Todos y cada uno de los cuentos realmente terroríficos son una experiencia única.

Estos cuentos tienen la capacidad de transportarnos a mundos llenos de miedo y suspenso.

Cada historia está llena de detalles aterradores que hacen que nuestros pelos se ericen.

Esta mejor colección de cuentos de terror es perfecta para aquellos que buscan un susto intenso.

Desde historias de fantasmas hasta relatos de monstruos, hay algo para satisfacer a cualquier amante del género.

Además, la calidad literaria de estos cuentos es excepcional, lo que hace que sean una lectura agradable incluso para aquellos que no son fanáticos del terror.

Así que, si estás buscando una buena lectura para pasar una noche de miedo, no dudes en elegir esta colección de cuentos realmente terroríficos.

In my opinion, this book is the best collection of stories by King. Each one showcases an excellent class and depth.

Some stories made my stomach knot, and others froze my bones with terror. I have the feeling that the author gave more than special attention to each tale.

Basta, S.A. and The Last Step of the Staircase are my favorites. They are among the best works of King.

If you are looking for a good novel that makes you feel from a desperate and suffocating fear to a painful sadness in the heart, this is the right one. This collection is truly a masterpiece. King's ability to create such diverse emotions within the pages is remarkable. The stories are not only filled with horror and惊悚 but also with deep human emotions and complex characters. You will find yourself on the edge of your seat, heart pounding, and then suddenly be hit with a wave of sadness or melancholy. It's a rollercoaster ride of emotions that will keep you engaged from start to finish.

Make you pee your pants scary!

In his introduction to Skeleton Crew, Stephen King makes an interesting comparison. He says that a good long novel is like having a long and satisfying affair, while the short story is like a quick kiss in the dark from a stranger. My literary preferences clearly lean towards those long affairs. I don't read many short stories, nor am I a big fan of the format. At least give me a novella! However, Stephen King is one of the few authors who can make me believe in the beauty and effectiveness of the short story. Despite being criticized for his "bloated" novels, which he himself has called "literary elephantiasis", he can still write a short story like no one else. His stories can stop your heart, chill your blood, and make you see the world in a new way.

King has written hundreds of short stories over his lifetime, but for me, none can compare to the ones in Night Shift. Most of these stories first appeared in the men's magazine Cavalier, written before the publication of Carrie in 1974 and the huge financial success that followed. King has talked a lot about what life was like before that turning point. There were some hard and dark years before Carrie. He had two kids and no money. They rotated the bills, paying different ones each month. He kept their old Buick running with duct tape and bailing wire. There is a rawness in these stories that reflects the drive and hunger of a young man passionate about his craft. For me, these stories burn bright and hot, as if King wrote them in a fever. I can picture him pounding them out on his wife's Olivetti portable typewriter between the washer and dryer in their cramped trailer's tiny laundry room. King didn't write these stories for the money, even though he was strapped for cash with two small kids. He wrote them because he had to.

There's another reason why I love the stories in this collection. They represent King's early fascination, obsession, and dedication to fear, to what haunts, creeps, and crawls. King knows what scares us because it scares him too. He gets it, and these stories are as authentic as fear can be. In the introduction, he writes about the things that go bump in the night. The thing under the bed waiting to grab your ankle, the dead voice on the phone, the movement at the foot of the cellar stairs. He wants you to see all of those things and more, and you do want to see them. I think Poe and Lovecraft would agree.

For me, this collection contains some of the best examples of the modern horror story. King has tapped into a well of contemporary fears and anxieties, penning macabre and ghoulish tales that deserve to be called classics. Some of the must-read stories include "Children of the Corn", "The Boogeyman", "The Mangler", "Strawberry Spring", and "Quitter's Inc." I'm deeply grateful to King for being the first to convince me that sometimes, even I can be seduced by that quick kiss in the dark from a stranger. Oh yes.

If on any occasion someone were to ask me about a good horror book to give as a gift, probably I would choose "The Dark Half".

Despite being a book of short stories and these, moreover, extending to the not inconsiderable number of twenty stories. I believe that there are few horror anthologies as brilliant as this one in which one is filled with doubts when choosing, among all these stories, the most inspired one.

