In Progress: Night Shift

For this one I'll go story by story rather than the usual random page numbers. Since there are twenty stories, this should make for a reasonably long post when completed, unlike Rage. As is frequently the case, this post may be rife with spoilers as it is updated, so consider yourself warned!

"Jerusalem's Lot": Stephen King had been dancing around with the idea of writing something in the epistolary format, and it finally happens here. We saw a little bit of it in Carrie (through not the whole way through), while with 'Salem's Lot he mentions the influence of Dracula and its epistolary format, yet writes his vampire book as a straight narrative. It is tempting to call this a prequel to its shortened-namesake novel, but there is very little holding the two together and some major differences that would make a same-universe situation hard to explain. For instance, the notorious haunted houses have different names, and everything feels much closer to the ocean than the novel. Although this is one of just four of these stories to be original to this collection, I get the feeling the original notion for this story predates 'Salem's Lot and was "fleshed out" for publication here. As for the epistolary format, it is also arranged into Russian nesting dolls, which quotations within quotations within quotations. And if that isn't enough, the last piece effectively wraps itself around the entire story...and drops a pesky "unreliable narrator" on us!

"Graveyard Shift": This is one of the first short stories by Stephen King to appear in a professional magazine. As noted in my journey through the early novels, his style was still developing. While there is a little bit of primal thrill in finding out just what the heck is in the "sub-basement" of this disgusting mill, the whole story is primary a gross-out festival. So of course they based a movie on it, which should be a delight to watch. I'm still confused about how eager Hall was to let the critters kill his boss, and yet just a few paragraphs down said critters take him out as well. It was a touch of the "blind cruelty" that marred Rage, but, hey, this is the early stuff.

"Night Surf": A proto-Stand short story, originally published in 1969 and re-published professionally in 1974. I'm not sure if King adjusted the original, either in 1974 or for publication here, but if not it means the seeds for what would become his magnum opus had been in place for quite some time. If I hadn't known this I probably would have written this one off as largely forgettable. As is the case with his earliest writings, the main character, Bernie, is a total jerk, which doesn't help.

"I Am the Doorway": King did a little science fiction here, but don't worry, he manages to make it properly horrifying in a hand-destroying ending. I am hesitant to call him an optimist, but when it came to the space program, he was predicting Mars landings and Venus fly-bys before 1980. But was it worth it to bring home a bunch of alien eyes?!

"The Mangler": Gee, and I thought I'd have to wait until "Trucks" to get a good possessed-machine story. In spite of a heavy reliance on gross-out descriptions of people getting attacked or eaten by a rogue machine (in the case an industrial laundry ironing machine), there is a good story here, which makes it the standout in King's pre-Carrie literary output thus far.

"The Boogeyman": This is more dialogue-driven piece, all taking place within the confines of a shrink's office. Unlike pretty much all the previous stories, this one has no section breaks, which on one hand keeps the story moving fluidly, but on the other it doesn't allow any good stopping points if you are just trying to sneak in a few pages. The reveal felt very Twilight Zone-ish. I suppose that isn't a strike against it.

"Grey Matter": This may be the grossest one yet. Nothing like drinking a bad can of beer and slowing transforming into a contagious (?) gelatinous mass. Good times! Nevertheless, the story had a good flow and suspense. Like many of the stories, the end was abrupt, but I've come to accept that is the nature of a short story in the horror genre.

"Battleground": This one was probably my favorite yet. It's as if the Small Soldiers script got a seriously dark reworking by King. I was a little tired when I started it, so I though "oh great a boring hitman story from the early days", but all of that got thrown sideways when the main character started being attacked by toy soldiers. Again, I think this one owes a good deal to the Twilight Zone, because these tiny guys are very good at what they do...and they have a little help in the form of bonus items.

"Trucks": Here it is, the inspiration for the greatest movie ever, Maximum Overdrive. That is a post I'm looking forward to. Things obviously are a little more condensed here. In some ways this is better, because the story doesn't feel any obligation to "explain" (lamesplain?) why trucks are taking over the world. They just are. The enslavement of the human race isn't a matter of if, but when. Indeed, the whole scenario is pretty far-fetched. I mean, it's all told from the perspective of a random truck stop in Anywhere, USA. But do we read Stephen King because of his realism?

