3.0
Flight or Fright
ByPublisher Description
#1 New York Times bestselling author and master of horror Stephen King teams up with Bev Vincent of Cemetery Dance to present a terrifying collection of sixteen short stories (and one poem) that tap into one of King’s greatest fears—air travel—featuring brand-new stories by King and Joe Hill, “an expertly compiled collection of tales that entertain and scare” (Booklist).
Stephen King hates to fly, and he and co-editor Bev Vincent would like to share their fear of flying with you.
Welcome to Flight or Fright, an anthology about all the things that can go horribly wrong when you’re suspended six miles in the air, hurtling through space at more than 500 mph, and sealed up in a metal tube (like—gulp!—a coffin) with hundreds of strangers. Here are all the ways your trip into the friendly skies can turn into a nightmare, including some we’ll bet you’ve never thought of before... but now you will the next time you walk down the jetway and place your fate in the hands of a total stranger.
Featuring brand-new “standouts” (Publishers Weekly) by Joe Hill and Stephen King, as well as fourteen classic tales and one poem from the likes of Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Dan Simmons, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and many others, Flight or Fright is, as King says, “ideal airplane reading, especially on stormy descents…Even if you are safe on the ground, you might want to buckle up nice and tight.”
Each story is introduced by Stephen King and all will have you thinking twice about how you want to reach your final destination.
Stephen King hates to fly, and he and co-editor Bev Vincent would like to share their fear of flying with you.
Welcome to Flight or Fright, an anthology about all the things that can go horribly wrong when you’re suspended six miles in the air, hurtling through space at more than 500 mph, and sealed up in a metal tube (like—gulp!—a coffin) with hundreds of strangers. Here are all the ways your trip into the friendly skies can turn into a nightmare, including some we’ll bet you’ve never thought of before... but now you will the next time you walk down the jetway and place your fate in the hands of a total stranger.
Featuring brand-new “standouts” (Publishers Weekly) by Joe Hill and Stephen King, as well as fourteen classic tales and one poem from the likes of Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Dan Simmons, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and many others, Flight or Fright is, as King says, “ideal airplane reading, especially on stormy descents…Even if you are safe on the ground, you might want to buckle up nice and tight.”
Each story is introduced by Stephen King and all will have you thinking twice about how you want to reach your final destination.
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3.0
Hugo 👾
Created about 1 month agoShare
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“Welcome to.. going to read my first Stephen king book before finding out its a collection of short horror stories about aviation incidents 1 month before im due to strap myself into a metal tube for what will be the first time in 7 years, all for the pleasure of standing around in -15 for 4 nights in Santa Claus Village.
as this is a collection of 17 short stories all written by different authors, I will set this review as a book by book review and give the book a rating based on the average of all the reviews.
Book 1: Cargo (E. Michael Lewis)
This was meant to give a shiver down my spine. Spoiler: it didn't; its 10 pages of confusion; i'd have had better luck deciphering puzzle 100 in murdle. it was a pointless read for me, which is a remarkable thing to accomplish in 10 pages.
2/5
Book 2: The Horror of the Heights (Arthur Conan Doyle)
Arguably the most confusing story I have ever read revolving around early 1900s airplane technology and vocab which shattered my brain. To be fair it was published 100+ years ago.
1.5/5
Book 3: Nightmare at 20,000 feet (Richard Matheson)
My favourite so far, this one actually did have me scared but the ending felt kinda pointless and loosely tied to me.
4/5
Book 4: The Flying Machine (Ambrose Bierce)
The shortest book I've ever read; fuck, a mr men book cover has more words on it. Half an idea of what it was about. Worst 30 seconds spent today can't lie.
EDIT: After further research, I found part of the reason I don't understand this was because it was published in 1899
1/5
Book 5: Lucifer! (E.C. Tubb)
I actually loved this, especially the ending, "repeated, repeated repeated" for more context read the book, and i got that shiver i wanted to feel when i began reading these so far not amazingly scary short stories.
