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The Night Flier
Unknown Binding
About the author
Stephen King
2,137 books902k 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 36 reviews
April 28, 2021
This is an inventive vampire idea...i.e.: they travel by night and by light aircraft. For me, the story suffers from a few things. First, the hero is unlikeable. Second, the vampire in a cape seems a little basic. Finally, nothing is learned. We don't know anything more than we did at the start about the vampire and nothing is resolved. So it's a little unsatisfying in final analysis.
October 24, 2020
WELCOME BACK SPOOKTOBER!
fulfilling my shortie Spooktober challenge to read one spooky short story a day.
Day one: The Magic Shop by H.G. Wells
Day two: Everything's Fine by Matthew Pridham
Day three: It Came From Hell and Smashed the Angels by Gregor Xane
Day four: Sometimes They Come Back by Stephen King
Day five: The Curse of Yig by H.P. Lovecraft
Day six: The Spook House by Ambrose Bierce
Day seven: An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Day eight: The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe
Day nine: Graveyard Shift by Stephen King
Day ten: Bitter Grounds by Neil Gaiman
Day eleven: Finding Emma by Matthew Iden
Day twelve: To Be Read at Dusk by Charles Dickens
Day thirteen: Children of the Corn by Stephen King
Day fourteen:The Lady Maid's Bell by Edith Wharton
Day fifteen: The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe
Day sixteen: Four Wooden Stakes by Victor Roman
Day seventeen: Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Day eighteen: For the Blood is the Life by F. Marion Crawford
Day nineteen: The Transfer by Algernon Blackwood
Day twenty: The Dune by Stephen King
Day twenty-one: The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
So I read this back on the 22nd of October, but went out of town the next day and have been playing catch up ever since. So no reviews have been written until now. So Fair warning, you may see a few of mine today.
This story is one from King’s collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes that I own but have never read, and so far, this story is the only one from that collection I’ve given a go. I chose it for spooktober because I saw the movie when it came out (I was in seventh grade) and the movie scared the ever living Bejesus out of me.
This is the kind of vampire lore that I freaking Love. Vampires that are more monster than human. Who only think of one thing and that is their next meal. The vampire in this one is a step above an animal (I mean he flies a plane for gosh sakes) but reminds me very much of David from The Lost Boys.
This wins big points for yours truly.
The story is only about 30 pages long in my mass market paperback edition, and the beginning can be a little tedious and a little light on action, but man once this story got going it REALLY got going. The atmosphere in this story is classic King. The way he draws out the anticipation is stellar, and the last three or four pages of this short story are terrifying in the way he writes terror. It is a terror that we as readers can almost feel along with the narrator. It is almost palpable. And when King gets that right, it is magical.
Our narrator and Protagonist (if we can call a cynical tabloid reporter a protagonist) is Richard Dees, and he is as cynical as the day is long. He writes for a National Enquirer like publication, and his first rule is that he never believes what he publishes and he never publishes what he believes. He has caught wind of some brutal slayings in small airports across the east coast from Maine to North Carolina, appearing to be the work of a pilot of a small aircraft, and at the request of his editor, follows the blood to catch the killer.
This is not a police procedural. This is definitely a reporter whose primary concern is getting a photograph of the murderer, not actually catching the guy. And luckily for Mr. Dees, he also has his pilot’s license and flies a small airplane himself. He traces the killer to a small Cessna aircraft and finds that he goes by the name Dwight Renfield. Dees follows him to all the places where the killings took place just missing the guy by days, interviewing witnesses and checking flight logs. These are not just ordinary killings. There is something innately vampiric about them, the draining of blood, the puncture marks on the neck, and the descriptions of the killer as appearing to look very much like Dracula. At first Dees thinks the guy is just psychotic and just has delusions of being a bloodsucker (after all, he is a cynic and vampires don’t actually exist). But once he traces the guy to a small airport in Wilmington, North Carolina, he’s not so sure. He must land in a colossal thunderstorm, and equipped with his camera, he is both thrilled and disgusted with the amount of bloody carnage he witnesses. The violence and the graphic and brutal nature of the crime are so gory that it turns this cynic into a believer which comes to head in a terrifying climax in a men’s bathroom, and will remain one King’s absolute creepiest scenes for me.
I believe that King is saying a lot of things with this short. Not only is it one of the absolute best vampire stories I’ve ever read, King is also saying a lot about journalism, and hoax journalism in particular. Not a lot is really known about the Night Flier himself, but the story reveals a lot about Richard Dees, and the magazine, Inside View, that he writes for, a publication which has made it into many other of King’s stories and novels. Above all, I think King is paying homage to imagination and belief in this story, that sometimes concrete evidence of something cheapens the thrill, and sometimes our beliefs make things more scary than they turn out to be for real. This one is just shy of 5 stars, simply for the long and tedious beginning, and the boring flight scenes and descriptions that were not totally necessary. And reading this for the first time 22 years after seeing the movie makes me want to watch it again (though it probably is not nearly as scary as my 13 year old self thought it was). Especially since Richard Dees was played by none other than Mr. Albert Rosenfeld
Sorry Twin Peaks reference. I can’t help myself.
