Stephen King Fans discussion

Discuss Night Shift here. Please mark all spoilers for those reading along.

I enjoy the variety and hit-or-miss element of short stories and anthologies, so a re-read of Night Shift seems like a thing to do. Night Shift is one of, if not my favorite of King's books. I predictably started out with "Jerusalem's Lot" last night, and for me it's in the top third of the short stories in this collection.

A top three story for me in Night Shift, I re-read "Graveyard Shift". King goes for the grossout and succeeds. Giant rats and bats and slime and goop reside beneath a trapdoor in a sub-basement in an old rundown cotton mill. The ending is open, but you know what's bound to happen.

One of my favorite Anthologies by King. Looking forward to this re-read.

Last night, it was time for a quick read of the third story, "Night Surf". It's about a group of people who have so far survived the virus and are living in the months before the last tribes of people that readers will follow in "The Stand". For some reason, this was a little odd to read. Maybe King was attempting to make the characters' dialogue more realistic. Whatever my hangup, I still enjoyed the story.

Nice, I just got my hands on a copy.

I ripped through "I Am the Doorway" yesterday and to me, it's the best story in the book. It features an astronaut who comes back from Venus with itchy hands (and perhaps more...). I swear that King borrowed this idea from the 1964 Season 2 episode "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" from the original "Outer Limits" TV series. And if he did, he greatly improved it. I know he was a big fan of that show.

Hello. I’m new here.

Started Night Shift for the Book of the Month read. :-) I don't know if I will finish it this month because I usually only read a few short-stories between novels.

I've read this about 15 years ago, and I am looking forward to the re-read!

The first story "Jerusalem's Lot" is a five-star for me. I am a sucker for a found-manuscript trope and this one is so creepy. Good stuff!

I just finished "Children of the Corn". So far, I love this collection! Strawberry Spring was good.

Must see if I can get hold of a copy. Jerusalem’s lot is also a favourite.

Was cleaning first aid mannekins at work one time (peeling off faces, wiping out the plastic ‘skulls’ ) whilst listening to Jerusalem’s Lot.

Freaked myself out !!

Oh my God, Annerlee! 😂

I started Jerusalems Lot the other day and hope to finish it tonight. Had read the full novel, Salems Lot, a few months ago. It is based off this short story or vice versa, right?

April wrote: "Oh my God, Annerlee! 😂

I started Jerusalems Lot the other day and hope to finish it tonight. Had read the full novel, Salems Lot, a few months ago. It is based off this short story or vice versa, ..."
It's PRE-Salems Lot.

whit wrote: "April wrote: "Oh my God, Annerlee! 😂

I started Jerusalems Lot the other day and hope to finish it tonight. Had read the full novel, Salems Lot, a few months ago. It is based off this short story o..."

Right. So that was awesome to continue (for me, for King to elaborate on this story with the novel) by finishing it up. I am reading another short story collection these days, and i looked through that to find the shorter stories to read on my busier days. I need to do that with Night Shift now. If i recall, the next story (?graveyard) was short and/or the one after that. I may skip around. I still need to read the introduction. Looking forward to reading more and reading more comments from this group!

Stephen King does evil machines better than anyone. "The Mangler" is absolutely ridiculous but is painted with such vivid imagery, including the hard to believe conclusion. I've read it several times, and I still love it.
"The Boogeyman" is a good story. Pretty scary and sad, though. The ending was kind of a surprise and was justice served, I suppose.

whit wrote: "Stephen King does evil machines better than anyone. "The Mangler" is absolutely ridiculous but is painted with such vivid imagery, including the hard to believe conclusion. I've read it several tim..."

Lots of spoilers in your comment. You may want to consider marking those next time....

Derrick wrote: "whit wrote: "Stephen King does evil machines better than anyone. "The Mangler" is absolutely ridiculous but is painted with such vivid imagery, including the hard to believe conclusion. I've read i..."

Sorry. I pasted it from a personal note. I removed spoilers. Thanks

As good as I remembered!

Oh, thanks for the reminder about spoilers. This is the first time i am actively participating, so i hadnt considered that.

Just finished Graveyard Shift (i skipped it to read the shorter one the other day). This was ew! I mean, kind of gross horror, but horrific for sure! Easier to read about, but certainly would not want it to be reality. Eek!

Talk about a small story with a potentially big ending..."Gray Matter" is likely my second favorite story in "Night Shift" (after "I Am the Doorway"). "Gray Matter" has a bonkers premise but quite a few of the stories in this book do and I think it's great.

I finished it. This is a fantastic collection!

Ok, the one i just read was terrifying! Not going to say that was any favorite of mine, but it certainly left an impression. Damn!


I guess i am not too sure what to say in these threads. I will have to be continuing this book into December at this rate, but i will keep testing out the other stories. Maybe i will post again with an overall opinion. So far though, nothing has come close to Jerusalems Lot in terms of my interest and enjoyment. 🤷‍♀️

Edit: realizing why i dont know exactly what to say is because i didnt want to read any spoilers and i didnt know this was a spoiler free thread. Maybe i can go back and read through before the next time i post. 👍

April wrote: "Ok, the one i just read was terrifying! Not going to say that was any favorite of mine, but it certainly left an impression. Damn!


I guess i am not too sure what to say in these threads. I will h..."

You can post all the spoilers you want. You just have to make sure to mark them so nothing gets spoiled for others reading along.

@Derrick I realize that now.

I just finished I Am the Doorway, and I see I am not alone in appreciating it's greatness. Really enjoyed it, as well as the careful way King organized the reveals to create the most curiosity in the reader to see how the story plays out. Well done!

Still continuing this now into January, but really enjoying it! I believe I read about Trucks (there is a movie based on it or something), really liked that one. Reminded me of The Mist, which is another favorite of mine (Skeleton Crew).
Also Strawberry Spring and I Know What You Need are two more new favorites! I've been looking forward to Children of the Corn nearly my whole life. Hope it's another 5 star!

I wanted to join the group for The Stand (I've heard some really high praise for it), but I just don't think I can swing it this time. Maybe I'll catch another active chat soon though!

There are two movies about Trucks. I have watched the original one. I'm not sure about the second one.

Nice! I will have to look into those at some point!

Ok, i am down to my last story (the ledge), but i want to make a comment now after reading One for the Road and the forward. I either forgot or didnt know that there was even more to the Salems Lot story, so that was a pleasant surprise and a great near end to this book. Then i read the forward. Lately i have been trying to read these sections and often really enjoy them and to get a peek into more of the author. King is just a brilliant writer, and his forward proves that to me even more. Regardless of genre, i have been inspired by him for many years and am continually impressed! I like how he notes that only a few people read these forwards, and i actually almost skipped this one, (for some reason. Like i said, i have been better lately about readi g them) but i am so glad i didnt! Not only has he mastered horror, he is also really funny! (Well, on social media he even sharesjokes, so i already knew that, but here it is again). Just so awesome! I thought i really loved Skeleton Key, but Night Shift has had a lot of really great stories too. Yay!