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The Ledge
King employs a first person narrator and opens with the protagonist, Stan Norris, in the clutches of Cressner, a wealthy, cruel criminal overlord. Cressner intends to get revenge on Norris, who has been having an affair with his wife. Instead of killing him outright, Cressner reveals his penchant for striking wagers, and offers a chilling if Norris is able to circumnavigate the 5-inch ledge surrounding the multi-story building where Cressner live in his penthouse, he can have his wife and $20,000. If Norris refuses, he'll be framed for heroin possession and never see his lover again. Cressner also reveals that he has done this to six others, three professional athletes who crossed his path and three ordinary people who got into serious debt with Cressner. Not once has Cressner lost the wager.
Seemingly without any other choice, Norris accepts the wager and proceeds to make his way carefully around the building's cold, windswept exterior. Norris encounters multiple obstacles, particularly from the wind and an obstinate pigeon. Norris completes the harrowing ordeal, only to discover that Cressner had already murdered his wife. Cressner slyly claims that he never welches on his bets and that, while the heroin has been removed from Norris' car and the money is his for the taking, his wife's fate was sealed before the wager was even made. Enraged, Norris overpowers Cressner's bodyguard and obtains his gun. When Cressner pleads for his life, Norris proposes to spare him if only he is able to complete a trip around the ledge. However, while waiting for Cressner to circumnavigate the building, Norris reveals to the reader that, unlike Cressner, he does sometimes welch on bets, implying that he will kill Cressner, regardless of his potential success on the ledge
Seemingly without any other choice, Norris accepts the wager and proceeds to make his way carefully around the building's cold, windswept exterior. Norris encounters multiple obstacles, particularly from the wind and an obstinate pigeon. Norris completes the harrowing ordeal, only to discover that Cressner had already murdered his wife. Cressner slyly claims that he never welches on his bets and that, while the heroin has been removed from Norris' car and the money is his for the taking, his wife's fate was sealed before the wager was even made. Enraged, Norris overpowers Cressner's bodyguard and obtains his gun. When Cressner pleads for his life, Norris proposes to spare him if only he is able to complete a trip around the ledge. However, while waiting for Cressner to circumnavigate the building, Norris reveals to the reader that, unlike Cressner, he does sometimes welch on bets, implying that he will kill Cressner, regardless of his potential success on the ledge
23 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1976
4 people are currently reading
523 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,393 books888k followersStephen 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
September 24, 2022
Story 3.5 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator John Glover
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator John Glover
February 2, 2021
This is another one I loved, and again (are you seeing a pattern here lol) I've not seen the adaptation but would imagine it would be quite funky.
I was just on the edge of my seat through this one - is he gonna fall? Kick the pigeon FFS but don't fall! Don't fall! Ah yes you made it! And then the kicker.
Cressner is an asshole. Yes, he's entitled to be a git - this man has been having an affair with his wife after all- but he's a proper nasty piece of work. The wager, murdering his wife, rubbing Norris's face in it. I don't think he was justified in any of his actions because he wasn't really angry about it. He just didn't want anyone having something that was his. I'm glad he got a taste of his own medicine.
I just felt sorry for Norris to be fair. He went through all that just to have lost what was the (seemingly) most important thing to him. Loved the ending.
5 of 5
I was just on the edge of my seat through this one - is he gonna fall? Kick the pigeon FFS but don't fall! Don't fall! Ah yes you made it! And then the kicker.
Cressner is an asshole. Yes, he's entitled to be a git - this man has been having an affair with his wife after all- but he's a proper nasty piece of work. The wager, murdering his wife, rubbing Norris's face in it. I don't think he was justified in any of his actions because he wasn't really angry about it. He just didn't want anyone having something that was his. I'm glad he got a taste of his own medicine.
I just felt sorry for Norris to be fair. He went through all that just to have lost what was the (seemingly) most important thing to him. Loved the ending.
5 of 5
November 18, 2023
Cressner is a cruel criminal overlord who discovers that a man named Stan Norris has been having an affair with his wife, and does what he always does to men that wrong him. He forces them to play a deadly game. You have to walk across a tightrope without falling. If you win, which you probably won't, you get away scot free. If you don't win, you'll be framed for illegal drug possession, never be allowed to see your loved ones again, and maybe something even worse than that. But a slippery swindler like Stan has a few tricks up his sleeve that might give him the opportunity to flip the coin on Cressner and beat him at his own game.
Pretty good story from Night Shift. It has a slow buildup and a fun little twist in the last few pages that add some excitement to an otherwise straightforward short story.
Pretty good story from Night Shift. It has a slow buildup and a fun little twist in the last few pages that add some excitement to an otherwise straightforward short story.
March 18, 2017
Fair End
February 15, 2024
The Ledge is another story that is included in the Night Shift anthology collection. I thought this story was fairly clever, documenting the events of a man who has been sleeping with a wealthy business man's wife. This man meets the husband and is cornered into accepting a proposal literally balancing life and death.
