Murphy's fiction tends to reflect what he likes to read and what he remembers liking to read as a youngster, which, in the case of his short stories, means horror fiction. In his collection Night Terrors, the stories vary from straightforward ones such as "Just Say Yes," about a girl's having to choose whether or not to become a vampire, to ones that rival "The Cat's-Eye" in complexity. For instance, "Something Always Happens" stresses creepy settings and characters more than "The Cat's-Eye" does, but it offers a morality tale about choosing one's friends carefully, as well as remembering that looks can be very deceptive. Like "The Cat's-Eye," it has a seemingly harmless, decrepit old lady, and the main character stereotypes her, shutting off the critical part of his mind when he should be looking beneath the surface and asking himself many questions. "Footprints in the Snow...