I've actually never flown on a plane before. So reading this definitely made the idea a little more scary for me. However, I'm also a Stephen King fan so there was no way I could pass up on reading this collection.

Book Review: Flight or Fright, 17 Turbulent Tales, by Stephen King (Editor), Bev Vincent (Editor) , Arthur Conan Doyle, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl and others

The master's introduction is wonderfully written and dutifully outlines the premise of the anthology; that if you weren't scared enough of bad food, cramp spaces, insufferable delays and generally lousy service, this book would make that wheels up trip a second option to the old gas guzzler.

Of the seventeen, a handful of good short stories out of mostly recycled stuff on dread and horror by some great writers. "Cargo" by E. Michael Lewis is quite original and stands out.

You'd feel a bit robbed paying full price with the lede and promise of the Stephen King brand. Although it still is Stephen King!

Review based on an advance reading copy provided by NetGalley and Scribner.

I was a little disappointed at first to discover these stories weren't all by Stephen King but no matter - - he chose some good ones to include in this anthology. From the 'could actually happen' to "not likely horror', these stories definitely kept my attention.

Not a book to read on a flight!!

I knew I wanted to read this book as soon as I saw that it was co-edited by Stephen King and included a story by him. This book contains 17 entries - mostly short stories and also a few poems - by authors both known and unknown to me. "The Horror of Heights" by Arthur Conan Doyle is a decidedly different story by the creator of Sherlock Holmes. It was written in 1913, 10 years after the Wright brothers initiated the possibility of flight. The story centers around the discovery of a manuscript found after the disappearance of an aviator attempting to beat the current height record by reaching 40,000 feet. The descriptions of the workings of the airplane in those early days are fascinating, as are the possibilities of what awaits us above the clouds. The collection also includes "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", the classic by Richard Matheson that was made into a Twilight Zone episode and remains as frightening today as when it first appeared. "Lucifer!" is the story of Frank Weston, a morgue attendant who comes into possession of a special ring which gives him the power of taking a short trip on a time machine into the future, who found that having the advantage of a 57-second peek into the future isn't all you would think it would be. "You Are Released" by Joe Hill recounts the thoughts and actions of the passengers on a commercial airline when nuclear war breaks out below them. "The Turbulence Expert" by Stephen King turns a paralyzing terror of flying into the ability to prevent plane crash deaths. Every entry in this book involves airplanes in one way or another and there isn't a boring page in the entire 350 pages. I could hardly put this book down and read the whole thing in two sittings. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw Stephen King’s name on the cover I got very excited, but it is worth noting that this is a collection of fifteen previously published stories plus two new ones by various authors. I was disappointed that only one story is written by King. I'm giving 4 stars for Joe Hill's entry, otherwise it would probably have been a 3 star read for me. Although, most of the stories are horror, I believe they are varied enough for most readers’ taste. You will read about such things as time travel, terrorism, and even a poem about a real life incident, all based around the fear of flying. Makes me not want to get on a plane anytime soon.
I received a complimentary e-copy of Flight or Fright from NetGalley via Scribner for my volunteered and honest review.

Want an anthology of stories to read? This is an anthology on aircraft and flight. After this variety of stories, you may not want to fly. The stories span starting with man’s first flight to the “present.” Most of the stories are horror. There is also some mysteries and adventure stories. It’s a good anthology to read as it is scary if you are already afraid of flying. If not, you may find yourself thinking twice before taking the plane.

I enjoyed reading the anthology but was not scared as I expected to be. I suspect that if you already have a fear of flying for any number of reasons, the stories will reinforce those reasons not to fly besides scaring you. It’s interesting and fun to read regardless.

A collection of fifteen previously published stories plus two new ones fill Flight or Fright.

If you haven’t read Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, or seen the iconic Twilight Zone episode, join one man’s solo terror when he sees a man (or does he?) trying to destroy the wing of his plane.

One of the stories original to this collection is You are Released by Joe Hill. It is a too-close-to-true story about air travelers during a possibly nuclear incident.

Stephen King’s original story, The Turbulence Expert, is about a mysterious organization that perhaps Mr. King is a member of in real life?

The stories are varied enough for most readers’ taste. There are a few stories written when flight was still brand new and are more curiosities than entertaining. There are stories about time travel, terrorism, and even a poem about a real life incident. The majority are horror stories.

Spend an enjoyable few hours reading Flight or Fright and you won’t be sorry. Joe Hill’s story alone is worth picking up the book. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars!

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Well....I don't want to be a plane anytime soon.

Stephen King edits a collection of stories (and one poem) all about in the air terror. Because - you know, being stuck in a metal tube, hurtling through the sky isn't scary enough. :)

Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the man who continues to terrify me, Stephen King, for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book contains 17 short stories about air travel. The stories will continue to haunt you long after you read the book. Each story makes you rethink how you travel, and whether it's worth flying. Stephen King and Beth Vincent are masters of horror story telling. This book does not disappoint.

I received a free e-copy of Flight or Fright by Stephen King from NetGalley for my honest review.

