Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I stated this sometime last year, I think? And only finished it just now. Because of that, my memory of some of the stories is a little fuzzy. I am going to try to write this spoiler free.
The book itself is a collection of short stories that I enjoyed a lot. I love short story collections and Stephen King in general, and this was both. I’m not sure how to review a short story collection, so I’m just going to talk about the stories that stuck out to me.
The End of the Whole Mess - A story about the end of the world and the man who started it, told by his brother. I really liked this, I like end of the world stories and I especially enjoyed the angle King took with this one.
The Moving Finger - One day a man notices a finger poking up through the drain in his bathroom sink. This one stands out to me because it reminds of some of the better creepy pastas I’ve read. Like, I legit felt that I had read this story somewhere else before.
Rainy Season - A young couple are vacationing in a small town, when the locals warn them to leave to avoid the rainy season happening that night. I lived the mystery of what is going on in this. I definitely wasn’t expecting what happens, but wow was it worth it.
Sorry, Right Number - A woman receives a mysterious phone call of, what she assumes, is a relative in distress. The ending to this one gave me chills; it just haunts me.
The House on Maple Street - The 3 Bradbury children notice something odd happening in their house following a family vacation. So,I noticed immediately the family name of Bradbury, like the sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, and the story did not disappoint on that end. I can’t really say much else without spoiling it, but I absolutely enjoyed the turn this took.
The Doctor’s Case - 10/10 Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson story.
Umney’s Last Case - A detective in 1930s LA wakes up to what he thinks is the perfect day, only for it to all of his life to start falling apart around him. So, I like the style of old detective stories, which King ends up writing here so well that I initially thought I was reading a story that was part of a larger series. I almost skipped it, but I’m glad I didn’t because it wasn’t a larger series (as far as I’m aware) and the direction it goes in is very interesting.
The book itself is a collection of short stories that I enjoyed a lot. I love short story collections and Stephen King in general, and this was both. I’m not sure how to review a short story collection, so I’m just going to talk about the stories that stuck out to me.
The End of the Whole Mess - A story about the end of the world and the man who started it, told by his brother. I really liked this, I like end of the world stories and I especially enjoyed the angle King took with this one.
The Moving Finger - One day a man notices a finger poking up through the drain in his bathroom sink. This one stands out to me because it reminds of some of the better creepy pastas I’ve read. Like, I legit felt that I had read this story somewhere else before.
Rainy Season - A young couple are vacationing in a small town, when the locals warn them to leave to avoid the rainy season happening that night. I lived the mystery of what is going on in this. I definitely wasn’t expecting what happens, but wow was it worth it.
Sorry, Right Number - A woman receives a mysterious phone call of, what she assumes, is a relative in distress. The ending to this one gave me chills; it just haunts me.
The House on Maple Street - The 3 Bradbury children notice something odd happening in their house following a family vacation. So,I noticed immediately the family name of Bradbury, like the sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, and the story did not disappoint on that end. I can’t really say much else without spoiling it, but I absolutely enjoyed the turn this took.
The Doctor’s Case - 10/10 Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson story.
Umney’s Last Case - A detective in 1930s LA wakes up to what he thinks is the perfect day, only for it to all of his life to start falling apart around him. So, I like the style of old detective stories, which King ends up writing here so well that I initially thought I was reading a story that was part of a larger series. I almost skipped it, but I’m glad I didn’t because it wasn’t a larger series (as far as I’m aware) and the direction it goes in is very interesting.
Favorite stories from this collection: the Holmes story, the End of the Whole Mess, Crouch End and the 10 O'clock People.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I did skip some of the stories as they just weren't for me, but the ones I did read were really scary. There is one story about a finger coming out of a sink, that doesn't sound scary but the way in which Stephen King writes the story makes you feel agitated and jumpy.
Reread - I’d forgotten how many good stories were in this book. My favorites were: Popsy, Chattery Teeth, Rainy Season, The Ten O’Clock People, and Head Down (I love baseball and would expect this one to appeal to true fans only).
3.5
Another King short story collection read and Night Shift still remains number one as far as I’m concerned!
