Today on The Easy Chair, I read a spine-tingling scary story perfect for the thick of winter: “Strawberry Spring” by Stephen King. A serial killer stalks the campus of a small New England college, murdering and dismembering female co-eds. Locals dub him Springheel Jack, a spectral figure who comes in with the fog and ice melt of Strawberry Spring, the false, early thaw that comes before the most brutal of winter’s storms. Our protagonist is as horrified and mystified as any of his classmates, but he has to admit that he finds the mists and shadows of Strawberry Spring oddly alluring. Warning: don’t listen to this story by yourself, late at night. The last line of this story is considered one of the best last lines of any short story. Tune in, and find out why.

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