A very intense and interesting collection of 17 short stories. Each story is by a different author (one being Stephen King and another Joe Hill) and the book was edited by Stephen King and Bev Vincent. All the stories are centered around flight and they are sure to give you a fright.

Happy reading my friends!

3 for neutral! When I saw King’s name I got very excited, but as I tried to get into this book I could not. I’m a very moody reader, so I will update if I am able to get into it and enjoy it.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

I read my first Stephen King novel at age 8--Pet Sematary. To this day, I still love that book. I've read it probably 50 times, at least. In 5th grade, I saw my teacher reading It while on break. I asked her about it, and she agreed to read an excerpt to the class. (These days, I'm sure that wouldn't go over well, but back then...not a big deal.) I went home and immediately mentioned to my mom I'd like my own copy. Now in my 40s, my love affair with Stephen King's brand of creativity has been a long one.

Flight or Fright: 17 Turbulent Tales is a lovely little collection of short stories...all involving aircraft in some form. While I'm not an overly nervous flyer, I'm a grouchy one. The tedious process of just getting ON the plane is beyond annoying--not to mention the bumps, the layovers, the delays, the missing connections, and the total germ-fest that is an airplane.

This collection begins with an introduction from Mr. King himself...and as a Constant Reader, can I just say....I lap up his intros like a dog lapping up water after playing in 90 degree heat. His anecdotes are the bomb. And after reading what once happened to him in a plane, which he vividly describes in the introduction, I can understand his fear and fascination. SK also briefly introduces each short story, which I enjoyed.

Below, I'm going to give a my brief thought about each story. I'll add stars by my favorites.

Cargo by E. Michael Lewis: Exceptionally sad and disturbing.

The Horror of the Heights by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Very creative, but a little slow.

**Nightmare at 20,000 Feet by Richard Matheson: Somewhat funny, but scary at the same time...a person like that could be on your next flight!

The Flying Machine by Ambrose Pierce: An incredibly short blurb regarding people's gullibility.

**Lucifer! by E.C. Tubb: One of my favorites...super clever, with a very satisfying, and demented, conclusion.

The Fifth Category by Tom Bissell: This had the potential to be a really good story, but honestly, I didn't understand the ending. If anybody did, please fill me in below. Also, a little too much background information...it was a bit slow.

Two Minutes Forty-Five Seconds by Dan Simmons: Short and sweet, but frightening to contemplate.

Diablitos by Cody Goodfellow: Ummm...okay? This is an odd story, and one I'm not entirely sure I understood. Very confusing.

Air Raid by John Varley: A really creative little story.

**You Are Released by Joe Hill: I'm honestly not a huge fan of Joe Hill's work typically, but this story was amazing. One of the best...and a little too realistic.

Warbirds by David J. Schow: BORING.

The Flying Machine by Ray Bradbury: Honestly, a little sad.

Zombies on a Plane by Bev Vincent: A fun, tense read.

**They Shall Not Grow Old by Roald Dahl: Time travel at its finest!

Murder In The Air by Peter Tremayne: This wrapped up a little too perfectly for my taste, but a cute little murder mystery, nevertheless.

**The Turbulence Expert by Stephen King: Not terribly deep or thought-provoking, but always fun. Loved it!

Falling by James L. Dickey: Not my favorite. I hate poetry.

Final thoughts....

This was a fun read, covering a variety of possibilities. Some stories were better than others, but overall, I enjoyed this reading experience. I found I enjoyed the more modern stories that didn't involve war or military the best. One last thing...why are there no female authors? That's a problem.

**Thanks to NetGalley and Cemetery Dance Publishing for the free e-copy of this collection.

Wow! This is an excellent collection of short stories by various authors, several of whom I was familiar with, and others whom I'd never heard of before. The book opens with a creepy story about a young loadmaster transporting a cargo hold full of bodies from the Jonestown Massacre . . . and let's just say that a few of his "passengers" are still pretty active! I really loved the short stories that dealt with flyers during World World 2. And who can forget Richard Matheson's classic short story, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." Also, while I'm not a huge fan of poetry, the poem included at the end of this collection, based on the real-life story of a flight attendant who was sucked out of a jet at 34,000 feet, was absolutely haunting. Overall, this is a great collection of scary stories about the "horror" that is air travel. Highly recommended. Just don't take it with you on your next flight.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

OMG. What a drag. I was drawn to this anthology of short stories not just because of Mr. King but because of the theme of this anthology. I am a fan of aviation stories. Plus, unlike Mr. King, I don't mind flying. In fact, I have about thirty hours of flight time under my belt piloting a plane.

The first story was good, the next one was alright and the next several were boring. I was expecting a bunch of great stories filled with horror, thrills, and chills. Stories that would make you fearful of flying. Kind of like Final Destination, the first movie in the series.

