The Stories Within (Discussion)

[C. J.]

What did anyone think about the stories in this book. Did you like them, which ones, were there ones you didn't like, were there ones you skipped and decided not to read? Etc.

[C. J.]

Anyone thought the macabre "The Man Who Loved Flowers" had a good twist?

[Sheila]

I didn't remember the story until I looked up on Wikipedia. It's been so long ago since I read Night Shift. Like, 25 years or something. That one wasn't a bad story - I remembered it after reading the synopsis.

There's a couple of stories that I remember pretty clearly after all these years...

Strawberry Spring
Quitter's Inc.
Children of The Corn

Last sentences of Strawberry Spring... something that's managed (more or less) to stay with me for over two decades...

"My wife's crying in the other room. She thinks I was with another woman last night.

Dear God, I think so too."

[C. J.]

The Man Who Loved Flowers was about a man who was running around seemingly in love with a woman as he was going down a street. Then he meets a woman in an alley-way... the story was cruel but King's middle name might as well practically be "Macabre."

I forget what was the beginning of Strawberry Spring about..?

[Sheila]

Strawberry Spring, a false spring, a lying spring (another paraphrased quote from the story).

It's about a series of murders that occur during a very specific time of year. Of course, you can guess who the murderer turns out to be... :)

The protagonist who fails to remember the evil that he himself does.

How weird, though, that you should bring up this discussion and make me think of that story. I've had a quote running through my head for a couple of weeks now, and it was driving me crazy as to where I originally read it. It was in this same story!

I suspect everyone but me. and thee,' he said, and then the smile faded a little. 'And sometimes I wonder about thee...

So through your question, you inadvertently helped me solve my mystery. Awesome. Thanks.

[Gerd]

There's a quite a few I do remember from that collection:

Graveyard Shift
The Mangler
The Boogeyman
Grey Matter
Battleground
Trucks
Sometimes They Come Back
The Ledge
The Lawnmower Man
Quitters, Inc.
Children of the Corn

I think fave has to be a tie between The Ledge and Battleground.

And I still marvel what The Lawnmower Man is all about. :D

But I believe Night Shift did compile some of his finest short story work.

[C. J.]

Sheila wrote: "Strawberry Spring, a false spring, a lying spring (another paraphrased quote from the story).

It's about a series of murders that occur during a very specific time of year. Of course, you can gue..."

Haha. Glad I helped! :)

[C. J.]

Gerd wrote: "There's a quite a few I do remember from that collection:

Graveyard Shift
The Mangler
The Boogeyman
Grey Matter
Battleground
Trucks
Sometimes They Come Back
The Ledge
The Lawnmower Man
Quitters, I..."

Ooh. Battleground. I think that one is great. A mysterious box and the contents inside he would never describe to another human being without sounding crazy.

The Lawnmower Man though strange I did like that one. Apparently a source says the man was some kind of mythological creature or something. The strange guy that gets rid of the grass in a strange way.

Now that I think about Lawnmower man what do you think the person was, Gerd? I wonder about that.

[Tash]

I think Nightshift (along with Skeleton Crew) would have to be my all-time favourite short story collection.

Sometimes they Come back.
Quitter's Inc (superb!)
The Boogeyman (crawset!)
and Trucks (which took several readings to grown on me) top my list.

[C. J.]

Yep Quitter's Inc was awesome. The Boogeyman has to be one of King's classic short-stories. It just chilled me to the bone!

What techniques I wonder does it take to craft something so frightening?

[Gerd]

CJ wrote: "Now that I think about Lawnmower man what do you think the person was, Gerd? I wonder about that."

My best guess would be that he was meant to be a faun, although I don't remember them being described as the murderous kind.

[C. J.]

Gerd wrote: "My best guess would be that he was meant to be a faun, although I don't remember them being the murderous kind"


The Lawnmower Man.

The article where I read that a while ago has since been re-edited and left the detail out. Hmm. I wonder if that part that the article writer claimed was even true within the story at all.

