The Stephen King Collection: Stories from Night Shift

by Stephen King, John Glover (Narrator)

includes 16 of the 20 Night Shift short stories

The Boogeyman

I Know What You Need

Strawberry Spring

Gray Matter

The Woman in the Room

Battleground

Graveyard Shift

The Man Who Loved Flowers

The Last Rung on The Ladder

Night Surf

Jerusalem's Lot

Lawnmower Man

The Mangler

Quitters, Inc.

The Ledge

Sometimes They Come Back

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Thriller, Fantasy, Mystery, Anthologies

11 pages, Audio CD

First published February 17, 1978

About the author

Stephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.

Reviews

[Wil Wheaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reread this book, because I'm about to start working on my own collection of short stories, and I wanted to reconnect to the book that inspired me to be a writer, 35 years ago.

I enjoyed it so much more as an adult than I did as a kid, because I have lived more and have more of my own experiences to relate to the stories, characters, and experiences in the different chapters.

But the thing I loved the most about this was how much it inspired me to write my own stories, and how much it reminded me about plot, structure, and narrative in stories that are about 5000 words, each.

Really glad I read this again. Thanks, Stephen King!

[R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I learned from Night Shift:

It ain't easy to quit smoking.
That I know what you need.
That I am the doorway.
That he walks behind the rows.
That sometimes they come back.
It ain't over in 'Salem's Lot.
Don't drink bad beer.
Get off your ass and mow your own lawn, goddammit.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

King's first short story collection comes in at 4.125 stars. As you can see below, I rated and reviewed each story. Then, I added all the ratings together and took the average to get my overall rating.

This was my second time through and better than I remembered. A few stories that could be skipped, but you might as well read them all to get the full experience!

************************

Jerusalem's Lot - 4.5 stars
And earlier story of the same town and environs found in the novel 'Salem's Lot. Written in a style - letters and journal entries - that reminded me a lot of horror classics like Dracula and Frankenstein. This is a nice little taste of demonic shenanigans and eerie foreshadowing. A great way to start off a short story collection!

Graveyard Shift - 5 stars
Time for some spring cleaning! Nature is crazy sometimes. Your boss can be a jerk sometimes. Combine the two and you get this terrifying story of revenge. I spent most of the time cringing!

Night Surf - 2.5 stars
Not bad, but not really a full story. As it takes place in the world from The Stand, it feels more like a writing exercise that King used to help build the bigger story. Or, maybe an anecdote he was thinking about including, but pulled it out of the final product. Without knowing the backstory of The Stand, I am not sure this story will mean much to a reader.

I Am The Doorway - 5 stars
This story explains the cover of the edition I am reading. Great horror sci-fi. King does a great job jamming a lot of content in ten pages or so. I also love it when the very last sentence of a story hits just as hard as the whole rest of the story. Awesome stuff here!

The Mangler - 5 stars
More demonic possession - I am sensing a theme here! I am pretty sure that most King fans consider this short story one of his classics. It led to a series of what I am sure are very cheesy horror movies. I never saw them, but I have read this short story many times and I know that I love it!

The Boogeyman - 4 stars
This is an allegorical tale about a racist, sexist, generally unpleasant man who is willing to judge others but cannot see his own faults. But, you can't hide from the boogeyman!



Gray Matter - 4 stars
Does this taste a little bit off to you? In an age of e-coli and biohazard scares, this story will play off your fears about what might be out there waiting to get you from the inside out. 10 out of 10 on the gross meter!

Battleground - 5 stars
Definitely one of my top 5 favorite Stephen King short stories. Probably the best King ending of any of his stories. This story is short but sweet and worth reading even if you don't read the rest of the book.



Trucks - 5 stars
The basis for King's only directorial endeavor, the classic Maximum Overdrive (yeah, I said classic! FIGHT ME!) They also made another movie based on it, but I am not sure why. What if all those semis on the interstate took over? Maybe they're mad? There is a nostalgic place in my heart for this story!



Sometimes They Come Back - 3.5 stars
You guessed it - demons again! This was the longest short story so far in the collection. When reading short stories I feel like they have to be crafted perfectly to get in, get out, BOOM! You end up blown away in just a few words. While I enjoyed this one, I think it rambled on just a little bit too long and the end was probably the least shocking of any so far in the book.

Strawberry Spring - 4 stars
I like the story telling in this one a lot. I also think is is interesting how the rumor mill and media twisting of stories we see today was just as big of an issue back in the 1970s; everyone had a different take and everyone believed it 100%. A bit of a cheesy twist at the end, but overall, not bad!

The Ledge - 5 stars
This is another short story favorite of mine. Also, this is one that made its way to the big screen in the 80s classic Cat's Eye. No demons or monsters in this one, just humans pushing morality and fear to the limit in the name of money and pride."

The Lawnmower Man - 3 stars
I remember reading this story a long time ago and it is always what I think of when I think of King short stories that I do not like quite as much as the others. It is just out there; kind of creepy, but not super enthralling (to me). They also (for some reason) made a terrible movie based on this that was mainly just the same title.

Quitters, Inc. - 5 stars
Another classic King short story and probably one of his most well known. Like the previously discussed story, The Ledge, this is also one featured in the 80's King movie Cat's Eye. The plot of this one is just so oddly cool and the means to an end so logically maniacal that you can't help but say "That's f#%$ed up! But, kinda makes sense!"

I Know What You Need - 4 stars
Stephen King's version of the movie What Women Want. But, of course, it isn't a comedy!

Children of the Corn - 4.5 stars
Kids can be super creepy! You won't taking driving through the country-side for granted after this one. This is another classic King that I think most people have heard of. Also, I believe it has led to more movies than any other King story or novel. I just checked and there have been 10 - the earliest in 1984, the most recent in 2018.

The Last Rung on the Ladder - 2 stars
Meh. Not a bad story, but just kinda doesn't feel right in the context of this book. So far, my least favorite in this collection.

The Man Who Loved Flowers - 4.5 stars
Now that is an awesome way to tell a whole story in 6 pages. Well executed and mysterious. To be blunt, young love can be painful!

One for the Road - 4.5 stars
We've been here before . . . many times . . . and we will definitely go here again someday. But, whenever we go, evil is sure to follow. A very creepy sequel!

The Woman in the Room - 2.5 stars
As my mother is in a nursing home, I struggled a bit with this one. Kind of an unexpected end to this collection. I think it would have done better to end on the story before this one.

[Mario the lone bookwolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

The very young King´s first short story collection, a Bradburyian and Lovecraftian overkill of short, sharp, and vicious terror pearls.

King likes to talk about the art, mentioned the influence of these authors on his work several times, talked about imitating them in his book On writing, and how his short fiction changed over the years is amazing, especially seen under this perspective. It would be interesting to check if his other reads, he openly lists each year, had a similar influence if these authors' voices can be seen in the works of the King. I´ve already talked about this and have a redundancy problem, so just try it yourself and mix old, middle age, and fresh short stories or novels from his collections together and see how he evolves. Or disturbingly mutates, that´s a more appropriate word and what we Kingheads are desperately looking for.

Some of this was created in his twenties, quickly written before his success and full writing career. Some cynical fans and critics might say where there is the difference between the full job writing King mass producing books and the young King not having enough time to edit his work as often as other authors do, but I guess a bit of envy and suspicion how a normal person is capable of producing so much amazing work plays in here too. How a single man should be able to create so many masterpieces by just letting the characters tell their story, not knowing a definitive ending, not plotting, whiteboarding, storyboarding, just jumping into fantasy land mode, and imagining art of an unknown dimension.

What´s amazing, and a shame at the same time, is that King is so creative that Hollywood desperately took any grain of premise to make a movie out of it, as if there were no directors, screenwriters, and other authors capable of creating a short story or novel that could be made a movie. Also, a proof of that the book is always better, which might be a subjective obsessive reader´s opinion and not the universal, forever wisdom I am famous for. Fart joke, lol.

Magazines lost much of their importance for young authors to become popular, but at least they made a King writing in the shortest format ever possible, distilling the horror to the absolute minimum necessary and enabling something even the devil deemed impossible. Making him write in short, not wordy, form.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars ⭐️



1. Jerusalem’s Lot - 3 Stars ⭐️

2. Graveyard Shift - 4 Stars ⭐️

3. Night Surf - 3 Stars ⭐️

4. I Am The Doorway - 4.5 Stars ⭐️

5. The Mangler - 4.5 Stars ⭐️

6. The Bogeyman - 5 Awesome Stars ⭐️

7. Battleground - 3 Stars ⭐️

8. Gray Matter - 3 Stars ⭐️

9. Trucks - 4.5 Stars ⭐️

10. Sometimes They Come Back - 2 Stars ⭐️

11. Strawberry Spring - 5 Stars ⭐️

12. The Ledge - 2 Stars ⭐️

13. The Lawnmower Man - 2 Stars ⭐️

14. Quitters, Inc. - 4.5 Stars ⭐️

15. I Know What You Need - 2 Stars ⭐️

16. Children Of The Corn - 2 Stars ⭐️

17. The Last Wrung On The Ladder - 2 Stars ⭐️

18. The Man Who Loved Flowers - 3.5 Stars ⭐️

19. One For The Road - 3 Stars ⭐️

20. The Woman In The Room - 3 Stars ⭐️

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Labijose · Rating 5 out of 5]

No me he podido resistir. Relectura después de tantos años.

Esta colección de relatos del maestro King salió allá por los años 80, y creo que fue si no la primera, una de las primeras lecturas que hice de este genio. Tanto me marcó, que desde entonces he seguido su carrera y sus libros como el conejo persigue a la zanahoria. Y, aún así, aún me quedan unos cuantos libros suyos por leer. Entre estos relatos estaban el archiconocido “los chicos del maíz” y otros muchos tan buenos o más que este. Recuerdo con mucho cariño “los misterios del gusano, “un trago de despedida”, “soy la puerta”, “la trituradora”, “la primavera de fresa” y “el coco”. Pero no tiene ni uno solo malo. Todos los disfruté de principio a fin.

Es, quizás (siempre en mi opinión), el mejor compendio de relatos abarcados en un solo volumen. Aunque eso es mucho decir, dada la cantidad de lecturas de este tipo que ha publicado, y las cuales he disfrutado en su inmensa mayoría.

Y aunque no sea de los que suelen releer cosas que me han gustado mucho en el pasado, con este no me he podido resistir. Y creedme, sigue siendo una recopilación INSUPERABLE.

5 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did an entire reading vlog for this book, you can check it out here: https://youtu.be/HP4vVSk_3Ts

Here are my individual ratings for each story in this collection:
Jerusalem's Lot - 2/5 ⭐️
Graveyard Shift - 4.5/5 ⭐️
Night Surf - 2/5 ⭐️
I am the Doorway - 4/5 ⭐️
The Mangler - 5/5 ⭐️
The Boogeyman - 5/5 ⭐️
Grey Matter - 3/5 ⭐️
Battleground - 4/5 ⭐️
Trucks - 2/5 ⭐️
Sometimes They Come Back - 3/5 ⭐️
Strawberry Spring - 3/5 ⭐️
The Ledge - 4/5 ⭐️
The Lawnmower Man - 4/5 ⭐️
Quitters, Inc - 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I Know What You Need - 3/5 stars ⭐️
Children of the Corn - 4/5 stars ⭐️
The Last Rung on the Ladder - 2/5 ⭐️
The Man Who Loved Flowers - 2/5 ⭐️
One For the Road - 3/5 ⭐️
The Woman in the Room - 3/5 ⭐️

[Fabian · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are short stories (though not truly novellas) which actually serve as delectable intros to popular King mythologies (for a staggering example see [or better yet, don't {with the exception of "Trucks" a.k.a. "Maximum Overdrive" for B-level entertainment and "Children of the Corn" with its quaint moments of childlike chills}] all the movies made from like eight of these tales.) Here, King is at his most bizarre, most morbid. Most of his part-time heroes & (just a few) heroines, end up dead or suffering the loss of a child, wife, mother. Sometimes one story seems to bleed onto another one by motif (corn... rats... snow... death machines... death [duh]). The editing I must admit is masterful. The most avant-garde stories bookend it nicely; it even makes reference to 'Salem's Lot, one book I must admit I still have to read, and there are comical undertones & some misogynist parts (!!!!). I love how un-Stephen King this is, for someone who's used to being satisfied with around 78% of his work.

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twenty! Yes, I said TWENTY short stories that include some major classics including Trucks, Quitters, Inc, The Mangler, Sometimes They Come Back and The Ledge. This collection includes a Salem's Lot follow up - One for the Road: An Illustrated Story. A classic collection from the 1970s!! A must read for Constant Readers - six Films (including Lawnmower Man nicking the title of one of the short stories!), Four TV Adaptions and ten short films are the legacy of this outrageously commercially successful collection! It was only on later readings did I really appreciate the creativity and cross-book continuity of this collection, especially considering when it was written. 8 out of 12.

[Johann (jobis89) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Let's talk, you and I. Let's talk about fear."

Night Shift was Stephen King's first short story collection, released way back in 1978 and it contains quite a lot of his more popular short stories that ended up becoming movies. The prime examples being Children of the Corn and Sometimes They Come Back.

King is often hailed as the master of the short story. Prior to this collection I had only read Nightmares & Dreamscapes and The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, and I did really enjoy them, but found it odd when people would comment things like "Oh it was good, but it was disappointing compared to earlier ones". Well, now I get it, guys! Now I get it. You can quite literally feel King's hunger for story-telling throughout the entirety of this collection and given these stories were written at the very start of his career, the material is all so fresh with absolutely amazing, outrageous ideas.

I feel like I should reveal that I am not a huge fan of short stories. I want to get lost in a story with the continuing development of a story and its characters. I want to get to know my main characters inside out, back to front. I want to spend days/weeks thinking about the story and the characters and where it's all going, with the anticipation of getting into bed each night to see what happens next. You don't get this with short stories - they're short, that's their nature. You often don't get to find out what happens or why...there's cliffhangers that are never explored again. There isn't that same pull to keep reading and it can take me longer than usual to get through a short story collection. However, Night Shift has completely changed my perspective on short story collections. I WAS thinking about the book all day, but instead wondering what crazy story King has coming next. I DID have the same urge to keep reading. Some characters were memorable, even though I only got to know them for 30 pages or so. This collection was simply out of this world.

I almost don't know where to start reviewing this book, but I guess I can start with my absolute favourites in the collection. I can quite honestly say that there was not a bad story in this entire collection, but the much-anticipated Children of the Corn was as impressive as I imagined and is probably the greatest highlight for me. It was creepy and unsettling and even more terrifying than I could have predicted! Sometimes They Come Back was also a great story, alongside I Am The Doorway, The Mangler, Grey Matter, The Lawnmower Man...okay, I think I'm actually starting to list every single story in the book.

The Last Rung on the Ladder was also surprisingly emotional and almost brought a tear to the eye. Only King could evoke such a reaction in such a short story. I had previously read One for the Road as it was included in my edition of 'Salem's Lot, but it was great to read this story again. The only problem is...it makes me want to revisit 'Salem's Lot!!

Some stories were downright hilarious and just a joy to read, such as Battleground and The Ledge. It's difficult to even pinpoint my least favourite, but if I absolutely had to chose, I'd probably pick The Man Who Loved Flowers - but even then, I really enjoyed this story. It's unusual to not be able to find a flaw in a short story collection, but I've tried and I literally can't.

Definitely my top SK short story collection so far!

2024: king from the beginning. 4 stars on reread

[Coos Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta es una de esas antologías que logran exitosamente balancear sus relatos al punto de resultar todos buenos, algunos en menor o mayor medida, pero no considero que haya ni uno malo. Honestamente no me había adentrado mucho en las antologías de King, pese a ser uno de mis autores favoritos. Prefiero sus novelas, sin embargo esta recopilación de relatos me dejó aterrada y muy satisfecha. Hay relatos que me parecen totalmente icónicos, y que fue todo un placer leerlos.

Pronto le haré una reseña en mi canal contando cuáles fueron mis relatos favoritos, por si gustan pasar: https://www.youtube.com/coosburton

[Chris Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick thoughts: What can I say. A collection of some of the finest horror shorts I have read. The wide range of genres and excellent story telling will have you devouring each one.

Here are all the individual updates:

Story 1 of 20: "Jerusalem's Lot" - What a fun, brooding, spooky tale featuring a family home and a town with a dark past. LOVED the letter writing perspective and the church sequences. (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 2 of 20: "Graveyard Shift" - A deceptively fun story that quite literally creeps up on you at the end. Stay out of the basement! 🐀🦇 (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 3 of 20: "Night Surf" - A deadly virus has broken out and we follow a couple of college kids as they try to cope with the battle of staying alive for as long as possible. (⭐⭐⭐)

Story 4 of 20: "I Am The Doorway" - I really do not want to say too much because this story is just so good! Arthur was a part of the space program and might have contracted something. He will have something interesting to talk about the next time he sees his ophthalmologist. (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 5 of 20: "The Mangler" - Funny, detailed, spooky, and so well written. I think I might avoid laundry day for a few more hours. 😅 Also, I just found out there was a movie directed by Tobe Hooper. Where have I been? Note to self: Watch this in the near future!! (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 6 of 20: "The Boogeyman" - Lester loses a son to something in the closet. Will he listen to his other children's concerns before it's too late? Only his psychiatrist has the answer to that. This one is for all of us who had to have a nightlight as children so we could make sure that closet door never opened. 😐 (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 7 of 20: "Gray Matter" - This one was fantastic! Total B-movie creature feature vibes. Lesson: If you have a friend that insists on drinking warm natty light or PBR and you have not seen them in awhile, you might want to go check on them. (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 8 of 20: "Battleground" - This short captures the feel of one of my fave Twilight Zone episodes, so naturally this is a five star-er for me. Do shorts get more fun than this? I think not. **An absolute must read** (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 9 of 20: "Trucks" - What would you do if you were holled up in a fuel station while seemingly autonomous trucks try to mow down everyone in sight? This sort of sounds like a trip to Bucees, but worse. This short was fantastic!!! (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 10 of 20: "Sometimes They Comeback" - Jim is flabbergasted to find out that his brothers killer is back after all these years. One of the strangest bits is that he has not aged a day in almost 20 years. How could that be? A bonkers story. Loved it! (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 11 of 20: "Strawberry Spring" - People are going missing in a local college town. The gossip rises and more and more people start to turn up. Who could be the culprit? A few too many red herrings, but fun and exciting nonetheless. (⭐⭐⭐)

Story 12 of 20: "The Ledge" - Cressner has crossed a criminal overlord. He must walk the ledge of his penthouse to obtain money and the person he desires most. Will he be able to do it? This was a fun one. It has Die Hard vibes. (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 13 of 20: "The Lawnmower Man" - Harold hires a company to mow his lawn. The prices are reasonable, they do a good job, but never comment on how they accomplish their task. This one was SO great. Totally bonkers. Loved it. (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 14 of 20: "Quitters, Inc" - Richard employes a service to help him stop smoking. They will go to any lengths to make sure you do not fall off the wagon. Another tense and thought provoking short. Loads of fun satire. (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 15 of 20: "I Know What You Need" - Elizabeth meets a guy who seems to know quite a bit about her. As time passes, strange things start to happen to those in Liz's life. This one was tense! The ending was just perfect. It ramps up the craziness pretty quick. (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 16 of 20: "The Last Rung on the Ladder" - A brother saves his sister from a fall in a barn. Can he save her again as she gets older? Gosh. This one was SAD!! (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 17 of 20: "Children Of The Corn" - A road trip is haunted by something that walks in the local cornfields. I'm kind of torn on this one. Not sure if I'm alone on this, but it was just okay. (⭐⭐⭐)

Story 18 of 20: "The Man Who Loved Flowers" - Someone is going to meet someone they love with flowers and hope. This one was extremely dark, but it was probably one of my favorites. The twist threw me for a loop!!! (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 19 of 20: "One For The Road" - Sequel to Salem's lot! Amazing!! (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Story 20 of 20: "The Woman In The Room" - Talk about ending with a sad and one. Ugh! (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

⭐ | Rating | ⭐
❖ 5 out of 5 ❖

[Will M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also posted at my blog: https://killerscorpion.wordpress.com/...

