- Night Shift - Stephen King"s first collection of stories - is an early showcase of the depths that King"s wicked imagination could plumb. In these 20 tales, we see mutated rats gone bad ( Graveyard Shift ); a cataclysmic virus that threatens humanity ( Night Surf, the basis for The Stand ); a smoker who will try anything to stop ( Quitters, Inc. ); a reclusive alcoholic who begins a gruesome transformation ( Gray Matter ); and many more. This is Stephen King at his horrifying best.