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Summary: WOW!! Stephen King is the master of horror!!!
Review: I just got "Night Shift", and it is truly one of the best collections of short stories I have ever read. All of these are classic stories, absolutely bone-chilling. I read "The Boogieman" last night before going to bed, and I was scared to turn out the light. I kept looking towards the closet, expecting the Boogieman to pop out of it and eat me at any moment. "Graveyard Shift" is also one of my favorites, as are the two gems titled "Jerusalem's Lot" and "Gray Matter." I don't care how old you are or what type of books you prefer reading; this book will have you rivited by the first paragraph. Kings writing is superb. Go to the nearest bookstore and buy this collection of short stories by the Master of Horror. I can garuantee you it is worth it!!
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Summary: An excellent collection of short stories
Review: To start things off, I was really pleased with this particular book. I don't usually like to read a book of short stories, probably because there isn't nearly enough detail. As a matter of fact, one of the only reasons I actually picked it up is because of the stories that were listed...Children of the Corn, Graveyard Shift, and Sometimes They Come Back might sound a bit familiar (i.e.-movies that have been made). Nevetheless, I wholly approved of The Night Shift, and I recommend it to anyone that likes to read King's works. :)
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Summary: I love it.
Review: If you weren't thrilled with Kings latest big books, Nightshift is just what you need. These short gems are King in his prime. They're scary and they have don't try too hard like Bag of Bones, Tom Gordon or the really unfortuneate Hearts in Atlantis. If you are waiting for King to "come home" re-read or read for the first time this incredibly scary collection.
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Summary: JUST FINISHED READING 1 WEEK AGO...
Review: and I had a hard time putting it down. I really liked it. Enjoy!
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Summary: An Excellant Horror Book!
Review: Stephen King definetly is the master of macabre. This book proves it the best. This happens to be my favorite King book, and for good reasons. First of all, the stories in this short story masterpiece are the best. I think two or more have been made into films, but you have to read them. If you want a great stephen King book, look no farther than this one.
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Summary: Excellent reading for late nights and rainy days
Review: I am a big fan of Stephen King...but I must admit this is one of my favorite books. It's full of great short stories. It's the kind of book that has you looking around the room in the still of the night!!
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Summary: Mixed Batch
Review: I figured that I would try the Short Story route with Mr. King the second time around. Although there are some very good stories, there are a few clunkers which just did not maintain my interest. Jerusalem's Lot just never seemed to grab my attention and merely seemed to be a blah blah blah in my memory blanks. Night Surf does not say anything of consequence and Trucks is incredibly insane where nothing connects. It just seems as if the Trucks go crazy destroying everything yet how does one man even attempt to defuel them. Maybe I am not getting this one but I'm sure others feel the same.Quitters, Inc. leaves a good message in between the horror stating that you must have a strong willed attitude when you committ to doing something. The Ledge is another winner where control is a key element and strength of character perserveres. The imagery of the spooky town and blood sucking vampires is very captivating in One For The Road. I Know What You Need and The Man Who Loved Flowers are interesting especially for those of us who are looking for love and tired of being told "I am seeing someone else." Last Rung On The Ladder and The Woman In The Room deal with some sad issues involving family that people need to deal with better. If nothing else, the vivid horrific imagery of Stephen King makes this collection a good read. Even on some of the middle of the road stories such as The Mangler, Battleground, and Children Of The Corn, the various scenes are fairly captivating even if the overall plot is questionable. Combine this with several captivating stories and a few clunkers, a 3 1/2 star grade seems about fair.
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Summary: You and I. Let's sit down, and talk about Night Shift.
Review: For those of you who don't know, this is how Stephen King begins the introduction to this little collection. Only he says he wants to talk about fear. And talking about fear indeed. I think horror films/books generally exist on three levels. First, it's just physical horror (B movies, for example) -- two headed monsters, animated corpses, etc. Could be thrilling if managed correctly, but can never leave a lasting impression on an adult's mind. Second, it's some sort of attempt to present the fear and the darkness both inside the character's mind and externally. More sophisticated than the first level, but if presented clumsily, could turn into ridiculous self-rightous preaching (some guy named Dean for example -- yeah, you know who you are). The highest level, however, is the perfect synthesis, the fusion, of the external and internal darkness. This is the level of mastery that King has demonstrated in this collection of short stories. Not all stories are equally excellent in this regard (some, such as the Lawnmower Man, are essentially "first-level" stories). But here are the few that I think are the shining jewels of that rare third-level achievement: Graveyard Shift, Boogeyman, and The Woman in the Room. Graveyard Shift, for example, superficially is about a group of workers going down to the basement of a factory to do clean up and encounter deformed and murderous rats. But the entire storyline is an excellent metaphor: going down the ladder of the human psyche, trying to "clean up," but finding darker and darker things lurking down there, things that have eluded the light of nature, of society, and meanwhile have mutated and transformed into horrible nightmares. The same applies for Boogeyman, where the true horror that is lurking beneath is not so much the monster that jumps out of the closet, but the lack of courage of people to confront their fears, and consequently they get trapped by such fear. Finally, The Woman in the Room brings the collection to a climax. In the introduction written by himself, King says that ultimately all fears are really fear of death. This is just such a story -- the fear, the suffering, the terror of death -- all the excruciating details carefully drawn out, that one trembles to even look at them. There are some other excellent stories as well, such as Quitters Inc. (a sinister service company), The Ledge (graphic description of fear of height), and Last Rung on the Ladder (heartwrenching, but I don't think really qualify as a horror story). Even though they don't quite achieve the lofy heights of the first three mentioned here, they are still very good readings. Yes, there are a few stinkers, such as Night Surf and The Lawnmower Man, but overall this is defintely recommended.
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Summary: eerie...
Review: This book contains a great collection of weird and eerie stories. Man, does Stephan have one imagination!
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Summary: STILL THE KING!
Review: I bought this book last lear ... ... .... I bought it because i was a King fan at about twelve. I'm 14 now and still love him. I've read It, The Shining, Christine, Carrie, Misery, The Green Mile, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and I've read the novella, Apt Pupil, and several short stories. Anyway, getting back to Night Shift, they are mostly good. There are two that i know of you need to stay away from. First, there's Night Surf and that's the worse of the two. Its a terrible nuclear/end of the world story with a bad ending. Then theres Children of the Corn. That is just plain dumb. Steve, you coulda done better. One of the best is Graveyard Shift. It's very gross, but it's cool.Has to do with mutated rats. Boogeyman gave me chills. I Am the Doorway is a decent scifi-horror story. Horror fans, get this book, but heed my warning.
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