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The Shining / 'Salem's Lot / Night Shift / Carrie
The Shining
This masterpiece of modern horror builds relentlessly to an absolutely chilling and horrifying climax, as a little boy's psychic powers reveal the evil lurking in an old hotel.
'Salem's Lot
Far from the township, two frightened people share the unspeakable secrets of 'Salem's Lot. They know they must return — to confront the diabolical corruption and a hideous peril more dreadful than death.
Night Shift
All manner of night creatures, vampires, demon lovers and things that live in closets, are waiting to make your blood run cold in these twenty spine-tingling tales.
Carrie
Humiliated at her senior prom, Carrie's secret power becomes a weapon of horror and destruction, turning a quiet New England town into a ghastly vision of hell.
--front flap
This masterpiece of modern horror builds relentlessly to an absolutely chilling and horrifying climax, as a little boy's psychic powers reveal the evil lurking in an old hotel.
'Salem's Lot
Far from the township, two frightened people share the unspeakable secrets of 'Salem's Lot. They know they must return — to confront the diabolical corruption and a hideous peril more dreadful than death.
Night Shift
All manner of night creatures, vampires, demon lovers and things that live in closets, are waiting to make your blood run cold in these twenty spine-tingling tales.
Carrie
Humiliated at her senior prom, Carrie's secret power becomes a weapon of horror and destruction, turning a quiet New England town into a ghastly vision of hell.
--front flap
991 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1981
23 people are currently reading
779 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,499 books886k followersStephen 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
August 8, 2019
the crowning jwel of this one is the shining
the others are classic and enjoyable as well and as hell
the others are classic and enjoyable as well and as hell
May 14, 2025
The Shining ⭐⭐⭐
Instead of a review, a recapitulation — or, in less polite terms, a spoilerific homage (brace yourselves — the boiler explodes!).
Jack Torrance, an aspiring novelist and semi-professional alcoholic, accepts a seasonal caretaker position at a delightfully named hotel, the Overlook, located somewhere between the back of beyond and the arse-end of nowhere. It reeks of remote-location-induced madness before you’ve even licked your finger to turn the page.
In case the clichés weren’t piling up fast enough: Jack is violent, self-destructive, and perpetually one drink away from disintegration. His wife has nearly left him — we’re collecting tropes here — and their son, little Danny, is both disturbed and disturbingly gifted. Said gifts are identified by the hotel’s cook (a man as spiritually attuned as he is, one hopes, adept with chips and steak) as “the shining” — hence the title. Naturally, Danny has the most powerful shine he’s ever seen. And if you can’t trust a hotel cook on matters of telepathy, perhaps reconsider his shepherd’s pie.
Among Danny’s abilities is a psychic hotline to his future self, who pops in occasionally to warn him about the impending maelstrom of carnage, trauma, and spectral chaos. (If only I’d had such a visitor before getting married myself...)
Being a Stephen King novel, things begin to go south the moment the Torrance family crosses the threshold. The hotel — which is less a resting place and more a scrapbook of past atrocities (murders, suicides, mob dealings, and the sort of culinary injustices involving the last piece of pizza) — begins to seduce little Danny. It attempts, in its own haunted way, to make him its little bitch, as his visions blur the line between prophetic insight and peyote hallucination.
Ultimately, though, it’s Jack who is “claimed” by the Overlook. And by “claimed” we don’t mean understood or healed, but rather possessed in the full, demonic, axe-wielding sense. While Danny makes transcontinental psychic calls to clairvoyant air passengers (no roaming charges), Jack descends into a drunken frenzy and naturally attempts to murder his wife and son — as one does.
The latter two spend the rest of the novel evading the madman so Stanley Kubrick could have something iconic to film. Jack, ever the professional custodian, eventually fulfils the dream of disgruntled janitors everywhere by blowing up the hotel via the boiler room (a scene that, when performed in a Greek school, sadly had more tragic results).
In the end, Danny comes to the profound realisation that his job is to love his mother. User Oedipus has entered the chat from Thebes.
Archetypal horror with visible wrinkles, but still an entertaining read. Much of its staying power is owed to Kubrick’s film adaptation, and while it’s hardly King's magnum opus, it’s far from his worst.
Salem's Lot ⭐⭐
The book's exceedingly verbose opening takes an inordinate amount of time to gather momentum—so much so that one begins to suspect King has altogether run out of steam. In due course, he delivers one or two genuinely chilling scenes (the sort that compel you to turn on an extra lamp in the room), but by the conclusion... it does not end so much as it fizzles out.
It is not that I harbour any inherent aversion to tales of vampirism; rather, I expected a great deal more from the so-called “Master of Horror.” Even George R. R. Martin's own foray into vampiric territory, Fevre Dream, stands as a rare gem by comparison.
Then there is the matter of King’s relentless verbosity. Whether it is a misguided attempt to immerse the reader in atmosphere, or simply a lack of editorial restraint, the deluge of superfluous detail becomes utterly exhausting. The sporadic moments in which his talent truly shines—those instances where you almost feel compelled to change your underwear—are simply insufficient to compensate for the drudgery and what can only be described as a “study in triviality” inflicted upon the reader over dozens of pages (in my humble opinion).
Night Shift ⭐⭐
Cheap and naïve horror tailored for pulp-paperback consumers.
I wish I could find something favourable to say about at least one of the stories, but I found each to be more ludicrous than the last.
The lorries? Once one has read Clifford Simak’s Skirmish, it becomes glaringly apparent how superficial King’s take on the same concept truly is.
I Am the Doorway? King all but desecrates the memory of far better writers who have treated the theme of bodily appropriation by alien life forms with greater finesse. For a markedly superior treatment of the same idea, read Michael Shea’s The Autopsy.
The tale of quitting cigarettes? Mafiosi physically assault you and amputate bits of you—and your loved ones—until you give up smoking. Childish. Read Robert Sheckley’s A Ticket to Tranai for a lesson in how to craft institutional absurdity with a moral backbone.
Children of the Corn? The epitome of imbecilic “horror.”
The Boogeyman? Tepid fare best suited to children—perhaps it would have fared well in the 1930s.
The toy soldiers firing live rounds? One wonders how King ever established a reputation—until one remembers he wrote in America.
The ghost of a schoolyard bully returning to kill the second brother? I laughed out loud...
The Lawnmower Man? A naked man who copulates with and devours grass in the name of Pan—and this is not meant to be a sidesplitting comic tale? Only sadness remains.
The Woman in the Room? A son dopes his ailing mother and leaves her to die. That’s it. No poetry, no nuance, no grace.
I Know What You Need? Classic King: a mediocre story with paranormal/psychic elements that, for some unfathomable reason, garners popular appeal.
Jerusalem’s Lot? Vampires are passé, and the epistolary/diary format fails to lend it any gravitas.
One for the Road? An unnecessarily tangled narrative, mired in verbosity, which again ends with vampires that are conveniently dispatched by the mere flinging of a Bible.
The Ledge? A cuckolded villain ensnares his wife's freeloading lover, only to be undone by his own scheme. How many clichés can one short story accommodate?
From me, it is a firm no. A resounding no to cheap horror and plots so simplistic as to verge on the nonsensical.
Carrie ⭐⭐
“Carrie has her period — and she’s not in the mood.” Woe betide anyone who crosses her path (and, indeed, the telekinetic force-field that surrounds her). Far removed from the noble doctrine of “with great power comes great responsibility” espoused by the legendary Spider-Man (not Panagiotis Fasoulas the basketball player from the 80ies, to be clear — Peter Parker), Carrie chooses to wield her power not for good, but for vengeance.
On prom night — that peculiar American rite of passage — the archetypal Mean Girl (armed with the equally archetypal delinquent boyfriend) tips not one but two buckets of pig’s blood over Carrie and her unsuspecting date. And then, as our Anglo-Saxon cousins so delicately put it, “the faeces hit the fan.” The retribution of shy, awkward Carrie is swift and devastating. Even her mother — a fanatically religious lunatic in desperate need of institutionalisation and a sizeable dose of diazepam — is not spared. As for those who dared to laugh...
A decidedly middling novel, punctuated by a few narrative flourishes that do little to elevate it above its pulp-fiction peers. It begins with a jolt — Carrie’s traumatic encounter with menstruation in the communal showers — and ends in an orgy of fire, electrocution, and telekinetically induced matricide.
Granted, in the 1970s, frank literary reference to menstruation was hardly commonplace. But that alone hardly justifies the persistent canonisation of what is, at best, an early effort by a then-unknown Stephen King. That it stands out at all says more about the barren literary landscape of horror at the time than it does about the merits of the book itself.
