Four Past Midnight
by Stephen King
★ Top 10 book of 1990 · #10 on Best Books of 1990
This collection gathers four novellas, from a flight that lands in an eerily empty world to a writer menaced by a stranger. It also includes a small businessman haunted by the truth and a teenager whose Polaroid brings something supernatural.
Best for: Horror fans who like several chilling novellas in one volume
Four Past Midnight is #10 on BookWard's Best Books of 1990, out of 39 1990 books that cleared our data bar.
What Four Past Midnight is about
Four Past Midnight gathers four novellas that Stephen King wrote in 1988 and 1989. It is his second collection of this kind, following Different Seasons, though he says in his introduction that this one leans more squarely into horror with supernatural elements. It won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Collection in 1990.
In 'The Langoliers', a red-eye flight from L.A. to Boston carries only eleven surviving passengers into an eerily empty world. In 'Secret Window, Secret Garden', recently divorced writer Mort Rainey is alone by Tashmore Lake until a figure named John Shooter turns up. 'The Library Policeman' follows small businessman Sam Peebles in Junction City, Iowa, who fears he may be losing his mind. The tone is dark and unsettling, with themes of isolation, obsession, and the uncanny. Readers who like their fear in long, slow-building doses will find plenty here.
Four Past Midnight on the Best Books of 1990
Four Past Midnight came out in 1990. Of the 39 books first published in 1990 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #10 on our Best Books of 1990 list.
Why it made the list: 503 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (20 ratings); 30 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 1990 list
- The Great Hunt (the Wheel of Time Book 2) Robert Jordan, #8
- Maniac Magee Jerry Spinelli, #9
- Gifted Hands Ben Carson, #11
- Oh, the Places You'll Go! Dr. Seuss, #12
See all Best Books of 1990 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1991.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 404 want to read it, 30 are reading it now and 68 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4 out of 5 from 20 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 85 | 55% |
| Reader love | 38 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 85 | 20% |
Questions about Four Past Midnight
When was Four Past Midnight published?
Four Past Midnight by Stephen King was first published in 1990.
Was Four Past Midnight one of the best books of 1990?
Four Past Midnight is #10 on BookWard's Best Books of 1990, out of 39 1990 books that cleared our data bar. 503 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (20 ratings); 30 are reading it right now.
Why is Four Past Midnight on the Best Books of 1990 list?
503 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (20 ratings); 30 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 1990
- Good Omens Terry Pratchett, #1
- Jurassic Park Michael Crichton, #2
- The Eye of the World Robert Jordan, #3
- The Witching Hour Anne Rice, #4
- Flow Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #5
- The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien, #6
See the full Best Books of 1990, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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