And it is that the variety of them leads you to face truculent and perverse stories in which King shows off his overflowing creative capacity. Stories that lead you to disturbing, dark situations, where the strange becomes everyday. From facing supernatural creatures that are known to all to exploring the darkest part of the human being, underworld deities, cosmic creatures, primordial fears and even others more domestic. Flirtations with voodoo, luck or religion, apocalyptic plagues, psychopaths, rodents, unorthodox methods to stop smoking, toy soldiers... it is that one could stop to analyze each of these stories and turn them into those treasures that we keep in that so personal drawer that makes up our dark memories.

But moreover, if you forget the plots of the stories and delve into the style, you can see how King adapts his narrations and plays with the focus of his stories to lead us to the entrails of cosmic horror, to the most disembodied samples of suspense, to the ellipses of an evil that is not told and even, to close the anthology, he presents us with a plot that moves away from the fantastic to pose a drama full of moral dilemmas.

All that explains why almost all the stories that make up this compilation have been adapted to the cinema or television, with greater or lesser success. "Children of the Corn", "The Lawnmower Man", "Maximum Overdrive"... stories that have left a classic flavor in all those of us who love horror.

"The Dark Half" is that book that you should choose when you are asked for a horror recommendation. If, despite all that, you do not enjoy these stories, then it is not the right genre.

‘Night Shift’ (1978), was the first anthology published by the master of terror Stephen King. While I prefer King in the long distances, his know-how is noticeable in these short stories. And King is a great narrator.

These are the twenty short stories included in the anthology:

The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill. (*****) A man inherits a house that everyone in the area fears. A great story with Lovecraftian overtones.

The Last Rung on the Ladder. (****) A group of employees are recruited to clean the basements of the factory where they work. A very good story.

One for the Road. (*) A story related to King's monumental novel ‘The Stand’. But I didn't like it at all.

I Am the Doorway. (****) An astronaut tells us the strange events that happen to him. A great story.

The Mangler. (****) An iron in a laundry is the germ of a multitude of accidents. Another excellent story.

The Boogeyman. (****) A man tells his psychiatrist how he was responsible for the death of his three children. A very good story.

Grey Matter. (***) A boy is sent to buy beer by his father. The parishioners of the bar will accompany the boy to his home. A good story.

Battleground. (***) A hitman who has just killed a toy manufacturer receives a very special gift. A good story.

Trucks. (****) A group of people are isolated in a gas station, where they are harassed by their vehicles. A very good story.

Sometimes They Come Back. (**) The protagonist has to face the ghosts of his past. Interesting.

Strawberry Spring. (**) At a university, a series of macabre crimes occur. Interesting.

The Crate. (***) The protagonist wants to flee with the woman he loves, but she is married to a mafia boss. This one will propose a bet. A good story, although a bit predictable.

The Lawnmower Man. (****) A man hires the services of a very special lawnmower. A great story.

Quitters, Inc. (****) Where the protagonist discovers the most efficient way to stop smoking. An excellent story.

You Know They Got a Hell of a Band. (****) Where the protagonist discovers that the perfect boy does not exist. A very good story.

Children of the Corn. (****) A couple traveling by car through large cornfields, facing a terrible unforeseen event, decides to go to the first town they find. A great story.

The Last Rung on the Ladder. (*****) The protagonist remembers how he played in the barn with his little sister. It's not a horror story, but it's a great story.

The Man Who Loved Flowers. (**) Where we accompany the enamored protagonist on his tour of the city. Good, but predictable.

One for the Road. (****) Sequel to King's great novel ‘Salem's Lot’. A very good story, which is more enjoyable after having read the novel.

The Woman in the Room. (***) A moving story about a man who attends his terminally ill mother.

I am stunned to admit that, at 25 years old, having been a fan of all things in the horror world for my entire life, I have only just now completed my very first Stephen King novel. I DNFed his books so many times in my teen years because his writing just wasn't for me. However, I appreciate his style tremendously more now than I ever did in years past. But I won't say that I loved all of the stories in this collection. As I usually do with anthology reviews, I'll break it up in pieces.

The first story, "Jerusalem's Lot", is told through letters to an unseen recipient. It follows a man who has moved into an inherited family home and learns of a peculiar superstition in a nearly place called Jerusalem's Lot. Upon exploring the Lot, he finds a twisted, gruesome church. This was probably my favorite story of the collection. The narrative being given through letters was unique and a fun way to frame the events, and the action kept up enough to keep me interested to the end.

