10 Stephen King Short Stories That Tricked Readers

Stephen King He is considered one of the most successful and influential writers in history, with more than thirty of his books becoming best sellers. Since the publication of his first book in 1974, King has dominated the fiction market, with many of his stories made into popular movies and television shows.

Although his novels might have earned him early acclaim, the author has also published collections of novels and short stories containing some of his best-known works. Both stay by me and Life imprisonment were based on King’s novels, and the boys of the corn The franchise has spawned nine movies!

Perhaps due to the shorter format, King’s short stories and novels have contained some of his most surprising twists. Surprised readers expect one thing only to be caught off guard by something completely unexpected. Here are ten examples of shocking twists in Stephen King’s novels and short stories.

Related: 10 Disturbing Real Life Stories That Will Haunt You

10 “Under the Weather”

The Stephen King Collection Bazaar of Bad Dreams, a number one New York Times bestseller, contains twenty-one short stories and poems. One of them, “Under the Weather,” opens simply with a middle-aged man getting ready for another day at the office. His wife is still in bed, she is not feeling well, so the protagonist, Brad Franklin, writes her a note and goes to work. While at the office, Brad thinks about his wife and her heart condition. I remember her from the moment when she said that if she died, he would use her imagination to pretend that she was still alive foreshadows what is really happening.

Receiving a call from the building superintendent about a foul odor coming from his apartment, Brad returns home to find his dog licking his chops and his wife’s hand partially eaten. Although the story begins with the reader believing that the wife was simply ill, she was, in fact, dead the entire time. After considering the calm and normal pace of the opening, the ending comes as a tragic shock.^[1]

9 “Billy’s Lockdown”

also of Bazaar of Bad Dreams, “Blockade Billy” reads like an entertaining baseball tale until it takes a dark turn. It was also released as a standalone novel.

An old man remembers baseball player Billy Blakely, whom he coached many years before. At first, King presents the story as folksy reminiscence, but then hints of darkness begin to creep in. Finally, the narrator reveals that Billy is an impostor named Eugene Katsanis. Katsanis, a former worker at the Blakely farm, had murdered the entire family and posed as Billy so he could play baseball. ^[2]

8 “Strawberry Spring”

Night shift, the first collection of short stories King published, came out in 1978. The book contains several well-known short stories, including one that showcases his ability to create unreliable excellent storytellers. Unreliable narrators are stories told from the point of view of the character who, for various reasons, is not telling the truth. Whether through intentional deception, mental illness, or something else, the narrator cannot be trusted to reveal the facts.

The anonymous protagonist of “Strawberry Spring” is definitely not to be trusted. In the story, the narrator talks about a strange moment in his life, eight years earlier, when he was a student. In a rare weather phenomenon known as Strawberry Spring, a serial killer nicknamed Springheel Jack stalked his college campus. As the character recounts the crimes, attributing them to someone else, he is reminded of how strange and magical that misty, mysterious station was. But it’s not until he reveals that both Strawberry Spring and Springheel Jack have returned that the reader realizes the serial killer is the same unreliable narrator!^[3]

7 “The Bogeyman”

Night shift it also contains a story called “The Boogeyman,” which was made into a movie for Hulu in 2022. In the original work, Lester Billings talks to a psychiatrist about the tragic deaths of his three children. Doctor Harper, the point-of-view character, listens to Billings describe how a bogeyman killed his children. Although the reader suspects that Billings murdered his own children, the conclusion of the story offers another possibility.

At the end of the date, Billings leaves, but quickly returns to see a rotting creature holding a Doctor Harper mask. The reader must decide what really happened. Was the doctor, in fact, a bogeyman, or are we being deceived by Billings, who has become the narrator at the end of the tale, possibly an unreliable one?^[4]

Duet of 6 Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Nightmares and dreamscapes it was released in 1993 and contained twenty-four works. The book was so rich in stories that TNT made a miniseries based on several of them. King has written more than one story about people arriving in a strange new town and falling into a nightmare, and there are two of them in Nightmares and dreamscapes. “You Know They’ve Got a Hell of a Band” features a young couple who end up in what is literally a rock and roll heaven populated by dead rock stars.

