Graveyard Shift
Encyclopedia
"Graveyard Shift" is a short story by Stephen King
, first published in the October 1970 issue of Cavalier
magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift
. It was adapted into a 1990 film of the same name
.
, and the action largely takes place in a textile mill.
s has taken hold. This rat empire, cut off from the rest of nature, has allowed the animals to evolve into a strange and varied combination of creatures; complete with its own bizarre, self-sustaining ecosystem
. There are large, armoured rats, albino, weasel
-like rats that can climb up walls or burrow through the ground; and bat
-like rats that have evolved to pterodactyl-like
sizes. The men eventually come across a sub-basement, locked from the inside, that harbors something more terrifying and hideous than any of them could have dreamed—a cow-sized queen
rat with no eyes or legs, whose only purpose is to endlessly breed more rats. The workers, all too late, realize the horrible danger they are in and are devoured by the hordes of mutated rats.
Meanwhile, the other team of workers on the surface wonders what has happened to them and, with no idea what awaits them, prepares to descend into the basement.
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, first published in the October 1970 issue of Cavalier
Cavalier (magazine)
Cavalier is an American magazine that was launched by Fawcett Publications in 1952 and has continued for decades, eventually evolving into a Playboy-style men's magazine...
magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift
Night Shift (book)
Night Shift is the first collection of short stories by Stephen King, first published in 1978. Many of King's most famous short stories were included in this collection.-Stories collected:-Details:...
. It was adapted into a 1990 film of the same name
Graveyard Shift (film)
Graveyard Shift is a 1990 film directed by Ralph S. Singleton, written by John Esposito and based on the short story by Stephen King; First published in the 1970 issue of Cavalier magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift...
.
Setting
Graveyard Shift is set in a small town in MaineMaine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, and the action largely takes place in a textile mill.
Plot summary
A young drifter named Hall has been working at a decrepit textile mill in a small town in Maine when his boss, a cruel taskmaster, recruits him and others to assist with a massive cleaning effort. The basement of the old mill has been abandoned for decades, and over the years, a monumental infestation of ratRat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s has taken hold. This rat empire, cut off from the rest of nature, has allowed the animals to evolve into a strange and varied combination of creatures; complete with its own bizarre, self-sustaining ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
. There are large, armoured rats, albino, weasel
Weasel
Weasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs....
-like rats that can climb up walls or burrow through the ground; and bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
-like rats that have evolved to pterodactyl-like
Pteranodon
Pteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, was one of the largest pterosaur genera and had a maximum wingspan of over...
sizes. The men eventually come across a sub-basement, locked from the inside, that harbors something more terrifying and hideous than any of them could have dreamed—a cow-sized queen
Eusociality
Eusociality is a term used for the highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification....
rat with no eyes or legs, whose only purpose is to endlessly breed more rats. The workers, all too late, realize the horrible danger they are in and are devoured by the hordes of mutated rats.
Meanwhile, the other team of workers on the surface wonders what has happened to them and, with no idea what awaits them, prepares to descend into the basement.