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noellesimonson's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
louisarc's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
hakimalias's review against another edition
4.0
For me, top 5 stories from this collection,
1. Quitters, Inc.
2. The last rung on the ladder
3. Sometimes they come back
4. The man who loved flowers
5. I am the doorway
1. Quitters, Inc.
2. The last rung on the ladder
3. Sometimes they come back
4. The man who loved flowers
5. I am the doorway
youngthespian42's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5 rounded down. There are a few absolutely bangers of stories in here that I loved. Graveyard shift, battlefield, trucks, and the ledge were my favorites. Some others are mid but nothing is bad in here. Lawnmower man is a story in Stephen King lore that I’ve heard about as a fan for years. It lived up to the hype. Bizarre. Worth checking out as a collection but a little same-ie if you read it all back to back.
bencarson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
lisa_reads_a_lot's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoy Stephen King's short stories. The last one in this collection is about Jerusalem's Lot. Now I need to re-read Salem's Lot!
raeleechoins's review against another edition
4.0
Children of the Corn and One For the Road scared the fuck outta me
thecrookedspine's review against another edition
5.0
TL;DR: I highly recommend this book if you’re a horror fan, and feel it’s an especially good introduction to new readers of King.
Stephen King is a pretty “hit or miss” author for me (especially as regards his more contemporary books), but I rank Night Shift as up in his top five, along with books like The Shning, IT, and The Dead Zone. But this book was great, and I think what sets it apart are two things: writing skill and steel nads.
Frankly there are some of the dumbest ideas for short stories I’ve ever seen in here (I’m looking at you Lawnmower Man), but they’re written so incredibly well that they’re still really fun and engrossing to read. I actually found it refreshing that the ideas he ran with were sometimes so odd, and yet he wrote and included them anyway without self-censorship or fear. And the really good ideas he had for stories like Salem’s Lot, Children of the Corn, and Graveyard Shift are written so incredibly well that they were a rare kind of pleasure to read.
The only story here that I completely pan is “The Man Who Loved Flowers” because it felt so intensely contrived in its writing style and prosaic in concept - but that story is also incredibly short.
This book is one of the more “accurately classified as horror books” I’ve read from King because so many of his books are not actually horror despite the hype, but this one most definitely is. I highly recommend this book if you’re a horror fan, and feel it’s an especially good introduction to new readers of King.
Stephen King is a pretty “hit or miss” author for me (especially as regards his more contemporary books), but I rank Night Shift as up in his top five, along with books like The Shning, IT, and The Dead Zone. But this book was great, and I think what sets it apart are two things: writing skill and steel nads.
Frankly there are some of the dumbest ideas for short stories I’ve ever seen in here (I’m looking at you Lawnmower Man), but they’re written so incredibly well that they’re still really fun and engrossing to read. I actually found it refreshing that the ideas he ran with were sometimes so odd, and yet he wrote and included them anyway without self-censorship or fear. And the really good ideas he had for stories like Salem’s Lot, Children of the Corn, and Graveyard Shift are written so incredibly well that they were a rare kind of pleasure to read.
The only story here that I completely pan is “The Man Who Loved Flowers” because it felt so intensely contrived in its writing style and prosaic in concept - but that story is also incredibly short.
This book is one of the more “accurately classified as horror books” I’ve read from King because so many of his books are not actually horror despite the hype, but this one most definitely is. I highly recommend this book if you’re a horror fan, and feel it’s an especially good introduction to new readers of King.
katiescho741's review against another edition
5.0
This is classic King at his best. The quality of these stories is incredible! There's one dud in the whole book, which is "Trucks", but every other story has something going for it. Some of them left me reeling at the end!
I loved Grey Matter, I am the Doorway, and The Boogeyman, and there's a great mix of monster, paranormal, and real horror styles in Night Shift. The realist horror is unsettling and dark, with stories like Quitters Inc and Night Surf. But then you have the crazy monster-type stuff that shouldn't work but, in King's hands, they just do! Stories like Graveyard Shift, I Know What You Need, and Children of the Corn are expertly un-spooled into creepy tales.
This seems to be the place where King started his Easter Eggs. Juresalem's Lot and One for the Road are both mini tales from the world of Salem's Lot, and since I recently read it, they were chilling to read.
I wish King still wrote like this. It feels like someone who has a jumble of ideas but brings them together to make a chaotic and horrifying collection of stories.
I loved Grey Matter, I am the Doorway, and The Boogeyman, and there's a great mix of monster, paranormal, and real horror styles in Night Shift. The realist horror is unsettling and dark, with stories like Quitters Inc and Night Surf. But then you have the crazy monster-type stuff that shouldn't work but, in King's hands, they just do! Stories like Graveyard Shift, I Know What You Need, and Children of the Corn are expertly un-spooled into creepy tales.
This seems to be the place where King started his Easter Eggs. Juresalem's Lot and One for the Road are both mini tales from the world of Salem's Lot, and since I recently read it, they were chilling to read.
I wish King still wrote like this. It feels like someone who has a jumble of ideas but brings them together to make a chaotic and horrifying collection of stories.