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Book Reviews of Night Shift

Night Shift
Night Shift
Author: Stephen King
ISBN-13: 9780451085108
ISBN-10: 0451085108
Publication Date: 2/13/1979
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 37

3.9 stars, based on 37 ratings
Publisher: New American Library
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

32 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Night Shift on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I'm a King fan and this collection of stories does not disappoint. The level of creativity that this man taps into is unmatched in the literary world. There's not a dud in this collection. I've added it to my library along with all my other King books. Get this one, hang on to it, reread it often.
Bibliocrates avatar reviewed Night Shift on + 252 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is a fantastic collection of short stories, highly recommend!
sarah5775 avatar reviewed Night Shift on + 386 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is an excellent collection of stories- one of King's best. Included are such classics as Smokers, Inc. and Sometimes they Come Back. Several of these stories were televised in the Nightmares and Dreamscapes tv miniseries.
CozyLover avatar reviewed Night Shift on + 335 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Creepy collection of short stories by horror author Stephen King.
GreenGarnet avatar reviewed Night Shift on + 59 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
You are hailed as amazing, a true creator of the macabre etc, but i find that your stories fall short. No pun intented. Of course this is a collection of short stories and i've tried so hard to like Stephen King. This amy sound harsh, but the only good thing to come out of his short stories are some of the movies they based off of them. . . I know die hard king fans are probably about to keel over but i just dont enjoy his writing. Its bland and in his earlier years he made no sense. I really enjoy horror books. But his i cant enjoy. I guess i may stand alone when i say that we need more horror writers besides stephen king and Koontz!

Please we need someone better!
reviewed Night Shift on + 14 more book reviews
Another great book by a great author!
reviewed Night Shift on + 725 more book reviews
You know this guy. 'Nuff said.
reviewed Night Shift on + 725 more book reviews
By Stephen King. 'Nuff said!
reviewed Night Shift on + 11 more book reviews
STEPHEN KING AS USUAL.
blazedale avatar reviewed Night Shift on + 4 more book reviews
Im a huge King fan and have nearly everything hes written to date. I am a collector of his books, and at times I come across doubles as I have with this one. The only reason I'm letting this one go is because I have two.

This is my favorite short story collection. He is truly a master story teller. This is classic King at his best. Of course he's always at his best. :)
reviewed Night Shift on + 28 more book reviews
Great stories to read before bed.
reviewed Night Shift on + 2 more book reviews
Good book containing 21 stories. Many of these stories have been made into good movies.
reviewed Night Shift on + 4 more book reviews
I enjoy vintage Stephen King, when his stories were pure macabre fun and he didn't have literary airs.
reviewed Night Shift on + 2 more book reviews
FYI this is an older edition...before King's books were produced with the type of cover common today. Good collection of his short stories if you want an intro to his work.
yolen avatar reviewed Night Shift on + 92 more book reviews
I love this collection of short stories, scary!
reviewed Night Shift on + 12 more book reviews
A compilation of short stories by Stephen King, including Jerusalem's Lot, Children of the Corn, and The Boogeyman. A great book for people with short spurts of time to read - each story is a page-turner that you won't want to put down; and yet each story doesn't take long to read!
reviewed Night Shift on
I like Stephen King, but this just wasn't my type of book.
perryfran avatar reviewed Night Shift on + 1223 more book reviews
I recently saw a preview of Chapelwaite, a new TV series that will be based on King's story, Jerusalem's Lot. The story is included in this anthology of King's early stories dating from the 1970s. For some reason, I had never read these even though I know I had a hardcover copy of Night Shift many years ago that somehow got away from me without me ever reading it. Anyway, I found a paperback copy on PaperbackSwap.com and decided to read it because of the Jerusalem's Lot story. Well, I was glad I did. This was an excellent collection of King's stories most of which were originally published in men's magazines such as Cavalier and Penthouse.

Although the stories are definitely now dated, I enjoyed every one of them. They included stories from many of King's tropes including witchcraft and vampire stories, apocalyptic end of world stories, haunted machinery stories, and psychological horror.

Jerusalem's Lot takes place in 1850 and tells the story of man who inherits a house near the then deserted town of 'Salem's Lot. People from the surrounding area dare not venture into its deserted houses and businesses and especially the church where satanists once held their macabre services. What is the evil that dwells there? I could definitely see the influence of H.P. Lovecraft in this story and I'll be looking forward to seeing how this is dramatized in the TV series which premieres in August.


Many of the other stories in this collection have already been made into movies and I must say that they are probably some of King's worst movie adaptations. These include Graveyard Shift, The Mangler, Trucks (made into the movie Maximum Overdrive), Sometimes They Come Back, The Lawnmower Man, and Children of the Corn. I have seen most of these movies and like I said, they were not the greatest. The stories they were based on were a lot better. One of these, The Lawnmower Man, was completely different from the movie. I found out that only the title of King's story was used for this movie. From IMDB:

New Line Cinema had obtained the rights to the Stephen King short story "The Lawnmower Man", and the producers also had an unrelated script called "Cyber God". For economical reasons, they simply placed King's title on the production of "Cyber God", and early promotional material with that claim even went public. King was furious at this abuse of his name, and he sued the studio to have his name and title removed from the film and promotion. The studio refused, but was eventually ordered to pay ten thousand dollars and full profits to King.

Some of these stories were definite precursors or supplements to some of King's best novels. This includes Jerusalem's Lot and One for the Road which relate to 'Salems Lot; Night Surf a story about a flu that wipes out most of mankind and is referred to as Captain Trips, a definite precursor to The Stand; and The Mangler and Trucks, stories about possessed machinery that will later be used in King's Christine.

I'm glad I finally got around to reading this great collection of some of King's best known stories. I know I sometime neglect reading anthologies and there are a few more by King that I need to get to.
beemo63 avatar reviewed Night Shift on + 11 more book reviews
This is a classic to keep!
reviewed Night Shift on + 612 more book reviews
I really enjoyed this book.
reviewed Night Shift on + 69 more book reviews
Lots of short stories. Some better than others (of course). Children of the Corn was the best, in my opinion. Others were quite scary, others were dumb.
reviewed Night Shift on + 37 more book reviews
Stephen King is a master at writing short stories (or anything else for that matter!). This collection is fantastic, but isn't as good as his Skeleton Crew collection.
reviewed Night Shift on + 10 more book reviews
King's first collection of short stories proves why he is the king of modern horror.
Piper avatar reviewed Night Shift on
Description: A collection of short stories, many of which have been made into movies.

Battleground
The Boogeyman
Children of the Corn
Graveyard Shift
Grey Matter
I am the Doorway
I Know What You Need
Jerusalem's Lot
The Last Rung on the Ladder
The Lawnmower Man
The Ledge
The Man Who Loved Flowers
The Mangler
Night Surf
One for the Road
Quitters,Inc
Sometimes They Come Back
Strawberry Spring
Trucks
The Woman in the room
waterbearer avatar reviewed Night Shift on + 62 more book reviews
Early short story collection that is sure to please, King at his best. I read this as a youngster, so I lost many a night of sleep!! The scariest ones include "The Boogeyman" and "Quitters Inc". ALL good stories and highly recommended.
reviewed Night Shift on + 58 more book reviews
Not one of his best but very good reading
reviewed Night Shift on + 175 more book reviews
fair condition, readable copy, cover creases tons of wear/tear. this is for the king fan who has not read this or if you are curious about his short stories. they are not a quick read due to the small type, but once you get into a story you can't stop. this has the children of the corn and the lawmower man, quitters (`00% guaranteed to help you quit smoking/lose weight --- or else!), jerusalem's lot which is the vampire tales ala salem's lot. these stories were made into some sort of twilight zone type movie or tv show once upon a time. what's nifty neato about king is the stories are kinda ok, but his writing style and finesse will make you feel like you are part of the story and you can see/hear/feel/etc with the characters.
reviewed Night Shift on + 56 more book reviews
who doesn't love Stephen King?
reviewed Night Shift on + 4 more book reviews
This book is a little worn from age but all pages are there and is still in good cond.
hawaiianpride avatar reviewed Night Shift on + 31 more book reviews
Book Cover:

From the depths of darkness where hideous rats defend their empire, to dizzying heights where a beautiful girl hangs by a hair above a hellish fate, Night Shift will plunge you into the subterranean labyrinth of the most spine-tingling, eerie imaginations of our time.
reviewed Night Shift on + 18 more book reviews
(from back cover)
From the depths of darkness where hideous rats defend their empire, to dizzying heights where a beautiful girl hangs by a hair above a hellish fate, Night Shift will plunge you into the subterranean labyrinth of the most spine-tingling, eerie imaginations of our time.
reviewed Night Shift on + 25 more book reviews
One of many in my collection of Stephen King books. All are up for trade. Check out the rest.