I was even let down by Mr. Dan Simmons and Joe Hill. Two favorite authors of mine. After that I did not feel like reading any of the remaining stories left in this anthology. I would not recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for this free book and the opportunity to give and honest opinion. Only one of these short stories is by Steven King. The rest, introduced by him, are written by relatives, friends, and famous authors of the past. They are not necessarily horror but all have linkages to the fear of flying. All are well written and interesting but like many short stories can end with nothing totally resolved. It is up to the reader to determine what happens next.

Did you know that Stephen King has one major fear: the fear of flying? He only travels in planes when he absolutely has to. In his introduction to the collection, he lists all the reasons he hates flying - the privacy violation of the security process, the cramped conditions, and most of all, the unavoidable prison that you voluntarily submit to when you’re on a plane. “Once your tube of metal and plastic is sealed up (like—gulp!—a coffin) and leaving the runway, trailing its dwindling shadow behind it, only one thing is sure, a thing so positive it is beyond statistics: you will come down. Gravity demands it. The only question is where and why and in how many pieces, one being the ideal. [...] While your overcrowded tube rocks and rolls and judders and creaks, you have time to reflect on the fragility of your body and that one irrefutable fact: you will come down.” Once the doors close, that’s it - if something goes wrong, you’re dead.

FLIGHT OR FRIGHT is an anthology of short horror stories edited by King and Bev Vincent about this death contraption. Some of the authors are well known - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ambrose Bierce, Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, and of course Stephen King. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of female authors, especially given how many kickass women in horror are active now. The stories are of varying lengths, some as short as a few pages and some an intense sci fi journey. As with most anthologies, some of these stories are great and some are meh. I thoroughly enjoyed Matheson’s “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (a veritable Twilight Zone episode) and Goodfellow’s “Diablitos” (cultural horror comes upon an art thief). On the other hand, most of these stories missed the mark for me. They required immersion in a subject that I don’t find terrifying at all, and lost me within the first few pages.

If you’re not already afraid of flying, I can’t say that this book will give you a new phobia. For me, many of the stories fell flat because I could not relate to the fear of flying. However, many of these stories are enjoyable and weird reads, and maybe they’ll get you thinking about how you’re not as secure in your seat as you once thought.

I have always been a Stephen King fan and love how he is now writing on current topics but putting his unique spin on them. This is not as great as some of his other stuff, but it's not bad either. It was a quick read and true to his style of writing.

I love short stories and especially short stories by awesome authors!!! I enjoyed every story in this book and would highly recommend it to anyone!!

I liked this book a lot. I like a good book of short stories.
It's a great read for any time you cannot get into a long
book. Dr's office or any time you have to wait. I wouldn't
recommend it on a flight though. I enjoyed all of the
stories.

I haven't stepped foot on an airplane in 24 years following a very, very, very rough landing at KCI International during a storm. Those 10 minutes of silent, white knuckle terror ruined flying for me. I'm terrified to get on a plane. There isn't enough alcohol or happy pills to make a flight enjoyable for me. One lightning filled, turbulent, fast loss of altitude event ...... Done. Completely done. Soaring above the clouds strapped into a metal capsule that weighs upwards of 75 tons is just tempting fate. Not to mention I firmly fear that each of us only gets one extra life, do-over, miraculous save....whatever you want to call it. I got out of one scrape unscathed....the next one, my luck might not kick in. Game over. Know what I mean?

Stephen King has spent decades scaring the piss out of me. Vampires. Crazed killers. Telekinetic angry teenagers. Demons. Aliens. CLOWNS. Oh my god....clowns. Hate them! And now he pokes me in yet another fear factor -- flying. When I saw this story anthology, edited by King and Bev Vincent, I knew I had to read every single one of the 17 stories contained within. I can enjoy the horror....while safely on the ground.

I love this book! I knew I was going to love it the minute I saw the dedication list at the beginning. The story collection is dedicated to pilots who landed safely after a harrowing flight....and the list includes Ted Striker. There was absolutely no need for anyone to queue up to slap me as I lost control while reading....I was totally ready for in-flight horror. And, I didn't have the fish.

The stories are varied with selections from classic writers like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Ambrose Bierce to the modern commercial era featuring stories by Joe Hill and E. Michael Lewis. Even Roald Dahl has a tale in this anthology. I enjoyed every single story....none of them crashed and burned. Some were less horrific....others were completely creepy. Each has an introduction giving info on the author and the story. Loved it!

While Stephen King has been scaring me for decades, Bev Vincent is a new author for me. He writes for the Cemetery Dance Magazine, authored the companion book to the Dark Tower series by King, and has an impressive list of magazine short stories listed in his bio. I'm definitely going to look for his work and do some very enjoyable reading! I love it when I discover a new-to-me author that writes in one of my favorite genres! I hope they collaborate on more story anthologies....I really enjoyed this one!

I recommend these tales for anyone who enjoys horror short stories, whether they love flying or hate it. As someone who refuses to get on a plane, I found these stories a bit more distressing than others might....made for a fun experience!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Scribner via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. What you make of this review is your own choice....but I recommend a hat, a broach or perhaps a terradactyl.**