Night shift (anthology)

Nachtschicht (English Night Shift ) is an anthology of 20 short stories by the writer Stephen King published by Doubleday Verlag in 1978 . 16 stories had previously appeared in various American magazines. The German first publication was published by Bastei-Lübbe-Verlag in 1984. The translations into German were done by various translators.

Content (overview)

The Night Shift short story collection contains:

• Letters from Jerusalem, (Jerusalem's Lot) , translation: Barbara Heidkamp
• Spätschicht, (Graveyard Shift) , translation: Harro Christensen, released: 1970 The Cavalier
• Nightly Surf, (Night Surf) , Translation: Michael Kubiak, release: 1974 The Cavalier
• Ich bin das Tor, (I Am the Doorway) , translation: Harro Christensen, released: 1971 The Cavalier
• Der Waschemangler, (The Mangler) , translation: Karin Balfer, released: 1972 The Cavalier
• Das Schreckgespenst, (The Boogeyman) , translation: Harro Christensen, released: 1973 The Cavalier
• Graue Masse, (Gray Matter) , translation: Harro Christensen, released: 1973 The Cavalier
• Schlachtfeld, (Battleground) , translation: Ulrike A. Pollay, released: 1972 The Cavalier
• Lastwagen, (Trucks) , translation: Harro Christensen, released: 1973 The Cavalier
• Sometimes they come back, (Sometimes They Come Back) , translation: Barbara Heidkamp, ​​released: 1974 The Cavalier
• Erdbeerfrühling, (Strawberry Spring) , translation: Barbara Heidkamp, ​​released: 1975 The Cavalier
• Der Mauervorsprung, (The Ledge) , translation: Harro Christensen, released: 1976 Penthouse
• Der lawnmower man, (The Lawnmower Man) , translation: Sabine Kuhn, released: 1975 The Cavalier
• Quitters, Inc., Translation: Ingrid Herrmann
• I know what you need, (I Know What You Need) , translation: Ingrid Herrmann, released: 1976 Cosmopolitan
• Kinder des Mais, (Children of the Corn) , translation: Wolfgang Hohlbein, released: 1977 Penthouse
• The last rung (The Last Rung on the Ladder) , Translation: Barbara Heidkamp
• The man who loved flowers, (The Man Who Loved Flowers) , Translation: Bernd Seligmann, Release: 1977 Gallery
• One on the way (One for the road) , Translation: Stefan Storm, release: 1977 Maine Magazine, Inc.
• The woman in the room, (The Woman in the Room) , translation: Harro Christensen

Content (of the individual stories)

Letters from Jerusalem (Jerusalem's Lot) In 1850, Charles Boone discovered eerie, cultic events in the deserted town of Jerusalem's Lot. The story paved the way for King's novel Burning Must Be Salem . She is also one of six selected for The Secretary of Dreams special . Written in letter form, the story pays homage to the writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft .

Late shift (graveyard shift) A textile factory needs to be cleaned from the ground up, but mutant rats live in the cellar. Three workers venture down into the realm of rats. The film based on it was condemned by King because, in his opinion, it was only about moneymaking with his name: "This movie was made by cannibals." ("This movie was made by cannibals.")

Nightly Surf (Night Surf) Following the outbreak of a deadly flu virus called A6 (also known as Captain Trips) spends a group of young people surviving a night on the beach. Some of them suddenly show symptoms. The short story, published in 1974, pioneered King's 1978 novel The Stand , which outlines an apocalyptic scenario of a flu virus that escaped military laboratories and wiped out much of mankind.

I am the gate (I Am the Doorway) Science fiction meets horror: After a flight to Venus, astronaut Arthur's eyes grow in both hands. Through this he and another intelligence with which he has become infected see the world very differently.

The Wäschemangler (The Mangler) A Wäschemangler is possessed by a demon that factory workers injured or killed. Police inspector John Hunton wants to drive out the demon, but he ultimately becomes self-employed.

The specter (The Boogeyman) Lester Billings has lost his three children gradually through early infant death. He believes that a nightmare in the nursery carried out these terrible deeds and that he could have prevented it. He confesses his notions and fears to a psychiatrist. But there is more to it than he suspects.