This is a delectable spooktober short story and one I highly recommend if you, like me, take your vamps cold and monstrous rather than warm, sparkletastic, and broody.
4.5 stars
fulfilling my shortie Spooktober challenge to read one spooky short story a day.
Day one: The Magic Shop by H.G. Wells
Day two: Everything's Fine by Matthew Pridham
Day three: It Came From Hell and Smashed the Angels by Gregor Xane
Day four: Sometimes They Come Back by Stephen King
Day five: The Curse of Yig by H.P. Lovecraft
Day six: The Spook House by Ambrose Bierce
Day seven: An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Day eight: The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe
Day nine: Graveyard Shift by Stephen King
Day ten: Bitter Grounds by Neil Gaiman
Day eleven: Finding Emma by Matthew Iden
Day twelve: To Be Read at Dusk by Charles Dickens
Day thirteen: Children of the Corn by Stephen King
Day fourteen:The Lady Maid's Bell by Edith Wharton
Day fifteen: The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe
Day sixteen: Four Wooden Stakes by Victor Roman
Day seventeen: Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Day eighteen: For the Blood is the Life by F. Marion Crawford
Day nineteen: The Transfer by Algernon Blackwood
Day twenty: The Dune by Stephen King
Day twenty-one: The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
So I read this back on the 22nd of October, but went out of town the next day and have been playing catch up ever since. So no reviews have been written until now. So Fair warning, you may see a few of mine today.
This story is one from King’s collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes that I own but have never read, and so far, this story is the only one from that collection I’ve given a go. I chose it for spooktober because I saw the movie when it came out (I was in seventh grade) and the movie scared the ever living Bejesus out of me.
This is the kind of vampire lore that I freaking Love. Vampires that are more monster than human. Who only think of one thing and that is their next meal. The vampire in this one is a step above an animal (I mean he flies a plane for gosh sakes) but reminds me very much of David from The Lost Boys.
This wins big points for yours truly.
The story is only about 30 pages long in my mass market paperback edition, and the beginning can be a little tedious and a little light on action, but man once this story got going it REALLY got going. The atmosphere in this story is classic King. The way he draws out the anticipation is stellar, and the last three or four pages of this short story are terrifying in the way he writes terror. It is a terror that we as readers can almost feel along with the narrator. It is almost palpable. And when King gets that right, it is magical.
Our narrator and Protagonist (if we can call a cynical tabloid reporter a protagonist) is Richard Dees, and he is as cynical as the day is long. He writes for a National Enquirer like publication, and his first rule is that he never believes what he publishes and he never publishes what he believes. He has caught wind of some brutal slayings in small airports across the east coast from Maine to North Carolina, appearing to be the work of a pilot of a small aircraft, and at the request of his editor, follows the blood to catch the killer.
This is not a police procedural. This is definitely a reporter whose primary concern is getting a photograph of the murderer, not actually catching the guy. And luckily for Mr. Dees, he also has his pilot’s license and flies a small airplane himself. He traces the killer to a small Cessna aircraft and finds that he goes by the name Dwight Renfield. Dees follows him to all the places where the killings took place just missing the guy by days, interviewing witnesses and checking flight logs. These are not just ordinary killings. There is something innately vampiric about them, the draining of blood, the puncture marks on the neck, and the descriptions of the killer as appearing to look very much like Dracula. At first Dees thinks the guy is just psychotic and just has delusions of being a bloodsucker (after all, he is a cynic and vampires don’t actually exist). But once he traces the guy to a small airport in Wilmington, North Carolina, he’s not so sure. He must land in a colossal thunderstorm, and equipped with his camera, he is both thrilled and disgusted with the amount of bloody carnage he witnesses. The violence and the graphic and brutal nature of the crime are so gory that it turns this cynic into a believer which comes to head in a terrifying climax in a men’s bathroom, and will remain one King’s absolute creepiest scenes for me.
I believe that King is saying a lot of things with this short. Not only is it one of the absolute best vampire stories I’ve ever read, King is also saying a lot about journalism, and hoax journalism in particular. Not a lot is really known about the Night Flier himself, but the story reveals a lot about Richard Dees, and the magazine, Inside View, that he writes for, a publication which has made it into many other of King’s stories and novels. Above all, I think King is paying homage to imagination and belief in this story, that sometimes concrete evidence of something cheapens the thrill, and sometimes our beliefs make things more scary than they turn out to be for real. This one is just shy of 5 stars, simply for the long and tedious beginning, and the boring flight scenes and descriptions that were not totally necessary. And reading this for the first time 22 years after seeing the movie makes me want to watch it again (though it probably is not nearly as scary as my 13 year old self thought it was). Especially since Richard Dees was played by none other than Mr. Albert Rosenfeld
Sorry Twin Peaks reference. I can’t help myself.
This is a delectable spooktober short story and one I highly recommend if you, like me, take your vamps cold and monstrous rather than warm, sparkletastic, and broody.
