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The House on Maple Street: and Other Stories
Stephen King's unparalleled imagination is in full force in this collection of four unabridged short stories originally found in the classic, Nightmares & Dreamscapes. Stephen King and an all-star cast of readers bring to life these timeless stories from the darkest places.
Mysterious machinery begins to take over The House on Maple Street. A private detective finds out that he is merely the character in crime novel in Umney's Last Case. In the non-fiction piece Head Down, King chronicles the 1989 season of his son Owen's little league baseball team and their journey to the Maine State Championships. And as a companion to Head Down, Brooklyn August takes a nostalgic look back on the glory days of professional baseball.
Stephen King, Tabitha King, Robert Parker, and Stephen J. Gould lend their voices to this haunting collection of classic stories that no Stephen King fan should be without.
Mysterious machinery begins to take over The House on Maple Street. A private detective finds out that he is merely the character in crime novel in Umney's Last Case. In the non-fiction piece Head Down, King chronicles the 1989 season of his son Owen's little league baseball team and their journey to the Maine State Championships. And as a companion to Head Down, Brooklyn August takes a nostalgic look back on the glory days of professional baseball.
Stephen King, Tabitha King, Robert Parker, and Stephen J. Gould lend their voices to this haunting collection of classic stories that no Stephen King fan should be without.
5 pages, Audio CD
First published June 30, 2009
10 people are currently reading
875 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,614 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 31 reviews
June 5, 2022
الشجاعة لا تعني اختفاء الخوف بل الانتصار عليه
احدي قصص مجموعة ليلة الكينج
و Nightmares &Dreamscapes
احدي قصص مجموعة ليلة الكينج
و Nightmares &Dreamscapes
July 22, 2022
Rating for **The house on maple street**
Story 3.5 stars**
Audio 3.75 stars**
Narrator Tabitha King
Story 3.5 stars**
Audio 3.75 stars**
Narrator Tabitha King
January 4, 2021
Ejot garās pastaigās, savas domas vien apnīk, ar kaut ko jānodarbina prāts. Izvēlējos izzināt Kinga daiļradi tālāk.
Un kārtējo reizi pārliecinājos, ka viņa romāni man patīk daudz vairāk par stāstiem.
Un kārtējo reizi pārliecinājos, ka viņa romāni man patīk daudz vairāk par stāstiem.
Read
April 13, 2012These shorts (along with many others) were originally anthologized in "Nightmares & Dreamscapes".
These stories are classic Stephen King, which is to say they cannot be simply labelled under one genre. Not even close for Sai King. The reader will go from the nearly pure SciFi work of "The House on Maple Street" to the surreal detective story with a twist in "Umney's Last Case". The latter brings Word Processor of the Gods to mind. With more twists than a bag of pretzels, this one will surely pique the interest of even the jaded reader.
These stories are classic Stephen King, which is to say they cannot be simply labelled under one genre. Not even close for Sai King. The reader will go from the nearly pure SciFi work of "The House on Maple Street" to the surreal detective story with a twist in "Umney's Last Case". The latter brings Word Processor of the Gods to mind. With more twists than a bag of pretzels, this one will surely pique the interest of even the jaded reader.
February 9, 2018
The great dynamic between the Bradbury children made the story a worthwhile read.
June 15, 2012
As in Chattery Teeth, and Other Stories I liked the first story best :) It was vivid, creepy and I especially liked the SciFi elements. The next one didn't fit my taste so much and the non-fiction part of the CD was quite boring in my opinion (I'm not so much into sports, or better not so much into talking about/watching sports + baseball isn't very famous over here in Germany, so I have to admit that I was quite unfamiliar with the rules).
It was nice to hear Stephen King reading it, though. His wife Tabitha is the narrator of the first story (The House on Maple Street) and even if it was interesting listening to her, she won't become one of my favorite narrators. I don't mean this to offend her but somehow it seemed to me as if she had problems with her dentures all the time speaking (if she already has dentures) ;)
It was nice to hear Stephen King reading it, though. His wife Tabitha is the narrator of the first story (The House on Maple Street) and even if it was interesting listening to her, she won't become one of my favorite narrators. I don't mean this to offend her but somehow it seemed to me as if she had problems with her dentures all the time speaking (if she already has dentures) ;)
September 6, 2020
Wow ..wow ....wow....
Such dangerous kids ! !
Such dangerous kids ! !
February 23, 2013
I got this book because I'd read Carrie and Thinner long ago and liked them. But when I get a book in the horror category, I expect to be scared or at least on edge, but none of these stories are scary. In fact, the story or "essay" about baseball that was published in the New York Times was so boring, I had to skip most of it because I was at risk of falling asleep while driving. I'd expected at least a few surprises but most of the book was a sleeper. The second story about a private eye was interesting from a writer's perspective since it was about a character come to live, but it, too, was not scary. I felt generous giving this uneven collection of short "horror" stories and one essay about baseball two stars.