Gray Matter (Gray Matter) After the drunken Richie Grenadine drinking a rotten beer can is empty, it is gradually transformed in front of his frightened son in a slimy monsters. Three drinking brothers from the local pub set out to check on Grenadine's house.

Battlefield (Battle Ground) The assassin John Renshaw gets sent after his murder of a toy producers a box of toy soldiers. The manufacturer of the toy: that last victim. Suddenly the soldiers come to life and take on a life and death fight with Renshaw.

Lorries (trucks) For unknown reasons, develop world trucks and other machines, a life of its own. They attack people at a gas station. They demand fuel and don't give up until the survivors refuel the endless line of vehicles.

Sometimes They Come Back (Sometimes They Come Back) As a child, Jim Norman watched his brother get stabbed by a gang of boys and died. Many years later, three new students join teacher Norman's class: they are his brother's murderers, but not a day older.

Strawberry Spring (Strawberry Spring) A serial killer comes to a college. The facts remain unsolved. Another murder occurs eight years later, and gradually the narrator of the story becomes aware of his own memory lapses. Is he the murderer himself?

The ledge (The Ledge) In order to save his life, to tennis player Norris has to engage in a crazy bet with crime boss Cressner: He has the building above the 40th floor circle on a ledge. Contrary to expectations, he succeeds, but Cressner is a bad loser.

The Lawnmower Man (The Lawnmower Man) Harold parquetry hired a professional lawn mower man to cut the burgeoning grass of his lawn. The lawnmower man, Harold finds out to his horror, crawls behind the self-driving lawnmower and eats the freshly cut grass. Harold comes up with the fatal idea of ​​calling the police. But the lawnmower man doesn't like that at all. The story was also marketed as a comic ( Bizarre Adventures series ). The film of the same name has nothing to do with the story, so King sued against the use of his name for marketing.

Quitters, Inc. Jim Morrison finally wants to quit smoking and, following a friend's recommendation, turns to Quitters, Inc. , which has a 98 percent success rate. The company only achieves this with cruel methods: As soon as Morrison should relapse, the company punishes his loved ones with electric shocks. At one point Morrison becomes weak too.

I know what you need (I Know What You Need) This is a case obsessive love: Ed Hamner used black magic to the woman of his life, the student Elizabeth to conquer. In an eerie way, he has a sense of Elizabeth's needs and wants. But is that enough to be in love? The friend Alice leads Elizabeth on the track.

Children of the Corn also known as Children of the Corn (Children of the Corn) The couple Robeson ends up in the abandoned town of Gatlin. But Burt Robeson comes across children who make human sacrifices to a sinister god. Horrified, he realizes that none of the children are older than 19 years. This short story was inspired by William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies , which King admires.

The last rung (The Last Rung on the Ladder) Two children love to climb up the tall ladder in the huge hayloft and jump from there into the hay. But one day the ladder breaks and Katrina struggles to hold on to the last rung with both hands while her brother Larry tries 16 meters below her to collect enough hay to cushion the otherwise fatal fall.

The man who loved flowers (The Man Who Loved Flowers) A man buys flowers for his long-dead wife Norma. But then, with the flowers in hand, he speaks to complete strangers and calls her Norma. But as soon as he realizes that it's not his wife, he goes nuts.

One on the way (One for the Road) falls during a snowstorm Gerard Lumley exhausted and hypothermic in the village pub and asks the two men present for help: Near Jerusalem's Lot stalled his car in the snow. He left his wife and child behind to get help. When the three of them reach the car, it is deserted. The story is a kind of epilogue to King's novel Burning Must Be Salem : Although the place Jerusalem's Lot was burned down, vampires are up to mischief there.

The Woman in the Room (The Woman in the Room) John stands on the deathbed of his cancer-stricken mother and wonders whether he should give her the redeeming, deadly pills. King wrote this story to come to terms with his mother's cancer death. The working title was Time In A Glass That Ran (roughly: "Time that ran away in a glass").

useful information

Eleven of the twenty short stories mentioned above were published in the American men's magazine The Cavalier between 1970 and 1975 . King received $ 250 to $ 300 as a fee. The remaining short stories made their way into the magazines Penthouse , Cosmopolitan and Gallery .

