Full Dark, No Stars

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Craig Wasson, Jessica Hecht

Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

"I believe there is another man inside every man, a stranger...." writes Wilfred Leland James in the early pages of the riveting confession that makes up "1922", the first in this pitch-black quartet of mesmerizing tales from Stephen King. For James, that stranger is awakened when his wife, Arlette, proposes selling off the family homestead and moving to Omaha, setting in motion a gruesome train of murder and madness.

In "Big Driver", a cozy-mystery writer named Tess encounters the stranger along a back road in Massachusetts when she takes a shortcut home after a book-club engagement. Violated and left for dead, Tess plots a revenge that will bring her face-to-face with another stranger: the one inside herself.

"Fair Extension", the shortest of these tales, is perhaps the nastiest and certainly the funniest. Making a deal with the devil not only saves Dave Streeter from a fatal cancer but provides rich recompense for a lifetime of resentment.

When her husband of more than 20 years is away on one of his business trips, Darcy Anderson looks for batteries in the garage. Her toe knocks up against a box under a worktable and she discovers the stranger inside her husband. It's a horrifying discovery, rendered with bristling intensity, and it definitively ends a good marriage.

Like Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight, which generated such enduring films as The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me, Full Dark, No Stars proves Stephen King a master of the long story form.

©2010 Stephen King. All rights reserved. (P)2010 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved

Critic reviews

"[T]hese tales show how a skilled storyteller with a good tale to tell can make unsettling fiction compulsively readable." ( Publishers Weekly)

"King has gone on record saying he believes that American readers should pay more attention to the virtues of short fiction... if anyone can get reluctant short-story and novella readers into the swing, he certainly can with this book." ( Booklist)

Stephen Kong being brutally honest

I absolutely love Stephen King, and I had a hard time listening to the stories. His writing as always is brilliant, but the detailed facts of the brutality that humans do to each other but sometimes difficult to listen to.
I am always impressed with a feminist he is, because he usually reveals the violence that men do against women and other men

Classic Good King

Classic King at his best. I’ve read this collection several times. Craig Wasson is my favorite of King’s narrators, and Jessica Hecht knocks her female takes out of the park.

Realistically Scary

These stories are so scary because they could actually happen. Both the narrators did a great job with their stories

Fans Only Type of Read

I wouldn’t say this was the best of Steven King—at all. ‘The Green Mile’ Series is phenomenal, ‘It’ is pretty great and full of underlying messages, The Stand is amazing, hell even Joyland was better than this Full Dark, No Stars. 1922 is the best of all these stories. It’s dark and the reader is present for the murder. It takes a turn for the worst (if you don’t like character thought details, than put this down). 1922 was the highlight of this novel. Full Dark, No Stars was meh. I wouldn’t give less stars though. It’s Stephen King for crying out loud!

Perfect latter day companion for Different Seasons

4 novellas that get under your skin. Seems like old times! I return to this book again and again!

Another King Winner!

Terrific narration. Spell binding stories. Couldn't stop listening. Stephen King knows how to hook me.

4 Scary Stories

If you could sum up Full Dark, No Stars in three words, what would they be?

A fun ride

What did you like best about this story?

The two performers were incredible. The characters were nuanced and easy to distinguish from each other when performed by the same reader. Each of the stories was different and compelling, and a bit scary.

Which character – as performed by Craig Wasson and Jessica Hecht – was your favorite?

Jessica Hecht - A Good Marriage - Darcy Anderson
Craig Wasson - Fair Extension - Elvid

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Each story could have been listened to in one sitting, but I enjoyed them during several car rides.

Amazing!

Great stories by the American goldsmith of words with exquisite interpretations! Never to be forgotten.

Compelling, Stephen hits the nail on the head.

Would you consider the audio edition of Full Dark, No Stars to be better than the print version?

I don't believe any thing is better than the print version of any book, however, you get to hear and feel the emotion and you hang on every word.

What did you like best about this story?

The different stories in one.

Which character – as performed by Craig Wasson and Jessica Hecht – was your favorite?

All the characters were very strong and over came. It is hard to pinpoint one character.

If you could take any character from Full Dark, No Stars out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I think I would be the writer. She was passionate and brave. She had such a traumatic thing happen and you watch her evolve and become more than she ever was.

Good storytelling

Would you consider the audio edition of Full Dark, No Stars to be better than the print version?

Don't know. The Hecht reading makes me think yes, probably.

What did you like best about this story?

Revenge is always satisfying to read about.

What about Craig Wasson and Jessica Hecht ’s performance did you like?

Did Wasson read the first one: 1922? The venom in the man's voice -- that gritted-teeth thing -- was used almost randomly: even the commonplace lines sounded like they were dripping with a violent sarcasm. So that weakened 1922 for me: the protagonist was of course unsympathetic, but the reader made him more so. The other stories were read well. Some folks complained about the "smile" in Hecht's voice: I actually felt like she read really well: the faintly wry/grim tone of her voice went well with that particular story and certainly with the protagonist.