Product Description

A collection of terrifying stories that reveal a shudderingly detailed map of the dark places that lie behind our waking, rational world. This is the horror of ordinary people and everyday objects that become strangely altered, a world where nothing is ever quite what it seems.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91151 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Review
‘An incredibly gifted writer, whose writing, like Truman Capote’s, is so fluid that you often forget that you’re reading’ (Guardian )

‘A writer of excellence...King is one of the most fertile storytellers of the modern novel...brilliantly done’ (The Sunday Times )

‘Splendid entertainment...Stephen King is one of those natural storytellers...getting hooked is easy’ (Frances Fyfield, Express )

About the Author
Stephen King has written some 40 books and novellas, including CARRIE, THE STAND and RITA HAYWORTH AND SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (from the collection DIFFERENT SEASONS), BAG OF BONES, ON WRITING and most recently CELL and LISEY'S STORY. He wrote several novels under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman, including BLAZE (June 2007). He won America’s prestigious National Book Award and was voted Grand Master in the 2007 Edgar Allen Poe awards. He lives with his wife, novelist Tabitha King, in Maine, USA.

Customer Reviews

From horror to rather boring
Stephen King's earliest short story collection. The stories range from very good (five stars) to not very thrilling or shocking at all (one star). In my opinion, the stories well worth reading are Children of the Corn (a couple stumbles into a town run by fanatical kids), Quitters, Inc. (a new twist on how to quit smoking) and Trucks (trucks take over the world). The stories that can hardly be described as horror are The Woman in the Room (assisted suicide) and The Last Rung on the Ladder (sibling dependency). The remaining stories fall somewhere in the middle. I definitely prefer Stephen King's longer novels over his short stories because the characters can be developed with much more detail and as the reader, I have more time to submerge myself into the horror he creates.

underwhelming, simplistic and a bit dull
well now - this is definetely not the best short stories collection i have read. but its the first of Stephen King's. and its the first set he wrote.
on the strength of this collection alone i would not buy a second collection - but on the strength of his novels i might well give another set a read.
Its like that - not all that great - not very many standout stories - not much to write home about. it really feels early in his career - even before the first novels - alot of the stories feel half finished and a few feel like experiments in writing a certain scene or in a certain technique rather than rounded stories. very few have a real ending.

the best of them - 'Children of the Corn' - almost the longest and without doubt the standalone best - the only one i'd recommend from this set.
other good ones included - Quitter's Inc., Sometimes They Come Back, I Know What You Need and Battleground.

the worst of them was the awful 'Trucks' (made into the awful Maximum Overdrive), the pointless experiments of Woman in the Room and the Man who Loved Flowers. Suprisingly the slightly famous Jerusalem's Lot was really rubbish.
Overall - worth a read for a couple of the stories, but i wouldn't splash out and buy it - get it from your local library. Nothing special and a lot of simplistic half finisheds.
6/10

Great collection!!!
This is a great collection of short stories. Some stories such as, the ledge, sometimes they come back, quitters inc.,and of course children of the corn, are sublime. Quitters inc., and the ledge were translated for film (cats eye). The last rung on the ladder however, is without doubt my favourite, the horror is entirely human.
Enjoy!!!