It's more dramatic in tone and subject matter than delving strictly into horror. The four novellas that bind together Different Seasons relate to each of the four seasons. However, for those seeking taut pacing in horror narratives, Four Past Midnight can come off as overly-lengthy or non-cohesive as a collection in itself. While the story’s twist ending is not unpredictable by any means, King’s dramatization is pretty compelling, and it warranted a 2004 film adaptation, Secret Window, starring Johnny Depp. “Secret Window, Secret Garden” is a thrilling tale, in which a writer is plagued with accusations of plagiarism while being embroiled in a murky dynamic with a mysterious, obsessive man.

With time, reality fragments as well, ushering in characters that cling desperately to their sense of sanity, and ultimately failing to restore any semblance to normality per se. All in all, Hearts in Atlantis is an uneven reading experience, wherein some hit readers with paranoia-tinged nostalgia while others seem disjointed and tonally out-of-place.įour Past Midnight is not technically a short story collection, but rather four novellas stringed together, namely “The Langoliers”, “Secret Window, Secret Garden”, “The Library Policeman”, and “The Sun Dog.” It is interesting to witness King incorporate elements of psychological and cosmic horror in a compelling manner, especially in a story format of fragmented time periods between a stretch of two days. While Hearts in Atlantis is not scary in the traditional sense of the term, it captures a bleak, regret-filled wasteland of missed opportunities and unfortunate mishaps, with a slight tinge of the supernatural. Among the five stories, 'Why We're in Vietnam' is especially horrifying, as it weaves in the theme of trauma-induced hallucination and the heavy burden of guilt, which is a fathomless source of terror in itself. Opening with an epigraph that quotes Easy Rider-a scorching “ We blew it”-King explores the generation’s ideas, worldviews, and expectations while delving into the profound failures that are set in the 1960s, especially the Vietnam War.

Published in 1999, Hearts in Atlantis features two novellas and three short stories that are interconnected via recurring characters and temporal synchronicities and revolves around King’s ideas about the Baby Boomer generation.

Stephen king night