Four Past Midnight [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

"The langoliers" - the most fantastic story in the "Four past midnight", about a plane that goes through a rip in time. This is the story with the best premise, and with the most developed characters, so it is the best story in the book. Graphic descriptions, deaths, thrilling, a good work. 8.0

"Secret window" - this is the basic plot of the recent movie with Johnny Depp. I had high expectations, bu I was let down. It's a simple story, and a little bit obvious. This is an example that, if King should have chosen to develop the plot further, we could end up with a terrific book. The way it is, I didn't like very much. 6.5

"The library policeman" - Once again, a plot dealing with fantasy and terror. This story has all the elements to be great, bu t it isn't. When I read it, it became very clear to me that Stephen King started to write one story and ended up with another. The beginning has an almost comic style (as opposed to the somber ending), and there are many characters that were intended to be bigger parts in the plot, but were left aside after the initial chapters. It's cool to see that a story may have a life on its own, but I think in this case there could have been more editing to it. Also, the final is too rushed. This story has too many elements is too few pages. 7.0

"The sun dog" - this could be the best story in the book, because the initial plot was really great. It's about a malfunctioning Polaroid camera, and a ferocious dog that appears in every photograph taken with it. This is the kind of idea that makes SK one of my favorite authors, but, as happens with the previous two stories, "The sun dog" lacks strenght in the end. 7.5

So, "Four past midnight" is a good collection of short stories, but Stephen King has written many better books than this one.

Grade 7.5

Secret Window, Secret Garden was great writing, but I think it was somewhat slow paced. I didn't like this story like the Langoliers basically because the plot didn't satisfy me much, but if you liked The Dark Half you MUST read this novella. The last 50 or so pages were undeniably great and I really got to see into the mind of a writer and what it is like going through a divorce. Also the whole idea of Mort Rainey being schizophrenic was pretty cool.

The Library Policeman was a tremendously great story. It was very creepy and dark. Stephen King made Ardelia Lortz into one of his most memorable villains. The story was slow paced at first, but as the plot developed and we slowly realized how evil Ardelia Lortz was, the novella turned into an exciting page turner. The writing was also great in this novella. The description of the Library(Ardelia's Library) when Sam Peebles entered for the first time was so real I felt like I could touch it. Also when Ardelia talks to Sam for the first time she is devastatingly creepy. This was the second best novella and came really close to The Langoliers.

The final story in the collection is The Sun Dog. The Sun Dog is probably what made me give this story a 4 instead of a 5. I will admit this story was probably the most creative and ingenious one of all. The idea of an evil dog coming closer and closer into a picture is just GREAT!! Just the plot alone made me want to continue reading on. It seemed like The Sun Dog just lacked action until the last few chapters. The writing, as usual was great, but the whole story was just mainly talking, and talking. Most parts of the story were interesting, but after a while it seems to go on and on and on.... If you are a huge Castle Rock fan then definitely read this novella. Before you read this you might want to read some other Castle Rock stories though, like The Dead Zone, Cujo, and The Body.

This is a great collection and is worth your 7 dollars and 99 cents(taxes may vary). I enjoyed and finished it fairly quickly. Enjoy!!!!