Dolan's Cadillac
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| Author | Stephen King |
|---|---|
| Country |  USA |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Thriller short story |
| Released in | Nightmares and Dreamscapes |
| Publication type | Anthology |
| Publisher | Viking Adult |
| Media Type | Print (Paperback) |
| Released | 1993 |
Dolan’s Cadillac is a short story by Stephen King. It is included in Nightmares and Dreamscapes, King's fifth collection of short stories. There were plans to adapt it into a feature film starring Kevin Bacon and Sylvester Stallone, with Stacy Title in the director's chair, but the project never came to fruition.[citation needed]
The story is narrated by the protagonist, a schoolteacher, and there is only one other main character, Dolan (the villain).
[edit] Plot summary
The narrator, Robinson (no first name given), finds himself a childless widower when Dolan, a wealthy crime-boss, has Robinson's wife murdered in order to prevent her from testifying against him. The murder (by ignition bomb) is never solved, and Robinson, unskilled in the arts of revenge, has no recourse. Over a seven-year period, however, haunted mentally by his wife's voice, Robinson devises a scheme of retaliation. Discovering that Dolan regularly makes the same cross-country road trip in his silver Cadillac, Robinson sets an elaborate trap on a desert road in Nevada: he excavates a funnel-shaped ditch just long and deep enough to contain the car, but not so wide as to allow escape through the doors. Robinson even takes on a summer job with a road paving crew just so that he can learn to operate the heavy equipment he needs to execute his plan.
The trap works, and Dolan is stuck in his Cadillac in the bottom of the pit. One of the goons in the car with Dolan is killed instantly in the crash; the other, crushed by the engine block, screams at the top of his lungs out of pain and panic, prompting Dolan to silence him with his gun. Robinson then greets Dolan and announces his intent to bury him alive. Dolan then asks his tormentor "Is your name Robinson?"; surprise prompts him to lean over the roof of the car, just as Dolan fires a few bullets skyward. He misses Robinson, who proceeds with the burial. Dolan, increasingly desperate, pleads with Robinson for his freedom, offering him a large sum of cash (which Robinson refuses without question), before Robinson advises him he will be released if he can scream "as loud as eight sticks of dynamite taped to the ignition of a 1968 Chevrolet". Robinson gleefully listens to Dolan's screams as he completes the burial and paves over the car. With what must be the last gasp of air left to him, Dolan screams out, "For the love of God, Robinson!" as the latter drops the last piece of paving into place.
Robinson pays a relatively small price of undergoing much physical and mental exhaustion, but he feels satisfied that he has done a great service to the memory of his late wife, whose voice finally falls silent.
[edit] Notes
The story is a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado.[citation needed]
