Four Past Midnight

By: Stephen King

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

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. All rights reserved. (P)1990, 1991 Penguin Highbridge Audio. All rights reserved.

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)

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...

Langoliers and Sundog makes it worth it

Get it for 1&4. They were excellent. Secret Window is good but not the best& the library policeman (3) was simply exhausting it took perseverance to get through & I was so happy to move on. Sundog and Langoliers were worth it though

this set of Stephen Kings stories was amazing.

this is an amazing set of stories and Stephen King is such a great story writer. I love all his books!

Entertaining

the stories were decent but this was not hiding best work...I would say the narrators made the book

All good but for the audio quality.

These are the stories that got me into Stephen King as a kid. Loved listening to them again. Just wished that the quality of the audio would be better.

excellent stories, of course. supreme narration

Steven king at his finest. great narration.
willem dafoe was my favorite. the langoliers. great story

the langdoliers

I always like Seteven King books, I guess I got lost a bit everytime the story changed.

Master of character

Even stories as unlikely as a library policeman, king draws you in with realistic, engaging characters.

Four great stories

Enjoyed these stories on a long car ride. If you like Stephen King, give it a whirl!

A Mixed Bag but Still Worth a Credit

This collection of novellas is a mixed bag, literally 50/50 for me. The Langoliers and The Library Policeman are excellent, easily 5 out of 5 stars. Secret Window, Secret Garden and the Sun Dog are okay. King's prose is so strong though that it compensates for the two unexceptional stories. All of the narrator's were excellent, and the music adds just the right amount of atmosphere without being intrusive.