"Graveyard Shift" is about a mill employee who agrees to work overtime cleaning out the factory subbasement. He finds he has bitten off more than he can chew when his colleagues are slowly picked off by massive, mutated rats. It's gruesome and morbid, but overall just a bit "meh".

"Night Surf" is a story that I'm not sure how to sum up. There is some sort of disease killing people off, and the narrator is horrible. He spends 90% of the story fat-shaming his girlfriend and threatening to beat her.

In "I Am the Doorway", a trip to space results in a bizarre ailment that causes tiny, cruel eyes to form in a disabled former astronaut's hands. This story made me cringe so hard because it felt super gruesome and disconcerting. King's wordiness really comes in handy with how clearly he paints the scene in this one.

"The Mangler" is about a laundromat machine that goes haywire and starts slowly picking off the staff, almost as though it has a mind of its own. It's gory, gruesome, bloody, gross, and downright fantastic. If I had to pick just one favorite from this collection, this would be it.

In "The Boogeyman", a gentleman goes to a therapist to confess how his lack of foresight caused all three of his children to be individually eviscerated by the Boogeyman in the closet. I never quite outgrew my fear of the dark (or closets at night), so this one felt a bit disturbing. But it was hard to enjoy with how positively horrific and cruel the father of the deceased children was.

"Gray Matter" is a story about a man who sends his son to pick up his beer. Something has scared the poor boy half to death, and he sends the convenience store owner on a mission to investigate. This was such a gross but ultimately delightful story.

"Battleground" is about a high-profile hit man whose latest victim's mother sends a box of toy soldiers to his apartment. The toy soldiers are vicious little things, and I couldn't tell if I was supposed to be scared or amused by this story. I leaned toward the latter.

In "Trucks", vehicles don't need drivers anymore, and without a need for drivers, they don't really see much of a need to leave humans alive, either. It's a disconcerting thought, but I was dying for any sort of backstory to explain why the vehicles were suddenly going on killing sprees, or how it happened.

"Sometimes They Come Back" is about Jim, who finds a steady job as a teacher after his latest breakdown. Life has been hell ever since he watched the school bullies kill his older brother. When he gets a new student that looks awfully familiar, he starts to worry that his past has come back to finish the job. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with this story, but I did find myself bored more often than not, and it all mostly felt very predictable.

"Strawberry Spring" is a story that I was so bored with that I ended up skimming the bulk of it. I'm not sure what happened in this story, other than there was some murdering going on.

In "The Ledge", only an idiot would make a wager that he could walk the perimeter of a building, tens of stories up, with nothing but a five-inch ledge beneath his toes. But when your only other option is imminent death or being framed for a crime you didn't commit, what do you have to lose? I don't even have acrophobia, and I still suddenly became momentarily terrified of heights while reading this story. I positively adored the ending.

"The Lawnmower Man" is another short story that I can't go into much without telling you the entire plot. But let me say that it is super bizarre, super gross, and I will probably never look at lawn clippings the same way again.

"Quitters, Inc." is a story about how quickly you could overcome an addiction if your loved ones' very lives depended on it. This story has a surprisingly unique story, and was pretty anxiety-inducing.

In "I Know What You Need", doesn't everyone's dream partner know exactly what they need? This one just didn't strike me as particularly creepy. I really wanted more insight into why Ed was this creepy little dude, but we never got any of that.

"Children of the Corn" is the very reason I picked up this collection. If you've ever seen the film by the same name, this short story is what it was inspired by. I've always had a soft spot for horror including children and/or cults, and this creepy little number packs a punch with both of them. It was fun to see where the film came from, and it was a nice refresher course on why I hate corn fields.

"The Last Rung on the Ladder" is a story that I'm at a loss for how to describe to you without just telling you the entire plot. This short story really has two separate "veins" and they're obviously connected, but at the same time, I felt like they were very disjointed from one another. Plus, it was a snooze fest.

"The Man Who Loved Flowers" is a story where all you need to know is that the first 85% of it is just about a man buying flowers.

In "One for the Road", we get to revisit Jerusalem's Lot, only it's now been renamed Salem's Lot. I loved how this story circled back to the first one, though it's set in much more recent times. There's a bit of insight given to the resulting lore of Salem's Lot, and it was just a really fun little piece of insight into that piece of the King "universe".