The emotion written into this short story seemed genuine, portraying realistic thought processes and reactions as this man tries to "win the game." All in all, I found this story to be very entertaining.
If King ever decided to go left field into his "Tales From The Crypt" and "Creepshow" talents once more, perhaps he could turn his short stories into a "Twilight Zone" style show and feature this story as an episode. I would love to see more classic King come out of him, respecting the story over the message he wants to send to his readers.
The emotion written into this short story seemed genuine, portraying realistic thought processes and reactions as this man tries to "win the game." All in all, I found this story to be very entertaining.
If King ever decided to go left field into his "Tales From The Crypt" and "Creepshow" talents once more, perhaps he could turn his short stories into a "Twilight Zone" style show and feature this story as an episode. I would love to see more classic King come out of him, respecting the story over the message he wants to send to his readers.
February 19, 2024
'The Ledge' by Stephen King.
Rating: 4.75/5.
Review:
Thoroughly gripping and an absolute cliffhanger of a story (pun intended).
I was hooked on the story right from the first paragraph. It threw me in a whirlwind of emotions with me rooting for poor Norris, who had to make his way on the ledge and traverse the entire perimeter of the building from such a height.
F*** Cressner.
And f*** that pigeon in particular.
It is yet another Stephen King story that I would have instantly hated had it ended with a typical Stephen King flair. The ending, for this story, was the icing on the cake. Poor Norris had to go through so much, and I would have been upset had the story ended on a depressing note. But thankfully, Stephen King refrained from veering in that direction, and we got a perfect ending.
I almost feared that Norris wasn't going to make it, especially when the angry pigeon came into the picture. But he did. I knew Cressner was going to play a devious trick on him even if Norris won the wager, but I'm glad Norris emerged unscathed in the end. Unfortunately, his lover was met with an unkind fate, and if one would believe the scumbag Cressner, it seems he had her murdered, so I doubt Norris could be happy about the overall outcome. But at least he was safe at the end and got his vengeance against Cressner in a brutal manner. Revenge is a dish best served cold, baby!
The pigeon pecked me again, again, again. A cold blast of wind struck me, rocking me to the limit of balance; pads of my fingers scraped at the bland stone, and I came to rest with my left cheek pressed against the wall, breathing heavily.
Cressner couldn't have conceived of worse torture if he had planned it for ten years. One peck was not so bad. Two or three were a little more. But that damned bird must have pecked me sixty times before I reached the wrought-iron railing of the penthouse opposite Cressner's.
Rating: 4.75/5.
Review:
Thoroughly gripping and an absolute cliffhanger of a story (pun intended).
I was hooked on the story right from the first paragraph. It threw me in a whirlwind of emotions with me rooting for poor Norris, who had to make his way on the ledge and traverse the entire perimeter of the building from such a height.
F*** Cressner.
And f*** that pigeon in particular.
It is yet another Stephen King story that I would have instantly hated had it ended with a typical Stephen King flair. The ending, for this story, was the icing on the cake. Poor Norris had to go through so much, and I would have been upset had the story ended on a depressing note. But thankfully, Stephen King refrained from veering in that direction, and we got a perfect ending.
I almost feared that Norris wasn't going to make it, especially when the angry pigeon came into the picture. But he did. I knew Cressner was going to play a devious trick on him even if Norris won the wager, but I'm glad Norris emerged unscathed in the end. Unfortunately, his lover was met with an unkind fate, and if one would believe the scumbag Cressner, it seems he had her murdered, so I doubt Norris could be happy about the overall outcome. But at least he was safe at the end and got his vengeance against Cressner in a brutal manner. Revenge is a dish best served cold, baby!
October 10, 2023
Well written and quite thrilling but not necessarily scary. Screw pigeons lol.
October 22, 2016
This is the second segment of the movie Cat's Eye and is the one I enjoy the least in it. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I think I enjoyed the written story more. Dude has pissed off a mobster, and is forced to walk around a five inch ledge on the fortieth-some floor of a high-rise. If he makes it, he gets to live, and gets some money to boot. If not, well obviously he dies when he splatters on the pavement below.
"Surely you must be joking."
I'm not. And don't call me Shirley.
The tale is amusing due to some of the bad guy's antics when he tries to distract the ledge walker. Also, I really liked the ending.
"Surely you must be joking."
I'm not. And don't call me Shirley.
The tale is amusing due to some of the bad guy's antics when he tries to distract the ledge walker. Also, I really liked the ending.
March 28, 2021
4.5/5
A great story! A mob guy makes a wager with a regular guy: if you can walk around the five-inch ledge that goes around this building, I’ll give you money and my wife, and I’ll let you live. It’s incredibly suspenseful, reading about the cold wind, that pesky pigeon, and the thoughts going thru his head. I’m pretty sure I didn’t breathe once the guy goes out onto the ledge. The way it ends is a total surprise. I didn’t see that happening and it made a good story even better.
