What was Stephen King's first short story collection, published in 1978?

Stephen King's first short story collection, published in 1978, was Night Shift.

Released by Doubleday on February 17, 1978, Night Shift gathered twenty stories written during the early part of King's career. Several had appeared previously in magazines including Cavalier, Penthouse, Cosmopolitan, Gallery and Ubris, while others were published in book form for the first time.

The collection helped establish themes that became central to King's fiction: ordinary people confronting grotesque forces, childhood fears, bodily transformation and the dark side of familiar American places. It includes stories such as “Children of the Corn,” “The Boogeyman,” “Trucks,” “The Mangler” and “Sometimes They Come Back.”

Night Shift is sometimes confused with Skeleton Crew, King's second major short story collection, published in 1985. Everything's Eventual and Nightmares & Dreamscapes came much later. The collection also became important to King's screen legacy: several stories, including “Children of the Corn,” “The Mangler” and “Maximum Overdrive,” were adapted for film or television.