The final piece of the collection, "The Woman in the Room", follows a man whose mother is suffering from terminal cancer. His internal dilemmas as he considers putting her out of her misery didn't feel like it fit the horror aspect of the book in any way at all, and was really just sad. I was super bummed that the anthology ended on such a disappointing note.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed in my first ever Stephen King read (not counting DNFs, obviously). However, I totally recognize that this is only one book in his basically endless bibliography, I have read newer short stories from him that I thoroughly enjoyed, and this collection is from the 70s, and many people find his work from that decade to be very polarizing. That in mind, I will totally be trying more of his writing in the near future, but I'll probably go with a full-length novel or something substantially more recent.

Content warnings: (this is just for the entire collection) ableism, body shaming, partner abuse, parental abuse, suicide, child violence/death, homophobia, sexism, racism, slut shaming, nicotine addiction.

"I have come to tell you a story."
Said the man lying on the stretcher in Doctor Herbert's clinic.


"I can't admit because I'm not Catholic, I can't go to the lawyer because I haven't done anything to consult the lawyer about his matter. All I did was that I killed my children, I killed them all."


Stephen King, the master of horror, a born storyteller, writes stories to get rid of his obsessions and, surprisingly, they turn out to be his best stories.
The scared man's story might be one you heard as a child in a special version from your country or your grandmother or whoever the storyteller was.

The banker, the monster under the bed, the father of a missing man
Many names, and our friend did a better job of telling about this thing that we all endured hardships for.

The father's character in the story is a confused, terrifying hater. The father who finds his child dead goes to the coffee shop and drinks six cups of coffee before going back and calling the police!

I remember reading Hisham Fahmy's translation in a collection that included many of Stephen King's stories, and I think his translation was the best.
This version doesn't contain a single hyphen!

Finished.

In need of rereading, but from what I remember, two stories really stood out on the first read.

The first one is "Night Surf". It was a story that had a certain allure and mystery to it. The details and the atmosphere it created left a lasting impression.

The other story was "Children Of The Corn". I have to admit that I liked the 2009 movie more than the 1984 original. The ending of the 2009 version was better in my opinion. It had a certain twist that made it more engaging. However, I have to give credit to the 1984 version for having the best Malachi character. His portrayal was truly memorable and added a lot of depth to the story.

Overall, these two stories had their own unique qualities that made them stand out and be worth remembering. I look forward to rereading them and perhaps discovering even more about their charm.

4.5 Stars ⭐️

This collection of short stories offers a diverse range of ratings.

"Jerusalem’s Lot" receives 3 Stars ⭐️, perhaps lacking a bit in excitement.

"Graveyard Shift" gets 4 Stars ⭐️, showing a good level of quality.

"Night Surf" also has 3 Stars ⭐️, maybe not quite reaching the highest standards.

"I Am The Doorway" earns 4.5 Stars ⭐️, indicating it's a great read.

"The Mangler"同样 gets 4.5 Stars ⭐️, impressing the readers.

"The Bogeyman" is awarded 5 Awesome Stars ⭐️, being truly outstanding.

However, some stories like "Sometimes They Come Back" with 2 Stars ⭐️, "The Ledge" with 2 Stars ⭐️, and "The Lawnmower Man" with 2 Stars ⭐️ seem to fall short.

"Children Of The Corn" and "I Know What You Need" also receive 2 Stars ⭐️.

On the other hand, "Strawberry Spring" gets 5 Stars ⭐️, while "Quitters, Inc." earns 4.5 Stars ⭐️.

Overall, this collection has a mix of ratings, with some stories shining bright and others leaving room for improvement.

Mel

This review of "Night Shift" by Stephen King is a hard collection for me to assess. "Night Shift" was not what I initially expected. The influence of Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, and H.P. Lovecraft is palpable throughout these stories. Many of the tales are old-fashioned, and some even use inappropriate and racist language.

I read this collection at a slow pace. After finishing each story, I went back and scribbled a star rating above the title. I then calculated the average of all my scores.

"Jerusalem's Lot" was the only story I was certain would be in "Night Shift." I was already looking forward to reading it as "Salem's Lot" is, in my opinion, a classic. This short story delves into the ancestry of Jerusalem's Lot. It seems as if this town was born bad, but as we learn, all dark things have a moment when darkness takes root. Set in the 1800s, a man named Charles moves into Chapelwaite, his ancestral home in Preachers Corners, close to Jerusalem's Lot. After a string of relatives die in the house, he inherits it. The inhabitants of Chapelwaite have been dying for a long time, but our narrator is optimistic and not superstitious. This story is about ancestry, the evil we inherit, and the past we can't escape. The beauty and genius of this story lie in the way it is told. The epistolary form is perfect for creating tension as we watch the narrator's gradual descent from excitement about his new home to realizing there might be something more sinister going on. It's a masterclass in tension, pacing, and atmosphere.

