Flight or Fright: 17 Turbulent Tales

#1 New York Times bestselling author and master of horror Stephen King teams up with Bev Vincent to present a terrifying collection of short stories that tap into one of King’s greatest fears—air travel— featuring brand-new stories by King as well as Joe Hill, in addition to fourteen classic tales and one poem from the likes of Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, and Dan Simmons.

Stephen King hates to fly.

Now he and coeditor Bev Vincent would like to share this 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. 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 stories 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, and Dan Simmons, 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.” This terrifying new anthology will have you thinking twice about how you want to reach your final destination.

Table of Contents:

—Introduction by Stephen King

—“Cargo” by E. Michael Lewis

—“The Horror of the Heights” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

—“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” by Richard Matheson

—“The Flying Machine” by Ambrose Bierce

—“Lucifer!” by E.C. Tubb

—“The Fifth Category” by Tom Bissell

—“Two Minutes Forty-Five Seconds” by Dan Simmons

—“Diablitos” by Cody Goodfellow

—“Air Raid” by John Varley

—“You Are Released” by Joe Hill

—“Warbirds” by David J. Schow

—“The Flying Machine” by Ray Bradbury

—“Zombies on a Plane” by Bev Vincent

—“They Shall Not Grow Old” by Roald Dahl

—“Murder in the Air” by Peter Tremayne

—“The Turbulence Expert” by Stephen King

—“Falling” by James L. Dickey

—Afterword by Bev Vincent

Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes 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 an AT&T Audience Network original television series). 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 and It are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of 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.

Bev Vincent is a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance magazine, where he has been writing "News from the Dead Zone" for each issue since 2001. He is the author of several books, most recently The Dark Tower Companion, and over eighty short stories, including appearances in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, several SHIVERS anthologies, and two MWA anthologies. His work has been nominated for the Edgar Award, the Bram Stoker Award (twice), and the ITW Thriller Award. He can be found lurking in various corners of the internet, including at BevVincent.com, his book review blog OnyxReviews.com, and @BevVincent on Twitter.

Simon Jones Broadway credits include: The Real Thing, Benefactors, The School for Scandal, The Herbal Bed, and Waiting in the Wings (Outer Critics Circle nominee). Off-Broadway credits include: Woman in Mind, Terra Nova, Privates On Parade (Drama Desk nominee). Film and TV highlights: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, The Devil's Own, Brideshead Revisited, PBS's Liberty and HBO's Oz.

Malcolm Graeme has appeared on and off Broadway in Aida, The King and I, Lincoln Center's Hapgood, and M. Butterfly (National Tour). His television appearances include Law & Order, Follow the River, and Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson (with Laurence Olivier). Film credits include A Further Gesture, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, and Reunion.