Stephen King has long advocated the short story as an art form. Perhaps that is ironic for a man who has been criticized for the lengths to which he has sometimes written. That said, some of his best work has come in the short (and sometimes long-ish short) form. Here we will discuss five of his very best short stories.
1408
Perhaps horror consumers are more familiar with the 2007 film of the same name. It was very well done and on par with the short story. In this story, true ghost writer Michael Enslin, who has neither seen a real ghost nor believes in them, encounters a very real terror when he shows up to New York’s Hotel Dolphin to write about room 1408.
This story was initially exclusive to the audio collection Blood and Smoke, narrated by Stephen King. It appeared in print in the collection Everything’s Eventual.
Fair Extension
This story appeared in King’s 2010 collection Full Dark, No Stars. In this story, Dave Streeter suffers from cancer. He meets a suspicious man at the airport who offers Dave an extension in life for a price. Dave’s cancer is then given to a friend named Tom who Dave secretly loathes, because he is and has everything Dave has and wants to be. The cancer is essentially passed on to Tom. The story is great because it examined what a person would do to someone else in order to save himself.
Quitters, Inc.
This short story appeared in King’s 1978 collection Night Shift. It was also adapted to film as part of the movie Cat’s Eye. In the tale, a middle-aged smoker named Richard Morrison is referred to Quitters, Inc. This company guarantees a 98% success rate, but at a very horrifying cost. This story is great partly because it is amusing but also because so many people can relate from their trials and tribulations in trying to give up the pack.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
This novella appeared in the 1982 collection Different Seasons. The story concerns Andy Dufresne, a banker wrongfully convicted of murder, and his ingenious prison escape. Though not a horror story, the plot is as grand as Andy’s prison break.
Riding the Bullet
This story first appeared in 2000 as an e-book – long before e-books were cool. It was written as King recovered from his accident and was later reprinted in Everything’s Eventual. The story concerns a university student who learns that his mother is dying. He then hitches a ride with a dead man. Really, it doesn’t get any cooler than that.
Derek Clendening - I'm a freelance writer and have combined writing with my love of football. I'm very opinionated about football, which you can learn more ...
