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2.01k reviews for:
Night Shift: Excursions into Horror by the Author of Carrie and The Shining
Stephen King
3.91 AVERAGE
2.01k reviews for:
Night Shift: Excursions into Horror by the Author of Carrie and The Shining
Stephen King
3.91 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Some were so good and some were such a sad waste of my time.
JERUSALEM'S LOT - 4/5 lots of good imagery but not very interesting
GRAVEYARD SHIFT - 4/5 Rats are gross
NIGHT SURF - 1/5 waste of my time
JERUSALEM'S LOT - 4/5 lots of good imagery but not very interesting
GRAVEYARD SHIFT - 4/5 Rats are gross
NIGHT SURF - 1/5 waste of my time
Excellent collection of short stories where King proves yet again that he can write more than just horror (though the horror is still amazing here as well).
Overall: 4/5
Jerusalem's Lot - 3/5
Graveyard Shift - 4.5/5
Night Surf - 2.5/5
I Am the Doorway - 4/5
The Mangler - 4/5
The Boogeyman - 4.5/5
Gray Matter - 3.5/5
Battleground - 3/5
Trucks - 4/5
Sometimes They Come Back - 4/5
Strawberry Spring - 3.5/5
The Ledge - 4.5/5
The Lawnmower Man - 4/5
Quitters, Inc. - 4/5
I Know What You Need - 4/5
Children of the Corn - 4.5/5
The Last Rung on the Ladder - 5/5 (Standout)
The Man Who Loved Flowers - 3/5
One for the Road - 3.5/5
The Woman in the Room - 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Jerusalem's Lot - 3/5
Graveyard Shift - 4.5/5
Night Surf - 2.5/5
I Am the Doorway - 4/5
The Mangler - 4/5
The Boogeyman - 4.5/5
Gray Matter - 3.5/5
Battleground - 3/5
Trucks - 4/5
Sometimes They Come Back - 4/5
Strawberry Spring - 3.5/5
The Ledge - 4.5/5
The Lawnmower Man - 4/5
Quitters, Inc. - 4/5
I Know What You Need - 4/5
Children of the Corn - 4.5/5
The Last Rung on the Ladder - 5/5 (Standout)
The Man Who Loved Flowers - 3/5
One for the Road - 3.5/5
The Woman in the Room - 4/5
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
tense
medium-paced
Unfortunately, I found a lot of the stories in this set of short stories super boring or overly trope-y. Children of the Corn was a huge standout that alone would get 5 stars, but it was surrounded by a lot of pretty lackluster and unmemorable stories.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
First time reading Night Shift, and I have to admit that my suspicion was correct: I'm not much of a short-story reader.
I just couldn't enjoy this book like I should have been if this was a full on novel. Yet this doesn't mean that this book is not good. The stories are intersting, a bit mixed in my opinion, but that was expected. And because of this, it is hard to rate a collection. There are bound to be some great stories, and some mildly bad ones.
For me, these were the best ones:
Jerusalem's Lot
Graveyard Shift
Night Surf
Quitters Inc
Children of the Corn
One For the Road
I'm not saying the others are bad, they just... they were either boring, or lacked the tenseness the good ones had. For example The Boogeyman felt like a missed opportunity. The setting (sitting at a psychologist) was boring, and I wished this was expanded to a full novel. Battleground and Trucks didn't have stakes, or at least I didn't feel like there was. For others, I just didn't feel the characters. I don't know... for The Woman in the Room, that was too much, too close for me. But overall, I liked this book, and I'm glad I could read it.
Too bad, I was eyeing The Stand in the last half of this collection.
I just couldn't enjoy this book like I should have been if this was a full on novel. Yet this doesn't mean that this book is not good. The stories are intersting, a bit mixed in my opinion, but that was expected. And because of this, it is hard to rate a collection. There are bound to be some great stories, and some mildly bad ones.
For me, these were the best ones:
Jerusalem's Lot
Graveyard Shift
Night Surf
Quitters Inc
Children of the Corn
One For the Road
I'm not saying the others are bad, they just... they were either boring, or lacked the tenseness the good ones had. For example The Boogeyman felt like a missed opportunity. The setting (sitting at a psychologist) was boring, and I wished this was expanded to a full novel. Battleground and Trucks didn't have stakes, or at least I didn't feel like there was. For others, I just didn't feel the characters. I don't know... for The Woman in the Room, that was too much, too close for me. But overall, I liked this book, and I'm glad I could read it.
Too bad, I was eyeing The Stand in the last half of this collection.
3.5/5 A very good set of short stories only 4 didn't hit the mark for me (The women in the room, Strawberry Spring, The Mangler and Sometimes They Come Back), but the rest were 3 star or above. Very impressed!
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A