I find it really difficult to review short stories, especially anthologies. Night Shift is a collection of King's short stories, and if I'm not mistaken, this is a collection of the first short stories he wrote in his early years of writing. The most shocking thing you have to know is that the writing is not outdated. That's the thing about King, I've read his first book Carrie and the writing of it still felt like he wrote it months ago. Amazing author indeed.

I'm unsure of what to write here. It would make this review damn long if I were to review each short story, so I'll just list down my favorites, and not so favorites, then give a brief explanation why I liked/disliked it. The ones not mentioned were either likable or boring.

The likes:
Graveyard Shift
Something about mutated rats really caught my interest. I'm not normally afraid of rats, but if ever I see one as big as the ones described in this short story, then I would probably be scared as hell.

Night Surf
The basis for The Stand, which is one of my favorites novels of all time. It was short but quite satisfying. I liked how King introduced the disease that would cause so much havoc in The Stand.

Quitter's Inc
Honestly it would be a sin not to like this. No spoilers along your way though, so all I can say is choose your decisions wisely. It has been proven how addictive smoking is. I've never smoked in my life, and after reading this, I don't think I ever will. The plot presented here is not unlikely to happen in real life, and that's the reason why this was so scary and entertaining at the same time.

The Woman In The Room
Originality might not be the most prominent factor of this short story, but it was executed quite nicely. I liked the main character and it was a satisfying short read.

Sometimes They Come Back
Please don't let them come back. The main character here was really likable, and the supernatural element was creepy as fuck. Good thing I was reading this one in the afternoon. A bit scarier than Pet Sematary if one were to look at the bigger picture.

The Ledge
Who doesn't like to read about gambling/bets? I sure do. The deceiver becomes the deceived.

I Know What You Need
Creepy as fuck if ever I meet a woman of the same kind as the weird man in this one. For me this tackled psychological factors with a pinch of supernatural element/s along the way. Typical King. Amazing.

and last, my favorite of them all, The Boogeyman
I read The Boogeyman at one in the morning. That was the worst decision I've ever made in my reading life, so far (maybe alongside Pet Sematary). This one was fucking scary I had to turn on the lights right after. As none of you know, I'm a bit of a nocturnal person. I'm most productive at night, and being a Stephen King fan doesn't really bode well with the nocturnal life. Really likable characters that were fully developed despite this being a short story. The Boogeyman was fucking scary and the ending scared me the most. The best of the whole collection.

There are the ones that I disliked. I don't think I should do an "in-depth" review of them anymore because the ones that I did like managed to make this review long already. Let me just comment on how much I hated Jerusalem's Lot but really liked One for The Road . Both are related to 'Salem's Lot, a novel that I really didn't like. I was expecting to like JL so that I could have a better reread of 'Salem's Lot in the future, but nope, I hated it just as much. Another noteworthy disappointment would be Gray Matter . I'm sure it was showcased at the back of the book for a reason, but I'm quite unsure of what that reason would be.

4.5/5 stars. Not a perfect collection but some will never be forgotten. This collection was executed beautifully considering this was written in King's early writing years. There's a reason why King is my favorite author, and most of his works prove my point. This is one of those works. Read this if you want to be scared, and I'd recommend reading this at night.

[Gareth Is Haunted · Rating 5 out of 5]

'He took an involuntary step backwards. His face became stained with a sudden unbelieving terror. Lightning slashed out of the sky. Thunder walked in the clouds and the water had gone as black as the river Styx. '

Ask yourself, how good Stephen King can a book get? The simple answer is Night Shift. This book is jammed full of twenty short stories which are all absolutely the definition of King at his creepy, scary and nightmare-inducing best. This book has it all. From serial killers, aliens possessed machines, cults and vampires. You won't be wanting to work night shifts after reading The Graveyard Shift, which made my skin crawl.
My simple conclusion is that this book is the best of the best and an absolute necessity. ;-)

[*•MJ•* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sk’s first collection of short stories. GREAT stories such as “Children of the Corn, Graveyard shift, Sometimes They Come Back and other classics. A complete masterpiece 👏

Perfect end of the year read 🩸

[Ginger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of short stories that was first published in 1978 by Stephen King was great!

I’m glad to finally get to Night Shift! I can see that some of the stories in this collection have been turned into movies or another type of entertainment.

King has been putting out great stuff since the beginning!

My favorites!!:

Jerusalem's Lot – 4.5 stars
Graveyard Shift – 4 stars
I Am the Doorway – 4 stars
The Mangler – 5 stars
The Boogeyman – 4 stars
Battleground – 5 stars
Trucks – 5 stars
Sometimes They Come Back – 5 stars
The Ledge – 5 stars
Quitters, Inc. – 4 stars
One for the Road – 4.5 stars

Average:
(The story felt too short for me or I wanted a bit more.)

Strawberry Spring – 3.5 stars
Gray Matter – 3.5 stars
Children of the Corn – 3.5 stars

Below Average:
(The writing was fine, but the plot needed something "more" in my opinion.)

Night Surf – 2.5 stars
The Lawnmower Man – 3 stars
I Know What You Need – 3 stars
The Last Rung on the Ladder – 2.5 stars
The Man Who Loved Flowers – 3 stars
The Woman in the Room – 2.5 stars

I enjoyed every story in the collection, even the weaker ones. Definitely get to this one if you are a Stephen King fan!

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I continue my Stephen King binge, I seem to be leaning more towards his short story collections. As I've said before Stephen King is one of the best short story writers around.


Night Shift was a bit of a mixed bag but there were way more great stories then bad ones.

My favorite stories were The Boogeyman in which a man learns to keep he's closet doors closed, Grey Matter in which we all learn that beer is bad, Sometimes They Come Back in which a teacher finds out that you can't out run your past, Quitters, Inc. in which a man learns that he should have read the fine print, Children of the Corn kids are monsters and corn is important, and The Man Who Loved Flowers in which we meet a young man who won't give up on love.

I really only had 3 stories I disliked: Number 1 was The Lawnmower Man I don't even want to talk about it. It was awful
Number 2: Trucks, so boring.
Number 3 : Graveyard Shift, damn RATS!

Night Shift is a vintage read and some stories are super dated but as I said before there are more great and timeless stories in this collection then there are clunkers.

No rec. Either you like Stephen King or you don't.

[Jaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard collection for me to review. Night Shift was not what I expected at all. Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury & HP Lovecraft's influence is crawling all over these stories. A lot of the stories are old fashioned and some use racist language that is not okay.

I read this collection slowly. As I completed each story, I went back and scribbled a star rating above the title. I've taken an average of all my scores.

Jerusalem's Lot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The only story I knew for sure would be in Night Shift was Jerusalem's Lot. I was already looking forward to reading it because Salem's Lot is in my opinion, a classic. This short story explores the ancestry of Jerusalem's Lot.

It almost seems that this is a town born bad: but as we learn, all dark things have a moment where darkness takes root.

Set in the 1800's a man named Charles moves into Chapelwaite, a home in Preachers Corners, close to Jerusalem's Lot. It is his ancestral home, and he has inherited it after a string of relatives die in the house. The inhabitants of Chapelwaite have been dying for a long long time, but our narrator is optimistic and not superstitious.

This is a story about ancestry, about the evil we inherit, and about the past we can't escape. The beauty and the genius of this story is the way it is told. The epistolary form is perfect for creating tension as we slowly see the narrator go from "yay I love my new home" to "hmm I think there must be a large rat infestation in the walls" to "umm why won't the townsfolk speak to me" to "um so theres an abandoned town next door suffused with a poisonous miasma." to "oh goodness! I don't think those are rats in the walls" A masterclass in tension, pacing, and atmosphere.

References
Theres a great sense of Lovecraftian homage with the presence of the worm, and the rats. See:The Rats in the Walls

Graveyard Shift: ⭐⭐⭐
Speaking of Salem's Lot, this story reminded me of one of my least favorite scenes from the book. I hate rats. But I can acknowledge this was well written. Graveyard Shift is a total gross out. It takes hating your boss to an ENTIRELY new level.

Our narrator, Hall, is working a dead end blue collar job and hating it. But even more, he hates his boss, Warwick. He agrees to take a graveyard shift in order to make some extra cash. What none of them expect is the massive, aggressive, rodent infestation in the buildings sub-basement. This story speaks a lot to the blue collar experience, the monotony of having to work a job that is unsatisfying, and having to do things for money that you'd maybe rather not. It also speaks to the level of self loathing that a lot of young, fresh out of college, young adults feel.

