The Langoliers
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4.6 • 77 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Stephen King’s unforgettable novella—first included in his 1990, award-winning collection Four Past Midnight and made into a highly acclaimed miniseries—about a terrifying plane ride into a most unfriendly sky.
On a cross-country, redeye flight from Los Angeles to Boston, ten passengers awaken in Bangor, Maine, to find that the crew and most of their fellow passengers have disappeared. The airport shows no signs of life. Yet they hear “radio static” in the distance. Craig Toomey, an irritable investment banker on the verge of a breakdown, believes it is “The Langoliers,” monsters he was afraid of as a child who attack those who waste time. It’s mystery author Bob Jenkins who first theorizes that they have flown through a time rip. Bob declares they have entered a place that forbids time travelers to observe or interfere with past events. It turns out that Craig is right, in a way. Two creatures, followed by hundreds more, emerge from the forest and head for the plane, consuming everything in their path. Can the survivors manage to fly the plane back to Los Angeles, back to the correct time, before The Langoliers succeed in their deadly mission to destroy the plane and the world? Dinah Bellman, the young blind girl whose aunt did not survive the time rip, has the greatest insight of all.
A spine-tingling, propulsive novella, The Langoliers is a brilliant read from the masterful Stephen King.
Customer Reviews
Better than the Movie
I love this Novella. Its weird but different. A good combo. The concept has haunted me. The Tv Movie, as a 12ish yr old, was just good enough. The book is way better.
Captivating
Almost read the whole thing in one go!
A fascinating, terrifying flight into the bizarre!
Stephen King has always had a passion for writing truly bizarre tales of the supernatural as a horror writer, it seems. To me, he’s never done a better job than he did with The Langoliers, a chilling flight of fancy that takes a headlong plunge into the Twilight Zone! If anything proves that this tale of a flight gone nightmarishly wrong took its inspiration from the classic television series, it’s the fact that when you read it, or watch the 90s made-for-TV movie, it’s impossible for any true Twilight Zone fan not to draw parallels between this story and the classic Twilight Zone episode called The Odyssey of Flight 33. Still, King does a great job of taking this peculiar, creepy premise and making it his own. This story is featured in his horror novella anthology Four Past Midnight. By the way, if you like the story, the movie, a television miniseries, is well worth seeing. It’s only true fault is the bad CGI effects at the end. If you like owning Stephen King’s novellas individually, I would go ahead and buy the book this way, especially if you want to have it as an iBook. As a print book, I would recommend that horror fans look for an older edition than this one. I have nothing against it; I just prefer older covers like horror books had in the 80s and 90s. If you’re a fan of collecting Stephen King’s collections, you should just wait and buy the anthology Four Past Midnight. Any fans who like collecting iBooks will love knowing it’s available as one, unless you’re already aware of it. Whether you like hardcover books or paperbacks, any fans of print books should go ahead and buy it that way. If you like saving money, older editions of the book should be available in any thrift store in America. While all of the King of Horror’s fans are aware of his first collection of novellas, Different Seasons, those who are looking for a horror anthology specifically, will devour Four Past Midnight. Aside from The Langoliers, the other tales of terror include Secret Window, Secret Garden, The Library Policeman, and The Sun Dog. All of these stories are also available individually, but if you like owning King’s collections, it’s obvious which book is the wisest choice to buy. After all, I’m writing this review on December 21st and I’m sitting here thinking of what a great Christmas gift this book would make for any horror fan who really loves to read, especially if they’re fans of truly weird and creepy tales of the supernatural. With stories of a flight that goes strangely and frighteningly awry, a writer who meets his worst nightmare at a cabin in the woods, a man who finds a horror from the past lurking in a small town library, and good-hearted teenage boy who finds that the photos he takes with a new camera show that something strange and terrible is coming for him, Four Past Midnight is packed with terrifying tales! If you buy this for someone as a Christmas gift, don’t wish them a merry Christmas. Wish them a SCARY Christmas!