I've read almost all of King's works and this is by and large, one of his darkest collections of stories. Presented here are 4 stories: 1922, Big Driver, Fair Extension, and A Good Marriage. Stephen King himself admits in the afterword that these stories are somewhat harsh. With that being said, I loved them all! If you're new to Stephen King's work, this might just be the one to start with first. All of them are very tightly written with no spare prose in sight. 1922 is about a man, Wilfred James, who settles a land dispute with his wife by killing her, with a fair amount of problems afterwards. Big Driver is about an author who takes a shortcut home with devastating and life-changing results. Fair Extension is also a grim story, but with a dark sense of humor about a man who makes a pact with Mr. Elvid to change his life and those of others he knows. And A Good Marriage is about a dark secret between a husband and wife.
This is another great from the master of horror and is not to be missed!

Share/Like this Review?

Thoroughly enjoyed "Full Dark, No Stars".Stephen King does some of his best work in the form of long stories.

Share/Like this Review?

Another horror must! If you like Stephen King; you'll love this one!

Share/Like this Review?

Stephen King at his best! Four excellent short stories with a "real world" background that makes them even scarier. A little different in some ways than his other work but still classic King entertainment.

Share/Like this Review?

Each of these four stories are good in their own right. The first story "1922" about a man and his son who murders the wife/mom is probably the best of the four. The second story "Big Driver" about a woman who is brutally raped by a man who stops to assist her when her car is stranded on a deserted road, had the potential of being the most terrifying but the ending was rather anti-climatic. "Fair Extensions" about a man who sells his soul to the devil is vintage King. "A Good Marriage" is a great character study about a wife who finds her husband is leading a murderous double life. This story is very engaging and is based on the real-life BTK killer. As a whole, this is one of Kings better short-story (long-story) collections. It's worth the read.

Share/Like this Review?

I think Stephen King is at his best with short stories. These four are particularly good . Creepy and satisfying.

Share/Like this Review?

In his afterword to this collection of four very harrowing novellas, King states "the stories in this book are harsh. You may have found them hard to read in places. If so, be assured that I found them equally hard to write in places." Well, this collection was very dark indeed as the title implies. All four novellas really dug into the darkness of the human experience and left the reader questioning the basic goodness of mankind.

"1922" - This story takes place on a farm in Nebraska where a man decides that he must murder his wife to save the farm. He coerces his son to help him in this endeavor and this act leads to rather dire consequences for the man and his son.

"Big Driver" - The tale of a woman writer of "cozy" mysteries who after giving a presentation at a gathering at a not too distant town's library, is directed to take a short cut back home using her GPS. But by taking this short cut, she ends up with a flat tire and is brutalized and raped by what she thought was a good Samaritan who said he could change her tire.

"Fair Extension" - This is the shortest story of the group but it also packs a punch. A man is dying of cancer and happens onto a vendor named Elvid (scramble of devil) who convinces him he can extend his life for a price. The worst of the price is that he has to pass on his bad fate to someone else, preferably someone he hates. But are these consequences he can live with?

"A Good Marriage" - A woman is married for 27 years to a man who she discovers is actually a serial killer. Can this be true and if so what should she do about it?

I think this is probably the best collection of King's shorter fiction that I have read since DIFFERENT SEASONS which contained some of my favorites of his including "The Body," the basis for the movie "Stand By Me" and "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" also the basis for the wonderful movie. FULL DARK, NO STARS was very DARK and compelling reading that I would highly recommend.

Share/Like this Review?

Very good stories!

Share/Like this Review?