Full Dark, No Stars, published in November 2010, is a collection of four novellas by American author Stephen King, all dealing with the theme of retribution.[1][2] One of the novellas, 1922, is set in Hemingford Home, Nebraska, which is the home of Mother Abagail from King's epic novel The Stand (1978), the town the adult Ben Hanscom moves to in It (1986), where Alice and Billy stop for a while towards the end of the book Billy Summers, and the setting of the short story "The Last Rung on the Ladder" (1978). The collection won the 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Best Collection, and the 2011 British Fantasy Award for Best Collection. Also, 1922 was nominated for the 2011 British Fantasy Award for Best Novella.[3]

Full Dark, No Stars
First edition cover
AuthorStephen King
Cover artistJeff Bark
LanguageEnglish
GenreHorror
PublisherScribner
Publication date
November 9, 2010
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages368
ISBN978-1-4391-9256-6
Preceded byJust After Sunset 
Followed byThe Bazaar of Bad Dreams 

Novellas

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Background information

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The titles of the novellas and their synopses were announced on the author's official website on April 2, 2010.[4] This is King's third collection of four novellas after Different Seasons (1982) and Four Past Midnight (1990).[5]

Release

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Announced on King's official site on February 16, 2010, it was published on November 9, 2010.[6] Cemetery Dance Publications has released several limited edition iterations of the book: a Slipcased Gift Edition, a Signed Limited Edition, and a Lettered Edition shortly after the original hardcover edition.[7] The paperback edition released on May 24, 2011 contains an additional new short story "Under the Weather" written in 2011 (ISBN 978-1451648386), which was later collected in The Bazaar of Bad Dreams in 2015.

Critical response

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The book received generally positive reviews. The review aggregator website Book Marks reported that 35% of critics gave the book a "rave" review, while 47% of the critics expressed "positive" impressions, based on a sample of 17 reviews.[8]

The Washington Post, in its review of the book, called Full Dark, No Stars "satisfyingly bleak" and "a disturbing, fascinating book."[9] Amazon placed the book at #25 out of 100 in its "Best Books of 2010" list.[10]

In other media

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Both A Good Marriage and Big Driver were adapted into films, with screenplays written by Stephen King and Richard Christian Matheson respectively. A Good Marriage was released theatrically in 2014, while Big Driver was released as a television film the same year. 1922 was adapted as a Netflix original film and released October 2017. Actor Thomas Jane portrayed the main role.

References

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  1. ^ Full Dark, No Stars on Stephen King's official site
  2. ^ "Next Stephen King Project Entitled Full Dark, No Stars". August 2012.
  3. ^ "Stephen King Awards". Science Fiction Awards Database. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  4. ^ "UK Cover Art for Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars". 4 October 2012.
  5. ^ "Cover Art for Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars". 21 June 2010.
  6. ^ "Next book release". Archived from the original on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
  7. ^ "Cemetery Dance's Full Dark, No Stars special editions". Archived from the original on 2011-02-24. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  8. ^ "Full Dark, No Stars". Book Marks. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  9. ^ Bill Sheehan (October 27, 2010). ""Full Dark, No Stars," four novellas by horror writer Stephen King". The Washington Post.
  10. ^ Omnivoracious.com