You might not have read Different Seasons. The four stories included in the anthology are too long to be short stories and too short to be novels - a difficult situation Stephen King talks about in the collections' Afterword - and so they're a funny length to read. And yet I will bet that you could recite the plot of at least two of the stories without even thinking about it.
Indeed, anyone with access to basic cable has seen The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me on loop on TNT and TBS. It seems like you can't do one spin through the dial on a Saturday afternoon without stumbling on Morgan Freeman telling us to "get busy living or get busy dying" or Jerry O'Connell - right in the midst of his awkward stage - waxing prophetic about the allures of cherry Pez. Both stories originated in Different Seasons as the novellas "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body," and they are two of the most faithful film adaptations I've ever seen. Stand By Me has some subtle changes and Shawshank has one big one - the role of an Irish redhead named Red was given to Freeman, but I'd argue that if you have a role that involves narration and can give it to Morgan Freeman, you'd be stupid not to in any situation.
For those who don't have basic cable or somehow missed the stories, "Shawshank" tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a successful banker in Maine who gets sent to prison after allegedly killing his wife and the golf pro she was having an affair with. There, he meets the narrator Red, the prisoner with the reputation of getting things from the outside thanks to some connections. Andy uses Red's services to get a rock hammer and polishing cloths so he can take up his outside-the-walls hobby of rock collecting, as well as a rotating collection of posters of the latest "it" girls, starting with Rita Hayworth. The two quickly become close.
Andy's banker skills allow him to make other important friends, namely the warden and guards, who use his expertise for tax help, investment advice and eventually laundering of bribes. In return, Andy gets protection from some of the more violent prisoners, his own private cell, and support of his pet project - the prison library. Everything is going swimmingly until the warden tries to get rid of evidence that could vindicate Andy.
"The Body" is a coming-of-age story about four 12-year-old boys who spend a few days one summer traveling through the woods to find a dead body. It's really more about the journey than the destination, especially for two of the boys: intelligent and thoughtful Gordie, neglected by his parents who always favored his older brother that died earlier that year, and street-smart Chris, with a bad reputation thanks to his alcoholic and abusive father and troublemaking brothers.
These two stories are classics full of emotion and heart and hope and are Exhibits A and B when trying to explain to people that Stephen King is not just a "horror writer."
"Apt Pupil" doesn't have any supernatural elements, but it's a form of horror in its own way. It really belongs in a Richard Bachman collection. It's about a precocious All-American boy with something really dark living inside his soul who becomes obsessed with Nazi Germany. And lucky for him, he discovers that a Nazi war criminal just happens to be hiding out under an assumed name in his very own hometown! The boy, Todd, uses his knowledge to basically blackmail the old man, Dussander, into sharing with him everything he remembers about that time, in grotesque detail. Over time, the two become disturbingly dependent on each other and on the dark stories and memories Dussander shares. This was also made into a movie starring Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro.
The only story I wasn't familiar with was also the one that was most like a typical Stephen King short story. "The Breathing Method" is really two stories in one. The first is an introduction to a strange and mysterious social club that's not really a club by the narrator, a lawyer named David Adley. The club basically consists of a hangout place for a bunch of men where they can shoot pool, drink, read, and do any number of other things. But there is something strange about it: the library is full of books that don't exist outside of the club's walls. The butler/organizer Stevens might not ever leave. And each night ends with everyone in attendance gathering around a fire in the library, where one man tells a story. There isn't a rule about the type of stories that are told, except that the ones told at Christmas are often the strangest.
The second part of the story - sandwiched between David's descriptions of the club - is a story told one Christmas by a member named Emlyn McCarron, an elderly doctor. His story took place in 1935, when he was a younger doctor and a young, unmarried, pregnant woman came into his office. The woman was responsible and mature - paying for her entire doctor's bill after the first appointment, planning for the eventuality of her dismissal of work and home when her sinful situation was discovered, and a studious adoption of McCarron's Lamaze-style breathing method for birth. McCarron grows fond of the woman until her very eventful birth experience.
This is a strange collection of stories for a number of reasons. The length is one, as it's almost like reading four novels back to back. But the styles are also different. As I said before, "Shawshank" and "Body" are non-supernatural, non-horror stories filled with hope and heart. "Apt Pupil" also doesn't have any supernatural elements, but it's dark and has it's own type of horror (and there's not an ounce of heart or hope to be found in it). "The Breathing Method" is very much supernatural and has it's own brand of horror. Four very different stories; one talented writer. Anyone who thinks Stephen King is a one-trick pony should read this collection.
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