Night Surf: ⭐⭐
A group of youths are spending their time bumming around a beach. Our narrator is a particular gem(sarcasm), in that he is constantly fat shaming his girlfriend, abusing her, and being dislikable. All this is going on in the midst of what seems to be a global pandemic, referred to as Captain Trips. As the world has gone seemingly to hell, morality is thrown out the window. The only part of this story that has stuck with me despite my disquiet, is a scene where the group burns a sick man alive, for fun. A sickening bonfire on the beach.

I was disappointed with Night Surf. I could see what King was doing - it reminded me a lot of Lord of the Flies. However, for a precursor to The Stand, I expected more staying power. As it stands this is one of the more forgettable stories. I just find myself thinking - yes, in the face of a seemingly world ending event, humans lose their morality. Okay – but this story does not have enough depth for me to care. It needed more nuance. This is also one of the few I believe could have been improved by a few more pages.

I am The Doorway: ⭐⭐⭐
This short story is the inspiration for my favorite edition of Night Shift. The cover features a Bandaged hand with eyes staring out from gaps in the wrapping. This short story is body horror done the way I like it. Add in space germs, and a hefty dose of Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury inspo, and you've got a memorable short story. This one feels like heat lightning and thunder after the rain.

The Mangler: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A short story about a possessed industrial laundry steam press, of all things. King makes this one of the best stories in the collection! The mangler is campy and supernatural. The story comes to a head when the characters try to exorcise the machine. The ending you absolutely cannot predict. I like to imagine this starting out as a satire about what it is like to work in unsafe conditions... Except in this story, the unsafe conditions are supernatural and outside of human control, unlike real unsafe working conditions that are often due to pure human negligence. Beyond this, the story features some really good descriptions.

The Boogeyman: ⭐⭐
I have to commend King for his ability to write truly despicable characters. The narrator of the boogeyman is vile. The plot is this: A man seeks out a therapist to confess how he let each of his children be murdered rather than face his own fears.

I seem to have an unpopular opinion when it comes to The Boogeyman. I have seen mostly positive reviews. A lot of readers seem to think this is the best story in Night Shift! I hated the narrator, and I hated the ending. I thought it was cheesy. It reminded me of the ending to Misery, but at least with Misery I could buy the ending. The ending to the boogeyman on the other hand? I have to roll my eyes.

Thematically this has promise: survivors guilt? Bring it on! The grief of child loss and the ensuing destruction of a marriage? Compelling! But when the narrator is so unlikeable, it takes a toll to read. That paired with the ending makes for an unenjoyable experience.

Gray Matter: ⭐⭐⭐
A wonderful dark sci-fi set on a snow drenched night in Bangor, Maine. Personally, I think this is a fantastic setting for a creature feature. Gray Matter is essentially the blob meets Stephen King.

Everything is normal until a terrified teenager comes to the local package store for help. His father is an alcoholic, and well… lately things have gotten out of control. He enlists the help of the store owner, and things get rather otherworldly.

I really enjoyed the themes of of addiction & alcoholism and thought the monster like transformation was a brilliant way to represent the pain alcoholism can inflict on those around the addict.

Life lesson: don’t drink funky beer. Also: don’t be an alcoholic. It doesn’t end well:
you could turn into a monster.

Battleground: ⭐
An assassin recently killed a toy corporation owner? And now he’s received a box of homicidal toy soldiers? Is this a joke?!

Childish and laughable. I am not the demographic for this story.

Trucks: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
If this is anything like Christine, I can't wait to finally read it! King really shines when writing horror about inanimate objects.

Trucks reminds me a lot of the Mist, except instead of hidden creatures in the mist, you’ve got visible TRUCKS in a parking lot. And instead of a grocery store, it’s a diner. This story feels like the summer sun on asphalt. It makes you think of the sun beating down, and it almost makes you want to wipe sweat from your brow. The characters are stranded, and eventually water becomes scarce. The only thing they have to look to is the glare of the sun and the gleaming metal grill of the trucks that menace seems to exude from. It is a hellish story. Solid, with an ending that feels post apocalyptic and fresh.

Trucks is basically about a group of people trapped in a diner, surrounded by trucks that have suddenly become sentient, and murderous. They have been used and abused for far too long, and now they want to show humanity how it feels to be used. If anyone tries to exit the diner, they got run down. And when the trucks run out of gas, they manage to communicate in morse code that anyone willing to refuel them will be spared.

Seasonality plays a role in a lot of these stories. This one is a pure summer scorcher.

Sometimes They Come Back: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
"teachers have more ulcers than any other professional group, with the exception of air traffic controllers."

Jim Norman is an English teacher with a tragic past. When he was young, he witnessed his brothers murder by some school aged punks. He had long been visited by nightmares replaying his brothers last moments. He's always had this nagging feeling... because the murderers got away with it. Jump forward to adulthood, and Jim has got a happy marriage, and a job he mostly likes. Until new students enter his classroom, that look and act like his worst nightmare.

"After the kids were gone, something old and brooding seemed to settle over the halls and whisper in the empty rooms. Some black, noxious beast, never quite in view."

I imagine this story is influenced by Kings days as an English school teacher, and largely by his troubles teaching similar "slow-learners" and trouble makers. Though, I hope King never had kids quite this bad. There are threats and pranks that escalate to life or death consequences. And all the while, the reader is never really sure whether or not Jim is "cracking up" or if these new students of his really are the resurrected embodiments of his brothers murderers. One thing is for sure though: these kids are creepy and they seem to know more about Jim than they should...

At its' core this is about the struggles of teaching children that don't want to be taught and the struggles of teaching within an administration that isn't willing to help out beyond the basics. It's also about the past, and how things sometimes come back, and how leaving things undone usually leads to more trouble. Oh, and sometimes, dead is better. It is best to leave old skeletons buried.

The ending is wholly supernatural and the second story to feature a kind of exorcism. Unfortunately, I think the exorcism here works less than the one in The Mangler. The ending leaves readers with two questions: Can you escape the past? Can you escape your fate?

References
Jim is teaching Lord of the Flies, a King favorite and a wonderful accompaniment to a short story about murderous kids.

Strawberry Spring: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Strawberry Spring is both horrific and beautiful! King writes a spring written so sweet, yet a murderer is hiding in the mist. The story takes place on the campus of New Sharon Teachers' College, during the spring of 1968. Our narrator is obsessed with the beauty of the "strawberry spring" and not afraid to venture out into the night, despite a serial killer roaming the campus. The students call the killer Springheel Jack.

I was enchanted. Enchanted by that dark and mist-blown strawberry spring, and by the shadow of violent death that walked through it on those nights eight years ago. The shadow of Springheel Jack."

In this story the cycle of the seasons is used to mirror the cyclic nature of the serial killer. The narrator muses that perhaps the killings stopped when the strawberry spring ended...and now, eight years later, another strawberry spring is winding up.

This story is psychological, and reminds me of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If you liked this short story, you'll love it.

Lots of musical references: Hey Jude, Love is Blue, Scarborough Fair.

The Ledge: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
What is not to love about a story that is as fun as it is vindictive? And it stars a hunky tennis instructor taking on a mob boss? Yes, please.

The Ledge begins with our tennis instructor, Mr. Norris, attempting to talk a MOB BOSS into letting him run off with his WIFE. Mr. Norris is head over heels in love, and is not about to let any murderous rich guy stand in his path. Meanwhile, mob boss (Cressner), has plans of his own. They go back and forth for a while, before Cressner lays it out for him. Mr. Norris has TWO options. One: he can leave and be arrested for drug possession, because Cressner has set him up with a LOT of cocaine. He'd never see his love again. or Two: He can attempt to walk along the ledge of the SKY SCRAPER Cressner lives in. If he makes it around the building without dying, Cressner will let him live happily ever after. Sounds totally like something a vindictive mob boss wouldn't back out of, right? Right. Even so, Mr. Norris decides to risk it for it all, and makes his way out on to the ledge.

This story really makes you feel like you are out on the ledge. You feel the wind, You feel the vertigo, the fear!

The ending is the best in Night Shift. The Ledge is vindictive and satisfactory. If you liked the scene in 1408, where the MC is out on the ledge, you will enjoy this.

The Lawnmower Man: ⭐⭐⭐
Picture this: You're enjoying a nice day while your lawn is being mowed by a neighborhood teen. A dog is chasing a cat. Oh no! the dog chases the neighbors cat under the mower! Perfect summer day ruined, white collar bliss decimated. This is the chain of events that precipitates The Lawnmower Man.

Harold Parkette is devastated. He can't stand to look at his poor lawn, and his family is so disturbed that they all collectively ignore the growing weeds and tall grass. Until the neighbors start to complain. So Harold begins looking for a new lawn mowing service. Because he certainly won't be mowing his own lawn.

A man shows up at Harolds door that is the blue collar charming man of his nightmares. He instantly decides this man is both grimy and charming enough to bed his wife and take his money at the same time. No matter, even though Harold feels some misgivings about this strange man, he leaves him to the yard. But this man is strange. He's muttering things about Circe, and oh goodness, is he eating the grass too?

Turns out, Harolds new lawnmower man is a Satyr.

This short story is pure blue collar versus white collar. Add in a heavy dose of Pagan mysticism and you've got a hilariously dark story.

The Lawnmower Man is the variety of cheese I like! I can tell King had fun with it.

Quitters Inc.: ⭐⭐⭐
Morrison's life sucks. He can't quit smoking. He hears about a place that helped a friend quit smoking and changed his life. Morrison decides to check it out. Turns out he gets more than he bargains for.

This story is about addiction and the struggle to sever an addiction.

Lesson: what is more important, your addiction, or your families happiness? If your families safety isn't enough to stop you from smoking, nothing will.

If I could recommend one story to someone struggling with addiction: this would be it.