I really like the thriller-y Stephen King stories. Included in the Night Shift collection.
A great story! A mob guy makes a wager with a regular guy: if you can walk around the five-inch ledge that goes around this building, I’ll give you money and my wife, and I’ll let you live. It’s incredibly suspenseful, reading about the cold wind, that pesky pigeon, and the thoughts going thru his head. I’m pretty sure I didn’t breathe once the guy goes out onto the ledge. The way it ends is a total surprise. I didn’t see that happening and it made a good story even better.
I really like the thriller-y Stephen King stories. Included in the Night Shift collection.
June 23, 2017
You know, while I am amazed that Stephen King can manage to captivate and even scare me with ridiculous scenarios like a demon-possessed iron (or whatever) I think his best works is his thrilling, more realistic story: the Long Walk, Rage, and this story about a man who bets with his life.
June 1, 2024
I'm down to 5 stories left on Night Shift and I'd say this one was my favorite! It was suspenseful and maybe even had me sweating a bit. This was more a 4.5 rounding up to a 5. I didn't totally love the ending. It was fine and effective enough. This one will keep you on your heels (or off them, like in this story)! I don't think you'll ever catch me circumnavigating a ledge on a building anytime soon.
November 14, 2025
3,5*
*audio*
*audio*
August 13, 2020
This was the first non-sci-fi story I’ve read from King. It actually kind of surprised me that he’s written something that could actually feebly happen! I’m not scared of heights so I didn’t quite get the spine-tingling heebie jeebies, but it was a pretty intense and fast-paced story!!
July 29, 2022
From Penthouse, Jul 1976
Collected in Night Shift
Later in The Stephen King Value Collection
Collected in Night Shift
Later in The Stephen King Value Collection
December 26, 2018
I’m not afraid of heights but this story made my stomach churn with dread. Good little piece of Noir Fiction!
April 5, 2024
Hhmmmmmm got me gripping but I can’t really tell if it ended satisfying lol. T’was good enough
April 4, 2025
I liked this one.
January 13, 2021
The Ledge originally appeared in Penthouse magazine and the story structure reflects its sultry source. Stan Norris, a tennis instructor, has been carrying on an affair with a Mafia boss’s wife and he’s been called in to give account. The mob boss, Cressler, offers Stan an offer he can’t refuse: If he can walk around the penthouse ledge and survive, Cressler will let him go. If he refuses, Cressler will frame him for drug possession and make sure he does life in prison. It’s the perfect over the top mob boss scenario. It wouldn’t be Stephen King if not for a few morbid twists and it’s those twists that take this from a rote short story to a truly entertaining one.
July 24, 2018
An excellent thriller story by Stephen King, with a wonderful twist at the end. As time goes on, I am seeing Stephen King's works in a new and different light. As with his other larger works, such as Doctor Sleep and Cujo, this is such a wonderfully vivid and descriptive narrative, you really feel you are apart of it.
January 13, 2019
This story had high stakes, promising rewards, and a great deal of drama! I think for something so common place as a fear of heights and an unfair prison sentence would make for a really awesome suspenseful short story. Stephen King delivers, and we even get an ultimately satisfying twist at the end that totally has the audience cheering at the end, awesome!
January 8, 2023
This book reminds me of “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell … it had my holding breath rooting for the antagonist/protagonist??? Depends on how you feel about what he’d been doing.. blurred lines much when we find ourselves rooting for someone who has done something that goes against our morals!! Loved this short story!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2022
After one man has an affair with the others wife it brings first one man to the ledge of the building for a walk around, then in a twist at the end it puts the other man out there for his turn to walk around the building. Interesting short story with a fear of heights added in.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2025
In this story King decides to scare with a realistic scenario rather than a supernatural one. Here, a man has to venture out on the ledge of a skyscraper. It's a good, not great story, that might play better on people who have a fear of heights.
April 3, 2016
3.4 из 5.
По сути в рассказе нет какой то глобальной идеи и шарма в сюжете ему несколько не хватает. Но написан просто мастерски, нервы натянуты над пропастью.
По сути в рассказе нет какой то глобальной идеи и шарма в сюжете ему несколько не хватает. Но написан просто мастерски, нервы натянуты над пропастью.
April 11, 2018
Listened to the audiobook...
August 15, 2018
Really fun! I love a good revenge story.
January 12, 2019
My favorite so far in Night Shift
November 30, 2019
Entertaining enough for me to keep turning the pages, but not entertaining enough for it to be memorable. "The Ledge" is ok, that's about it.
August 22, 2021
A captivating thriller by Mr Jephens.
January 14, 2020
This is the twelfth story in Night Shift. It read very quickly and was tense the whole time. I really wanted to see how it turned out.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews