The End of the Whole Mess and Other Stories

by Stephen King, Matthew Broderick (Narrator), Tim Curry (Narrator)

For the first time on CD! Vintage Stephen King at a great low price!

Stephen King's unparalleled imagination is in full force in this collection of four unabridged short stories originally found in the classic, Nightmares & Dreamscapes. An all-star cast of readers bring to life these timeless stories from the darkest places.

One man's pursuit of world peace turns deadly in The End of the Whole Mess. Stephen King puts his spin on the familiar duo of Holmes and Watson in The Doctor's Case. In The Moving Finger, menace arrives poking out of the drain of a bathroom sink. And a young, pregnant widow takes on a zombie attack in Home Delivery.

Matthew Broderick, Tim Curry, Eve Beglarian and Stephen King lend their voices to this haunting collection of classic stories that no Stephen King fan should be without.

The end of the whole mess
The doctor's case
The moving finger
Home delivery

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Dystopia, Mystery

5 pages, Audio CD

First published September 29, 2009

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

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re Listen July 2022

Rating for “The End Of The Whole Mess”

Story 3.25 stars**
Audio 3.75 stars**
Narrator Mathew Broderick

[Janith Pathirage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stephen King's 'The End of the Whole Mess' is just like a cross breed of sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Disintegration Machine" and Gogol's "Diary of a Madman". An entertaining sci fi story (that type is extremely rare) with a good ending. One does not simply mess with the mother nature, for good or bad.

[La Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Це була спроба читати оповідання маестро Кінга, які я ще не читала. Непогано, але не краще. Довгий Джонт в мене досі у топі.

[Patrick Tumblety · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm on the last story of this audiobook collection, and it has been a quality production all the way through. Stephen King is a master, and they found a great cast to read his stories. These four stories are great together, and quite different in content:

The End of the Whole Mess: Read by Matthew Broderick.
An excellent cautionary tale about a man recalling, in his hours before certain death, the relationship with his brother and their involvement with the end of the world. Matthew Broderick is perfect.

The Doctor's Case: Read by Tim Curry
Really all I have to say is "Tim Curry" to entice you to listen to this story. It's also an awesome Sherlockian mystery told from Dr. Watson's point-of-view years after Sherlock's death.

The Moving Finger: Read by Eve Beglarian
A creepy story about a man who finds a finger trying to escape from his bathroom basin like a worm crawling out of a hole. This one digs deep into the psyche of those plagued by an itch that they can't scratch...

Home Delivery: Read by Stephen King
I'm almost done with this one, but I can say that I LOVE when King narrates his own work. He really gets into it. If you haven't listen to his reading of the incredible short LT's Theory of Pets, I HIGHLY recommend it!

[DAISY READS HORROR · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story as a whole was mediocre. I liked the brotherhood between the brothers but I felt there was more to the story. The ending was sad though. It did leave me wondering on the brother’s mental state. 🤔
I read somewhere this is a zombie story? I don’t get that at all from this. I must be missing something ❓

[Ellen Spes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the zombie story.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not his best work, but good enough. A take on a Sherlock story was fun.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The End of the Whole Mess- read by Matthew Broderick -- first hearing Broderick's voice takes me back to the 80's and War Games, a happy time :-). I liked this story as told by someone partially responsible for the End of the Whole Mess. Reminds me of the same theme in Jurassic Park, just because we can doesn't mean we should -- and the consequences that come with that decision.

The Doctor's Case - read by Tim Curry - as I mentioned in another review, I could listen to Tim Curry read the dictionary...so it was a pleasure to listen to this Sherlock Holmes story. I have not read any ACTUAL Sherlock Holmes stories, only those written by folks other than Arthur Conan Doyle, perhaps I should remedy this, as I enjoyed this story quite a lot.

The Moving Finger - read by Eve Beglarian - DISTURBING. I loved this story (mostly because of how it ended) -- The ending is what made this story so creepy -- it just ends...you are not really sure if our hero saw what he saw or is just crazy...but there are clues to lend to the truth that he is not crazy...

Home Delivery - read by Stephen King - NEVER underestimate a pregnant woman. This story was a little sad, but also good. Another end of the world story, this time it is not our fault though...damn aliens.

