Book Review: "Night Shift" by Stephen King

Recently, I have been reading more Stephen King, attempting to fill the gaps from my teen years. I was first, in my early teens, terrified by Salem's Lot so much that I didn't sleep for a while. The TV Show was fine for me and so were those weird comics of it you find on the internet. But the book scared the daylights out of me and to this day, I wouldn't be able to tell you why. It is probably thanks to my over-active imagination. I have read many, many, many Stephen King novels and anthologies over my time and so, I move on to this one entitled: Night Shift: Selections which starts with The Boogeyman and a man who is responsible for the deaths of his children.

Written in terrifying style that is quite particular of Stephen King, there is something deeply unsettling about these stories. With tales of the boogeyman mixed in with weird stalkers and some house where bad things happen. This anthology is one of true weirdness, featuring both fantastical and very realistic horrors. From the deaths of children to a woman wondering where her dream boyfriend came from all the way down to a man tensely handing pills into his dying mother's mouth. Stephen King makes everyday things more and more terrifying with every line, the tension rising with every paragraph to the climactic endings of each and every story.

One story I really enjoyed was called Strawberry Spring which is a name given to an eerie and unnatural springtime season. About a weird serial killer named Springheel Jack that the narrator sees in a newspaper and, spends the majority of the narrative talking to the readers about how this killer has terrorised the town and there are no suspects in the case. Bodies of young women keep turning up everywhere and the symbol of fog is consistent throughout the plot, weaving its way through each and every major event. I was surprised at the ending to say the least, but it was very clever, especially concerning the symbolism and various themes contained within the story - I was actually quite surprised that I hadn't thought of it to begin with.

Another one I enjoyed was called The Woman in the Room. This one is more about how it is written rather than the actual story itself because the narrative is so incredibly tense that the story itself almost does not matter. Johnny sees his mother get sicker and sicker over time and goes back and forth in his mind about whether to euthanise her with painkillers and put her out of her misery or keep her alive when she cannot even move. He sees her deteriorate over time and his mind breaks and breaks as his mother just gets worse and worse, ultimately not even knowing whether her legs are perched or not.

One of the more memorable ones was called I Know What You Need which is about a man who meets a woman at college who is studying for her finals. He tells her he has all of the answers she needs and she passes her finals because of the professor using the same test every year and the boy remembering the answers. From strawberry ice-cream to getting rid of her boyfriend in order to get into a relationship with him. This man seems to know exactly what the girl needs. As the story twists and turns, there is something off about her newly found relationship, something she cannot quite put her finger on. He always knows what she is thinking, what she requires and how she is feeling at any one time. Ultimately, it is far more terrifying than she could have imagined.

There are many more stories in this anthology which are just as awesome and, I can tell you that it is the perfect Halloween read. A blend of fantastical stories (for example: The Boogeyman) and the more realistic but definitely weird in a paranormal way (for example: I Know What You Need) this anthology has incredible atmosphere with each narrative having its own tone, its own mood and its own set-up. Stephen King definitely retains his crown with this one.