I Know What You Need:⭐⭐⭐⭐
This story is the least conventionally scary story of the collection, yet it focuses on real horrors. The title itself is chilling; it is very invasive.

Elizabeth is minding her business studying at college. She has a boyfriend she loves and everything is okay. Then a strange boy appears that seems to know everything she needs. At first, she's put off. But eventually, she starts to fall in love with this strange guy and his ability to always predict her needs. He always wants to do what she does, he likes all the same movies, the same foods, he can predict her moods and knows just the right thing to say. Elizabeths roommate Alice is not as enamored with this boy as she is.

"He's made you love him by knowing every secret thing you want and need, and that's not love at all. That's rape."

Everyone needs a friend like Alice: someone that is willing to give you hard truths, even if it risks losing the friendship.

I was impressed with Kings handling of this story. The themes around toxic masculinity, stalking and rape are important and this story highlights them cunningly. The idea of psychological rape is complex, and I hope King expands on this in later works. The ending is a feminist triumph.

Children of the Corn: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
One of the worst husbands ever stars in this absolute classic!

A couple traveling across the country in a last ditch effort to save their marriage end up hoping to save their lives instead. The road trip takes a turn for the worst as they find themselves driving through rural Nebraska, surrounded by corn fields.

Themes of religious fanaticism, rebellion, age, cultish behavior, marriage, and toxic masculinity.

A message to husbands: listen to your wives!

The Last Rung on the Ladder: ⭐⭐
Disappointing and Depressing. A bit of a moral tale. I have to admit, this one did not do much for me. I was not really in the head space to read it.

The Last Rung on the Ladder follows a young man as he navigates the aftermath of his sisters suicide. It goes over their childhood, how they used to play in their barn and jump from the ladder and land in hay. One day, the ladder breaks, and his sister nearly dies, but he saves her life. The message seems to be that he always saves her, and that something is always there to break her fall. In the end, the sister is unable to fight her own demons, and as an adult she reaches out to her brother one final time... but he doesn't reach back.

Important lesson: Check on your loved ones. They might be struggling. And if you wait, it might be too late.

The Man Who Loved Flowers: ⭐⭐
A lot of filler leading up the big reveal that doesn’t have a pay off big enough to justify the filler.

Okay so a man buys flowers for his sweetheart. Only turns out there’s also this hammer murderer running about. Suspicious. Turns out our murderer thinks all women are this one woman named Norma that rejected him, so he gets murdery ever time he’s rejected by strange women that are like “umm sorry I’m not Norma?”

Moral of the story: it’s dangerous to be a woman. Second lesson: entitled men are dangerous even if they do nice things like buy you flowers.

One For the Road: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Another Salem's Lot STUNNER! My favorite of the collection. The atmosphere is the winner here! Set in a blizzard, a man wanders in to Tookey's bar. His family is trapped in a snow drift in the town of Salems' Lot. The bar owner and his friend Booth decide to help this man out but they let him know: IF his family is not in the car when they arrive.. they are leaving. Sure enough, the car is empty...and then the sound of tinkling bells among the howling wind.

"And then there was an answer, a voice coming out of the dark like little tinkling silver bells, and my heart turned cold as ice in a cistern"

The Woman in the Room: ⭐⭐⭐
Forlorn, depressing, real. This story describes the pain of watching a loved one wither away.
Themes: death, grief, age

[LTJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever there is an opportunity to read a collection of horror short stories by Stephen King, you must jump on it. Night Shift captures many of King’s greatest short stories and puts it all together in a must-have collection that you’ll enjoy reading from start to finish. One of the biggest reasons why I wanted to read Night Shift was to read some follow-up stories directly following the events of ‘Salem’s Lot.

Both “Jerusalem’s Lot” and “One for the Road” were absolutely fantastic! I won’t ruin anything for you but wow, it was great seeing ‘Salem’s Lot in such interesting ways. Considering this was King’s first-ever collection of short stories to be released, there’s a bit of everything here for everyone. Some of my other favorite short stories here were “I Am the Doorway”, “The Lawnmower Man”, “Children of the Corn”, and “The Man Who Loved Flowers” as they each had their own horrific, creepy, and chilling vibes to them.

I give Night Shift a 5/5 as I genuinely enjoyed reading all these stories as they were very intriguing and unique in their own way. The majority of stories here really hit that spot for me that you can only truly find in King’s work and considering this has 20 short stories altogether, makes it a great deal. I would recommend this to anyone that loves horror or wants to read more of King’s earlier work to see why he’s the greatest horror author of all time!

[°°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ʜᴇʟᴇɴ Ροζουλί Εωσφόρος ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° ★·.·´¯`·.·★ Ⓥⓔⓡⓝⓤⓢ Ⓟⓞⓡⓣⓘⓣⓞⓡ Ⓐⓡⓒⓐⓝⓤⓢ Ταμετούρο Αμ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πως είναι δυνατόν να σε ζαλίσει η κόκκινη σκοτεινή, γλυκόπικρη μυρωδιά του ΠΟΟΥ ΕΝΤΓΚΑΡ-ΑΛΑΝ (ΠΟΕ), να σε ευφράνει η εξωκοσμική γεύση αστρικών και υποθαλάσσιων ουσιών απέθαντης ζωής του ΛΑΒΚΡΑΦΤ ΧΑΟΥΑΡΝΤ-ΦΙΛΙΠΣ, με τα ελιξίρια της υπέρτατης ηδονής απο το δοχείο της ψυχής του Κίνγκ που πλημμυρίζει απο συλλογές σοκαριστικών στροβιλισμών μεταξύ γήινων και μεταφυσικών καταστάσεων,
απο μια φραουλένια άνοιξη μεχρι
μια νυχτερινή βάρδια συγκλονιστικής βίας
και απίστευτης παραγωγής φρικαλέας μετάλλαξης σε άλλες μορφές ζωής, και να μην αγαπήσεις με πάθος αυτό το βιβλίο.
Ειναι σχεδόν αδύνατον.

Έχω διαβάσει αρκετά βιβλία του βασιλιά,
μα αυτό μόλις πήρε την πρώτη θέση στην καρδιά μου και επιβεβαίωσε περίτρανα τα μεγαλειώδη διαπιστευτήρια του.

Σε όλες τις ιστορίες έχει μία σταθερά προσανατολισμένη στην φρίκη
αλλά και εκεί που η πυξίδα γυρίζει αντίθετα
πάλι η επιτακτική και ιδιαίτερη ουσία
που αποτυπώνεται στην γραφή του
χύνεται υποδόρια σαν λιπαρό δηλητήριο παρανοϊκής χορδοτομής στο μυαλό, που αδυνατεί να αντισταθμίσει το μακάβριο και απεχθές με την λογική εξήγηση.

Η «Νυχτερινή βάρδια» είναι η πρώτη απο τις συλλογές ανιστόρητων ιστοριών του Κίνγκ που εκδόθηκε το 1976, αλλά σίγουρα πέρασε στο πάνθεον των διαχρονικών διηγημάτων φανταστικής και υπερφυσικής τρομολαγνείας.

Μεταμοσχεύσεις νεκρικής ζωής, ντουλάπες νεκρών μωρών, μεταλλαγμένοι αρουραίοι που αποικούν και εκφυλίζονται στα υπόγεια παλιών κτιρίων, απο αυτά
που φθίνουν απο την υγρασία της σαπίλας και την βρόμα της σήψης απο τα θεμέλια.

Μηχανές σιδερώματος με λ��σσαλέες ορέξεις για ανθρώπινο δέρμα.
Μια μοχθηρή συνομοσπονδία απο μηχανές, φορτηγά, νταλίκες, μπουλντόζες και τριαξονικά τέρατα που εφορμούν ενάντια στην ανθρωπότητα.

Μια ομάδα απέθαντων δολοφόνων που επιστρέφει απο τον τάφο για να εκδικηθεί την σχιζοφρενική φοβία του
θύματος -θύτη.
Μάχες ανάμεσα σε στρατιώτες και πολεμικές επιδρομές σε έναν άνθρωπο που πολεμάει με παιχνίδια.

Ο εργαζόμενος στην εταιρεία χλοοκοπτικής υπηρεσίας που ειναι δημιούργημα του μυθικού Θεού Παν.
Η μαφία της εταιρείας του αντίκαπνικού προγράμματος θα στείλει πολλούς καπνιστές στην απόλυτα εθιστική παραλυτική κατάπληξη.

Τα παιδιά του καλαμποκιού και η γυναίκα στο δωμάτιο είναι υπερτέλειες ιστορίες ψυχικού και συνειδησιακού παραληρήματος.

Φυσικά η αρχή και το τέλος τιμούν μεγάλες μορφές του γραπτού τρόμου με την ιερή αφιέρωση στις ιστοριες που αφορούν την ‘διαβόητη’ έπαυλη στο Τζερούσαλεμ’ς Λοτ και αποτελούν αθάνατο φόρο τιμής.

Συνοδευτικά σερβίρονται βουντού και καθημερινοί άνθρωποι που ξαφνικά πραγματοποιούνται οι χειρότεροι φόβοι τους.
Αρκετοί από αυτούς είναι συγγραφείς.
Η δράση διαδραματίζεται σε μικρές, ήσυχες πόλεις, πάντα στην Πολιτεία του Μέιν: οι τρεις φανταστικές πόλεις Ντέρι, Τζερούσαλεμ’ς Λοτ και Καστλ Ροκ γεννούν το κακό σαν τους γοτθικούς έρωτες που το αναπόδραστο απομυζεί αίμα και νυχτερινές σκιές απέθαντων.

5/5 λίγα ειναι.
💥💥💥💥💥

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[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen King’s first anthology!


The general rating is an average result of each individual rating of the stories contained in the anthology.


