Four Past Midnight [Hardcover]

Stephen King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1990

What happends to the wide-eyed observer when the window between reality and unreality breaks, and the glass begins to fly? Here are four answers from the ultimate expert, Stephen King. Includes "The Langoliers," "Secret Window, Secret Garden," "The Library Policeman," and "The Sun Dog."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The self-described "America's literary boogeyman" here serves up four horror novellas; none is wildly scary, and only one offers King's typical, colloquial, hard-driving conversational style with its compulsive readability. A jumbo jet flies through a time-slip in The Langoliers . Marooned a few minutes in the past, a few surviving passengers try to get home . . . while off in the distance the langoliers, creatures ("sort of like beachballs") who eat up time after it's been used, close in. In Misery -esque Secret Window, Secret Garden , a writer accused of plagiarism by a psychopath has an awful time trying to prove his innocence. The Library Policeman , the collection's standout, pits a middle-aged businessman with some overdue books against a demonic, life-sucking monster of a librarian. The Sun Dog features a boy's Polaroid camera, which, no matter where it is focused, takes pictures of a huge, mean and ugly dog. In each successive photo, the dog, slobbering and slavering, approaches the edge of the picture plane. There is an inappropriate abundance of heartwarming sentimentality here; where King used to slaughter the innocents with gleeful impunity, he now apologizes for the deed, and love will out. 1,500,000 first printing; $750,000 joint ad/promo with NAL's publication of The Dark Half; BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- Like some denizen of the dark, King weaves a spell evoking terror and shivers as he takes readers on a nightmarish journey in this quartet of novellas. In "Longoliers" a group of airline passengers awake to an empty plane, and an empty world. They have become stuck in time, out of sync with the present at 20,000 feet. "Secret Window, Secret Garden" finds novelist Mort Rainey confronted by an eerie character who accuses him of plagiarism, and has come to settle up. In "Sun Dog," Kevin Delevan gets exactly what he wanted for his 15th birthday, a Polaroid "Sun 660" camera, but every picture he takes shows a salivating "hell hound" getting closer and closer. In "Library Policeman," the best of the four, Sam Peebles borrows two books from the library late one night, and the librarian warns him not to be late returning them. What Sam doesn't know is that she was a child murderer who committed suicide in 1960, and when he loses the books, her library policeman pays him a visit. Four Past Midnight is one of King's best recent works. It is hard to put down, truly chilling, and sure to be enjoyed by YA horror aficionados everywhere.
- John Lawson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 804 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; 1ST edition (September 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670835382
• ISBN-13: 978-0670835386
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #605,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are the Dark Tower novels, Cell, From a Buick 8, Everything's Eventual, Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and Bag of Bones. His acclaimed nonfiction book, On Writing, was also a bestseller. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Once and Future King, February 1, 2001

By 

Amanda M. Hayes (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Four Past Midnight (Signet) (Mass Market Paperback)

I never thought I'd pick up a Stephen King book. The macabre is not an area which interests me; paper cuts produce enough blood to give me nightmares, thank you. However, after watching "Langoliers" on television one evening, I decided I would take a peek at the source material just to see how it compared.

I was honestly amazed. King may be hailed as the Master of the Macabre, but this man is first and foremost a *good writer*--all four of his novellas in this volume drew me in and gave me no choice but to keep turning pages to find out what happened next. It was a pleasant surprise to find so much wit and humor buried amidst the horror, and I can't help but be in awe of a man who can make you laugh out loud in a library one moment and make you hold the book out at arm's length with a mutter of, "Ew," the next.

Like so many others, I would call "Langoliers" my favorite--clever, engaging, and well-paced, it has a delightful coterie of characters and a Twilight Zone-esque plotline. Next would be a toss-up between "Secret Window, Secret Garden" and "Library Policeman." I'm not certain why so many people dislike SWSG; Mort Rainey was perhaps the most strongly drawn character of the lot. And while LP is certainly excellent, it had too much gore for sheer gore's sake to win an unchallenged second favorite slot. (Some say that LP is nothing but perversion. I would disagree. Its scenario is revolting, yes; disconcerting, yes... and entirely too plausible in real life.)

"Sun Dog" is probably the story that cost the book a star in my rating, for while chilling in its way and well-written by all accounts, it seemed the most shallow and downright absurd in retrospect. (Yes, I take the licorice from "Library Policeman" into account when I say that. At least the licorice had symbolism going for it.)

At any rate, I'd suggest that any fan of psychological horror give this book a go. I haven't been converted into a solid Stephen King fan myself, but I have a new respect for him and his talents after reading _Four Past Midnight_.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting stories, August 9, 2000

By 

Elaine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Four Past Midnight (Signet) (Mass Market Paperback)

I liked all the stories, some more than others.

The Langoliers - This was definitely my favorite story out of them all. It was interesting and different from the other things that I've read. Sometimes the characters got a little boring though. I think the ending seemed a bit rushed so it was a let down from the rest of the story. You should read this if you're on the plane or if you're planning to fly soon... it'd make you think again.

Secret Window, Secret Garden - At first I found this story quite boring and simple, but then it turned out to be much more. My favorite part of this story was the ending because it was just completely unexpected. It was a nice twist.

The Library Policeman - I think that this story just progressed too slowly. Many parts seemed to drag on forever.

The Sun Dog - Like "The Library Policeman", this story progressed too slowly. Some parts of it were interesting, but there were a lot of parts that I just wanted to skip! The ending was a disappointment as well

What I like about all the stories is the detail that Stephen King often includes. While reading certain parts, you can see the whole scene happening in front of you in slow motion because of the detail.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Past midnight, King is at his best, May 21, 2000

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Four Past Midnight (Signet) (Mass Market Paperback)

The shorter Stephen King keeps his stories, the better they often are. "Four Past Midnight" is very effective because he doesn't have room for unnecessary flourishes and simply sticks to the story. The first of the four stories, "The Langoliers," is one of his most imaginative and all time best. The other three stories are also quite good. Frankly, King would be an even better writer if he told all of his stories with the economy of words that he gives the tales in "Four Past Midnight."