In “Rainy Season,” a young couple move to a small Maine town, where they look forward to their fresh start. Upon arrival, some townspeople warn them that the rainy season is approaching that night and the couple must leave and return the next day. They scoff at the warnings, believing they are being pranked, and decide to stay. The skies open that night, but it is not the raindrops that fall. Instead, fat, violent, sharp-toothed frogs fall from the sky. They invade the house and eventually kill the couple. An amphibian invasion from the sky is definitely not what the reader would expect from any author other than Stephen King.^[5]

5 “Poppy”

another story of Nightmares and dreamscapes, “Popsy,” takes a child kidnapping case and turns it on its head to a terrifyingly satisfying ending. The narrator, Sheridan, is not unreliable. In fact, he’s remarkably outspoken about the fact that he’s looking for a child he can snatch away. Badly in debt, he pays the bills by kidnapping children and delivering them into the hands of deviants. After grabbing a boy, he ignores the boy’s warnings that his Popsy will come to his rescue. But when he hears something land on the roof of his vehicle, he realizes that he’s underestimated Popsy. This grandfather is not the old man he had imagined, but a creature of the night. Even vampires can love his grandchildren, and Popsy does. After flying to the rescue, he and his grandson enjoy a feast with Sheridan.

Interestingly, the film rights to “Popsy” were purchased by Pale Moon Cinema for $1.00 as part of the Stephen King Dollar Baby Program.^[6]

4 “LT’s Pet Theory”

“Popsy” was not the only Stephen King story whose film rights sold for $1.00. “LT’s Pet Theory” was licensed in the same way through the Stephen King Dollar Baby program. The tale first appeared as an audio recording of King reading it to a live audience in London. Later, it appeared in print in the collection. everything is eventual.

Like many King stories, this one contains humor and horror. The narrator talks about his good friend, LT, and his battles with his wife over his pets, Lucy the cat and Frank the dog. Unlike some that start out light and then lead to a dark turn, this story reverses that trend. The reader is told early on that the wife, Lulubelle, is gone, likely killed by a serial killer. The story then turns into almost a comedy about the fights the couple had over the cat and dog before Lulu left.

So much time is spent on the humor of their pet fights, colored by LT’s laid-back narrative style, that the reader almost forgets what really happened to Lulu and Frank. In the end, the reader gets the harsh reminder. Lulu’s abandoned car was found in the desert, her dog died near her. Her fate is uncertain, but she is believed to be the last victim of the serial killer known as Ax Man.^[7]

3 “Autopsy room four”

Although the story “Autopsy Room Four” was filmed as part of the Nightmares and dreamscapes miniseries for TNT, the story was actually printed in the collection everything is eventual.

In this story, the twist is not that the supposedly dead protagonist, Howard Cottrell, is actually alive; it’s the way the medical examiner determines it. From the moment the story begins, we are aware that Howard is completely paralyzed and that he is in a very difficult situation. His limp body was found on a golf course and an elderly doctor pronounced him dead. In truth, he was bitten by a rare snake and is completely paralyzed. A distracted doctor, a careless intern, a little flirting and boredom lead to an autopsy that ends with a jolt. Because while Howard is desperately trying to think of a way to prove he’s alive, he gets an unlikely boner that the coroner just can’t miss.^[8]

2 “Grandma”

Unlike the protective vampire grandfather Popsy, the grandmother in “Gramma,” from skeleton crew, published in 1985, is anything but loving. After the death of his father, eleven-year-old George and his family are forced to live with his grandmother. Huge, sickly, and bedridden, the grandmother is a figure of fear and disgust to the boy, and he goes to great lengths to avoid her. But one night, he is left alone with the old woman and must take care of her.

The tension increases as the stormy night progresses. As the reader wonders if the old woman will rise up and attack her grandson, the boy realizes that the grandmother is dead. Or does she have her? He suddenly she starts to move and grabs the boy. The grandmother was a student of dark and occult magic, and used her powers to steal the body of her grandson to use for herself. The story ends with a very different George waiting for his family to come home so he can haunt them.^[9]

1 “Deliveries in the morning”

another story of skeleton crew takes the reader on a wild ride together with a disturbed manic milkman. “Morning Deliveries” opens with a false sense of security as a typical street begins its day. Everything seems normal, with the animals waking up, the breeze whispering and the dawn on the horizon. Down the road he drives a Cramer’s dairy truck; delivery boy Spike Mulligan is making his morning rounds.

Things start out normally, almost sweetly, until Spike reaches for the deadly belladonna to get to the orange juice. It’s a throwaway word, a strange interjection, almost easy to miss. But things become clear when Spike leaves a tarantula next door instead of cream. He continues on his way, delivering acid, poison, and cyanide gas. Spike is last seen walking away into the bright sunlight when a little boy brings the milk.^[10]