This collection was originally called Night Move . But this was changed to avoid confusion with a song by Bob Seger .

Links to other works

• Letters from Jerusalem : The medieval magic book “De Vermis Mysteriis” serves as the basis of research for the apostate preacher Charles Jacobs in the Roman Revival . In the works of HP Lovecraft and other authors from his environment, "De Vermis Mysteriis" is often used to connect the stories with one another. The village "Jerusalem's Lot" or "Salem's Lot" is the same as in the book Brennen muss Salem , which appeared in 1975 (three years earlier).
• Nocturnal surf : This is The Stand's super virus .
• The laundry man haunts the Blue Ribbon laundry, where Carrie's mother and Barton Dawes (made of explosives ) also work.
• Strawberry Spring : Springheel Jack is seen by Dussander (from the novella The Model Student in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Death ) as one of the greatest killers.

Audio books

In the US original, 16 stories were read in a collection. In 1996, five short stories read by Joachim Kerzel were published in German translation in various combinations, namely Trucks (initially under the title Trucks ), The Lawnmower Man , then Sometimes They Come Again , The Wall Projection and The Bogeyman , all together under the title Night Shift , including the foreword On Fear and Writing , later letters from Jerusalem as a separate audio book and Children of Anger together with The Werewolf by Tarker Mills , which does not belong to this collection. The remaining stories appeared on CD in 2008 under Night Shift 2 (6 readings by Uli Krohm) and in 2009 under Night Shift 3 (7 readings by Jürgen Kluckert), in May 2012 all readings (including foreword) were finally available as MP3s on 2 CDs in the above order again summarized under the title Nachtschicht ( ISBN 978-3-7857-4669-1 ). All German-language audio books from Lübbe Audio, available from Audible, are the complete edition, as well as the partial editions Night Shift , Night Shift 2 and Letters from Jerusalem .

Filmography

• The film The Lawnmower Man was released in 1992 with Pierce Brosnan in the leading role. In 1996 a sequel called The Lawnmower Man 2 - Beyond Cyberspace followed and flopped. However, both films have nothing to do with the content of the short story, which is why King sued the use of the title.
• Another film adaptation was made by King himself. As a director, he realized Trucks under the title Rhea M - It began without warning . In 1997 a remake was made in the form of a television film.
• The short stories Quitters, Inc. and The Wall Projection are part of the episode film Cat's Eye .
• Tom McLoughlin filmed the short story Sometimes They Come Back in 1991 . Two sequels followed.
• Directed by Tobe Hooper , the film version of the short story The Laundry Handler with the title The Mangler was created . In 2001 , the short story served as a loose platform for The Mangler 2 and in 2005 some sort of sequel called The Mangler Reborn was filmed.
• The story Kinder des Mais was filmed in 1984 by Fritz Kiersch under the name Kinder des Zorns with Linda Hamilton and Peter Horton in the lead role. King called this film one of the ten worst of all time. Seven successors and a remake followed. Furthermore, there was also a rather unknown film adaptation in the form of an approx. 20-minute short film that is only on the Stephen King's Night of the Crow DVD .
• Film adaptations of the stories The Specter and The Woman in the Room can be found on the video cassette Stephen King's Nightmare Collection . Here led Frank Darabont film the second short story Director.
• The story of the battlefield was captured as a Russian cartoon as well as a real film adaptation on film. The latter can be found in the short film collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes: Based on the Stories of Stephen King .
• Furthermore, short films, so-called dollar babies , were made for almost all of the short stories in this collection .

Literature and Sources

• Stephen King, Nachtschicht , Lübbe, 1987, ISBN 3-404-13160-6
• Marcel Feige, Stephen King Lexicon , 1999, Imprint Verlag, ISBN 3-89602-228-8

Web links

• Further information (including the contents of all short stories) in KingWiki

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cory Doctorow : Sci-Fi Wars , originally published in Sci-Fi Universe Magazine (June 1999)