4.5 stars
March 27, 2025
Another classic Stephen King short story and no surprise that this one was turned into a movie that came out in 1997. It’s a story about a writer who works for a tabloid paper known for its sensational stories. The latest story he’s following is a man people are calling a vampire who happens to be a pilot that sucks the blood of his victims at the small airports where he lands. Now our main character doesn’t really believe this guy to be a vampire, but it would make for a great article that would sell a lot of papers so he’s on the hunt to track this guy down.
Again, another great idea that ends too quickly. This easily could have been turned into a full length novel and the last 10 pages or so were pretty intense. Easy four stars and could have been five if King would have stuck this one out a little longer.
Again, another great idea that ends too quickly. This easily could have been turned into a full length novel and the last 10 pages or so were pretty intense. Easy four stars and could have been five if King would have stuck this one out a little longer.
September 22, 2023
The book is way scarier than the movie
November 8, 2022
I really thought I would love this story. The movie was really good and very mysterious.
This was just boring…
I really don’t know what else to say about it.
IMO the movie was definitely better than the story.
Such a BIG build up for an ultimately unsatisfying ending.
This was just boring…
I really don’t know what else to say about it.
IMO the movie was definitely better than the story.
Such a BIG build up for an ultimately unsatisfying ending.
March 24, 2021
Stephen King sure was the King of horror back then!
June 14, 2021
This is a very interesting story. I liked the plot and the original way it was handled as it moved from present to past.
The characters even though they are only a few, are colorful and well developed.
It's a pretty good simple story. Definitely an interesting read.
The characters even though they are only a few, are colorful and well developed.
It's a pretty good simple story. Definitely an interesting read.
April 10, 2024
Um conto bem legal do King, porém a adaptação para cinema tem um argumento e desfecho bem melhor!
April 23, 2026
I’m bias for vampire tales so take this review with a grain of salt 🤣 but I really enjoyed this. A good amount of gore, suspense, and a solid ending. Definitely a favorite in this collection.
September 17, 2026
"innovation on the vampire" my ass. take a shot every time someone pisses their pants. take two shots every time mr. main character mentions the vampire who pisses blood. there's a damn good reason why nobody is reading this
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2026
Vampire Lestat mention floored me
July 19, 2023
3.5*
From Nightmares & Dreamscapes
From Nightmares & Dreamscapes
May 31, 2021
This is an amazing story.
I don't want to spoil any of it, so I will just give a run-down of the themes the thing comments upon.
The story is about belief or something similar, as King notes in his little addendum to the text in Nightmares & Dreamscapes. The cynical, almost unfeeling reporter, Richard Dees, is confronted with a horror so magnified and large that he is shocked into belief, as symbolized through the vampire.
I don't want to spoil any of it, so I will just give a run-down of the themes the thing comments upon.
The story is about belief or something similar, as King notes in his little addendum to the text in Nightmares & Dreamscapes. The cynical, almost unfeeling reporter, Richard Dees, is confronted with a horror so magnified and large that he is shocked into belief, as symbolized through the vampire.
May 16, 2020
this was so good. Could have easily turned it into a novella.
January 2, 2020
Moving on beyond the truly wonderful writing style, where you feel you were apart of the journey, it was, above all, an “ok story”.
The story revolves around a reporter (Dees) in pursuit of the next BIG STORY. He follows a hunch of a potential serial killer using a small plane flying by night to find and murder his victims. For the sake of the story and without ruining it, I shall leave it at that, otherwise saying there is a supernatural element to it.
The biggest let down to this book is, it builds up and up and up, turn the page, suddenly becomes a ‘flight of fancy’ story and.......... It’s over. End of story.
The story revolves around a reporter (Dees) in pursuit of the next BIG STORY. He follows a hunch of a potential serial killer using a small plane flying by night to find and murder his victims. For the sake of the story and without ruining it, I shall leave it at that, otherwise saying there is a supernatural element to it.
The biggest let down to this book is, it builds up and up and up, turn the page, suddenly becomes a ‘flight of fancy’ story and.......... It’s over. End of story.
July 13, 2022
This story felt like it dragged on during certain parts, but overall was a very interesting story. The descriptions of the setting were SO GOOD.
November 12, 2022
This is not King's style and therefore not his best work. It was rather boring and read slowly for such a short story.
March 27, 2023
This is the first time I saw a story end with a vampire pissing. 3/5
March 27, 2024
An interesting vampire short. The ending is really strong.
August 31, 2024
45 pages of nothing, a bland story, empty characters, not at all my cup of tea.
April 4, 2025
Read as part of the collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes.
April 23, 2025
WHOOO does Stephen know how to tell a story. I must have forgotten how much I’ve loved this one or just appreciate it so much more now as an adult with an airline career. Devoured it.
August 8, 2025
vampire takes a piss-
can he see his own wiener
standing at mirror?
can he see his own wiener
standing at mirror?
December 1, 2025
Sadly, I wanted to love this but just didn’t. I wanted more 🦇 vampire feels and more gore. Maybe I’ll enjoy the movie more. 🤷🏽♀️
December 1, 2025
A story that does a LOT of telling and little showing. Not a great read for the most part.
April 2, 2026
this one did not click for me. the writing was just off
April 11, 2026
An interesting enough vampire short story by Stephen King. He could’ve done a lot more with this story I feel like but it was good for what it is.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews