Synopsis
At midnight comes the point of balance. Of danger. The instant of utter stillness when between two beats of the heart, an alternative reality can slip through, like a blade between the ribs, and switch you into a new and terrifying world.
Featuring an introduction and prefaratory notes to each story by the author, this collection contains four heart-stopping accounts of that moment when the familiar world fractures beyond sense, the fragments spinning away from the desperate, clutching reach of sanity . . .
One Past Midnight: ‘The Langoliers’ takes a red-eye flight from LA to Boston into a most unfriendly sky.
Two Past Midnight: ‘Secret Window, Secret Garden’ enters the suddenly strange life of writer, alone on the shore of Tashmore Lake.
Three Past Midnight: ‘The Library Policeman’ is set in Junction City, Iowa, an unlikely place for evil to be hiding . . .
Four Past Midnight: ‘The Sun Dog’ sees a menacing black dog appear in every Polaroid picture that fifteen-year-old Kevin Delevan takes with his new camera, beckoning him to the supernatural.
Review
What’s better than one King story? How about FOUR King stories?!
Skeleton Crew, Night Shift, Different Seasons; King is not shy to a story collection. And much like Different Seasons, Four Past Midnight packages up 4 novellas into one themed binding, this time surrounding the idea of that dark, liminal point in time as one day changes into the other. And unlike its predecessor novella collection (which mostly showed off King’s literary muscles), Four Past Midnight focuses more on what King is best known for; the horror! On this journey across the minutes after midnight, we sample 4 distinct flavours of the macabre and terrible, including psychological mind-twisting copycat writers, cosmic jaunts through empty airports, an overzealous librarian, and a very angry dog.
In brief, I really had a great time with these! All 4 contain King’s signature style of storytelling, but the way they feel – the pacing, the atmosphere – are all unique from one another. So, come with me as I share my thoughts on these 4 stories that I personally don’t think get enough love amongst Stephen King’s extensive and masterful back catalogue.
Tick tock, tick tock…
ONE PAST MIDNIGHT – THE LANGOLIERS
A figurative and literal airport thriller, The Langoliers follows a group of people on a Coast-to-Coast red eye flight as they find the rest of the passengers and crew have disappeared without a trace. And then it soon becomes clear that they may be the only people left on Earth. The Langoliers may be most famous for its TV movie with the bad CGI, but don’t let that sway you. What you get here is a great thriller that mixes in fast-paced action, liminal, creeping dread, a truly weird King antagonist that would feel silly in any other authors work, and a pulse pounding final sequence that is the definition of edge-of-your-seat!
TWO PAST MIDNIGHT – SECRET WINDOW, SECRET GARDEN
A first for a Stephen King story, we follow a Maine-based writer who is slowly losing grip on reality… Mort Rainey is accused by mysterious and confrontational Mississippi writer, John Shooter, of plagarism. This encounter, which takes place in a secluded cabin resort where Mort is staying after the collapse of his marriage, leads Mort down a rabbit hole of dark coincidences and shocking events, all the while his own psyche begins to crumble around him. This is a story that, the more you read and the further into events you get, and the more of Shooter’s psychological scheme is revealed, the more you begin to question who is right and what is real yourself. I know this has a movie adaption already, but I think this one is ripe for a faithful A24 version!
THREE PAST MIDNIGHT – THE LIBRARY POLICEMAN
How can a story about an overzealous librarian who goes after a man with overdue library books be not only one of King’s genuinely creepiest stories, but also be his absolute nastiest? I feel as if this one is even played a little silly to begin with too, making the moments of pure darkness even bleaker and more harrowing. But then once the horrors start to truly set in, and the Library Policeman is revealed in the flesh (and then the origin of this being is also shown), you will understand why this one has the reputation that is does. Childhood traumas, malevolent and unstoppable entities like Mr X from Resident Evil 2, and the battle against pure evil. Check the trigger warnings folks!
FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT – THE SUN DOG
A story that his son would pay homage to nearly 2 decades later, The Sun Dog is a Castle Rock set pseudo-prequel to Needful Things (King’s next release after FPM), that follows birthday boy Kevin as he receives a Polaroid Sun 660 from his parents. Only problem? It only takes photos of a slowly approaching angry dog, a dog with nothing but hatred and hurt in its eyes. Pop Merrill, the uncle of The Body antagonist and general all-around scumbag Ace Merrill, takes control of the camera himself through nefarious means, where it then begins to assert a hold over the old man. This felt like a Goosebumps story but for adults, and I mean that in the all the best ways. Yes, I know this came out before the first Goosebumps book, but still. The way King parodies greed and destructive ambition, and how he explores a family overcoming times of trouble, alongside his signature coming-of-age thematic work he is best known for, make The Sun Dog a fun one to end this collection on!
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