October 30, 2024
Three awesome and emotional horror novels with a mixed bag of weird short stories to go with it. Quite the treat.
***
The Shining
ack Torrance has been given the chance to turn his life around after being hired to work as a winter caretaker at the Overlook Hotel. Isolated from the rest of the world for months, Jack plans to rekindle his relationship with his wife Wendy and his son Danny all the while fighting his brutal alcohol addiction and working out his anger issues. Unfortunately for Jack, the Overlook Hotel has other plans for him and his family. The hotel is haunted by evil spirits with violent and tragic histories, taking advantage of Jack's own troubled past and his son Danny's psychic abilities. A peaceful winter getaway might just become a true nightmare.
The Shining is a fantastic exploration of the struggles of alcoholism, financial ruin and past tragedies constantly coming back to bite you where it hurts most. It's about the dangerous cycle of addiction, following in the footsteps of your abusers and seeing how it comes back to hurt you and everyone around you. The fashion in which the basic elements of normal, human struggles is depicted in this book is far scarier than any ghost or even the Overlook Hotel itself. The family drama between Jack, Wendy and Danny had me constantly upset and on the edge.
Jack is a beat-down, broken and pitiful man down on his luck. He says and does some pretty horrible and disgusting things, but I developed a soft spot for him the more I learned about his troubles and what made him the way he is. He's not a good guy at all, but almost everyone can find something about him that's uncomfortably relatable. He represents the bad parts of ourselves that we don't like to admit exists. Most of the time we can keep him in check, but sometimes he breaks through the cracks in our darkest and most vulnerable moments.
It's a slow burner with a lot of heart. As dark and depressing as it is, the overall message behind the story is an uplifting one. We don't have to allow ourselves to be defined by our pasts, our guilt, or the mistakes of the ones who raised us. We can always try our best to go in the opposite direction and set a good example for others.
Danny's friendship with Hallorann is also awesome and wholesome. Two psychic boys from totally different generations and upbringings finding a meaningful connection through their mutual struggles.
***
Salem's Lot
The town of Jerusalem’s Lot is haunted by the shadow of the Marsten House, a bleak and crumbling building on a high hill that was once the den of vile criminals, witchcraft and other sinister paranormal phenomena. Author Ben Mears returns to the place he once called home to confront the traumatic memories that the dreaded Marsten House left imprinted in his memories since he was a mere boy, only to discover that a new force of unimaginable evil may be lurking in the darkness of Jerusalem’s Lot.
The modern day Dracula. An unlikely crew of small town folks band together to fight a supernatural force of absolute bloodsucking evil. Salem’s Lot reinvented the familiar trappings of B-movie vampire horror by incorporating his signature touch of twisted psychology, brutal heartfelt emotions and disturbingly realistic characters that feel like people you’ve known your whole life.
In a book full of vampires, black magic, haunted houses and bloody horror, it’s no surprise that King manages to make the everyday lives of the townsfolk of Jerusalem’s Lot the scariest part of the story. Domestic abuse, child neglect, messed up family dynamics, perverted stalkers, heartless backstabbers and animal killers are just a few things these small town folk are guilty of on a daily basis.
I love this take on the old vampire myth, showing that humans in a state of absolute panic and superstitious fear are often more terrifying and dangerous than ancient, powerful monsters. Your best friend can become your worst enemy at the drop of a hat.
I loved the long list of references of classic stories and authors that King mentions in this particular book. As someone that grew up reading a lot of weird fiction and gothic fiction, I enjoyed seeing Lovecraft, Poe, Hawthorne, Stoker and quite a few other of my old favorites continuously pop up.
***
Night Shift
There’s a couple of classic little gems in here like Jerusalem’s Lot and Children of the Corn, but the majority of the other stories in Night Shift failed to capture my attention for the most part. I know my opinion is probably in the minority here, but I don’t think Stephen King’s short stories hold up to the standards of his novels at all. At least not in this collection.
Night Shift collects various short stories from Stephen King’s early career that are more on the pulpier and cheesier side than one might expect. They can be mildly amusing and ridiculous to the point of being funny, but most of them don’t have much actual depth, emotion or thrill to them. Some of the themes of the stories are on the repetitive side as well, mostly predictable stuff about haunted objects coming to life and tormenting people.
