Four Past Midnight

Title: Four Past Midnight

Author: Stephen King

Published in: 1990

Date read: 2nd May 2021

Score: 4/5

Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Thriller, Psychological

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Four Past Midnight" by Stephen King is a collection of four novellas, published in 1990, each exploring different facets of fear, mystery, and the supernatural. Like "Different Seasons," it showcases King's versatility beyond traditional horror, though all stories retain his signature blend of suspense and psychological depth.

The collection includes:

The Langoliers: This novella delves into a chilling concept of time and reality. Ten passengers on a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Boston awaken to find that most of the other passengers and the crew have vanished. The plane has inexplicably flown into a strange void where time seems to have stopped or been consumed. They land at a deserted Bangor airport, where everything is eerily silent, flat, and devoid of the usual sounds and smells of life. They discover that strange, sphere-like creatures called the Langoliers are devouring the past, leaving nothing behind. The survivors, led by a pilot who was off-duty, must find a way to escape this temporal anomaly before they too are erased by the relentless advance of the Langoliers. It's a tale about the fragility of time and existence.

Secret Window, Secret Garden: This is a psychological thriller about a successful but recently divorced author, Mort Rainey, living in an isolated cabin in rural Maine. His already fragile mental state is shattered when a menacing stranger named John Shooter appears on his doorstep, accusing Rainey of plagiarizing his short story, "Sowing Season." Shooter demands justice and escalates his threats, killing Rainey's cat and burning his house. As Rainey desperately tries to prove his innocence, he spirals into paranoia, questioning his own sanity and the reality of Shooter's existence. The novella explores themes of authorship, obsession, guilt, and the terrifying possibility of a fractured mind.

The Library Policeman: Set in Junction City, Iowa, this story begins as a seemingly harmless fable but quickly turns into a terrifying supernatural horror. Sam Peebles, a middle-aged businessman, is struggling with a speech for a local club. His wife suggests he get some children's books to help him with ideas. At the library, the stern and unsettling librarian, Mrs. Lacey, warns him about overdue books and casually mentions the Library Policeman who punishes those who don't return them. Sam dismisses it as a childhood myth, but soon, a monstrous, demonic entity embodying the Library Policeman begins to stalk him, feeding on his fear and guilt over past transgressions. It's a story that taps into childhood fears and the horrifying consequences of unfulfilled obligations.

The Sun Dog: This novella is a chilling supernatural tale involving a haunted photograph. Kevin Delevan, a teenage boy living in Castle Rock, Maine, receives a new Polaroid camera for his fifteenth birthday. Every picture he takes with it, regardless of the subject, develops a grainy image of a black dog, initially far away, but slowly growing larger and more menacing with each subsequent photograph. The dog, which appears in a distinct "sun dog" optical phenomenon, seems to be a malevolent entity trying to escape from the photograph into reality. Kevin, along with his eccentric and superstitious elderly neighbour, Pop Merrill (who is also a pawnbroker with a dark past), tries to understand and contain the terrifying photographic phenomenon before the creature fully manifests and unleashes its evil. The story explores the dangers of technology, the power of images, and the insidious nature of encroaching evil.

Comments:
My favourite of his collections so far. Merrill from Needful Things, the policemen in the library are clearly low men from Hearts in Atlantis then in Song of Susannah (Dark Tower 6) and Insomnia. Great stories and such clever links to his other books within the SK universe. I will never again use a camera if I see an unexpected black dog in one of my images.

Books that we've read by Stephen King (68):
Carrie (1974), 'Salem's Lot (1975), The Shining (The Shining, #1) (1977), The Stand (1978), Night Shift (1978), The Dead Zone (1979), Firestarter (1980), Cujo (1981), The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1) (1982), Different Seasons (1982), Christine (1983), Cycle of the Werewolf (1983), Pet Sematary (1983), The Talisman (The Talisman, #1) (1984), Skeleton Crew (1985), It (1986), The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2) (1987), The Eyes of the Dragon (1987), The Tommyknockers (1987), Misery (1987), The Dark Half (1989), Four Past Midnight (1990), The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, #3) (1991), Needful Things (1991), Dolores Claiborne (1992), Gerald's Game (1992), Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993), Insomnia (1994), Rose Madder (1995), The Green Mile (1996), Desperation (1996), Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4) (1997), Bag of Bones (1998), The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999), Hearts in Atlantis (1999), On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000), Black House (The Talisman, #2) (2001), Dreamcatcher (2001), Everything's Eventual (2002), From a Buick 8 (2002), Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, #5) (2003), Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, #6) (2004), The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower, #7) (2004), The Colorado Kid (2005), Cell (2006), Lisey's Story (2006), Duma Key (2008), Just After Sunset (2008), Under the Dome (2009), 11/22/63 (2011), Full Dark, No Stars (2011), The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower, #4.5) (2012), Dr. Sleep (The Shining, #2) (2013), Joyland (2013), Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1) (2014), Revival (2014), The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015), Finders Keepers (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #2) (2015), End of Watch (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #3) (2016), Elevation (2018), The Outsider (2018), The Institute (2019), If It Bleeds (2020), Billy Summers (2021), Later (2021), Fairy Tale (2022), Holly (2023), You Like It Darker (2024)