coming across as cheesy, but King does what he does best and entertains the reader from start to finish.
"The Little Green God of Agony" can be found in the anthology The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Four, which was edited by Ellen Datlow.
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