"A new collection called After Midnight gathers together 13 of her stories, appropriately introduced by long-reigning Master of Horror, Stephen King. With so much to be nervous about in this world of ours, it may seem counterintuitive for me to recommend a collection that will only stir up more fear. But think of these short stories as a kind of literary "hair of the dog" - a way to cope with existential dread by sampling it in small, potent sips."
"The Birds opens in autumn with a sudden drop in temperature; two days later, we're told, that "at barely three o'clock, a kind of darkness had already come, the sky sullen, heavy, colorless like salt." The birds begin to amass, growing more sentient by the hour. Here's the moment where our main character, a farmhand named Nat Hocken, realizes that he's not alone on the beach:"
"When Stephen arrives at the facility, he's initiated into the secrets of an AI-type machine called Charon Three that's designed with a built-in storage unit to entrap the life force that "leaves the body on the point of death." As the head scientist (perhaps, mad?) explains to Stephen, "If we succeed ... [w]e shall have the answer at last to the intolerable futility of death.""
After Midnight gathers 13 macabre short stories spanning Daphne du Maurier's more than forty-year career beyond Rebecca. Stephen King provides the introduction to the collection. Stories range in tone from quietly mournful to starkly terrifying, offering varied shades of eerie atmosphere. The Birds depicts escalating avian menace and isolation, while The Breakthrough centers on an AI called Charon Three designed to entrap the life force at death. Many tales probe mortality and the human response to it. Art frequently emerges within the stories as a form of lasting legacy and a means of confronting existential dread.
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