JERUSALEM’S LOT

Rating: *** ( 3 stars )

This is a short story which serves as an introductory prequel if you later wanted to read Salem’s Lot novel.

Set in 1850, Charles Boones inherited the Chapelwaite manor, which is feared by the people of Preacher’s Corners town, and that has a dark connection with Jerusalem’s Lot, a deserted village, quite near of the manor. When you started to hear something inside the walls…

…it’s the beginning of the end.


GRAVEYARD SHIFT

Rating: **** ( 4 stars )

During the holiday weekend of Fourth of July, in a mill, it’s offered to several employees to get an extra bonus for cleaning a very old basement that it hasn’t been cleaned for 12 years…

…obviously there are rats, but oddly there aren’t as much as you may expect…

…where have gone the rest of them?


NIGHT SURF

Rating: * ( 1 stars )

A bunch of awful teenagers go to the beach at night, in the middle of an apocalyptical world where the most of population have died due a contagious decease.


I AM THE DOORWAY

Rating: **** ( 4 stars )

In a parallel reality where the NASA space program was able not only reaching the Moon, but also Mars, during a mission to Venus, one of the astronauts suffered an accident, losing the ability to walk, but got in his hands a very twisted and dangerous ability instead.


THE MANGLER

Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )

In an industrial laundry facility, due an odd series of coincidences, a speed ironer machine tasted blood…

…and it liked it.


THE BOOGEYMAN

Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )

A man goes to the psychiatrist to talk out his strange and deadly past experiences that caused the death of all his children…

…and never lose of sight the closet’s door.


GRAY MATTER

Rating: ** ( 2 stars )

A kid arrived to a bar, and one of the customers offered to take him back to his appartment, where his odd dad is wating.


BATTLEGROUND

Rating: *** ( 3 stars )

A profesional hitman suffered the revenge of a toyman whom he killed.


TRUCKS

Rating: **** ( 4 stars )

Madness is unleashed in a gas station when trucks and semi-trailers got alive and started to kill any human around, until a small bunch of survivors got trapped in the dinner, part of the gas station facility.


SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK

Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )

Two young brothers cross fates with a gang of punks, and after one of the brothers died, the other escapes. Years later, the surviving brother got married and became an English teacher…

…however, after Xmas break, his students started to die, while getting odd replacement students.


STRAWBERRY SPRING

Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )

During a “strawberry spring”, a kind of false mini season, provoking fog at nights, perfect ambiance for a serial killer’s murdering spree at New Sharon College…

…the Springheel Jack killer is loose!

Several students are murdered and panic is everywhere at the New Sharon College.

Eight years later, the “strawberry spring” is back, the fog is back, and…

…the Sprinheel Jack killer is back!


THE LEDGE

Rating: **** ( 4 stars )

Something that you shouldn’t do is having an affair with the wife of a criminal lord…

…and other thing that you shouldn’t try is playing odd bets.


THE LAWNMOWER MAN

Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )

There is a successful lawnmowing company, however, none client has ever being able to see who s the owner of it, one of the clients decided to take a peek and found out the mystery…

…but there are mystery beyond your wildest nightmares and they should remain unknown.


QUITTERS, INC.

Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )

Some people say that habits are nasty things…

…but sometimes, quitting those habits can be even nastier things…

…not only for the addict…

…but his/her family too.


I KNOW WHAT YOU NEED

Rating: *** ( 3 stars )

In war and love, everything goes…

…but there should be limits for some used stuff.


CHILDREN OF THE CORN

Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )

Vicky and Burt, are a troubling married couple, doing a road trip through the heart of the United States, hoping to save their fragile marriage. However, when they are traveling alongside of a massive cornfield, they hit a boy with their car, but when they checked the body, they noticed that they boy had his throat already sliced and he was almost dead when hit.

They opted to take the kid’s body to the nearest town which the map says is Gatlin, but when they arrived there, it’s a ghost town and everything seemed to stop 12 years ago…

…however, the town isn’t as deserted as it seemed…

…and zealot kids isn’t the only thing that they should be afraid about.


THE LAST RUNG ON THE LADDER

Rating: **** ( 4 stars )

Heart-breaking tale of two sibbings (brother and sister) and how their strong connection when they were kids was getting weaker and weaker, meanwhile they got older and their paths took separate but kinda of similarly depressing fates.


THE MAN WHO LOVED FLOWERS

Rating: **** ( 4 stars )

Love is in the air, but so is murder, and the fateful date of a man with the woman who loves will turn into a tragedy.


ONE FOR THE ROAD

Rating: *** ( 3 stars )

This is a short story which serves as a sequel for the Salem’s Lot novel.

Set a couple of years later of the events of Salem’s Lot, in a bar, two men decided to venture into a deadly blizzard to try to save a family stranded just in the middle of the dreadful Jerusalem’s Lot village.


THE WOMAN IN THE ROOM

Rating: *** ( 3 stars )

Remorse and guilt overwhelm to a troubling man after deciding to end the suffering of his unhealthy mother.

[Raquel Estebaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

No soy una lectora asidua de este género, pero esta recopilación de relatos me ha encantado. Muy variados en temática y amenos. Leeré más de este señor, que he leído muy poco!

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Halloween season, I wanted to either reread Night Shift, which I read many years ago in high school and haven't reread since, or read Skeleton Crew for the first time. I actually settled on Skeleton Crew, and had even pulled it off the bookshelf, but then I made a last minute decision and put it back in favour of Night Shift, which I had remembered as being a perfect five-star read, and which felt like an old friend to me, I loved it so much. Did it hold up as well as the first time I read it? Well, no, frankly, it didn't. But it's still a very good book.

I loved the tie-ins to his novels in these stories, like the bookend stories for his novel 'Salem's Lot (Jerusalem's Lot, a precursor to the novel set in the 1800s, and One for the Road, which takes place after the events of the novel in the 1970s) and the story Night Surf, which is set in same universe and pandemic as The Stand.

Some of the stories in here are truly superb, and I consider them among the best horror short stories I've ever read. I love how diverse the collection is; there's a bit of everything in here, as Stephen King shows the world what he can do with short fiction for the first time. Stories like Jerusalem's Lot, which is SK doing a Lovecraftian psychological horror story, written in old timey language and with the pervading sense of dread throughout that Lovecraft was known for. King really nailed it. If you erased all my knowledge of 'Salem's Lot and told me Lovecraft himself wrote this story, I would 100% believe you.

Other stories showcase elements of science fiction, post-apocalyptic horror, gory horror, drama, and even comedy. One story in particular, which most people don't seem to like, given its terrible rating on Goodreads as a standalone short story, I absolutely loved. It's called Battleground, and pits a hitman against an army of G.I. Joe toy soldiers that have come to life. It's cute, and so different from everything else I've ever read from King, and honestly it's just such a fun story. I think I had a smile on my face the entire time I was reading it, which is so rare for me. I can't remember the last time I just enjoyed reading as much as when I read that story. It's a new all time favourite for me.

I also really love how you can make a multimedia experience out of a read of Night Shift, as so many of the stories have been made into movies. I had so much fun rewatching King's amazing movie Maximum Overdrive (which is an adaptation of the story Trucks and which no one will ever be able to convince me is a bad movie, even King himself, who disavowed it and now calls it "a moron movie") and watching the movie Graveyard Shift for the first time.

But what didn't I like about Night Shift? I didn't care for the Introduction written by author John D. MacDonald. He seems like one of those self-absorbed literary types who writes flippantly and with an air of false superiority. A snob, basically. That's what his introduction reads like, anyway, so I didn't care for it at all, and it felt really out of place in this humble first short story collection from Stephen King.

Overall, Night Shift isn't the five-star read I remember, where every story is absolutely perfect. There are some downright bad stories in here, and a fair share that are mediocre to average. But the stories that are good in here are great, and some, in my opinion, belong in the "great horror stories of all time" discussion, so I still highly recommend you read this collection. Just know that it isn't perfect, and you'll have to read through some lesser stories as part of experiencing the great ones.

My ratings for each individual story and the book as a whole are below. Don't be discouraged by the low-ish overall star rating. I'm rounding the book up to four stars based on the strength of the several stories I found to be incredible in this collection (any one of which make this entire book worth reading):

Jerusalem's Lot: 5/5
Graveyard Shift: 4.5/5
Night Surf: 3/5
I Am the Doorway: 3.5/5
The Mangler: 4/5
The Boogeyman: 4/5
Gray Matter: 3.5/5
Battleground: 5/5
Trucks: 3.5/5
Sometimes They Come Back: 4/5
Strawberry Spring: 3/5
The Ledge: 4.5/5
The Lawnmower Man: 2.5/5
Quitters, Inc.: 4/5
I Know What You Need: 1.5/5
Children of the Corn: 3.5/5
The Last Rung On the Ladder: 5/5
The Man Who Loved Flowers: 3/5
One for the Road: 4.5/5
The Woman in the Room: 1.5/5

= 73/100 = 3.65 stars

(Rounded up to four stars)

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one probably wants or needs my rambling thoughts on each story. But selfishly, I want to go back and remember what I’ve read, so that's what I'm doin'



Jerusalem’s Lot

unreliable narrator, a slight nod to Shirley Jackson mixed with the 1990 Tremors movie. 🐛

Graveyard Shift

Rats and bats the size of cats! Oh My! SO horrifying. A man goes unhinged on his boss due to unsafe working conditions. This is why we need unions people!

Night surf

This is classic Stephen King... Like, come on, how about we stop describing women in the most disgusting ways possible? That’s all.

I am the doorway

A dermatologist's nightmare.

When your hands start to itch, maybe it's not eczema or psoriasis, but instead, an alien skin condition with a murderous mind of its own. Look, he could have at least tried an ointment before the body count went up. That's all I'm saying.


