Love it, like it, or leave it, there's no denying King's The Stand as a seminal work of apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic fiction. A doorstop of a novel that succeeds more because of its characters than its premise. When an author introduces such a massive, worldwide idea, and presents it through the lens of a handful of characters, there are allusions to scope, and sometimes just a peek at said scope (no great loss).
Convening some of the biggest names in modern horror to explore what's happening on the other side of the world, or in some cases right down the road (or the other side of the tent) during and after the events of the novel scratches an itch for King fans they might not even have been aware of.
As mentioned, the stories span from the start of Captain Tripps, run concurrently with the event of the novel, and then take stabs to fill in what happens next, along with some forays into other worlds.
I recommend spacing the stories out over a time rather than plowing straight through as many stories center around similar themes of being called by one entity or the other, and how that intertwines with simple survival. The bevy of character and experience keep these themes from becoming stale, but I found this a book to savor rather than devour.
Though there are no duds in this volume (the table of contents essentially serves as a promise in this regard) some of the stories that really lingered in my mind belonged to C. Robert Cargill, Bev Vincent, Tim Lebbon, S.A. Cosby, Tananarive Due & Stephen Barnes, Ronald Malfi, Sarah Langan, and Nat Cassidy.
Simply put, if you love The Stand, this supplementary experience and the shared love of all these authors for the work and King, in general, will put a smile on your face and remind you what drew you into that 1200 page behemoth in the first place.

The End of the World As We Know It is an absolute gift to anyone who’s ever been haunted, inspired, or flat-out obsessed with The Stand. Officially authorized by Stephen King (yes, really) and curated by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene, this anthology brings together some of the sharpest storytellers working today—and they nail the eerie, post-pandemic vibe of King’s apocalyptic world.

I was maybe 12 or 13 when I first cracked open The Stand. It wasn’t my first King—that honor belongs to Pet Sematary—but it was the one that rewired my brain and showed me what fiction could do. The scale. The characters. That primal, epic clash of good versus evil. It left a mark.

So when I heard about this anthology? Immediate nerd-flail. More stories from that world? Inject it straight into my veins.

The good: These stories belong. The voices, the atmosphere, the heartbreak and hope—all of it fits. The characters feel real, even in the space of a few pages, and each story adds a new layer to the world King built.

The only bad part? They’re short. Just when I got attached to a character or story, bam—the end. A few of these could easily anchor full-length novels and I’d read the hell out of them.

Bottom line: I loved this book so much I don’t have the vocabulary to do it justice. It’s eerie, emotional, and deeply human. If The Stand ever got its own cinematic universe, this would be its Rogue One—essential, heartbreaking, unforgettable.

Five giant, end-of-the-world-sized stars.