There is almost nothing out of the ordinary in this story once one knows its author. Stephen King is notorious for his horror novels and “The Music Room” is no different. King is able to take a perfect, seemingly average painting and put his own mysterious, gruesome spin on it. Something I found to be quite interesting, however, is how King made this painting something that stands out as its own new thing. After reading his short story “The Music Room,” one’s view is permanently impacted by it and thus, won’t see the painting the same way again. There’s a quote in the story that alludes to this quite nicely in my opinion:
“People claim to root for the hero, but it’s the villains they remember” (120).
The act of turning the Enderby’s into “villains” in a sense fulfills the purpose of this line; they’re memorable. With regards to “rooting for the hero,” the Enderby’s sense of detachment can apply to this. It almost makes us sympathetic for them when learning more about their situation initially. They’re living through the Great Depression and are trying to survive in their own way. We do lose that sympathy however when we learn Mr. Timmons, the man held captive, is their sixth victim.
The story also includes quite a lot of foreshadowing. From the thumping in the closet, to the music (eventually used to cover the dying sounds of Mr. Timmons), to the quote above, we are never truly unaware. The slow progression towards the reveal of the Enderby’s true intentions is well paced and thought out. We are constantly learning new things about them while also enjoying their authenticity towards each other.