The Mangler

This story gives a totally valid reason to skip laundry day.

Officer Hunton investigates a workplace incident involving a large laundry machine that irons and folds clothing, but one day it decides to perform its duties on the operator instead. Without finding any issues with the equipment, the device is back up for operation. Only they failed.

Now there’s a malevolent machine with a demon living within has a taste of virginal blood... you know... Sometimes typing out plots can cheapen it because I enjoyed this wacky idea of machine exorcisms. I'm sure we'll be hearing about AI possession in the future, so hey, King predicted it back in the 70s!

The Boogeyman

*trigger* dead babies/children in this story.
It's like I am a killer on Netflix, where an abusive piece of crap man sits down and recounts how the boogeyman killed each of his children.

They kept saying it was coming from the closet ….But he didn't want to raise any “sissies.” God, King is great at writing a character that gets under your skin.

Grey Matter

The part of the story with him oozing and slithering on the floor to take the cat out of the baseboard and eat it was…. Beyond TRAUMATIZING.

Also, what a fantastic son who continues to fetch his dad's beer when the guy is morphing into a big grey oozing slime ball.

Nothing like a cold one to keep the monsters at bay.🍺

Battleground

Probably lower on the scale for me, but still good. It’s the reconnaissance birthday party mission in Toy Story. But if the toy soldiers decided to wage an all-out war on one dude instead.

Trucks

It took me a while to get into it. I wrote it off initially, thinking, ok, it's just like Christine.. but nope, for such a short story, it's action-packed! All auto mechanics “wake up” cars, trucks, etc., and take over the world, but you see it from the perspective of a few people trapped at a pit stop.
Next road trip, I might view Buc-ee’s in a new light.

Strawberry Spring

I was just kind of ramblin' along with this college student recounting a serial killer on campus. Up until the verrry end, then my face was stuck like this little emoji😨.

The Ledge

Ugh, those damn pigeons! I hate anything to do with heights. Hands stayed clammy the entire time. Also, the guy is a total badass. I would have said just go ahead and shoot me then! Because it’s not happening!

Lawnmower man

I had no idea what the hell was going on…. Sensing this is examining toxic masculinity? Or maybe it’s just about a mythical naked man eating a lawn. I don’t know!

Quitters

This is a favorite of my mine. I love this pragmatic story.

We all want to quit something or lose weight, but sometimes it takes some…extra reinforcement.
This club is weight “WATCHERS” You’re not getting away with shit. 🕵️‍♀️

I know what you need.

The sleuthing was top-notch on the friend's creepy new boyfriend. Operatives on standby 👏💅imagine if she had the internet at her disposal! Top-level snooping at its best.

“He wasn’t moving, but he seemed to be twitching inside his skin, just out of sight.”

Children of the corn

The moment we’ve all beeen waiting forrrr

You know, this is a prime example of why you should trust a women’s intuition and stop telling us to calm down….

the wife is screaming at him to keep going, and he’s like, “God, Vicky 🙄it’s just a quaint little town, what’s the worst that could happen jeez….”

You could end up being a sacrificial lamb to the creepy corn husk god. That’s what could happen!

The last rung on the ladder

I loved the writing. Lyrical and tragically beautiful.

man who loved flowers

Another long time favorite.

Seems like I’ve read and watched multiple takes on the same idea. But this short story does it best.
The juxtaposition of dreamy spring love and heartbreak is surprising coming from the dark trenches of a book where men are eaten by giant rats and attacked by killer cars.

one for the road

It dawned on me reading this that I’ve never read salems lot, like what is wrong with me?!

This is a prequel about the little maine town taken over by vampires. In this short story the setting takes place in the middle of a blizzard. Where an out of towners car gets snowed in and the husband decides to leave his wife and child to get help.
But when he gets back to the car with two townsfolk’s from the local bar, they’re nowhere to be found. Soon the truth comes out on what’s he's facing in those woods. This is just too short! Left me wanting more, adding the book to my tbr pronto. 🏃💨


the woman in the room

life eventually brings us to the horror not of death itself but the waiting

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good, creepy collection. As in lots of short story books, he seemed to place the best ones towards the end. My favorites are the ones that have no supernatural elements at all: "The Ledge", The Last Rung on the Ladder", The Man Who Loved Flowers and the very last story, The Woman in the Room". King is a king of the horror and devastation we feel in real life and that is plenty scary.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerusalem's Lot 4/5
Graveyard Shift 3/5
Night Surf 2.5/5
I Am The Doorway 4/5
The Mangler 3.5/5
The Boogeyman 5/5
Grey Matter 3/5
Battleground 4/5
Trucks 2/5
Sometimes They Come Back 4/5
Strawberry Spring 4/5
The Ledge 3.5/5
The Lawnmower Man 2/5
Quitters, Inc 5/5
I Know What You Need 4/5
Children Of The Corn 5/5
The Last Rung Of The Ladder 4/5
The Man Who Loved Flowers 5/5
One For The Road 5/5
The Woman In The Room 4/5

[Jamie Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I got my first copy of Night Shift I thought I was
buying another novel and was immediately disappointed to find I hadn’t. I’ve talked before about how King made me a reader, as such, I never had any exposure to short stories before. Now I’ve come to realise that reading short story collection requires a certain type of mindset. Each individual story in any collection can be completely different in ever single way from the last one. I didn’t know that then so when I attempted to read Night Shift for the first time I quickly found it wasn’t to my taste, especially with Jerusalem’s Lot as the opener. It’s an 80 page ode to Lovecraft told entirely through diary entry’s, completely different from the style King’s books I was reading at the time.

I now love collections for the diversity in story, characters and settings they offer. And Night Shift is one of my favourites, pulpy bundle of great tales. So let’s jump in.


Jerusalem’s Lot - 4 Stars - As I’ve already mentioned this is aLovecraft inspired tale set in an area of Maine that would later become Salem’s Lot. And hey! Wouldn’t you no it, some vampires make an appearance, though that’s not all there is. Heavy on atmosphere this comes across exactly as it is, King mimicking someone else. You can tell when reading it that he’s not fully able to embrace the time period in the language of the story. Still, it’s a creepy.


Graveyard Shift - 3 Stars - Sometimes you just want to read a nasty story about some nasty characters and this is it. Set during the summer in a factory in Maine, the story focuses on a group of men who volunteer to work extra to clean the buildings basement. It’s grim work made grimmer by the discovery that the men aren’t the lords of the basement realm. That title belongs to the rats.


I Am The Doorway - 5 Stars - This is one of my favourite short horror stories of all time. I should say that horror fiction rarely scares me, but this freaks me out. It’s the story of an former astronaut whose been exposed on his last mission to an alien mutagen. King rarely does body horror, yet when he does it’s always excellent and this story contains some of his best as this stories protagonist begins to transform. It’s also unique in King’s cannon for it’s science fiction vibes as King comes across as a perverse Ray Bradbury.

The Boogeyman - 5 Stars - An excellent executed tale about a not so nice guy that has one creepy ending.

Grey Matter - 3.5 Stars - The story about a contaminated beer! Yes, this is pulpy as anything but King makes it more by touching on abusive fathers and children that are trapped by their love for someone whose become a monster.

Trucks - 3 Stars - Vehicles take on a mind of their own and the end of the world ensues.

Strawberry Spring - 5 Stars - This one has a Jack the Ripper vibe to me. I loved the writing in this story. Like Jerusalem’s Lot it’s different from King’s usually style in a trippy LSD type of way.

The Ledge - 4 - King shows his love of wise guys, gangsters and hard-boiled stories. He also shows his flair for describing torturous scenes as this stories protagonist attempts to walk around the ledge of a Manhattan skyscraper.

Children of the Corn - 5 Stars - There’s a reason why this short story spawned 7 films. It’s a shame that none of them have come close to the power of this tale. It’s another nasty tale about nasty people.

The Last Rung on the Ladder - 5 Stars - This is not a horror story, but a story of heartache and sorrow. It showcase King’s range and works as a nice prelude for his novella collection Different Seasons.

One For The Road - 5 Stars - King returns to Salem’s Lot again and in someways this is even better than his fantastic novel because in its short length it contains everything a readers wants on a horror tale about vampires in winter.

2024 update

Night Shift

Jerusalem's Lot - 3.75/5
Graveyard Shift - 3.75/5
Night Surf - 3.25/5
I Am The Doorway - 5/5
The Mangler - 3.5/5
The Boogeyman - 5/5
Grey Matter - 5/5
Battleground - 3.75/5
Trucks - 4/5
Sometimes They Come Back - 2.75/5
Strawberry Spring - 3.5/5
The Ledge - 3.75/5
The Lawnmower Man - 1.5/5
Quilters, Inc - 2.5/5
I Know What You Need - 3/5
Children of the Corn - 5/5
The Last Rung on the Ladder - 5/5
The Man Who Loved Flowers - 2.5/5
One For The Road - 5/5
The Woman in the Room - 4/5

1. One For The Road
2. The Last Rung on the Ladder
3. I Am The Doorway
4. Grey Matter
5. Children of the Corn
6. The Boogeyman
7. Trucks
8. The Woman in the Room
9. Graveyard Shift
10. Battleground
11. Jerusalem's Lot
12. The Ledge
13. The Mangler
14. Night Surf
15. Strawberry Spring
16. I Know What You Need
17. The Man Who Loved Flowers
18. Sometimes They Came Back
19. Quitters, Inc
20. The Lawnmower Man

[Eloy Cryptkeeper · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Había pasado toda la noche en vela, con la carta(...)Podría haber escrito lo mismo en una postal(...)
había una sola frase. Pero una frase puede decirlo todo. Puede hacerlo todo(...)
Su voz destilaba una pena que me hizo sentir incómodo, porque no la entendía. La entendí mejor después de recibir la carta."

