Night Shift...over

Whew, that was one long read. Funny, because it was a bunch of short stories - not like The Stand at 800 pages (that comes next). Not to mention going on a retreat and not having time to read.

The first time I read this was early on in my exploration of Stephen King. I had read maybe 5 or 6 other books. I did not have an awareness of his catalog. Reading it now, I can see how this collection of short stories is a premonition of the his work - all of these stories were written before 1978, some as early as 1973. It is also an example of King at his best.

King has said that a lot of his ideas come from dreams that he has. He wakes up and writes them down; some become novels. I had always assumed that what he wrote down became a chapter, or was some how edited away. I might wonder if some of the short stories is Night Shift were the ideas that spawned other works. For example:

• Night Surf - a story about kids in an end of the world scenario where a plague has killed many. The Stand is a novel about what happens when 99.9% of the world's population dies from a flu-like virus.
• Trucks - you may know this story as the movie "Maximum Overdrive," motorvehicles come to 'life' and try to do away with all of the humans. This has reflections of Christine. Although, The Mangler (a laundry folding machine gets a taste for human blood) may be a more appropriate forshadowing of Christine.
• I Know What You Need - a story about a young man who somehow knows exactly what the object of his affection needs. One could draw a parallel, a crooked one, to The Dead Zone. Ultimately they are both about being psychic.

The aspect of King's short story work that I love is his exploration of "bad endings." The short story does not always end well. In the case of Night Surf, the kids are on the beach. They have just come from a dastardly deed and they are enjoying the surf. One of the group has come down with A6. The story ends on a sour note because you know that they are all going to catch it.
I have to say, I love a sad/bad ending. I think it suits reality a bit more. It is nice to focus on the hope that a happy ending provides. But I think it is good to know and explore the fact that things do not always end well.

Next up, the abridged version of The Stand