Night Shift

First edition paperback cover of Night Shift.

Night Shift: Excursions into Horror is the fifth book published by Stephen King, and his first collection of short stories. The book was released by Doubleday in February of 1978. Night Shift received the Balrog Award for Best Collection, and in 1979 it was nominated as best collection for the Locus Award and the World Fantasy Award. Many of King's most famous short stories were included in the collection.

Details

The book was published on the heels of The Shining (1977 Doubleday) and was King's fifth published book (including Rage, which was published under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman). Nine of the twenty short stories in the book had first appeared in various issues of Cavalier from 1970–1975; others were originally published in Penthouse, Cosmopolitan, Gallery, Ubris, and Maine Magazine. The stories "Jerusalem's Lot", "Quitters Inc.", "The Last Rung on the Ladder", and "The Woman in the Room" appeared for the first time in this collection.

Foreword and introduction

Night Shift is the first book for which King wrote a foreword. The introduction was written by one of King's favorite authors, John D. MacDonald.

Included Works

1. "Jerusalem's Lot"
2. "Graveyard Shift"
3. "Night Surf"
4. "I Am the Doorway"
5. "The Mangler"
6. "The Boogeyman"
7. "Gray Matter"
8. "Battleground"
9. "Trucks"
10. "Sometimes They Come Back"
11. "Strawberry Spring"
12. "The Ledge"
13. "The Lawnmower Man"
14. "Quitters, Inc."
15. "I Know What You Need"
16. "Children of the Corn"
17. "The Last Rung on the Ladder"
18. "The Man Who Loved Flowers"
19. "One for the Road"
20. "The Woman in the Room"

Gallery

First edition hardcover

2011 Mass Market Paperback