[Meran]

I loved all those stories, long ago.
I used to live in Maine, and I can attest to all the backgrounds and attitudes being true to life ;)
And The Mangler, I believe, was very appropriate to my job in a woolen mill... I knew guys who lost fingers, skin off backs, even lives to the equipment. I was known for shutting down the equipment (my magnetic aura stops watches, true story. Apparently, it also affects the machines I worked on. I learned to be a Fixer in my 2.5 yrs there.) Anyway, all the old timers all had old stories to tell, many very scary. ;)

[For The Love of Books]

Battleground, Strawberry Spring, Quitters, Inc., The Boogeyman, and The Ledge were my favorites. The Boogeyman gave me the willies and I loved the end of Battleground.

[Scott]

This was a great collection, and much much stronger than Skeleton Crew, in my opinion. My favorite story in it is "The Last Rung on the Ladder," not a horror at all, but a sad story about regret.

[C. J.]

Yes they were great stories. And "The Last Rung on the Ladder" was sad and a tragic tale but was still great on its own. King could craft any kind of story. Horror, drama, and I hear non-fiction at times.

[Micah]

I love Night Shift! This collection has the most number of memorable King short stories.
My favorites are:

Jerusalem's Lot
Quitters, Inc.
One for the Road
Children of the Corn
The Boogeyman
I Know What You Need

[C. J.]

Does anybody think The Boogeyman is one of King's classic works?? Because I sure do. Every time I think of it I imagine a movie in my head and remember the dread, the horror the creature put the main character and his family through... and I remember the creature face to face with him and it speaking to him as if it had a mouth full of seaweed.

Sends chills down my spine every time...

[Richard]

it's his most teenage collection, though i likely think that as i read it in my teens. solid short stories of which the only ones i really remember are Battleground and Quitters Inc. king shorts are good but of all Survivor Type is the most unforgettable

[Micah]

CJ wrote: "Does anybody think The Boogeyman is one of King's classic works?? Because I sure do. Every time I think of it I imagine a movie in my head and remember the dread, the horror the creature put the ma..."

It sure is terrifying!

[C. J.]

Yes. That is how I feel Micah. And also now that I think about it I feel "The Boogeyman" is probably the only short-story of King's that I feel I remember every single event within it. For some reason no other story of his has made me remember so much about it.

Maybe "The Moving Finger" has too but that one is a simpler story (and is not in this collection).

Yes Quitters Inc. was very memorable too.

[C. J.]

I almost wince at the thought of this one but what did anyone think of Graveyard Shift because that one was in my opinion not a favorite of mine (or at all)? Are there any pluses about it anyone can say about it?

[Scott]

I don't think I liked "Graveyard Shift" much but to be honest I don't really remember it. Rats?

[Gerd]

Yes, rats!
I loved it; actually Graveyard Shift was the story that brought me to another favourite of mine: James Herbert's Rats trilogy. :)


I think "The Mangler" was the story that scared me the most at the time. I used to have an irrational fear of machinery and that story really struck a cord with me there.

[Angelo]

CJ wrote: "Yes they were great stories. And "The Last Rung on the Ladder" was sad and a tragic tale but was still great on its own. King could craft any kind of story. Horror, drama, and I hear non-fiction at..."

I'd actually forgotten all about The Last Rung On The Ladder until I read this post.

It was actually an incredibly moving and tragic story, and quite unexpected given the rest of the tales in this book.

Not to sound like a gushing fan, but it's stories like this that really show how great a writer Stephen King is seemingly in whatever genre he chooses to write.

(actually that does make me sound like a gushing fan, but whatever...)

[Jim]

It has been a while, Children of the Corn

[C. J.]

Angelo wrote: "CJ wrote: "Yes they were great stories. And "The Last Rung on the Ladder" was sad and a tragic tale but was still great on its own..."

I'd actually forgotten all about The Last Rung On The Ladder until I read this post. It was actually..."

Go ahead and gush! I think that Stephen King is a fantastic writer. I have been trying to find another horror writer that is as good as him so I might start reading him again.

Horror, drama... there is no genre that he can tackle so well!