The End of the World As We Know It

New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand

By: Christopher Golden - editor, Brian Keene - editor, Stephen King - introduction

Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins, Adenrele Ojo

A 2026 Audie Award Finalist for Short Stories/Collections

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An original short story anthology based on master storyteller Stephen King’s #1 New York Times bestselling classic The Stand!

Since its initial publication in 1978, The Stand has been considered 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 unraveling of human society, none have been as influential as this iconic novel—generations of writers have been impacted by its dark yet ultimately hopeful vision of the end and new beginning of civilization, and its stunning array of 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 unforgettable, all-new stories set during and after (and some perhaps long after) the events of The Stand—brilliant, terrifying, and painfully human tales that will resonate with readers everywhere as an essential companion to the classic, bestselling novel.

Featuring an introduction by Stephen King, a foreword by Christopher Golden, and an afterword by Brian Keene. Contributors include Wayne Brady and Maurice Broaddus, Poppy Z. Brite, Somer Canon, C. Robert Cargill, Nat Cassidy, V. Castro, Richard Chizmar, S. A. Cosby, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes, Meg Gardiner, Gabino Iglesias, Jonathan Janz, Alma Katsu, Caroline Kepnes, Michael Koryta, Sarah Langan, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Lebbon, Josh Malerman, Ronald Malfi, Usman T. Malik, Premee Mohamed, Cynthia Pelayo, Hailey Piper, David J. Schow, Alex Segura, Bryan Smith, Paul Tremblay, Catherynne M. Valente, Bev Vincent, Catriona Ward, Chuck Wendig, Wrath James White, and Rio Youers.

Average stories punctuated by often bad readings

I liked the Mosque story and bits of a few other stories, but overall I wish this world had been left alone. The female reader was not good. That’s it. Her cadence was off to me - almost sing-songy- and didn’t track with the tone of the tale. Her reading in an English accent was simply unlistenable. The male narrator lived up to what is the generally high standard for Audible, but the stories were, overall, mediocre. Sad ending to The Stand.

Really uneven

The story quality varied wildly, some held my attention but many could not. One of the narrators was like nails on a chalkboard to me and the other was just OK.

Most stories are good, one narrator not good

The Stand is my favorite King so I was excited for this one. Knowing King didn’t write these, I kept an open mind to the writing. There are some great stories, some were just ok. Overall I enjoyed it, but the female narrator made it really hard to get excited for the stories she narrated.

Underwhelmed

I wanted to love this SO BAD! And there were about 4/5 stories in here that are really great. But the rest we just kinda….eh?

No one seemed to want to touch the main characters outside of Flagg and Abigail, which was a bit disappointing, though I guess I get it.

Some great, some not

This exhaustive anthology has some great stories and somenot so much, but the biggest flaw is the narration. Sean Patrick Hopkins is a five star, but Adenrele Oj's affectations are cringeworthy. Some of her efforts were of Scott Brick's caliber -- overly emphatic and dramatic. I skipped some of her stories and otherwise found the collection was well worth perusing.