Idly flicking through the Stephen King section on Amazon, I happened to come across 'Four Past Midnight' - a collection of King stories I'd never read before. I purchased it, thinking that 4 stories would be a quick, but entertaining read. So, when it arrived on my doorstep I was somewhat surprised by the hefty packaging and brick shaped book.
At a total of 676 pages these stories can, in no way, pass off as 'short'. Realistically, if King had extended them slightly they could all have been sold as novels of a reasonable length. 'Four Past Midnight' allows King to prove to an audience that he can adapt his style of writing to almost any fiction genre. In these four stories, he focuses on his old favourite - horror, with an equally pleasing sci-fi interlude in the form of the first story, 'The Langoliers'.

'The Langoliers' is easily the best story in the collection - intelligent, interesting and exceptionally imaginative, King mixes the genre he performs best in with classic sci-fi. The transition is seamless, and the idea is highly original.
Character development is staggeringly good, as always. In particular, Toomy's slow descent into madness is as accomplished as Jack's in 'The Shining' - an effect that Stephen King seems to have perfected to a point where it almost sounds rational. The character of Jenkins as the wise writer with potential theories is excellent, as is that of Nick - the Brit with a mysterious background. In fact, all the characters in the story are very memorable and really stand up on their own - something you don't expect from what could be 'just another' Stephen King short story.

Secret Window, Secret Garden -
The writer (There's a surprise!), Mort Rainey is taking some time off after a painful separation with his wife, Amy. He retreats to an old house he owns in the countryside and decides to start work on his new book. Soon, there's a knock at the door, and Mort makes his first acquaintance with the character of John Shooter. Tall, thin and wearing a black cowboy hat, Shooter claims that Mort 'Stole his story' and says that he must write another one in his name.
Certain that he stole nothing from Shooter, Mort refuses and the tall man leaves. Soon after though, he visits again and this time mysterious 'accidents' seem to follow him. Something happens to Mort's pet dog, his ex-wife's house burns to the ground, and all the while - Shooter is telling him to write his story. As events become more irrational and violent, Mort has to find some way of keeping Shooter from visiting again.

Sun Dog -
The last in 'Four Past Midnight', 'Sun Dog' is the story of Kevin Delevan; a 15 year old from Maine. On his birthday, he gets exactly what he asked for - a Sun 660 Polaroid camera. After taking the first picture of his assembled family, his little sister knocks the camera off the table it's lying on and damages it. The first picture that comes out isn't of his family as expected, but of an old dog standing in front of a white picket fence. Naturally, he's a little surprised and takes the picture again - same dog, same fence. The family assume that someone involved in the manufacturing of the camera has had a little joke, and resolve to swap the camera on the following Monday.
Kevin, on the other hand, can't wait that long and he goes to see Pop Merrill (a recurring King character), who might be able to fix his camera. After taking a few more pictures, Pop and Kevin realise that the dog inside the picture is moving. It's becoming bigger, it's turning around to face the camera, and it seems to be aware that they are there. As the image changes and the dog becomes more horrifying, Kevin decides to destroy the camera. Merrill, however, decides otherwise...