Night Shift by Stephen King

 Night Shift

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐(4/5 stars)

Review:

Short stories which could make the reader feel frightened in the dark night. Intriguing stories that can make you uncomfortable. I’ve enjoyed reading this book throughout the spooky month, interested by King’s wide and amazing imagination.

Before reading, I thought these stories were all going to be thrillers, but many of them had an interesting concept, including psychological topics, through the mind, death, and the pressure to survive through terrifying situations. Some of these moments were about hanging on a ledge, peer pressure, or about to commit to something you wouldn’t want to do.

The themes were brilliant, showing how they expand over the course of each story through characters’ adrenaline, and each setting was simple for the reader to focus on the scenario. However, the descriptions altered the impact towards intensity.

The stories that impressed me the most were:

Jerusalem’s Lot (I loved the letter format)

Graveyard Sight

The Mangler (I never thought laundry could be used for horror)

The Boogeyman

TRUCKS

Sometimes They Come Back

The Ledge

Strawberry Spring (extremely unexpected ending)

Quitter Inc.

Children of the Corn

The last rung on the Ladder

The Woman in the Room (the last two were heart-wrenching)

Although these stories are fantastic, I must warn you that this book was first published in the 1970s. Due to those times, unfortunately, King did use words to describe characters and scenarios/ settings that would definitely not be allowed to be used today, as well as writing characters that say slurs to discriminate against others. I was surprised to see those kinds of words being used as descriptions, and reading a character being disturbingly racist. I didn’t think it was needed of King, but it does include another aspect or layer of depth with the character, from supporting them to now shocked that they could say that.

This book was thrilling during the Halloween month, through excellent theming and characterisation, spooky scenarios in everyday life, and thoughtful themes. Some were intense and some were saddening to read, giving a large range for the reader to enjoy! Also, this has made me realise how far we’ve come in years to stop discriminating others.