"Sometimes They Come Back": It's the story that launched the hit TV-movie franchise! This is one of the longer stories here and was published just around the time Carrie hit bookstores. I'm trying to save the "big picture" analysis for the next post, but in the first half of the story it is clear that King's writing has matured from the "Graveyard Shift" days. The main character is very sympathetic and clearly drawn from King's own challenges of family and career. Of course, nothing is at it seems, and around the final ten pages the whole thing dissolves into a crazy satanic ritual that seemed completely detached from the rest of the story and left the door wide open for still yet more weirdness. Why do hands have it so rough in this book?!

"Strawberry Spring": This is another one of King's early stories, originally published in 1968 and republished professionally in 1975. Having done time in Southern California, I know all about Indian Summers and the Santa Ana winds that accompany them and tend to make people crazy and set the hills on fire. Strawberry Springs are their counterpart on the flip side of the year, and yes, it makes one particular person very restless. I've said too much.

"The Ledge": This is one of the two stories adapted into the movie Cat's Eye. From what I've seen and heard, Cat's Eye is probably going to be the best of the movie adaptations from Night Shift. Anyway, the premise is kind of absurd, making a wager (bet?) that the main character will not be able to circumvent a tall building on its tiny top-floor ledge. However, that's the fun of it. Then you realize that both characters are actually pretty awful people and nobody means what they say. Classic King!

"The Lawnmower Man": What a gross story. It's bad enough to envision of fat naked man mowing a lawn (in more than one way), but the vivid descriptions of the poor animals who get in the way of said lawn-mowing man? Yuck. I would actually be more concerned about watching the movie if it even borrowed one iota more than the title only.

"Quitters, Inc.": The other part of Cat's Eye, and one of the more imaginative stories here, this one will really make you think about what lengths one might go to kick a habit. As with "The Ledge", the premise is bonkers, that some company will watch your every move and physically harm your family if, god forbid, a cigarette touches your lips. Again, that's the fun! I almost winced when he thought he could get away with it, just the one time, somewhere he thought he couldn't be seen.

"I Know What You Need": The sole story in this collection that was published in Cosmopolitan of all places, is one of the strongest of the set. Like many of the later-published stories, there is a little more tenderness than in the earlier stories. But don't worry, there is plenty of hair-raising moments at the end. Remember, nothing is as good as it seems.

"Children of the Corn": Somehow this story managed to spawn something like nine movies, most of middling quality. The story itself is at the same time horrifying and a bit of a shrug. The couple that has the honor of strutting into this Twilight Zone scenario is thoroughly dislikable, harkening back to the older stories. The last part of the story takes a pretty hard turn away from the usual Night Gallery fare, as let's just say the kids aren't going to let these schmoes report them to the wider world.

"The Last Rung on the Ladder": This is the second of the three "previously unpublished" stories in Night Shift. While "Jerusalem's Lot" was an epistolary exercise by King, this one and the last one (see below) I think are more reflective of where King wanted to be with his writing at that point in time, or at least in some label-free future. There isn't an overt supernatural moment in the story, which is actually kind of nice after "Children of the Corn".

"The Man Who Loved Flowers": Just when you thought it was all tender Stephen King until the end of the book, we get this wacko short piece, I think the shortest of the entire book. In this case, the tenderness is all a trick. This guy is psycho.

"One More for the Road": This is a sort of "farewell" to the 'Salem's Lot universe, I suppose, even though I know the Dark Tower books will try to tie everything together. For God's sake people, just stay away from that town. It's for the vampires now. This story probably spews out the most Maine place names, so it should be surprising that it was published in Maine magazine!

"The Woman in the Room": As with "Last Rung on the Ladder", King brings Night Shift to a close with a tender and bittersweet tale of loss. Whereas the other story was about youth, this one is about death. I can't help but think this story emerged from the author's own struggles with losing a parent. However, I hope he didn't reach the point where he needed to take matters into his own hands.

Whew! That's twenty tales for you!