Four Past Midnight

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: James Woods, Tim Sample, Willem Dafoe, Ken Howard

Length: 29 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

Four chiller novellas set to keep listeners awake long after bedtime.

One Past Midnight: "The Langoliers" takes a red-eye flight from LA to Boston into a most unfriendly sky. Only 11 passengers survive, but landing in an eerily empty world makes them wish they hadn't. Something's waiting for them, you see.

Two Past Midnight: "Secret Window, Secret Garden" enters the suddenly strange life of writer Mort Rainey, recently divorced, depressed, and alone on the shore of Tashmore Lake. Alone, that is, until a figure named John Shooter arrives, pointing an accusing finger.

Three Past Midnight: "The Library Policeman" is set in Junction City, Iowa, an unlikely place for evil to be hiding. But for small businessman Sam Peebles, who thinks he may be losing his mind, another enemy is hiding there as well - the truth. If he can find it in time, he might stand a chance.

Four Past Midnight: "The Sun Dog", a menacing black dog, appears in every Polaroid picture that 15-year-old Kevin Delevan takes with his new birthday gift - with each following photograph beckoning him to the supernatural. Old Pop Merrill, Castle Rock's sharpest trader, wants to crash the party for profit, but the Sun Dog, a creature that shouldn't exist at all, is a very dangerous investment.

©1990 Stephen King (P)2016 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic Reviews

"He never seems to use up the magic...these four novellas demonstrate the qualities that have made King by far the world's most popular author." ( Chicago Tribune)

"These stories grab and will not let go." ( The Washington Post)

"King is a master storyteller, and you will never forget these stories." ( Seattle Times)

Terrible Sound, Great Stories

The sound quality of this production is horrendous. Reminds me of audio tapes from the eighties. Clearly Simon & Schuster were out to make a quick buck by converting old recordings to digital format without polishing up the quality in any way. Unfortunate, as the stories are quite good and the readings even superb. Willem Dafoe is a treat – if you can ignore the background noise.

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

The music is astoundingly annoying

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, but only because I really enjoy Stephen King's writing. I'm actually only in the first story, but the added music is so infuriating I was compelled to pause and comment.

Any additional comments?

The music during the reading is almost impossible to bear. I want to hear the story and I don't need someone's idea of "enhancing" it with a jangling soundtrack that's lamely trying to increase tension. If King's writing needed that kind of help, like a laugh track for a not so very funny sitcom, I wouldn't be listening to his work at all. King's writing does a fine job of building intensity all by itself - I hope someone goes and revises this by stripping the unnecessary noise out.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Exceptionally Entertaining

4 novellas by King. One Past Midnight: The Langoliers narrated by Willem Dafoe. Not my fave, but better than the movie. Two Past Midnight: Secret Window, Secret Garden , narrated by James Woods. Even better than the movie adaption starring Johnnie Depp. Three Past Midnight: The Library Policeman, narrated by the late Ken Howard. Interesting and unpredictable. Four Past Midnight: The Sun Dog, narrated by Tim Sample. Another great, exciting and unpredictable. I enjoyed listening to all four stories. Worth the time , especially for Stephen King fans.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Sound Design

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Maybe, but I would warn him or her about the audio engineering. I love the story. But music and sound effects are distracting to the way I like to listen. I only want story and narration performance. I have had this problem before with the 'tier-2' Steven King books. It's enough to make me turn it off and return the book. Unfortunately, because the story is pretty interesting.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Story plot itself. It is a slow and strange unfolding, which is not the reason I listen to King. I really just want straight entertainment.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't heard Willem Dafoe before. I really enjoy his performance.

Any additional comments?

STOP ADDING SOUND EFFECTS.

13 of 16 people found this review helpful

It's all about the policeman for me

I read this book many years ago. I listened for "The Library Policeman". The first time I read this story it affected me deeply. The library is one of my favorite places and to have that place made so terrifying to a child blew my mind.

It didn't pack quite the same punch now. I still enjoyed it and the other stories.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great read!

Loved this book. Only thing I want too fond of was the last story. But the first 3 were great!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Sound quality/unneeded music/random sound=mess

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The stories themselves are of high quality. The random 'epic' music and 'creepy' sound effects were infuriating because the sound quality was already too 'bassy' and had volume issues.

What did you like best about this story?

The best one was the Langoliers. It was a great story of 'what would you do' and as always, King's characters are well developed and interesting. Willem Dafoe was great

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of the narrators?

everyone was fine, james woods was weak.

Could you see Four Past Midnight being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

yes. in 2016... just in regard to Langoliers... Brian the pilot could be Hugh Jackman and the British Soldier Nick could be Paul Bettany. Paul Giamotti could be Craig Toomey. The Fastest Jew in the West could be any tall dark haired teen.

Any additional comments?

let music be on radio... not in audiobooks

11 of 14 people found this review helpful

James Woods Ruined Secret Garden Hidden Window

Where does Four Past Midnight rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was a good collection although not my favorite of King's.

What did you like best about this story?

Langoliers

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I was so surprised and pleased to see that James Woods was narrating one of the stories, but believe it or not, it was a terrible reading. he rushed through much of the dialogue and did what I would call a poor job overall. Very disappointing considering I love him as an actor. Craig Wasson is by far one of the very best narrators of King's books IMO.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

What you don't know can hurt you...

8 of 10 people found this review helpful

Good stories, but James Woods lisp

The stories are solid but I couldn't get through James Woods lisp. On the other hand, Willem Dafoe was tremendous.

6 of 8 people found this review helpful

Skip this one, terrible audio, stories are slow

Would you recommend Four Past Midnight to your friends? Why or why not?

No

How could the performance have been better?

The audio was terrible! This is the worst recording I have every heard. The volume was very low and muffled. The voices were hard to understand unless I had radio volume all the way up, at which point I got lots of static. I could only listen to two stories and I didn't even finish them. I was so disappointed, because I love King's short stories. These were so long and got really boring, similar to book Duma Keys, for me.

Any additional comments?

I listen to roughly 1-2 books per month, I know good audiobooks. This one is a SKIP, the audio will drive you nuts... the story won't keep most King fans too interested.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful