Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Night Shift by Stephen King



.. "At night, when I go to bed I still am at pains to be sure that my legs are under the blankets after the lights go out. I'm not a child anymore but.. I don't like to sleep with one leg sticking out. Because if a cool hand ever reached from under the bed and grasped my ankle, I might scream. Yes, I might scream to wake the dead..

..the thing under my bed waiting to grab my ankle isn't real. I know that, and I also know that if I'm careful to keep my foot under the covers, it will never be able to grab my ankle."

And thats just the foreword!!

Of course, this just made me even more eager to start immersing myself into the book, but a tiny bit of me was afraid I’d be disappointed (as usually comes with high expectations). Guess I didn’t need to doubt it in the first place!

It felt GOOD to be scared this way!

All stories were awesome! As in the case of Jerusalems’s Lot, I haven’t read Salem’s Lot yet, but I could still follow the tale here.. and am somehow more curious about Salem’s Lot that it may now be on my On-The-Look-Out-List.

As for the other stories (omitting a few, though), here are my two-cents worth

Graveyard Shift - Imagine the noise of tiny feet you hear scurrying on you ceiling (in this case it was the basement) were actually mutated rats in all kinds of stages that some of them have wings. I'd move out ASAP!!

I Am The Doorway - This tale is the sister of The Astronauts Wife. Imagine battling with aliens who have 'infected' you, turning you into their own personal spy? I could just feel the eyes growing on each digits of my fingers, blinking every now and then. even I'd be paranoid and won't trust the government to help me

The Boogeyman – NOW I know why the closet is a scary place. Had been fooled by Monsters Inc for a while there.

The Mangler – Which reminds me of a not-so-childhood terror (I was 17-18 then!) of an old sewing machine of my late granma. One of them (my granma had lots of them) had apparently switched itself on one night and the steady hum of the sewing machine was heard throughout the night. When my mum bought its sister home, I had actually had this nightmare of this sewing machine coming up the stairs and knocking on my door, ready to sew me up! Ohhh, this tale also had a referance to IT, another favourite of mine!

Grey Matter – A lesson on NEVER to consume anything that is past its expiry date! I also loved the fact that IT was ‘featured’ in this tale.

Trucks - Sound innocent enough? Not when motorized vehicles weighing tonnes, get a life of their own and start to overtake the world!! And I thought this story would sound stupid..

Sometimes They Come Back - Dealing with bullies who don't seem to wanna go away.. even after they were killed in an accident, they still came back..

Strawberry Spring – Didn’t see it would end that way! Nice (but scary) touch..

The Ledge - Lesson here, don't mess with someone elses wife, especially if he's somehow mafia-like. If you still want to, make sure you practice you balance, as he might see it fit to punish you by challenging (more like threatening you to do so or else!) you to walk all around his penthouse ONLY ON THE LEDGE which is what, 6 inches wide?

The Lawnmower Man - Gross to imagine yet you can't help laughing at the image (while at the same time wishing you could unsee it)

Quitters Inc – Not really horror in paranormal way, but in a believable way which is even more scarier

I Know What You Need - A tale that would appeal to all stalkers, wishing they had his ability..

Children of The Corn - Now I know why people talk about the movie.. so of course now I'm curious about how it looks on the telly since the tale is just a few pages long.

The Last Rung On The Ladder – A tale I think does not really blend in with all other stories in this book. But a pleasant surprise nonetheless as it deals with reality.. a sad one..

Battleground – One I looked forward to reading just because I’d already watched the short silent movie of it and was curious on how it’d look on paper.

The Man Who Loves Flowers - How lovely the world would be if everyone is in love.. but what if the person is a serial killer? *Ok, thats a definite spoiler there!*

One For The Road - Another Salem's Lot prequel (or sequel, maybe?) Really should try to find THAT book now


All in all, its one of the best compilations I’ve ever read, highly recommended to those who won’t mind losing one or two nights worth of sleep!

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