If nothing else, many of these subjects would be recycled into much better novels like Salem’s Lot, The Stand and Christine which definitely counts for something. All good stories have to start somewhere. Not a bad collection of stories, just not the type of horror I tend to enjoy, especially not from King.
While I can’t say I enjoyed most of the stories in this collection, they at least managed to be fun and amusing for what they are.
***
Carrie
The story of misfit high school girl, Carrie White, who gradually discovers that she has telekinetic powers. Repressed by a domineering, ultra-religious mother and tormented by her peers at school, her efforts to fit in lead to a dramatic confrontation during the senior prom.
A very sad book. I always thought this should be required reading in school as it captures many modern issues in gruesomely intimate detail. The importance of kindness, reaching out to struggling outcasts with toxic home lives, how to not be so shallow and judgmental for all the wrong reasons. You never know what someone is going through in their personal lives and you never know how close they are to breaking. Everyone develops and understands things differently.
Reading the book as a young adult who graduated high school not that long ago, I can say that it's an even more intense experience in the eyes of an adult who knows the horrors of growing up as a bullied outcast and being an awkward teenager that grew up in a loveless and hostile environment a bit too well. With bullying and prejudice at an all time high thanks to social media, the horror feels much more real and understandable now than it did when it was originally published. It's a chilling tragedy that captures the horrors of youth to a frightening degree. Tragedies like the case of Carrie can be avoided, but most people don't step in until it's too late.
There are some sections of the book that are edited somewhat awkwardly, the structure of the plot is a bit messy and you can definitely tell it was Stephen's first book as he improved significantly in just the next few entries, but it still holds up extremely well despite some flaws.
***
The Shining
ack Torrance has been given the chance to turn his life around after being hired to work as a winter caretaker at the Overlook Hotel. Isolated from the rest of the world for months, Jack plans to rekindle his relationship with his wife Wendy and his son Danny all the while fighting his brutal alcohol addiction and working out his anger issues. Unfortunately for Jack, the Overlook Hotel has other plans for him and his family. The hotel is haunted by evil spirits with violent and tragic histories, taking advantage of Jack's own troubled past and his son Danny's psychic abilities. A peaceful winter getaway might just become a true nightmare.
The Shining is a fantastic exploration of the struggles of alcoholism, financial ruin and past tragedies constantly coming back to bite you where it hurts most. It's about the dangerous cycle of addiction, following in the footsteps of your abusers and seeing how it comes back to hurt you and everyone around you. The fashion in which the basic elements of normal, human struggles is depicted in this book is far scarier than any ghost or even the Overlook Hotel itself. The family drama between Jack, Wendy and Danny had me constantly upset and on the edge.
Jack is a beat-down, broken and pitiful man down on his luck. He says and does some pretty horrible and disgusting things, but I developed a soft spot for him the more I learned about his troubles and what made him the way he is. He's not a good guy at all, but almost everyone can find something about him that's uncomfortably relatable. He represents the bad parts of ourselves that we don't like to admit exists. Most of the time we can keep him in check, but sometimes he breaks through the cracks in our darkest and most vulnerable moments.
It's a slow burner with a lot of heart. As dark and depressing as it is, the overall message behind the story is an uplifting one. We don't have to allow ourselves to be defined by our pasts, our guilt, or the mistakes of the ones who raised us. We can always try our best to go in the opposite direction and set a good example for others.
Danny's friendship with Hallorann is also awesome and wholesome. Two psychic boys from totally different generations and upbringings finding a meaningful connection through their mutual struggles.
***
Salem's Lot
The town of Jerusalem’s Lot is haunted by the shadow of the Marsten House, a bleak and crumbling building on a high hill that was once the den of vile criminals, witchcraft and other sinister paranormal phenomena. Author Ben Mears returns to the place he once called home to confront the traumatic memories that the dreaded Marsten House left imprinted in his memories since he was a mere boy, only to discover that a new force of unimaginable evil may be lurking in the darkness of Jerusalem’s Lot.
The modern day Dracula. An unlikely crew of small town folks band together to fight a supernatural force of absolute bloodsucking evil. Salem’s Lot reinvented the familiar trappings of B-movie vampire horror by incorporating his signature touch of twisted psychology, brutal heartfelt emotions and disturbingly realistic characters that feel like people you’ve known your whole life.
In a book full of vampires, black magic, haunted houses and bloody horror, it’s no surprise that King manages to make the everyday lives of the townsfolk of Jerusalem’s Lot the scariest part of the story. Domestic abuse, child neglect, messed up family dynamics, perverted stalkers, heartless backstabbers and animal killers are just a few things these small town folk are guilty of on a daily basis.
I love this take on the old vampire myth, showing that humans in a state of absolute panic and superstitious fear are often more terrifying and dangerous than ancient, powerful monsters. Your best friend can become your worst enemy at the drop of a hat.
I loved the long list of references of classic stories and authors that King mentions in this particular book. As someone that grew up reading a lot of weird fiction and gothic fiction, I enjoyed seeing Lovecraft, Poe, Hawthorne, Stoker and quite a few other of my old favorites continuously pop up.
***
Night Shift
There’s a couple of classic little gems in here like Jerusalem’s Lot and Children of the Corn, but the majority of the other stories in Night Shift failed to capture my attention for the most part. I know my opinion is probably in the minority here, but I don’t think Stephen King’s short stories hold up to the standards of his novels at all. At least not in this collection.
Night Shift collects various short stories from Stephen King’s early career that are more on the pulpier and cheesier side than one might expect. They can be mildly amusing and ridiculous to the point of being funny, but most of them don’t have much actual depth, emotion or thrill to them. Some of the themes of the stories are on the repetitive side as well, mostly predictable stuff about haunted objects coming to life and tormenting people.
If nothing else, many of these subjects would be recycled into much better novels like Salem’s Lot, The Stand and Christine which definitely counts for something. All good stories have to start somewhere. Not a bad collection of stories, just not the type of horror I tend to enjoy, especially not from King.
While I can’t say I enjoyed most of the stories in this collection, they at least managed to be fun and amusing for what they are.
***
Carrie
The story of misfit high school girl, Carrie White, who gradually discovers that she has telekinetic powers. Repressed by a domineering, ultra-religious mother and tormented by her peers at school, her efforts to fit in lead to a dramatic confrontation during the senior prom.
A very sad book. I always thought this should be required reading in school as it captures many modern issues in gruesomely intimate detail. The importance of kindness, reaching out to struggling outcasts with toxic home lives, how to not be so shallow and judgmental for all the wrong reasons. You never know what someone is going through in their personal lives and you never know how close they are to breaking. Everyone develops and understands things differently.
Reading the book as a young adult who graduated high school not that long ago, I can say that it's an even more intense experience in the eyes of an adult who knows the horrors of growing up as a bullied outcast and being an awkward teenager that grew up in a loveless and hostile environment a bit too well. With bullying and prejudice at an all time high thanks to social media, the horror feels much more real and understandable now than it did when it was originally published. It's a chilling tragedy that captures the horrors of youth to a frightening degree. Tragedies like the case of Carrie can be avoided, but most people don't step in until it's too late.
There are some sections of the book that are edited somewhat awkwardly, the structure of the plot is a bit messy and you can definitely tell it was Stephen's first book as he improved significantly in just the next few entries, but it still holds up extremely well despite some flaws.
July 28, 2011
This book was a roller coaster I couldn't get off of, no matter how much I screamed through story after story.
The Shining was intense and I do not think I will re-read it. It had a pretty simple path that it followed and was at times scary, but not too bad comparatively speaking.
Salems Lot was INTENSE. I couldn't read it at night, and refused to bring this book with me into bed. I actually started another book for when the sun set. It helped clear my mind of vampires.
It was so good though, and you can tell by the way it sticks to your brain like taffy. It was well structured and I did wind up a bit misty eyed (a feat Stephen King alone has accomplished within me ala Cujo).
I'd also like to thank this book as to bringing me to the poem The Emperor of Ice cream. An incredibly fitting poem for this book.
I will re-read Salems Lot, most likely. I feel like it has a moral that can be explored more than say The Shining.
Night Shift... I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to read it.
Just the names of the stories...The Mangler..Lawnmower Man...Children of the Corn.....
But, as I said, I couldn't get off the roller coaster, and just kept climbing up the stories to be plunged down at odd times into horror.
It wasn't so bad, and I think I would actually dive back in to certain stories.
Also it showed me I know King's formula pretty well, because as soon as he was describing a lovely day and a cheerful scene...I was white knuckling it waiting for the guillotine.
The last book within a book was Carrie.
This was difficult to read. It was painful to go through what she was going through and know what was going to happen.
Yes I've seen the movie, but don't guess you know the story because of that. Carrie White's story is as sad as it is frightening.
It was also in a formula I do not prefer; similar to Fire Starter, but in some ways better since it was softer where Fire Starter was more clinical.
Also his foreshadowing was well placed and eerie.
I would not re-read this for the world.
This is an intimidating to start, but hard to stop series of psychological insights and some amazing story telling, I tell you what.
The Shining was intense and I do not think I will re-read it. It had a pretty simple path that it followed and was at times scary, but not too bad comparatively speaking.
Salems Lot was INTENSE. I couldn't read it at night, and refused to bring this book with me into bed. I actually started another book for when the sun set. It helped clear my mind of vampires.
It was so good though, and you can tell by the way it sticks to your brain like taffy. It was well structured and I did wind up a bit misty eyed (a feat Stephen King alone has accomplished within me ala Cujo).
I'd also like to thank this book as to bringing me to the poem The Emperor of Ice cream. An incredibly fitting poem for this book.
I will re-read Salems Lot, most likely. I feel like it has a moral that can be explored more than say The Shining.
Night Shift... I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to read it.
Just the names of the stories...The Mangler..Lawnmower Man...Children of the Corn.....
But, as I said, I couldn't get off the roller coaster, and just kept climbing up the stories to be plunged down at odd times into horror.
It wasn't so bad, and I think I would actually dive back in to certain stories.
Also it showed me I know King's formula pretty well, because as soon as he was describing a lovely day and a cheerful scene...I was white knuckling it waiting for the guillotine.
The last book within a book was Carrie.
This was difficult to read. It was painful to go through what she was going through and know what was going to happen.
Yes I've seen the movie, but don't guess you know the story because of that. Carrie White's story is as sad as it is frightening.
It was also in a formula I do not prefer; similar to Fire Starter, but in some ways better since it was softer where Fire Starter was more clinical.
Also his foreshadowing was well placed and eerie.
I would not re-read this for the world.
This is an intimidating to start, but hard to stop series of psychological insights and some amazing story telling, I tell you what.
June 23, 2015
This collection of Stephen Kings work is delicious.
The Shining.
Some of the images this book created for me still haunt my mind. Despite having only read it twice in the past 30 years the imagery still hold.
The story is based around a small family who become winter caretakers in the off-season of an old Hotel. The father is a recovering alcoholic and would-be writer, the mother is a mother and the young son is telepathic and clairvoyant (has premonitions). When the hotel becomes cut of by snow it takes on a whole life of its own.
Without spoiling the plot I can safely say this book was to me one of my worst nightmares. The characters are all people who should love each other unconditionally but they are human, trapped and haunted. After that anything is possible.
Carrie
For me this has always been a fast and enjoyable read. King really manages to get inside the head of the main character Carrie - a teenage girl who initially at least has little understanding of herself, who is bullied by her mother and bullied by her classmates. I am not a violent or vindictive person yet somehow I always felt the town deserved what it got in this book.
In fact I think Carrie should be compulsory reading at secondary schools and should be discussed in depth.
Salems Lot
Of all of Kings books this one has always stood out to me as the most beautifully written - or perhaps it was the one that really awakened me to the beauty that is in Kings writing.
He creates everything within this story beautifully. It is essentially a 20th century Dracula story and well worth reading. I am sure many later vampire stories were inspired by Salems Lot.
Nightshift
A wonderfully terrifying collection of Stephen Kings short stories.
He wrote somewhere (I don't know if it was this collection) something like "I know there are no monsters under my bed and I know too that if I don't put my feet over the edge of the bed they wont get me". It's all true. Read nightshift!
The Shining.
Some of the images this book created for me still haunt my mind. Despite having only read it twice in the past 30 years the imagery still hold.
The story is based around a small family who become winter caretakers in the off-season of an old Hotel. The father is a recovering alcoholic and would-be writer, the mother is a mother and the young son is telepathic and clairvoyant (has premonitions). When the hotel becomes cut of by snow it takes on a whole life of its own.
Without spoiling the plot I can safely say this book was to me one of my worst nightmares. The characters are all people who should love each other unconditionally but they are human, trapped and haunted. After that anything is possible.
