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The End of the World as We Know It

New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand

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The End of the World as We Know It

By: Brian Keene - afterword, Christopher Golden - foreword, Stephen King - introduction
Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo, Sean Patrick Hopkins
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About this listen

 *** THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES TOP FIVE BESTSELLER ***

Since its initial publication in 1978, The Stand has been considered No. 1 bestselling author and master storyteller Stephen King's seminal masterpiece of apocalyptic fiction, with millions of copies sold and adapted twice for television. Although there are other extraor­dinary works exploring the unravelling of human society, none have been as influential as this iconic novel - with generations of writers impacted by its dark yet ultimately hopeful vision of the end and new beginning of civilization, and its stunning array of unforgettable characters.

Now for the first time, Stephen King has fully authorized a return to the harrowing world of The Stand through this original short story anthology as presented by award-winning authors and editors Christopher Golden and Brian Keene. Bringing together some of today's greatest and most visionary writers, The End of the World as We Know It fea­tures remarkable, all-new stories set during and after the events of The Stand - brilliant, terrifying, and painfully human tales that will resonate with listeners everywhere as an essential companion to the clas­sic bestselling novel.©2025 Brian Keene, Christopher Golden, Stephen King (P)2025 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Editors Select Genre Fiction Horror Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Scary

Editorial Review

The world of The Stand expands!
Stephen King’s 1978 classic The Stand is one of his longest, clocking in at nearly 48 hours. Get ready for an additional 28 hours from some of the most-gifted minds of modern horror storytelling in this well-crafted anthology. Featuring stories from visionary authors—including S.A. Cosby, Caroline Kepnes, Tananarive Due, Nat Cassidy, Josh Malerman—it’s performed by award-winning narrators Sean Patrick Hopkins and Adenrele Ojo. The terrifying tales ensnared me immediately, and King multiverse fans are in for a real treat with these diverse, horrifying happenings set within this specific universe.—Nicole R., Audible Editor

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There was one story in this book that left a very bad taste in my mouth. The story about the mermaid. Listen with Caution. But overall, very enjoyable listen

Great to revisit this universe

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Pretty good book, was great to hear stories from other points of view and what happened to other people, some of the stories where great, some where good, some where bad and some of them, well let’s just say I could happily go through the rest of my life never hearing anything from those authors again.
But it’s worth a credit and a listen.

Mostly good.

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It saddens me to say, that I'm half way through and these stories are feeling like the most contrived and uninspired of fan fictions. Hell! I'd wager I could find some fan fiction online that is more interesting than what they collated here. Perhaps these authors were all (whether consciously or not) afraid to go all in! In case they somehow offended S.K.
A bland, uninspired, dissapointed.

Is what it is *sigh*...

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Listening pretty exclusively to Stephen King books, I’ve sadly reached the end of the line with what I can get my hands on. So I was hopeful with this book but ready to keep it separate in my mind’s library.
Fortunately this does absolute justice to The Stand Universe and I believe I might have found me some new authors to have a mosey through.
While nothing could ever be as good as The Stand (imo), this book has sated my appetite between Never Flinch and what hopefully comes next.
Mr King, ever your grateful fan and constant avid reader, and should you and Mrs King ever visit FNQ Aus, I can guarantee an absolutely mediocre conversation that would make my absolute -d-a-y- life ;D
Thank you to everyone involved in this book for giving me another peek in to the world of Mother Abigail and what’s-his-cowboy-booted-face x

This hits the spot as a loyal Constant Reader

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The female narrator trying to do an English accent was hilarious. But apart from that there were some very good stories in there.

Some really good stories in there

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The Stand sits in my top 10 Stephen King novels (my top 10 are in no particular order as the order changes with time), so I was thrilled to find this compilation of side quest stories and future possible scenarios relating to The Stand. I didn’t want it to end! Congratulations to the authors of these stories, and to the writers who sought out and collated the stories to give us, the constant reader, a another view of the world we were immersed into and consumed by when reading The Stand. I enjoyed every one of the stories in this book and recommend it to anyone who became drawn in by The Stand. Now I’m left, feeling a yearning, and hoping they publish another volume because I just can’t get enough.

I want more!

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