Takeaway

The novella "The Ride" presents Jack Ketchum in economy mode, in a dark, Tarantino-esque one-night stand. Janet, a lawyer, is struggling to defend an alleged double murderer, she's in a difficult relationship with a colleague, and her car goes out in the middle of the night on the way home when she doesn't have her cell phone. Alone in a moonlit landscape, she waits for someone to give her a ride. When he starts to despair, he sees a couple of lights approaching. She could have at least armed herself with a mounting lever, but relief prevails; salvation is at hand... or is it?

Let's take a journey through the flip side of rural America in this drama, which premiered in 2001 in one of the volumes of the famous Night Visions horror series, where Barker's similarly long Hellraiser had previously appeared.