"Graveyard Shift" reminded me of one of my least favorite scenes from "Salem's Lot." I hate rats, but I can admit that this story was well-written. It takes the concept of hating your boss to a whole new level. Our narrator, Hall, is working a dead-end blue-collar job and despises it. He agrees to take a graveyard shift to earn some extra cash. What they don't expect is the massive rodent infestation in the building's sub-basement. This story speaks volumes about the blue-collar experience, the monotony of an unsatisfying job, and the things we do for money that we might rather avoid. It also touches on the self-loathing that many young adults fresh out of college feel.

"Night Surf" was a disappointment. A group of youths is hanging out at a beach during what seems to be a global pandemic called Captain Trips. The narrator is particularly unlikable, constantly fat-shaming and abusing his girlfriend. The only part of this story that stuck with me was a sickening scene where the group burns a sick man alive for fun. I could see what King was trying to do, but for a precursor to "The Stand," I expected more depth and staying power. This story lacked nuance and could have benefited from a few more pages.

"I am The Doorway" is the inspiration for my favorite edition of "Night Shift." The cover features a bandaged hand with eyes staring out from the gaps in the wrapping. This short story is body horror done the way I like it, with a healthy dose of Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury inspiration. It feels like heat lightning and thunder after the rain.

"The Mangler" is a short story about a possessed industrial laundry steam press. King makes this one of the best stories in the collection. The Mangler is campy and supernatural, and the story reaches its climax when the characters attempt to exorcise the machine. The ending is completely unpredictable. I like to think of this story as a satire about working in unsafe conditions, but in this case, the unsafe conditions are supernatural and beyond human control, unlike in real life where they are often due to human negligence. The story also features some excellent descriptions.

"The Boogeyman" is a story where I seem to have an unpopular opinion. I have seen mostly positive reviews, with many readers considering it the best story in "Night Shift." However, I hated the narrator and the ending. I thought the ending was cheesy and reminded me of the ending to "Misery," but I could at least buy the ending in "Misery." The narrator in "The Boogeyman" is vile, as he confesses to a therapist how he let each of his children be murdered rather than face his own fears. Thematically, the story has promise, dealing with survivors' guilt and the grief of child loss, but the unlikable narrator and the cheesy ending make for an unenjoyable experience.

"Gray Matter" is a wonderful dark sci-fi story set on a snow-covered night in Bangor, Maine. I think this is a great setting for a creature feature. The story is essentially "The Blob" meets Stephen King. Everything is normal until a terrified teenager comes to the local package store for help. His father is an alcoholic, and things have recently gotten out of control. He enlists the help of the store owner, and things quickly turn otherworldly. I really enjoyed the themes of addiction and alcoholism, and I thought the monster-like transformation was a brilliant way to represent the pain alcoholism can cause to those around the addict. The life lesson here is simple: don't drink funky beer and don't be an alcoholic.

"Battleground" was a disappointment. An assassin kills a toy corporation owner and then receives a box of homicidal toy soldiers. I found this story childish and laughable, and I'm not the target demographic for it.

"Trucks" reminds me a lot of "The Mist," but instead of hidden creatures in the mist, there are visible trucks in a parking lot. And instead of a grocery store, it's a diner. The story feels like the summer sun on asphalt, making you think of the heat and the glare. The characters are stranded, and water becomes scarce. The only things they have to look at are the sun and the gleaming metal grills of the menacing trucks. It's a hellish story with a solid plot and an ending that feels post-apocalyptic and fresh. "Trucks" is about a group of people trapped in a diner, surrounded by trucks that have suddenly become sentient and murderous. They have been used and abused for too long and now want to show humanity what it feels like. If anyone tries to leave the diner, they are run down. And when the trucks run out of gas, they communicate in Morse code that anyone willing to refuel them will be spared. Seasonality plays a role in this story, which is a pure summer scorcher.