.
Nightmares and Dreamscapes started off SUPER strong but then I found that my ratings were petering down to 3s and 2s and even a couple of 1s, whereas I only gave 5 stars to one story in the whole collection, Suffer the Little Children. But other highlights were Dolan’s Cadillac, The Night Flier, The Ten O’Clock People, The Moving Finger, Chattery Teeth, and Crouch End.
.
Horror lends itself so well to short stories, and King says this himself, because nothing needs to be explained in a short story. It simply is. There simply is a moving finger in your drain. There simply is a vampire with a pilot license. And I love that!
.
But a lot of the stories started to feel tedious. The Doctor’s Last Case, It Grows on You, even Umney’s, they just felt like a bit of a slog, and the 11 stories I’ve not mentioned were good but forgettable. One that is NOT forgettable is Dedication, but honestly it was so gross I don’t ever want to think about it again, thanks King.
Another King short story collection read and Night Shift still remains number one as far as I’m concerned!
.
Nightmares and Dreamscapes started off SUPER strong but then I found that my ratings were petering down to 3s and 2s and even a couple of 1s, whereas I only gave 5 stars to one story in the whole collection, Suffer the Little Children. But other highlights were Dolan’s Cadillac, The Night Flier, The Ten O’Clock People, The Moving Finger, Chattery Teeth, and Crouch End.
.
Horror lends itself so well to short stories, and King says this himself, because nothing needs to be explained in a short story. It simply is. There simply is a moving finger in your drain. There simply is a vampire with a pilot license. And I love that!
.
But a lot of the stories started to feel tedious. The Doctor’s Last Case, It Grows on You, even Umney’s, they just felt like a bit of a slog, and the 11 stories I’ve not mentioned were good but forgettable. One that is NOT forgettable is Dedication, but honestly it was so gross I don’t ever want to think about it again, thanks King.
“I don’t talk about this much, because it embarrasses me and it sounds pompous, but I still see stories as a great thing, something which not only enhances lives but actually saves them.”
This was my very first encounter with a King short story collection. And I was NOT disappointed! The variety of stories in this collection is insane, it goes from vampires to baseball to chattery teeth to fingers crawling out of the drain in your sink.
Some stories were absolutely brilliant. My favourites were Chattery Teeth, You Know They Got A Hell of A Band, The Moving Finger, Rainy Season and Popsy. They made me laugh, they freaked me out and they're definitely memorable. Like a town full of dead Rock n Roll stars as ghosts...who could think of that apart from King?! Brilliant!
Some others were not my favourite. I'm not a fan of baseball in any way, so a lot of Head Down was lost on me. I overall got the point of the story and enjoyed that, but it was wasted on me. I also had heard so much about The Night Flier, but ultimately felt disappointed overall. The Fifth Quarter was also not a highlight for me, it was okay, but no doubt I'll have forgotten about it in a few weeks.
Overall an enjoyable read, a great variety of stories. But because I didn't ADORE all the stories, I've taken away a star... Now it's onto the next one!
This was my very first encounter with a King short story collection. And I was NOT disappointed! The variety of stories in this collection is insane, it goes from vampires to baseball to chattery teeth to fingers crawling out of the drain in your sink.
Some stories were absolutely brilliant. My favourites were Chattery Teeth, You Know They Got A Hell of A Band, The Moving Finger, Rainy Season and Popsy. They made me laugh, they freaked me out and they're definitely memorable. Like a town full of dead Rock n Roll stars as ghosts...who could think of that apart from King?! Brilliant!
Some others were not my favourite. I'm not a fan of baseball in any way, so a lot of Head Down was lost on me. I overall got the point of the story and enjoyed that, but it was wasted on me. I also had heard so much about The Night Flier, but ultimately felt disappointed overall. The Fifth Quarter was also not a highlight for me, it was okay, but no doubt I'll have forgotten about it in a few weeks.
Overall an enjoyable read, a great variety of stories. But because I didn't ADORE all the stories, I've taken away a star... Now it's onto the next one!