August 12, 2020
actually the best section is not a horror story but the endearing essay about King's son and his little league team.
October 22, 2013
The House on Maple Street - read by Tabitha King - I like the stories where the kids get to save the day, so yeah, I liked this one. I would like to know where Lou ended up though.
Umney's Last Case - read by Robert Parker - I think this was one I listened to with my original collection of audio cassettes. I like this idea of escaping into your story, for real. You just have to be careful whose place you take.
Head Down - read by Stephen King - this is an essay, not a fiction story. Although I am not a baseball fan, I found this story about King's son's little league team charming
Brooklyn August - read by Stephen J Gould - a poem. It was okay.
Umney's Last Case - read by Robert Parker - I think this was one I listened to with my original collection of audio cassettes. I like this idea of escaping into your story, for real. You just have to be careful whose place you take.
Head Down - read by Stephen King - this is an essay, not a fiction story. Although I am not a baseball fan, I found this story about King's son's little league team charming
Brooklyn August - read by Stephen J Gould - a poem. It was okay.
November 9, 2009
I didn't listen to the entire thing. I listened to the first two stories, but the last two are nonfiction. No offense to Mr King, but I'm a fan of his fiction, not his nonfiction.
These aren't two of my favorite stories. These are two stories I could honestly care less about. Tabitha King doesn't have a bad voice, but she has a Maine accent, and as a Southernor, that RIPS ON MY NERVES like you couldn't believe. The gentleman who read "Umney's Last Case" wasn't bad, but his voice was rather boring.
This was like eating an apple. Not bad, but not the most exciting thing ever to happen.
These aren't two of my favorite stories. These are two stories I could honestly care less about. Tabitha King doesn't have a bad voice, but she has a Maine accent, and as a Southernor, that RIPS ON MY NERVES like you couldn't believe. The gentleman who read "Umney's Last Case" wasn't bad, but his voice was rather boring.
This was like eating an apple. Not bad, but not the most exciting thing ever to happen.
September 6, 2015
A really good rainy day read. This story has a very good twist. Once again King doesn't explain the phenomena here, but that can be forgiven considering the originality of this tale. These Bradbury kids are not as evil as 'Children of the Corn', but they are indeed badass and not to be trifled with.
August 28, 2011
The first story was great. the rest were just o.k.
February 11, 2015
Was not happy with this book. If you are looking for traditional Stephen King stories, don't bother with this. 3 out of 5 are non-fictional stories about baseball!
September 24, 2016
had a few weird essays in it but the stories were classic king, very good! :)
January 14, 2020
Looking at “The House on Maple Street”, it began as a very good tense story about a wife of children re married in an abusive relationship. The children find metal appearing in the walls. Why? That is revealed in time. Where it comes from? Not stated. You are glad about the result, but, the ending is very far fetched.
May 21, 2019
this book is just 4 stories from Nightmares and Dream Scapes, which I already read.
October 30, 2019
I read this at school and it's actually pretty good
June 24, 2020
Great job, once again!
July 9, 2020
A mildly entertaining slowburn thriller where abuse runs rampant and earths uncertain guest maybe the saviour
September 11, 2020
Great short story. I loved it
September 22, 2020
Great story!
January 17, 2021
Uçdu göylərə bizim peykimiz. 😂
December 28, 2022
Quickly paced science fiction
February 21, 2023
Interesting... Very interesting.
May 18, 2023
I liked the kid story with the house, but couldn't pay attention to the rest of the stories.
December 2, 2025
“Sometimes the past hides in the walls, waiting to be found.”
A tense, atmospheric story with strong imagery and a slow-building sense of unease. The suspense works in parts, but some plot points feel predictable and the pacing drags at times. Still, it’s an engaging, eerie read for fans of subtle horror.
A tense, atmospheric story with strong imagery and a slow-building sense of unease. The suspense works in parts, but some plot points feel predictable and the pacing drags at times. Still, it’s an engaging, eerie read for fans of subtle horror.
May 4, 2015
This was a re-read, but I barely remember reading these stories years ago. I am reminded that I enjoy Stephen King's full length novels better than short stories, as the stories feel incomplete to me. The House on Maple Street was enjoyable, but I wanted to know more.
December 25, 2014
I could not even get into the audio book because the readers sounded monotone. It was a real unpleasant experience. I guess I will get the book from the library and read it instead.
July 10, 2023
This is a unique short story where metal seems to be growing behind the walls of a house. The four kids living there make the story succeed as they team up to take on their villainous stepfather.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews