# Best story in Stephen King's Night Shift? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709 "2010-09-14T11:42:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/1 "2010-09-14T11:42:43Z")
As with **ArchiveGuy** ’s [Beatles polls](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=578134) (the clear inspirations for this here poll), there can be only one. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/2 "2010-09-14T12:00:59Z")
Looks like some are missing…Maybe I’m thinking of different King Novels though… What was the one with the doctor who gets stranded on an island and has to eat himself? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/3 "2010-09-14T12:08:42Z")
> [@Meatros](#): > > What was the one with the doctor who gets stranded on an island and has to eat himself? _Survivor Type_; from a different collection. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/4 "2010-09-14T12:28:33Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > _Survivor Type_; from a different collection. Yeah, that was _Skeleton Crew_. Man, I want to go back and read these - they gave me a huge appetite for short stories as a reader. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/5 "2010-09-14T12:42:08Z")
Here’s the wiki for Night Shift. It has links to summaries of all the stories. I think I want to change my answer from “Battleground” to “The Ledge”. ---
**Author:** ![Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kim_o_the_Concrete_Jungle)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/6 "2010-09-14T12:56:25Z")
I don’t have a copy any more and haven’t read it for years. But the one that sticks in my mind is that thing with the rats. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/7 "2010-09-14T13:08:23Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Here’s the wiki for Night Shift. It has links to summaries of all the stories. I think I want to change my answer from “Battleground” to “The Ledge”. Things that are helpful: [Links](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Shift_(book)) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/8 "2010-09-14T13:27:26Z")
**I Am The Doorway**. Best suspension of disbelief, and the best King ending. That’s why they used it for the cover. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/9 "2010-09-14T13:46:28Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > **I Am The Doorway**. Best suspension of disbelief, and the best King ending. > > That’s why they used it for the cover. I also read it (repeatedly) years ago, and this is the one I remember best. Second best is Strawberry Spring. I always think of it when Ted Bundy is mentioned, though they’re not all that similar. I should go back and read it again. It’s one reason that for years I claimed that short stories were my favorite genre. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/10 "2010-09-14T14:03:25Z")
Hard to really pick one. _The Mangler_ always holds a special (and horrible!) place in my heart. So I’ll go with that one. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/11 "2010-09-14T14:14:47Z")
I voted for “The Ledge” but Graveyard Shift is a close second. The mewling blind legless mother rats, some as big as a Holstein calf, out-Lovecrafted Lovecraft. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/12 "2010-09-14T15:45:34Z")
Now \*that \*was hard! Every story in the whole book is a jewel, excepting (maybe) The Woman in the Room. In the end, I narrowed it down to The Boogeyman and Quitters, Inc., but I had to go with The Boogeyman just because it still scares the cheesly old shit right out of me. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/13 "2010-09-14T16:02:24Z")
I Am The Doorway, Battleground, The Ledge, Quitters Inc. and Graveyard Shift are all terrific, but I voted for I Am The Doorway. Incredibly creepy. I’m not sure why there’s so much love for The Boogeyman. That one fell kind of flat for me. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/14 "2010-09-14T16:08:26Z")
I read all of these a looooong time ago, so I can’t comment at the moment but thanks to the OP for making me want to dig out my old copy; I know what’s going to be on my nightstand for the next week 🙂 Also, it made me giggle that a poster named **Meatros** is trying to remember the story where a man eats himself. And apparently Mr King helped **Munch** with his appetite for short stories. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/15 "2010-09-14T16:26:35Z")
God, this was a tough one… That was an AWESOME collection. I ultimately settled on The Ledge, but also considered Jerusalem’s Lot, Night Surf, Battleground, Strawberry Spring, The Lawnmower Man, Quitters Inc, Children of the Corn, and Last Rung on the Ladder… ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/16 "2010-09-14T16:26:50Z")
Damn. Can we do one for Nightmares & Dreamscapes? I read that at age twelve or so and _still_ hate going to the bathroom late at night, at almost thirty. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/17 "2010-09-14T16:55:10Z")
I Am The Doorway is a great story, but it makes me sick to my stomach. I voted for Strawberry Spring. It captured my imagination for days after I read it. I even researched the Springheel Jack mythos because of it. The Woman in the Room seems to be a deeply personal wish-fulfillment story for King. His mother died quite protractedly and painfully from cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/18 "2010-09-14T17:13:57Z")
Oh hell yeah. “The Moving Finger” fucked me up for life.\* As for the poll, I voted “Gray Matter,” just because I think it’s one of the most fun to re-read. Good sense of dread built up, but doesn’t hit too close to home. I seriously considered “I Am the Doorway” and “The Boogeyman,” as they are absolutely terrifying. The Boogeyman is right up there with The Moving Finger for freaking me out at 2 a.m. Now that I have kids, I’m not sure I could re-read The Boogeyman. ☹ \*credit to _Crazy People_ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/19 "2010-09-14T17:20:43Z")
The Ledge is a great story just begging for a great movie. Finally scene: Close up on protagonist’s face, gun in hand:You’ve never been known to welsh on a bet. \ But I have. \ **Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709/20 "2010-09-14T17:36:43Z") > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The Ledge is a great story just begging for a great movie. It’s been done: [Cat's Eye (1985) - Plot - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088889/plotsummary) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-story-in-stephen-kings-night-shift/553709.md?page=2)