[Jami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I vaguely remember reading at least one of these stories when the collection, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, came out years ago. These were entertaining, though not my favorite King short stories. Matthew Broderick does a good job reading The End Of The Whole Mess; however, I didn't really like how it ended. King is known for his hanging endings and they often leave me wanting more, but this one really left me feeling like he could have done so much more with it. I thought it was odd that the story that had the female protagonist was read by King and the The Moving Finger, which is centered around a man's fear of what is lurking in the bathroom sink was read by a woman. No matter, all four were entertaining.

[Gabriella · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my thrift store finds was a brand new unopened audiobook of Stephen King stories called "The End of the Whole Mess and Other Stories". These short stories were originally in "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" and include "The End of the Whole Mess" read by Matthew Broderick, "The Doctor's Case", a Sherlock Holmes story read by Tim Curry, "The Moving Finger" read by Eve Beglarian and finally "Home Delivery" read by Stephen King himself. I am a huge fan of Stephen King and love his writing. It was a joy to hear these stories read by famous people and I especially love hearing Stephen read his own stories. A wonderful collection of classic Stephen King stories.

[Robert Reiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review of King’s short story “The End of the Whole Mess”. The plot is that a man discovers a chemical that brings peace and tranquility to humans. He drags his brother into a crazy scheme which involves spreading the chemical into the drinking water with the hopes of ending war and violence. Unfortunately, things do not always go according to plan.

This was short and fine for what it is but felt like King just gave up on the story and decided to move on to something else. Worth reading because it’s written well by the master storyteller himself, but all in all it’s pretty forgettable.

[Missmath144 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listening to Tim Curry and Matthew Broderick read the first two stories was awesome. Horror isn't generally my genre; in fact this is the first book I have tagged horror. However, a good reader can make anything a great experience. Eve Beglarian and Stephen King read the last two stories, and were good readers, but since they were more traditional horror stories, they didn't appeal that much to me. If you love horror, you should love all four of them.

[HillbillyMystic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes when it's a mediocre Stephen K. novel I think he tends to rattle on. Sometimes when he's on I want the book to last forever. This book of short stories had both. A few I was grateful they were short. However the two apocalyptic tales, one including zombies and alien worms were way too short. I would like to see these pieces expanded into 1000 page novels.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should be more like listening to rather than reading...so far, so creepy.

[Rob Hermanowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short apocalyptical story by Stephen King - I actually read it in a collection ("Wastelands"), not as an audiobook. King does the Apocalypse well!

[Mr.Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

read The End of the Whole Mess from Stephen King's 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes'

[1/4/14 3:00 pm]

[Rinku · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to read his short stories. King likes to amplify our simple fears into something that takes our breath away.

[Shannon Dyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept, makes you think

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[Sherri Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

My least favorite story was the one called moving finger. That being said, I really loved this set of stories! They were classic Stephen King!

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this one. The reading was fantastic, but the stories didn't hold my interest as much as others have in the past.

[Sharini · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story starts off as a confession and then wildly changes course to end up in a ‘gotcha’ moment that is similar to the format of Roald Dahl’s short stories.

This initially read as a slow narrative of a crime and only later on picked pace and started honing into what actually happened - right at the very end. How the whole thing went horribly wrong and why the brother needed to be killed is literally in the last two pages.

3 stars as the beginning was fairly slow - but who am I to complain of King’s character development, right?

[Chris Doelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't make it through this audiobook (got about halfway.) This is not the Stephen King I grew up with. It is short on horror - short on psychological intrigue - short on what I loved about his books back when I read them each voraciously.

It is long on his political point of view and need to preach the same. Writers are allowed to change just as his readers are allowed to move on.

[Hilario Peña · Rating 4 out of 5]

The end of the whole mess es un cuento protagonizado por un joven genio, loco y anarquista, quien termina causando un apocalipsis con su experimento químico-social. Un relato como los que pretende escribir Palahniuk. Pero bien escrito.

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a masterful performance on the part of all of these narrators. I have read the book of short stories that these came from but they felt all new because of the great narration. I especially loved Tim Curry reading the Sherlock Holmes story. Mr. King is one masterful storyteller!

[Rumfuddle · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 short stories from King.

All enjoyable but the standout is 'The Doctor's case', a Sherlock Holmes story read by Tim Curry. Excellently written in the style of S.A.C.D and narrated brilliantly.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this story. It is an emotional ride.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty crazy collection of stories. I enjoyed them all. It was an audiobook, so each story was read by a different person.

[John Bond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grab bag of stories.

[Mac Dubista Keso The Bibliobibuli v(=∩_∩=) · Rating 2 out of 5]

😒 Whathe?!