Stephen King’s new collection of short stories is titled “You Like It Darker,” and he comments in the very fascinating afterword that he got the title from the Leonard Cohen song “You Want It Darker.” These twelve stories range from nine pages to ninety pages, and each one introduces us, unsurprisingly, to people who are visiting a dark place.

What did surprise me about this collection of stories is that unlike some of his previous work, King demonstrates even more of the darkness that is present in everyday lives and occurrences. I clearly remember the evil trucks in a story from his first collection of short stories, “Night Shift,” which I read over 40 years ago. In fact, traveling on highways at night, and one time in particular in Mexico when we stopped at a truck stop for a meal, I looked at the semis and, with a shiver, remembered that story. Forty years later. So many of King’s stories were about “things” that took on a life of their own and supernatural occurrences and otherworldly manifestations of evil, and when we are reminded of them by some occurrence, a shiver runs down our spines.

This collection seems to be more focused on the peccadillos of humanity and which influences might bear on our ability to succumb to or withstand pressures from others. Or even, as in one story, our inability to discern the evil that might be lurking, unseen, deep within the dark recesses of our souls. Sometimes, the influences might be from otherworldly sources, but each story makes us pause and think not just about our mortality, but about luck and justice.

These stories demonstrate that it doesn’t take the devil, or lots of blood and gore, to shock. As with all of King’s short stories, and his longer full-length novels and series, they are a delight to read. A delight that will surely be accompanied by a shiver or two, maybe even a nightmare. And we wouldn’t want it any other way.

This review is based on the final, hardcover book provided by the publisher, Scribner, for review purposes.