'Shining in the Dark' is an anthology that was published in 2018 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Lilja's Library (website), a website dedicated to the life and works of [a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg]. You can find an overview and information on the various editions (original and translated versions) on this specific website, aptly named after the book: Shining in the Dark Anthology.

The book contains twelve stories by thirteen authors (one of the stories was thus written by two authors). Of these twelve stories, six were never published before. Below you can find the table of contents, with the French titles in italic. It's the French version that I've read, as it was published only recently (October 2020).

These stories are sandwiched between an introduction and an afterword by the anthologist and owner of Lilja's Library. In addition, the various authors added some words on their respective stories: what the story is about and what the idea behind it is.

Table of Contents:
"Celebrating 20 Years of Lilja's Library (An Introduction)" by Hans-Åke Lilja (2017)
Fêter les vingt ans de Lilja's Library: une introduction (translated by Éric Holstein)

"The Blue Air Compressor" by Stephen King (1971)
Le Compresseur bleu: un récit horrifique (translated by Annaïg Houesnard)

"The Net" by Jack Ketchum and P. D. Cacek (2006)
Le Réseau (translated by Éric Holstein)

"The Novel of the Holocaust" by Stewart O'Nan (2006)
Le Roman de l'Holocaust (translated by Éric Holstein)

"Aeliana" by Bev Vincent (2017)
Aeliana (translated by Annaïg Houesnard)

"Pidgin and Theresa" by Clive Barker (1993)
Charabia et Theresa (translated by Éric Holstein)

"An End To All Things " by Brian Keene (2017)
La Fin de toutes choses (translated by Annaïg Houesnard)

"Cemetery Dance" by Richard Chizmar (1992)
La Danse du cimetière (translated by Annaïg Houesnard)

"Drawn to the Flame" by Kevin Quigley (2017)
L'Attraction des Flammes (translated by Annaïg Houesnard)

"The Companion" by Ramsey Campbell (1976)
Le Compagnon (translated by Jean-Daniel Brèque; revised translation, as the first French translation was published in [b:Territoires de l'inquiétude, 1|7904827|Territoires de l'inquiétude, 1|Alain Dorémieux|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1524040275l/7904827._SY75_.jpg|11166675] by Alain Dorémieux, published by Denoël in 1991)

"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe (1843)
Le Cœur révélateur (translated by Baudelaire)

"A Mother's Love" by Brian James Freeman (2017)
L'Amour d'une mère (translated by Annaïg Houesnard)

"The Keeper's Companion" by John Ajvide Lindqvist (2017)
Le Manuel du Gardien (translated by Éric Holstein)

"Celebrating 20 Years of Lilja's Library (An Afterword)" by Hans-Åke Lilja (2017)
Fêter les vingt ans de Lilja's Library : postface (translated by Éric Holstein)

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I'm not what you could call a "fan" of Stephen King. In fact, the only King-novel I've read is the Dutch edition of [b:22-11-1963|12584104|22-11-1963|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1315711184l/12584104._SY75_.jpg|15553789] (see my review here), which I liked a lot. This wasn't a horror-story, though. In terms of horror, the list of books that can be (entirely or partially) catalogued as such is rather limited, as you can see here.

While horror may not be among my preferred genres, I did find it interesting to read this anthology, precisely because of the various unknown authors in this book. This volume contains short-stories by Mr King himself, Clive Barker, Edgar Allan Poe and several other writers. The lion's share is, however, unknown to me, both in terms of names and works in general.

As I saw in other reviews, not many of the presented stories here can be labelled as horror, rather can be tagged as fantastic, thriller, or otherwise. Labels and tags aside, and is typical for such anthologies: not every story was a hit. Honestly obliges me to add that there were a small handful that really stood out. As far as I'm concerned, those were the following:

* Charabia et Theresa - Clive Barker
* L'Attraction des Flammes - Kevin Quigley
* Le Cœur révélateur - Edgar Allan Poe
* Le Manuel du Gardien - John Ajvide Lindqvist

Among the others, there were stories that were OK (in my opinion); nothing fancy, but does the job. The remainder were either not properly worked out, felt like an extract of a grander whole, or just weren't my cup of tea. And yes, unfortunately, Stephen King's previously unpublished story is among those that were the least attractive or worked out. It felt, at least to me, like a rough draft or an idea one could have had in school, during lunch-time or something.

'Shining in the Dark', a mixed bag, offered in general a good dose of entertainment (or anguish and dread in some of the stories) in-between other books. In that regard, my reading horizon has expanded, thanks to 'Shining in the Dark'. Mind you, despite its "glowing", leather-looking cover, the book is to be read with the lights on (daylight or artificial light). ;-)

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I was sent this book by Éditions ActuSF for review. Many thanks to them for the trust. ( )

contains SK’s “The Blue Air Compressor”