'Graveyard Shift' and 'The Mangler' – Stephen King

You can tell when it's been a tough few days when the short story posts start to crop up on the blog. Actually, looking back over the last couple of weeks, short story posts have done a lot more than just crop up... Oh well, it hasn't been the best week and a bit but it could be worse I guess. And it's no great chore reading more short stories, is it?

I don't know if it's me getting older but I'm enjoying short stories so much more these days. I still appreciate what goes into craftng a novel but there's less room in a short story and all that same stuff has to go in... The end result just feels a little more, I don't know, intricate? Everything has to fit together and work straight away as you don't have the luxury of being able to iron the creases out over several chapters. So yeah, I do love a good short story at the moment.

It's the season for reading that's a little more scary but to be honest, I find that any time of year is the right time for a short story by Stephen King so bear that in mind. I'm aiming for impartial but I'm a fan and that's going to come through, no matter what I do.

So lets have a look at a couple of stories from the 'Night Shift' collection, shall we...? This is an older collection so I'm not going to tiptoe round spoilers, just so you know.

I think what I like about Stephen King's short stories is how they grow with you and this is certainly the case with both 'Graveyard Shift' and 'The Mangler'. When I was a kid, I was a right little gorehound and reduced to snatching quick reads of King and Herbert, in the school library, trying to find all the gory bits before the bell went for lessons. The great thing about King's stories in particular is that because of the lack of space, he has to make his point with more emphasis, really grab the reader at the right time. This is especially the case when things get gory, you're left in no doubt what has happened, 'Graveyard Shift' and 'The Mangler' are full of great examples of this. What lies under the mill, in 'Graveyard Shift' is grim enough on it's own, an entire eco-system of rats and mutated, well... who know. It's when the workers come into contact with, and ultimately disturb, this eco-system that things get bloody. Honestly, if it can be bitten off or chewed by a oversized rat then King isn't shy about letting us know exactly how it happens. It's a well baited hook that draws your attention to the page and then keeps you there, waiting to see if King can top that bit that had you nervously wondering if a shadow in your room just moved. It's masterful storytelling, it really is.

'The Mangler' is more of the same although this one feels like more of a locked room mystery in a way. We know the laundry mangler is chewing people up (and folding them too, that bit was horrible...) but how...? I mean yes, you get told how but how could a perfectly functioning piece of equipment do this? You find out in between some pretty grim n' gory 'workplace injuries'. What I love here is how King tells us what has happened to the latest unlucky soul and then makes us wait for the extra detail while he leads up to. Great way to draw out the tension and then he basically underlines everything in blood and viscera. I love it, if you want a short sharp dose of gore you really can't go wrong with either of these stories.

But I did say that these stories grow with you, didn't I? Well, they do.

'Graveyard Shift' and 'The Mangler' are still all of the above but what I also find, these days, that King likes to give us a little look at how wide open and empty America can be, you get a little glimpse of it when you see how far Hall has drifted before he ends up working in the mill. Those empty spaces and deserted roads that people don't normally even think about, let alone see... If those empty roads are just out of sight, what else lies out of sight and what might a drifter like Hall awaken when he stops, for a while, in the 'real world'...? What might happen if those two worlds overlap in a seemingly innocent laundry mangler...? King likes to bring our world and that other 'quiet' world together and see what sparks off. Reading both of these stories now, you can see that universe of his starting to take shape and that's more great storytelling in action. A standalone tale and a gateway into something much bigger, all in one.

'Graveyard Shift' is the more complete tale for me; I'll always have a soft spot for 'The Mangler' but it feels like an idea stretched just a little bit too far, I love the twist though and the awful finality of the closing sentence. They're both good stories though and ones that I'd recommend to anyone who hasn't read a Stephen King short story. Actually, 'Night Shift' is full of excellent stories so go grab a copy if you don't already have one. You deserve it ;o)