4.5/5
Book 6: The Fifth Category (Tom Bissell)
This had a great storyline but the flow of the juggle of what was happening at one bit and again at another was way to confusing. Felt well-tied up, solidly written.
3.5/5
Book 7: Two Minutes Forty-Five Seconds (Dan Simmons)
More a philosophical teaching than a horror short story. It started off well, but trailed off and I was left feeling like I had just ridden the smiler; confused, dizzy and looking forward to finishing and getting off the damned cart.
3/5
Book 8: Diablitos (Cody Goodfellow)
This book is the epitome of fantasy. Mutant masks, deceptive blind girls, people dying from the mask for no apparent reason. Gotta love fiction eh?
3.5/5
Book 9: Air Raid (John Varley)
To quote Winston Churchill "a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." In other words, I had no fucking idea what any of this meant, but for some reason it was sort of enjoyable.
2/5
Book 10: You are Released (Joe Hill)
Any mention of Armageddon has me shitting myself, it's a very real possibility we won't make it out of 2025, but this book had me petrified. And that's what a horror story is supposed to convey. Kudos
4.5/5
Book 11: Warbirds (David J. Schow)
Some of the military terminology flattened my brain but I loved the plot and felt I understood the characters over a short span of like 15 pages.
4/5
Book 12: The Flying Machine (Ray Bradbury)
This book was 1500 words long yet it was my favourite. It hit that sweet spot for me and the ending was just.. perfect.
5/5
Book 13: Zombies on a Plane (Bev Vincent)
Was a bit confusing, boring and definitely original, could be a walking dead fanfic but you know its your classic zombie taking over the world story so there's not really anything negative to say.
3/5
Book 14: They Shall Not Grow Old (Roald Dahl)
This has been my favourite so far. It's Roald Dahl so I had no doubt it wouldn't be good but.. wow. For the first time during a short story I cried. "I'm a lucky lucky bastard" is the best and saddest way someone can go out. This will also be the first short story I know I will definitely be reading again.
5/5
Book 15: Murder in the Air (Peter Tremayne)
The book started off slow at first, quite boring but I loved the way it ended with a sherlock-type mystery solve, a classic latin pun. I enjoyed the storyline, it had good pace.
4/5
Book 16: The Turbulence Expert (Stephen King)
Okay this book wasn't a full waste of time, there is actually a Stephen King story in here. I enjoyed it but don't really understand how the job would work. Fortune telling? Actually making sure the plane wouldn't crash? eh, who knows.
3.5/5
Book 17: Falling (James Dickey)
Just when I began to understand a part, it went up another notch in difficulty to understand. you see, I've never been one for poetry but I am trying to get into it, but it's like the sudden difficulty change in maths from fifth-seventh grade: addition to solving for x for the thousandth time. it doesn't make sense to me but I understood the general direction of where the poem was going I suppose. Also, the word spacing pissed me off further than words can describe.
see what i mean don't you?
2.5/5
Right, well that's done. After putting blood and tears over getting microsoft calculator to work, I found the rating of the book to be...
Around 3.3 stars which i will round down to 3.
In conclusion: Next time I'll just read IT”
Jennifer Jewell
Created about 2 months agoShare
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Henry R
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Marcus Spiecker
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Chy ♡
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“Some of these were so good but then some of these stories were ehhh soooo 2.75 stars”About Stephen King
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Never Flinch (May 2025), the short story collection You Like It Darker (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), Holly (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.
Other books by Stephen King
Bev Vincent
Bev Vincent is the author of The Road to the Dark Tower, the Bram Stoker Award nominated companion to Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, and The Stephen King Illustrated Companion, which was nominated for a 2010 Edgar Award and a 2009 Bram Stoker Award. His books have been translated into Dutch, Russian, and Italian.
Other books by Bev Vincent
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