King’s first collection of short stories showcases the darkest depths of his brilliant imagination. Here we see mutated rats gone bad (“Graveyard Shift”); a cataclysmic virus that threatens humanity (“Night Surf,” the basis forThe Stand); a possessed, evil lawnmower (“The Lawnmower Man”); unsettling children from the heartland (“Children of the Corn”); a smoker who will try anything to stop (“Quitters, Inc.”); a reclusive alcoholic who begins a gruesome transformation (“Gray Matter”); and many more shadows and visions that will haunt you long after the last page is turned.Review“A master storyteller.” —Los Angeles Times“Eerie. . . . Ought to chill the cockles of many a heart.” —Chicago Tribune“A master. . . . [King] will catch you in his web and reach you at an elemental level where there is no defense.” —Palm Beach Post“The most wonderfully gruesome man on the planet.” —USA Today“An undisputed master of suspense and terror.” —The Washington Post“[King] probably knows more about scary goings-on in confined, isolated places than anybody since Edgar Allan Poe.” —Entertainment Weekly“He’s the author who can always make the improbable so scary you’ll feel compelled to check the locks on the front door.” —The Boston Globe“Peerless imagination.” —The Observer(London)About the AuthorStephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are11/22/63;Full Dark, No Stars;Under the Dome;Just After Sunset;Duma Key;Lisey’s Story;Cell; and the concluding novels inthe Dark Tower saga:Wolves of the Calla,Song of Susannah,andThe Dark Tower.His acclaimed nonfiction book,On Writing, is also a bestseller. He was the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2007, he received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives in Maine with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.www.stephenking.com