Finn (short story)

"Finn" is a short story by Stephen King, first published on Scribd on May 25, 2022. It was collected in King's 2024 book, You Like It Darker.

Plot summary
Finn Murrie, a young Irish man, experiences frequent bad luck while growing up, including having a little toe blown off by an errant cherry bomb at the age of five, breaking his arm by falling from monkey bars at the age of nine, and suffering a concussion from a lightning strike at the age of 14. His grandmother tells him that God will give him two bits of good luck for every bit of bad luck.

At the age of 19, while running home from his girlfriend's house, Finn collides with a similarly dressed young man. After he resumes running, he is bundled into a van by several men and tranquilised. He awakens in a cell, where he is tortured via loud music continually playing. Later, he is brought before a white-haired man, Mr. Ludlum, who believes that Finn is actually "Bobby Feeney". Rejecting Finn's protests that it is a case of mistaken identity, Mr. Ludlum quizzes Finn as to the location of a briefcase. After Finn continues to protest, Mr. Ludlum slaps him, then gives him a crudely written pamphlet titled "World-Approved Techneeks [sic] for Advanced Interrogation". Later, Finn is waterboarded by Mr. Ludlum's men, with Mr. Ludlum now demanding the location of a bomb factory and blueprints.

After Finn is brought before Mr. Ludlum again, Mr. Ludlum offers him a full Irish breakfast in return for Finn naming three songs by Elvis Presley. Mr. Ludlum's men "Doc" and "Pando" take him to a kitchen where a plate of food awaits, but then drag him back into the van. Doc and Pando tell Finn that the mushrooms in the breakfast were poisoned, and mention that most of Mr. Ludlum's men have abandoned him. Several hours later, Doc and Pando eject Finn from the van in his hometown, giving him four thousand euros "for your trouble".

While walking home, Finn passes Pettengill Park, where as a child he broke his arm and enjoying playing on a playground slide known as the "Twisty". Remembering the story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, Finn wonders if he has really been set free, or if he is imagining his emancipation while drowning from a waterboarding or while having fallen into a coma after being knocked over by Feeney. Climbing to the top of the Twisty, Finn rationalises that "Either I'll still be here when I get to the bottom, or I won't be", then begins to slide down.

Publication
As recounted by King, "the first paragraphs of 'Red Screen' and 'Finn' existed weeks and months before I actually put them down. I could see every period and comma." Michael Washburn suggests that the story was inspired by the 2005 work "The Black Phone" by King's son Joe Hill. Bev Vincent suggests that "Finn" was "inspired by an Ambrose Bierce classic". Mike Finn describes the story's ending as "Kafkaesque". Sassan Niasseri (writing for Rolling Stone) notes that "Finn" is a rare example of a story by King set outside of the United States.

"Finn" was first published on Scribd on May 25, 2022 in ebook and audiobook format. It formed part of Scribd's "Scribd Originals" program, which saw Scribd commission and publish original works; King received a flat fee and retained the rights to adapt and expand the work. Marie Demay noted "Finn" as an example of King's habit of alternating the publication of "official" works with short stories on different platforms. "Finn" was exclusive to the Scribd platform until 2024, when it was collected in King's book You Like It Darker.

The 1985 single "Madhouse" by thrash metal band Anthrax is mentioned in the story; Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian acknowledged the reference on Instagram, writing "I love that somewhere in some very small corner I am a part of the King-Verse".

Reception
Writing in USA Today, Barbara Vandenburgh described "Finn" as a "darkly funny, unsettling tale". Also writing in USA Today, Brian Truitt described "Finn" as a "playfully quirky mistaken-identity piece". SFX described "Finn" as "wonderfully odd". Writing for LifeIsStory.com, Josh Olds described "Finn" as "an evocative story, told in the typical King fashion [...] a recognizably King short story that begins and ends without much fanfare either way".

A less positive review was received from Jenn Adams (reviewing You Like It Darker for Bloody Disgusting), who described "Finn" as one of the less developed stories in the collection, stating that it "present[s] ominous ideas, but offer[s] little more than snapshots of larger terror". Mike Finn suggested that the story had a sense of dissonance, stating "I couldn't reconcile the almost jolly, sure-aren't-we-all-stage-Irish-here? tone and the nightmarish description of the torture of an abducted man". Kelly Gorman criticized the writing of the main character, suggesting "maybe King needs to not write teenagers [...] there was something about the way the main character talked that tossed me right out of the story, and I was never able to really get back in." Similarly, Brice Stratford, praising King's incorporation of contemporary elements into his stories, offered "Finn" as an example of how "these nods occasionally stand out a little awkwardly". Justin Hamelin described "Finn" as "rather forgettable". Nicole C. Luttrell stated "this story just didn't have a satisfying ending. Nor did it have a satisfying middle. There was just no real conclusion."