Different Seasons - Stephen King

Each of the four stories, markedly different in tone and subject, present a journey: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (Hope Springs Eternal) is a tale of an innocent man who devises an exciting escape from prison; The Apt Pupil (Summer of Corruption) is the story of a golden schoolboy and an old man with a hideous past who join in a dreadful union; in The Body (Fall from Innocence), four young boys venture into the woods and find life, death and the end of innocence and The Breathing Method (A Winter's Tale) is a macabre story told in a strange club of a woman determined to give birth...no matter what.

Shawshank Redemption - I really liked this short story, following a prisoner of Shawshank, sentenced to a long haul jail sentence and recounting his experience. As much as he was not the main character in the plot - as in he was recounting the stories of others, it made an interesting thriller. A real page turner that kept you thirsty for more.

The Apt Pupil - This was true to Kings style, all a bit on the creepy and slightly wrong side of story telling. A true dark story with a dark story line that kept you thrilled and intreguied throughout.  I did not find it as easy to read, gripping as Shawshank but it could have been the unease of this story that made that so.

The Body - Another good thriller, about the story of four boys who set off on a long adventure to find a body. This story, in a creepy way had a sense of realism of the times, and the dark things that can happen to four boys in the woods and the close encounters they faced. Another story to keep you gripped and on the edge of your seat.

The Breathing Method - This was another very dark story which was a story within a story - almost felt irrelevant to present it in this way. A very dark tale that was a thriller with a ver macabre twist. The darkest of the four stories and puts you very much at unease.

Steven King is a great writer of dark materials and this is no exception.  I think this is a good collection which represents the talents of Steven King as a writer. Very dark thrillers that leave you a little bit uneasy to read, but gripping none the less.  A great ghost story to keep you amused and entertained.