Clyde Umney

Clyde Umney
Created by Stephen King

Though obviously known as the most prolific and famous horror writer of the last quarter century, Stephen King has been known to dabble in othe genres from time to time. King is a big fan of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, for example, and "borrows" Deetective Steve Carella for a bit part early on in his epic novel The Stand. King also has confessed to being a huge fan of both Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald, and you could argue that many of his stories are "hard-boiled" in tone.

King's one foray into the private detective genre is the memorable short story "Umney's Last Case," which appears in his third collection of short stories, Nightmares and Dreamscapes (and also as a stand-alone novella printed by Penguin). CLYDE UMNEY walks the streets of Los Angeles at around the same time as early Philip Marlowe (late 1930s). One morning, however, he wakes up to find that his world has been literally turned upside down and that nothing makes sense. Unknown to poor Clyde, his creator, Samuel D. Landry, is using the usual King story supernatural powers to literally trade places with his creation. King gets kudos for authentically recreating the classic hard-boiled private eye world and using it to create the kind of story that doesn't seem out of place in one of his anthologies. As the story ends, Clyde is stuck in the modern world, but is plotting to take revenge on his creator.

SHORT STORY

"Umney's Last Case" (1993, Nightmares and Dreamscapes)

Submitted, with a wicked gleam in his eye, by Brian D. Rubendall.

Drop a dime. Your comments, suggestions, corrections and contributions are always welcome.
"...and I'll tell you right out that I'm a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk."