Review of The Graveyard Shift–Stephen King Short Stories

Graveyard Shift coverI’ve been really trying to make good, lately, on my goal to expand my reading and get back into genres I used to enjoy. As you saw from my Bourbon Street Ripper review, I decided to start by trying my luck on a detective thriller series from an author I’d never heard of before, with mixed results. Having finished that, I was struggling to decide what direction to go in next when I remembered my general reading philosophy: when you don’t know where to start, start with the classics. Now, this usually means I go digging through my collection of literature from the Romantic or Victorian era, but a book doesn’t need to be centuries old to be a classic! Some authors become classics in their own time, like the father of contemporary horror and suspense, Stephen King.

I’m a little ashamed to admit that I really haven’t read much Stephen King before. I decided the easiest way to start would be with a collection of his short stories. So while doing menial tasks at work last week, I downloaded and listened to the audiobook of The Graveyard Shift which seems to be a small made-for-audio selection from King’s larger short story collection Night Shift, read by John Glover. The audiobook contains five of King’s short stories that showcase the versatility of his writing and the range of emotions he can evoke in the reader. Here are my impressions of each story: Continue reading Review of The Graveyard Shift–Stephen King Short Stories