Carrie
For me this has always been a fast and enjoyable read. King really manages to get inside the head of the main character Carrie - a teenage girl who initially at least has little understanding of herself, who is bullied by her mother and bullied by her classmates. I am not a violent or vindictive person yet somehow I always felt the town deserved what it got in this book.
In fact I think Carrie should be compulsory reading at secondary schools and should be discussed in depth.
Salems Lot
Of all of Kings books this one has always stood out to me as the most beautifully written - or perhaps it was the one that really awakened me to the beauty that is in Kings writing.
He creates everything within this story beautifully. It is essentially a 20th century Dracula story and well worth reading. I am sure many later vampire stories were inspired by Salems Lot.
Nightshift
A wonderfully terrifying collection of Stephen Kings short stories.
He wrote somewhere (I don't know if it was this collection) something like "I know there are no monsters under my bed and I know too that if I don't put my feet over the edge of the bed they wont get me". It's all true. Read nightshift!
April 15, 2022
Finished The Shining. What can I say? An outstanding book. Sharp pacing, page turner, thriller, edge of your seat scariness. But, layered, psychologically draining, enormously entertaining and so, so much better than the movie but, having said that, the movie was quite brilliant in condensing and interpreting the most thrilling bits of this classic. I mean, this book is like a visit to the midway, there is just so much going on it would have been impossible to convey all the things in a two hour movie.
So much came back to me, my first reading was sooo long ago, and visualizing the movie and Jack, Wendy, Danny and Mr. Halloran was easy. But the deep parts, the undertone and narrative vibe captured in the words King put on paper underscored just how good The Shining was when published in 1977. The Overlook was a character, a creepy huge character, I see that now like never before. Again, in Doctor Sleep with Danny as an adult, and again in Billy Summers, there's the Overlook in all it's creepiness. Certainly King fans will have read this book, The Shining, and if you haven't yet, get on it, you are missing a treat.
So much came back to me, my first reading was sooo long ago, and visualizing the movie and Jack, Wendy, Danny and Mr. Halloran was easy. But the deep parts, the undertone and narrative vibe captured in the words King put on paper underscored just how good The Shining was when published in 1977. The Overlook was a character, a creepy huge character, I see that now like never before. Again, in Doctor Sleep with Danny as an adult, and again in Billy Summers, there's the Overlook in all it's creepiness. Certainly King fans will have read this book, The Shining, and if you haven't yet, get on it, you are missing a treat.
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December 22, 2018SALEM’S LOT was my introduction to Stephen King. I was a kid of 13. In the same two week period, I read THE OMEN, and THE EXORCIST. Neither of the latter two books fazed me. SALEM'S LOT had me looking behind me and locking upstairs windows like nobody's business. I was scared. Welcome to the world of Stephen King! Of course this was years before Anne Rice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and a literal explosion of vampires in the popular media. At the time I figured out this was a Vampire Story, I thought the whole vampire thing was sort of hackneyed. Now I think it arises from the eternal human desire to live forever and is a cautionary tale about pursuing that desire.
Stephen King quite literally inserted himself into this novel in the character of Ben Mears. I loved the American Gothic setting of the novel, the much famed Castle Rock. As with any King novel, the cbaracter's are extraordinarily well rendered. I think character developement is King's greatest strength as a writer. Any reader of King's Magnum Opera, The Gun Slinger Series, MUST read this book first
Stephen King quite literally inserted himself into this novel in the character of Ben Mears. I loved the American Gothic setting of the novel, the much famed Castle Rock. As with any King novel, the cbaracter's are extraordinarily well rendered. I think character developement is King's greatest strength as a writer. Any reader of King's Magnum Opera, The Gun Slinger Series, MUST read this book first
April 4, 2021
This was the first adult novel I read. It was also the first book I borrowed from the library. This was the exact edition although this review is just for The Shining section. I think I was 12 and what drew me to this book was the opening line, "Officious little p*&!k.". I am not going to check but I'm sure that's right. My juvenile thought process may have attracted me to the book but one of the best storytellers the world has ever known kept my engrossed to the end. What a book! I am still massive fan today and I was so excited when I saw Doctor Sleep in a bookshop and understood it was a sequel. Anyway back to The Shining. Stephen King is a master story teller although I do think in a lot of books he doesn't finish as strong as he starts. Not so with The Shining, he knocks it out of the park from page one to page... err.... well the last page.
November 14, 2015
The Shining - 5/5 A classic.
Salem's Lot - 5/5 Maybe the best vampire novel ever written.
Night Shift - 4/5 Enjoyable. 'I Know What You Need,' 'Gray Matter,' 'One More For the Road' and 'Sometimes They Come Back' were the standouts for me.
Carrie - 5/5 If this novel doesn't break your heart you might not have a heart to begin with.
Overall it's interesting to compare these 4 early works with King's more recent output. He's certainly become a steadier, more confident writer in the 40 years since these were first published. But even here, at the beginning, his grasp of both character and detail were remarkable. Some things never change.
Salem's Lot - 5/5 Maybe the best vampire novel ever written.
Night Shift - 4/5 Enjoyable. 'I Know What You Need,' 'Gray Matter,' 'One More For the Road' and 'Sometimes They Come Back' were the standouts for me.
Carrie - 5/5 If this novel doesn't break your heart you might not have a heart to begin with.
Overall it's interesting to compare these 4 early works with King's more recent output. He's certainly become a steadier, more confident writer in the 40 years since these were first published. But even here, at the beginning, his grasp of both character and detail were remarkable. Some things never change.
June 7, 2010
I read Salems lot when i was 13 and it scared the hell out of me, I quit reading horror after this. It taught me my lesson. I am grateful I found PNR so i could have my vampires back without the nightmares!!!!!!!!
December 21, 2011
I like this book because i like how stephen king writes his books. they are a bit hard to understand sometimes and some of the books like Salems lot are really scary. I would sudgest these books to anyone who likes a tough read and likes really scary books.
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August 7, 2012 Iread all of Steven Kings books up until his last couple and got tired of scary stories.
I did enjoy them when I was reading them,a nd still have of the discription in mind. Like Shit weasel. i could not helo but think that SK had some kind of dark side in himself I no longer cared for.
I did enjoy them when I was reading them,a nd still have of the discription in mind. Like Shit weasel. i could not helo but think that SK had some kind of dark side in himself I no longer cared for.
July 24, 2023
The Shining - 3.5
Salem's Lot - 3.25
Night Shift - 3
Carrie - 4.5
You can see both the roots of Stephen King's incredible unique style of storytelling, and that this really is his earliest writing. Looking at you Night Shift.
Salem's Lot - 3.25
Night Shift - 3
Carrie - 4.5
You can see both the roots of Stephen King's incredible unique style of storytelling, and that this really is his earliest writing. Looking at you Night Shift.
July 5, 2023
the first 4 titles from king in one book.salems lot has got to be the best vampire novel ever.the best from the best. love them all
May 18, 2010
salems lot best story about vampires ....ever..loved it
June 19, 2010
Currently listening to Salem's Lot, for some reason couldn't find it on here alone. I read it years ago, one of my favs, wanted to revisit.
Still scary....
Still scary....
March 17, 2011
Good vampire novel, and no sparkles involved.
The Shining is as terrifying as ever.
Night Shift is more for beginning readers of Stephen King.
And Carrie is just plain good.
The Shining is as terrifying as ever.
Night Shift is more for beginning readers of Stephen King.
And Carrie is just plain good.
August 29, 2011
This book is spooky as hell. It's funny because he makes fun if this book later in life but I think it's one of his scariest.
August 18, 2011
All Hail the KING of Horror!
October 1, 2011
'Salem's Lot has got to be one of the best contemporary horror stories ever written!
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December 13, 2011Magnificent
November 1, 2011
From what I remember reading it as a teenager, this is the most frightening book I've ever read. Time to reread.
December 26, 2011
Great book. It had from the very beginning to the bitter end. Well written and the plot just when you thought it would go one way goes another. It's a great homage to Dracula.
Currently reading
May 27, 2012Deliciously creepy.
August 14, 2012
Interesting... A little dated but I really enjoyed it. Wish I could get a copy of the 1979 movie.
July 9, 2012
Great to get chills while reading!
August 23, 2012
Salems lot and Carrie both wonderful page turning novels,loved them both.
December 30, 2020
Rating was for the book Carrie.
May 25, 2013
The Shining--up all night reading. Salems Lot--up all night checking the windows.
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