"Sometimes They Come Back" is a story that I imagine was influenced by King's days as an English schoolteacher. Jim Norman is an English teacher with a tragic past. When he was young, he witnessed his brother's murder by some school-aged punks. He has long been haunted by nightmares of his brother's last moments. Jump forward to adulthood, and Jim has a happy marriage and a job he mostly likes. But when new students enter his classroom looking and acting like his worst nightmare, things start to go wrong. There are threats and pranks that escalate to life or death consequences, and the reader is never sure whether Jim is cracking up or if these new students are really the resurrected embodiments of his brother's murderers. At its core, this story is about the struggles of teaching difficult children and the challenges within an administration that isn't willing to help. It's also about the past and how things sometimes come back to haunt us. The ending is supernatural and features an exorcism, although I think the exorcism in "The Mangler" was more effective. The ending leaves readers with two questions: Can you escape the past? Can you escape your fate?

"Strawberry Spring" is both horrific and beautiful. King writes a spring that is described so sweetly, yet there is a murderer lurking in the mist. The story takes place on the campus of New Sharon Teachers' College in the spring of 1968. Our narrator is obsessed with the beauty of the "strawberry spring" and is not afraid to venture out at night, despite a serial killer roaming the campus. The students call the killer Springheel Jack. In this story, the cycle of the seasons is used to mirror the cyclic nature of the serial killer. The narrator speculates that perhaps the killings stopped when the strawberry spring ended, and now, eight years later, another strawberry spring is beginning. This story is psychological and reminds me of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." It also has several musical references, which add to the atmosphere.

"The Ledge" is a fun and vindictive story that stars a hunky tennis instructor taking on a mob boss. Mr. Norris is in love with the mob boss's wife and attempts to talk him into letting them run away together. The mob boss, Cressner, has his own plans and gives Mr. Norris two options: leave and be arrested for drug possession or attempt to walk along the ledge of the skyscraper where Cressner lives. If he makes it around the building without dying, Cressner will let him live happily ever after. Mr. Norris decides to take the risk, and as he makes his way out onto the ledge, the reader feels the wind, the vertigo, and the fear. The ending is the best in "Night Shift," vindictive and satisfying. If you liked the scene in "1408" where the main character is on the ledge, you will enjoy this story.

"The Lawnmower Man" is a story that begins with a seemingly perfect summer day being ruined when a dog chases a cat under the lawnmower. Harold Parkette is devastated and can't bear to look at his lawn. His family ignores the growing weeds until the neighbors start to complain. Harold then hires a new lawnmower man who turns out to be a strange and charming blue-collar man. He mutters things about Circe and even eats the grass. It turns out that Harold's new lawnmower man is a Satyr. This short story is a classic example of the blue-collar versus white-collar divide, with a healthy dose of pagan mysticism thrown in for good measure. It's a hilariously dark story that I enjoyed.

"Quitters Inc." is a story about Morrison, a man who can't quit smoking. He hears about a place that helped a friend quit and decides to check it out. He gets more than he bargained for, and the story explores the theme of addiction and the struggle to break free. The lesson here is clear: what is more important, your addiction or your family's happiness? If your family's safety isn't enough to stop you from smoking, nothing will. This story would be a great recommendation for someone struggling with addiction.

"I Know What You Need" is the least conventionally scary story in the collection, but it focuses on real horrors. Elizabeth is a college student who meets a strange boy who seems to know everything she needs. At first, she is put off, but eventually, she falls in love with him and his ability to predict her every need. Her roommate Alice is not as impressed and warns her that this is not love but rather a form of psychological rape. The story explores themes of toxic masculinity, stalking, and rape, and I was impressed with King's handling of these important issues. The ending is a feminist triumph.

"Children of the Corn" is an absolute classic that features one of the worst husbands ever. A couple on a road trip to save their marriage end up in rural Nebraska, surrounded by corn fields. The story explores themes of religious fanaticism, rebellion, age, cultish behavior, marriage, and toxic masculinity. It's a cautionary tale for husbands to listen to their wives.

"The Last Rung on the Ladder" was a disappointment for me. It's a depressing and somewhat moralistic tale about a young man dealing with the aftermath of his sister's suicide. While the message about checking on your loved ones is important, the story itself did not engage me.

"The Man Who Loved Flowers" had a lot of filler leading up to the big reveal, which didn't have a payoff big enough to justify it. The story involves a man who buys flowers for his sweetheart and a hammer murderer on the loose. It turns out that the murderer thinks all women are a woman named Norma who rejected him, so he gets murdery whenever he's rejected by a strange woman. The moral of the story seems to be that it's dangerous to be a woman and that entitled men can be dangerous even if they do nice things like buy flowers.

