The End of the World as We Know It

New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand

De: Christopher Golden - contributor, Brian Keene - contributor, Stephen King - introduction

Narrado por: Sean Patrick Hopkins, Adenrele Ojo

An original short story anthology based on master storyteller Stephen King’s #1 New York Times bestselling classic The Stand!

Since its initial publication in 1978, The Stand has been considered Stephen King’s seminal masterpiece of apocalyptic fiction, with millions of copies sold and adapted twice for television. Although there are other extraordinary works exploring the unraveling of human society, none have been as influential as this iconic novel—generations of writers have been impacted by its dark yet ultimately hopeful vision of the end and new beginning of civilization, and its stunning array of characters.

Now for the first time, Stephen King has fully authorized a return to the harrowing world of The Stand through this original short story anthology as presented by award-winning authors and editors Christopher Golden and Brian Keene. Bringing together some of today’s greatest and most visionary writers, The End of the World As We Know It features unforgettable, all-new stories set during and after (and some perhaps long after) the events of The Stand—brilliant, terrifying, and painfully human tales that will resonate with listeners everywhere as an essential companion to the classic, bestselling novel.

Featuring an introduction by Stephen King, a foreword by Christopher Golden, and an afterword by Brian Keene. Contributors include Wayne Brady and Maurice Broaddus, Poppy Z. Brite, Somer Canon, C. Robert Cargill, Nat Cassidy, V. Castro, Richard Chizmar, S. A. Cosby, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes, Meg Gardiner, Gabino Iglesias, Jonathan Janz, Alma Katsu, Caroline Kepnes, Michael Koryta, Sarah Langan, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Lebbon, Josh Malerman, Ronald Malfi, Usman T. Malik, Premee Mohamed, Cynthia Pelayo, Hailey Piper, David J. Schow, Alex Segura, Bryan Smith, Paul Tremblay, Catherynne M. Valente, Bev Vincent, Catriona Ward, Chuck Wendig, Wrath James White, and Rio Youers.

©2025 Christopher Golden (P)2025 Simon & Schuster Audio

Most stories are good, one narrator not good

The Stand is my favorite King so I was excited for this one. Knowing King didn’t write these, I kept an open mind to the writing. There are some great stories, some were just ok. Overall I enjoyed it, but the female narrator made it really hard to get excited for the stories she narrated.

Excellent...but

Love the original Stand and it remains in my top three books.

It's not written by Stephen King and is not his writing style but there are some excellent authors. I'm always on the hunt for new authors so it's worth a read.

The only issue is with the fake "Spanish" accent (really bad) and the narrators inability to pronounce the names of places in Arizona. it does drive me a little buggy when Cholla is pronounced with an "L" (choy-a) or naranja with a "J" (nah-RAHN-hah). The highway names are indigenous names.

The "chica from the barrio" impression may not be intentionally disrespectful but it is misguided and sounds terrible.

Both narrators were fine otherwise. The blame should go to the producer. Do a better job and expect more of your talent. Accents are not necessary but a bad one is distracting from the story.

Not that great

This book was not what I expected. it had a few good stories but the big problem was the woman narrator. I couldn’t listen to any of her stories. She has a weird voice that is hard to understand. I was very excited about this book and now I’m just disappointed.

Dang. This is a doorstop of awesomeness.

Holy crap I was excited to read this one. I think it was announced a year ago and I flipped my sh*t.

And now it’s here. Heeecckk yeah!

Man, this did not disappoint. I blew thru these stories and was thrilled to be back in the world of the Stand. The stories were very well done and the whole production was put together so damn well, I couldn’t be happier. Yes, there were 2 or 3 stories that didn’t completely gel with me, but I still enjoyed them for the effort and they did not detract from the overall awesomeness. Loved it.

Most stories are a complete dud

There are a couple of well written, compelling stories. Most of the stories are very boring and put me to sleep. I had to really force myself to finish. Both narrators are pretty bad.

Not bad.

Most of the stories were good. Some of the stories were OK but not Steven King style. I know, Stephen King didn’t write the book, but these were supposed to be an extension of the stand.

Well...well... this is a tough one

Stephen King wrote what needed to be said in this world, then even more in the unedited version. but I thought of this was written right, it should at the least be fun... There is a few of the stories that I really liked, then others that just laid there and others that were sickeningly filthy so that I just fast forwarded to the next story. I find I don't waste my time on gratuitous filth anymore. The writing is ok, not King level, but not many are. A few I liked,( my favorite being the unfortunate convalescence of super lawyer, very clever) but so many of them just started to run together. The narrators left s bit to be imagined, but honestly I didn't notice as much as it went on because or me to sleep.

Volume 2 please.

I love that the stories exist in my lifetime. But I can’t help but want more.

The Stand comes full circle

Wonderful!!! The concept and result have brought together “holes” if there were any… the imaginations and culminations bring authors together is absolutely the epitome of an honor to Stephen King

So far so disappointing.

Stories are pretty lack luster so far. This would have been a lot better with 3-6 novellas inside of this book. Stories that have some meat. The male narrator is okay. the female is sometimes okay, but when she goes off the rails - she's beyond annoying. Also some of her voices are awful.