Una carta de una hermana menor a su hermano mayor, un disparador de recuerdos y acontecimientos. Frases y hechos que toman sentido con el tiempo y las circunstancias, y cierran un ciclo de manera trágica.
Un relato simple que contiene lo que a mi parecer son varios de los fuertes de King, al margen del terror, que son el drama, e historias sobre infancia y complicidad.

[inciminci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to do a great Stephen King short story re-read and decided to do it in chronological order, so I began with this first, amazing collection of his. This is definitely one of those books that left a mark on me and made me a King reader in my early teens, so I was curious how it would go down now, thirty years later. And even though they didn’t scare me the way they did back then, I still appreciate the bandwidth of horror it comprises and all the doors it opened for contemporary tropes; from the Lovecraftian to creature features to the modern vampire, to the post-apocalyptic, to the monster, to things turning animate and attacking humans, serial killers, nasty people, creepy corn kids…

My highlights were; Jerusalem’s Lot, of course, which is a rewrite of H.P. Lovecraft’s Rats in the Walls; I Am the Doorway that revolves around an astronaut who gets infected with a sort of mutagen during an outer space mission and through little eyes opening in the palms of his hands provides little doorways for aliens to see and spy on humans; The Man Who Loved Flowers which plays with appearances and perspectives and finally, my absolute winner of the collection; The Lawnmower Man, which I had completely forgotten, and what an absolute gem of an absurd piece of writing it was!!

Night Shift was such a feast, and I’m glad I took my time rereading these short stories, I definitely want to go forward with his other collections.

[Fabian {Councillor} · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many readers consider this book to be one of Stephen King's most popular short story collections, and I can't disagree with that opinion ... mostly because it's only the second anthology by King I have read so far. Many original horror stories are included in this collection, with most of them having been adapted into classic horror movies like "Children of the Corn", "Graveyard Shift" or "The Mangler". In its entirety, however, I consider "Night Shift" to be a rather weak collection of short stories, and critics will certainly find affirmation that King is also able to write true crap. But on the other hand, some of the best short stories which might be discovered in King's writing universe are included here.

In the following, I will list a short overview on the particular stories with my opinions on them. Because well, it's impossible for me to review this collection without taking a look at each of the stories itself, with so many crappy and so many fantastic short stories combined in one book.


1) Jerusalem's Lot (2,5/5 stars)
The first short story in Stephen King's first anthology deals with the origins of the fictional town Jerusalem's Lot which the reader already knows from 'Salem's Lot. However, the story hasn't a lot in common with the novel counterpart, and whoever expects to find the roots of Kurt Barlow and the vampires will end up being disappointed. In epistolary form, Stephen King allows us to take a look at the story of a man called Charles Boone, who inherits the estate Chapelwaite and soon realizes that something with his new residence is not quite the way it should be.
Nothing felt particularly outstanding in this story except for the epistolary structure, and as an introduction to the anthology it was a little bit deterring to me.

2) Graveyard Shift (3/5 stars)
Imagine working in a mill. No light except for electric torches. A bullying foreman who wants you to keep working, no matter what happens. And big, fat rats straying through the mill ...
I'll give a piece of advice to you: Don't read this story if you have a rat phobia. Don't read this story if you like your protagonists realistic and without weird changes in behaviour. And definitely don't read this story if you intend to enter a cave or a mill anytime soon. It might not be your wisest idea in those cases.
"Graveyard Shift" was a good story with creepy moments, but certainly with too much build-up in the beginning and too much speed in the ending.

3) Night Surf (1/5 stars)
»Even his big radio/tape-player was hardly more than a nice-looking hunk of junk.« I'll borrow that quote from King's own story and apply it here to describe it. 'Hunk of junk' is actually pretty appropriate. I can't even explain what this story is about because it frustrated and bored me so much.

4) I am the Doorway (4/5 stars)
A crossover between the genres Horror and Sci-Fi, this story fantastically explores the effects of a confrontation of one human being with alien powers. I was hooked from the beginning and suffered vicariously my way through to the ending along with a hardly remarkable protagonist who turned into an interesting character because of his fate - as, after being exposed to a certain mutagen, tiny eyeballs break out on his fingertips ...

5) The Mangler (1/5 stars)
Ridiculous attempt to write about a haunted laundry. Let's better forget this story even exists.

6) The Boogeyman (3/5 stars)
A father who has lost all three of his children to 'the boogeyman' visits a psychiatrist to tell about the terrifying deeds which have been committed against his family.
One of the more frightening stories, but certainly also belonging to the more forgettable ones in this collection.

7) Grey Matter (1/5 stars)
This one just didn't catch my attention or attract my interest. I forgot what it was about ten minutes after reading it.

8) Battleground (1/5 stars)
I didn't get what this was supposed to be. A man attacked by tiny soldiers one inch and a half big?
...
Seriously? Was Mr. King on drugs while he wrote this?

9) Trucks (1/5 stars)
A small town is attacked by haunted trucks, that's the basic essence of this short story. It may be used as the exact definition of ridiculousness. No soul behind these words; no sense behind this plot; no characteristics behind these appearing persons. Just another stupid story to be forgotten.


You may think that I was so frustrated after those first nine stories that I was tempted to give up on it? Well, yes, I certainly was. But I kept telling myself to continue, not to abandon this, to believe in the power of King's writing ...
And he proved me right.


10) Sometimes they come back (3,5/5 stars)
In one of the longest stories of the collection, Stephen King explores the life of a teacher for English literature who has been marked by a traumatic event of his past. Now, one after another, new students enter his class. And they look exactly like the teenagers who have attacked and killed his brother - about fifteen years ago ...
A very good story with a lot of action, insight and interesting twists and turns. I would have liked to read a full-length novel of this with a more fleshed-out protagonist; the potential was clearly visible.

11) Strawberry Spring (4/5 stars)
Do you know this feeling when you're reading a mystery and suddenly have an idea on the potential outcome, which is so unlikely you immediately pass it, but then you realize the author has actually chosen this outcome for his story? I experienced it here, and it made me love the story even more. One of King's less-known stories, but definitely a fine piece of writing. The ending can be spoiled so easily that I will not even attempt to give you an idea of what it is about.

12) The Ledge (5/5 stars)
In "The Ledge", a rich man is cheated on by his wife with her tennis instructor. The two men are confronted with each other in the penthouse of a skyscraper. And the husband has to settle a score - he comes up with a plan you will not believe that a human being is able to create.
So, so good. This story is one of my favorites from King's works - action, drama, suspense, unbearable tension, believable character motivations, a unique idea and a wonderfully interesting plot - "The Ledge" has everything a good short story is supposed to have.

13) The Lawnmover Man (0/5 stars)
Forget it, forget it, forget it.
One of the worst short stories ever written. I will introduce zero stars to Goodreads ratings extra for this story.

14) Quitters, Inc. (5/5 stars)
A middle-aged man wants to quit smoking and visits someone who claims to be able to make him do so. The man doubts these claims - until he realizes whereupon he got himself into ...
This short story is perfect; it's as simple as that. No supernatural elements, but instead chilling and suspenseful writing with an ending which made me swallow more than once. Easily one of my favorite short stories of all time.

15) I Know What You Need (3,5/5 stars)
At university, a young woman meets another man who she falls in love with, not knowing how dangerous this connection may turn out to be.
Another very good story. Stephen King knows what he is writing, that's for sure (well, if you ignore certain stories like some of those I've mentioned above). I really liked the complex plot and the hidden appearance of supernatural elements.

16) Children of the Corn (3/5 stars)
A married couple enters a deserted village with only children inhabiting it - and they clearly have no idea of how to welcome strangers with politeness.
Of all the twenty stories in this collection, the one I was most excited about didn't work at all for me. It was scary, yes, scary and thrilling with the religious fanatiscism included, very atmospheric and creepy. Maybe it should have been longer - the potential for a full-length novel was clearly present. Everything felt a little bit too underdeveloped for me.

17) The Last Rung on the Ladder (3,5/5 stars)
This story deals with the adventures of a young boy and his sister in their childhood. Too short to be really able to explore the characters, but with a surprising twist, a realistic story and suspenseful writing. It's interesting to see how King is able to delve deep into a character's mind within only seven pages. Definitely one of his better stories.

18) The Man Who Loved Flowers (2,5/5 stars)
It's impossible to say what this story is about without spoiling it. King came up with an interesting concept and an unexpected turn, but on only four pages it was nearly impossible to get into the story.

19) One for the Road (4/5 stars)
A deserted town. A heavy snowstorm. Vampires lurking in the dark. Sounds like everyone would want to be right in the middle of this scenario, doesn't it?
This story creeped me out. It is by far the scariest one in the entire collection. You should avoid reading it in the middle of the night, just like I should have done.

20) The Woman in the Room (3/5 stars)
A very serious and highly relevant issue portrayed with very weird writing. From a writing point, this story might be worst executed in comparison to all the other stories (if you ignore the Lawnmover Man). It profits from emotion and potential alike.


In conclusion, "Night Shift" did not live up to my expectations, but it also didn't disappoint me. Even if you are not interested in Horror or King's writing in general, you should give either "The Ledge" or "Quitters, Inc" a try. Both stories don't include any paranormal activities, but they cover interesting subjects and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

It's a must-read for fans of Stephen King's writing and the Horror genre in general, but if you don't consider yourself to belong to one of those parties, then you might think about skipping these stories (apart from "The Ledge" and "Quitters, Inc", of course). But then, with readers raving about this collection everywhere, maybe I'm not the one to trust in this matter ...