Four Past Midnight

1990 · Book · Stephen King

“Brian Engle rolled the American Pride L1011 to a stop at Gate 22 and flicked off the FASTEN SEATBELT light at exactly 10:14 P.M.”

Four Past Midnight is a collection of novellas written by Stephen King in 1988 and 1989 and published in August 1990. It is his second book of this type, the first one being Different Seasons. The collection won the Bram Stoker Award in 1990 for Best Collection and was nominated for a Locus Award in 1991. One Past Midnight: "The Langoliers ↗ (external link, opens in new tab)" takes a red-eye flight from L.A. to Boston into a most unfriendly sky. Only eleven passengers survive, but landing in an eerily empty world makes them wish they hadn't. Something's waiting for them, you see.... Two Past Midnight: "Secret Window, Secret Garden ↗ (external link, opens in new tab)" enters the suddenly strange life of writer Mort Rainey, recently divorced, depressed, and alone on the shore of Tashmore Lake. Alone, that is, until a figure named John Shooter arrives, pointing an accusing finger. Three Past Midnight: "The Library Policeman ↗ (external link, opens in new tab)" is set in Junction City, Iowa, an unlikely place for evil to be hiding. But for small businessman Sam Peebles, who thinks he may be losing his mind, another enemy is hiding there as well--the truth. If he can find it in time, he might stand a chance. Four Past Midnight: The flat surface of a Polaroid photograph becomes for fifteen-year-old Kevin Delevan an invitation to the supernatural. Old Pop Merrill, Castle Rock's sharpest trader, wants to crash the party for profit, but "The Sun Dog ↗ (external link, opens in new tab)," a creature that shouldn't exist at all, is a very dangerous investment. by Stephen King