[1] "On Slide Inn Road" has been described as a "reimagin[ing]" of, and a "hat tip" to, the 1953 story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor,[2][3] to whom it was dedicated.

[1] Writing for Popzara, Trent McGee described it as "reimagin[ing] Flannery O'Conner's most famous story [...] by way of Raymond Carver, with a characteristically King-style conclusion that brings it all together.

Adams suggested that "On Slide Inn Road" "harken[s] back to the unflinching horror of [King's] earlier career" and is "admittedly fascinating in [its] sheer nastiness and cruelty" but "lack[s] the emotional punch of the collection's longer tales".

[9] Writing in The New York Times, Gabino Iglesias described "On Slide Inn Road" as "a master class in tension [...] full of King's dark humor.

[14] Brice Stratford (writing for The Spectator World) interpreted the stories in You Like It Darker as being a reflection on King's own life, with "On Slide Inn Road" being an "exploration of old age and mortality".

[16] Reviewing You Like It Darker, Michael Washburn judged "On Slide Inn Road" to be the strongest story in the collection, noting that "King uses deft touches to etch in the differences among the social media-savvy kids in the car, their white-collar parents, and the old-timer."

"[5] Similarly, Brice Stratford noted "...it is the problematic, repugnant old man who must risk himself to save his family, and the pompous, progressive son who fails when it really counts.