"One For the Road" is another Salem's Lot stunner and my favorite of the collection. The atmosphere is what makes this story so great. Set in a blizzard, a man wanders into Tookey's bar. His family is trapped in a snow drift in the town of Salem's Lot. The bar owner and his friend Booth decide to help, but they make it clear that if the family is not in the car when they arrive, they are leaving. Sure enough, the car is empty, and then the sound of tinkling bells can be heard among the howling wind.

"The Woman in the Room" is a forlorn, depressing, and real story that describes the pain of watching a loved one wither away. It explores themes of death, grief, and age.

Overall, "Night Shift" is a collection of short stories that展示了Stephen King's versatility as a writer. While some stories were hits for me, others were misses. The use of various themes and the influence of other authors add depth and complexity to the collection. However, the inappropriate language in some stories and the uneven quality of the tales prevent it from being a perfect collection. Nevertheless, it's still a worthwhile read for fans of horror and Stephen King.

Stephen King's first collection of short stories presents a surprisingly consistent quality.

Short stories usually vary greatly, but these are overall highly entertaining and creative. Despite mainly staying within the horror genre (with a few exceptions), there is more variety than one might think.

There's a story set before ’Salem’s Lot and one after, both among the collection's best. There's also a precursor to The Stand, but most stories can stand alone.

The collection includes several interesting tales. Jerusalem's Lot gets a 4/5 and is even better than the novel ’Salem's Lot. Graveyard Shift earns a 4/5 with its abundance of rats. Night Surf, a precursor to The Stand, gets a 3/5. I Am the Doorway, with its cosmic horror involving a returned astronaut, is rated 4/5. The Mangler, where laundry machines turn deadly, also gets a 4/5. The Boogeyman shows that therapy doesn't help everyone and is given a 4/5. Gray Matter warns of the danger of drinking cheap beer and gets a 3/5. Battleground, about a boy and his toys, is rated 3/5. Trucks, when they go bad, earns a 4/5. Sometimes They Come Back gets a 4/5 with its theme of the meek inheriting the Earth. Strawberry Spring, about the fair-weather killer Springheel Jack, gets a perfect 5/5. The Ledge, with its bet-making, is rated 4/5. The Lawnmower Man, when the lawn gets too back to nature, gets a 3/5. Quitters, Inc. shows that quitting isn't hard with proper motivation and gets a 4/5. I Know What You Need, with its message that you can't always get what you want, is rated 4/5. Children of the Corn features creepy Midwestern religious farm kids and gets a 4/5. The Last Rung on the Ladder, with its "catch me if you can" theme, is rated 3/5. The Man Who Loved Flowers has a light springtime theme and gets a 3/5. One for the Road, with its vivid description of a stop at a tombstone bar in a juke joint car, gets a 5/5. Finally, The Woman in the Room, which seems to reference Dr. Kevorkian, gets a 4/5.

Overall, this collection is a great read for fans of Stephen King and short stories alike.

Whenever there is an opportunity to read a collection of horror short stories by Stephen King, you must jump on it.

Night Shift is an outstanding collection that captures many of King’s greatest short stories and combines them all in one must-have volume. You’ll be engaged from start to finish as you explore the terrifying worlds King has created.

One of the main reasons I was eager to read Night Shift was to encounter some follow-up stories directly following the events of ‘Salem’s Lot. Both “Jerusalem’s Lot” and “One for the Road” were truly fantastic! I won’t spoil anything for you, but it was amazing to see ‘Salem’s Lot presented in such interesting and unique ways.

Considering this was King’s first-ever collection of short stories to be released, it offers a little something for everyone. Some of my other favorite short stories in this collection were “I Am the Doorway”, “The Lawnmower Man”, “Children of the Corn”, and “The Man Who Loved Flowers”. Each of these stories had its own distinctively horrific, creepy, and chilling vibes that kept me on the edge of my seat.

I give Night Shift a perfect 5/5 rating as I truly enjoyed reading all of these stories. They were not only very intriguing but also unique in their own special ways. The majority of the stories here really hit that sweet spot for me that you can only find in King’s remarkable work. With a total of 20 short stories, this collection is an absolute steal. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves horror or wants to explore more of King’s earlier work to understand why he is widely regarded as the greatest horror author of all time!