Night Shift by Stephen King
Overall Rating: ★★★
Night Shift is a collection of Stephen King's short stories. King wrote many of these stories for magazines before his success with The Shining. Because these are earlier Stephen Kings, the stories are a little hit and miss. There are some mind-blowing masterpieces here, but there are also some basic, predictable creations. I'll break them down for you one by one.
Jerusalem's Lot: ★★★
A man recently moved in to an old family home. He hears whisperings in the village about a place called Jerusalem's lot. The sounds of rats in the walls begin to ware away at his nerves. He writes his story to his friend in a series of letters. I thought these letters dampened the possibly of suspense. Because he was writing letters, I knew he was going to live. What's the fun of that? I must admit there is a good twist at the end that gave me chills. Very creepy.
Graveyard Shift: ★★★★
This was basically a much better version of Jerusalem's lot. In this story a man by the name of Hall works the graveyard shift at an old mill. Over the fourth of July holiday he and some other workers take on the task of clearing out the basement. Amongst the old office chairs, moldy cloth, and mud, they find unnaturally large rats. Things only go downhill from there. There was a moment in this when my heart started beating a mile a minute. The ending gave me the creeps. Definitely a quality horror story.
Watch the movie adaptation trailer here.
Night Surf: ★★★★★
The first sentence of this story had me immediately sucked in. This apocalyptic short story was an interesting change of pace from what I knew about Stephen King. I loved the world building in this story and the complex characters and their relationships. I didn't want to stop reading this one, and I definitely wanted more.
I am the Doorway: ★★★★★
This might be the best one in the book. This brilliant sci-fi had me seriously freaked out, and checking the tips of my fingers for redness. The ending of this story was horrifying. I LOVED it. This one had my heart beating right out of my chest. The main character in this short story was actually a good guy, which I appreciated from King, since most of his main characters are pretty disturbing.
Watch the movie adaptation trailer here.
The Mangler: ★★★
NOPE NOPE NOPE! This one turned my stomach, and it wasn't really worth it. The haunting was a bit of a stretch, and it never really had me scared, but grossed out. The ending was borderline comical. A machine rolling down the street is just not as scary as King made it out to be.
Watch the movie adaptation trailer here.
The Boogeyman: ★★★
This one was definitely scary, but I wasn't sure if the dad was crazy or if this was supposed to be real. I thought for sure he was crazy until the end, and then I felt the whole story just didn't add up. Not my favorite. Definitely lacked clarity.
Gray Matter: ★★★
Another one that was trying to be scarier than it was. The ending was terrifying, but the description of said "gray matter" just made me think of a jello-like substance, which didn't seem that terrifying to me. I'm sure if I actually came in contact with it it would be pretty terrifying, but it didn't really come across in words.
Battleground: ★
Wow. I really hated this one. I didn't make any sense. I didn't understand where the package came from, and I didn't understand why they were so lethal. Were they not plastic? Why didn't he just run out the door? I think there were a lot of plot holes here, and the character was boring.
Trucks: ★★★
Definitely scary. I loved the suspenseful buildup in this one, but the ending left me unsatisfied. I don't think the logic was all there. King tried to explain the main character's choices, but I still would have choses differently.
I think this short was inspired by a short by Richard Matheson called Duel. The movie of the same name was based on that short. Watch the movie adaptation trailer here.
Sometimes They Come Back: ★★★★
This one really creeped me out. It reminded me of a film noir detective story. I loved the progression of suspense. The boys showing up one by one created a tangible tension. It falls short of five stars because the ending was a little much.
Watch the full movie adaptation here.
Strawberry Spring: ★★★★
I knew it! I knew it! I knew the ending of this one from the very first page BUT I really liked the atmosphere and the writing in this one.
The Ledge: ★★★★★
Another favorite from this collection. I think this one was the most suspenseful. I was sucked in from the start, I held my breath through most of the middle, and I cheered the main character on in the end -- a satisfying revenge.
This short story and two other were adapted into a film, also written by Stephen King called Cat's Eye. Watch the trailer here.
The Lawnmower Man: ★★★
This one was so weird... Stephen King how did you come up with this? I'm worried for you... This story had me saying "what?" more than "AHHH!" If that's what King was going for then hurray, but this wasn't really scary, just messed up.
Quitters, Inc.: ★★★★
This was scary because these sadistic methods to make a person stop smoking were effective. It made you question the ethics of it all. If it works is it okay? Once you signed you could never get out. Ever. Terrifying.
This short story and two other were adapted into a film, also written by Stephen King called Cat's Eye. Watch the trailer here.
I Know What You Need: ★★★★★
I loved that this was written from a girls perspective, and I was impressed that if felt genuine. This was really creepy because Ed scared me, but I liked him at the same time. I knew something was wrong, but I thought he was kind of sweet too. I was completely on bored with Elizabeth.
Children of the Corn: ★★★★★
Terrifying. The subplot of the marriage problems really helped give this story some dimension. I can't wait to watch the movie.
Watch the movie trailer here.
The Last Rung on the Ladder: ★★★★
This story wasn't scary at all, but it was absolutely heartbreaking. I almost cried reading this, and King still managed to make use of his mastery of suspense. His vivid descriptions painted this world around me, and I loved it.
The Man Who Loved Flowers: ★★★
This one was definitely creepy, but way too predictable. I knew where it was going from the third paragraph, and there were no surprises. The last few sentences were very well written and almost made up for the predictable plot.
One for the Road: ★★
This was a stretch. Why did he bring back Jerusalem's Lot? I don't know. I don't want to hear about it any more. I'm very bored of Jerusalem's Lot, and this time there are vampires. Seriously? Vampires? Ew.
The Woman in the Room: ★★
This dove into the struggles of fighting the last stages of cancer. It was very sad, but self indulgent. It was very slow to read, and there was no mystery, suspense, or horror at all. The last few stories here really went downhill.
