Night Shift: Selections

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: John Glover

Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

A collection of tales to invade and paralyse the mind as the safe light of day is infiltrated by the shadows of the night. As you listen, the clutching fingers of terror brush lightly across the nape of the neck, reach round from behind to clutch and lock themselves, white-knuckled, around the throat.

This is the horror of ordinary people and everyday objects that become strangely altered; a world where nothing is ever quite what it seems, where the familiar and the friendly lure and deceive. A world where madness and blind panic become the only reality.

Includes the stories "Jerusalem's Lot", "Graveyard Shift", "Night Surf", "I Am The Doorway", "The Mangler", "The Boogeyman", "Gray Matter", "Battleground", "Sometimes They Come Back", "Strawberry Spring", "The Ledge", "The Lawnmower Man", "Quitters, Inc.", "I Know What You Need", "The Last Rung on the Ladder", "The Man Who Loved Flowers", "One For The Road" and "The Woman in the Room".

©1976 Stephen King (P)1995 Random House Audio, A Division of Random House Inc.

Incomplete

It lacks some chapters, including One for the Road, which is one of the stories I bought this for. But quality of what's there is very good if you like King.

Completely unlistenably with no fault to Glover

They have descided to put mood music and sound effects into it, but with no regarding for the sound balance. This and their attempt to create ”jumpscares” means that the natration get completely drowned out by music when all the scary bits happens.

Maybe unabridged but not complete

Would you try another book from Stephen King and/or John Glover?

John Glover is a great narrator, and suits King's style very well. Occasional sound effects seem a little out of place and old fashioned, just plain narration would be been adequate.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Night Shift?

My favorite story in the book is probably The Lawnmower Man - nothing to do with the movie - it's so absurd and almost hilarious instead of scary. The scariest story is Sometimes They Come Back, the horror of bullies always touches me.

Any additional comments?

It's to be noted that this audiobook does not contain all the stories in the paperback. Chapters are not named which is very unfortunate. The stories included are: The Boogeyman, I know what you did, Strawberry spring, Gray matter, The woman in the room, Battleground, Graveyard shift, The man who loves flowers, The last rung on the ladder, Night surf, Jerusalem's Lot, The Mangler, Sometimes they come back, The ledge, The Lawnmower Man, Quitters Inc and One for the Road.

Stories missing are: Children of the Corn, I Am the Doorway, Trucks and One for the Road.

A mostly enjoyable collection from the Master

Stephen King has said before that he has no control over the stories that emerge after he places his hands on a keyboard. He has an idea, he writes. Perhaps this is why some of his tales in this collection of short stories seem a little lacklustre. As I have found with previous collections of King's stories, there are usually a couple of standout pieces of writing, with the rest being so so.

That being said, "Night Shift" is still a very enjoyable listen. The stories are diverse and well written. I found the addition of eerie music and sound effects on some of the stories gave them a more intense feel than if the extras hadn't been included.

In regards to the narration, I was a little skeptical about one person narrating all of the stories. However John Glover gives a good account of himself. I can't complain about his performance.

"Battleground"', "Quitters inc." and "The Mangler" are worth the price of the credit on their own. The others are decent fillers to pass the time. I also particularly enjoyed the semi-prequel to "Salem's Lot".

Can recommend.

Excellent stories and narrator. The background sound effects are good but can sometimes be a bit loud/ make it a bit hard to hear the story.

Warning: two listed stories missing

I bought this audiobook to enjoy two short stories connected to ‘Salem’s Lot, namely Jerusalem’s Lot and One for the Road. One for the Road is missing from this audiobook.

It took some time to realise this because the audiobook doesn’t have proper chapter names either, so you have to skip in order to find the chapter names that correspond with story names. Even after skipping you’ll have to wait upwards to ten seconds for the music to fade and reader to announce the title.

I didn’t bother to find the other missing story, there should be 18 but only 16 chapters are in this version.

Avoid!