Product Description

Stephen King-who has written more than fifty books, dozens of number one New York Times bestsellers, and many unforgettable movies-delivers an astonishing collection of short stories, his first since Everything's Eventual six years ago. As guest editor of the bestselling Best American Short Stories 2007, King spent over a year reading hundreds of stories. His renewed passion for the form is evident on every page of Just After Sunset. The stories in this collection have appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, Esquire and other publications.

Who but Stephen King would turn a Port-a-San into a slimy birth canal, or a roadside honky-tonk into a place for endless love? A book salesman with a grievance might pick up a mute hitchhiker, not knowing the silent man in the passenger seat listens altogether too well. Or an exercise routine on a stationary bicycle, begun to reduce bad cholesterol, might take its rider on a captivating-and then terrifying-journey. Set on a remote key in Florida, "The Gingerbread Girl" is a riveting tale featuring a young woman as vulnerable-and resourceful-as Audrey Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark. In "Ayana," a blind girl works a miracle with a kiss and the touch of her hand. For King, the line between the living and the dead is often blurry, and the seams that hold our reality intact might tear apart at any moment. In one of the longer stories here, "N.," which recently broke new ground when it was adapted as a graphic digital entertainment, a psychiatric patient's irrational thinking might create an apocalyptic threat in the Maine countryside . . . or keep the world from falling victim to it.

Just After Sunset-call it dusk, call it twilight, it's a time when human intercourse takes on an unnatural cast, when nothing is quite as it appears, when the imagination begins to reach for shadows as they dissipate to darkness and living daylight can be scared right out of you. It's the perfect time for Stephen King.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #195 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In the introduction to his first collection of short fiction since Everything's Eventual (2002), King credits editing Best American Short Stories (2007) with reigniting his interest in the short form and inducing some of this volume's contents. Most of these 13 tales show him at the top of his game, molding the themes and set pieces of horror and suspense fiction into richly nuanced blends of fantasy and psychological realism. The Things They Left Behind, a powerful study of survivor guilt, is one of several supernatural disaster stories that evoke the horrors of 9/11. Like the crime thrillers The Gingerbread Girl and A Very Tight Place, both of which feature protagonists struggling with apparently insuperable threats to life, it is laced with moving ruminations on mortality that King attributes to his own well-publicized near-death experience. Even the smattering of genre-oriented works shows King trying out provocative new vehicles for his trademark thrills, notably N., a creepy character study of an obsessive-compulsive that subtly blossoms into a tale of cosmic terror in the tradition of Arthur Machen and H.P. Lovecraft. Culled almost entirely from leading mainstream periodicals, these stories are a testament to the literary merits of the well-told macabre tale. (Nov.)
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Review
"Wonderfully wicked."-- Carol Memmott, USA Today

"King is as sharp and versatile as ever."-- Erica Noonan, Boston Globe

"Quietly dazzling."-- Ted Anthony, Associated Press

"King continues to be dedicated to giving his readers a luxuriant experience, the basic pleasure of getting lost in a book."-- Charles Taylor, New York Times Book Review

"King lets the reader put the book down at night after one story, knowing another horrific treat awaits the next day."-- Amanda St. Amand, St. Louis Post Dispatch

"King is as sharp and disgusting as ever... Haunting."-- People magazine

"King reminds us again of his power to unhinge with a single line or image. A master of the storytelling craft, he gets his ghastly fingernails right beneath the skin."-- John Marks, Salon.com

"In these 13 newly collected stories, we see a master craftsman at the top of his game and clearly enjoying himself.... Each story is a treat not just for King fans but for any fan of good fiction."-- Salem Macknee, Charlotte Observer

"A master storyteller... Haunting."-- Karen Sandstrom, Cleveland Plain Dealer

About the Author
Stephen King has written more than forty novels and two hundred short stories. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2007 he was inducted as a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America for his story "The Man in the Black Suit," and he is the editor of The Best American Short Stories 2007. Among his most recently worldwide bestsellers are Duma Key, Lisey's Story, Cell, the Dark Tower series, On Writing, The Green Mile, and Bag of Bones. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Customer Reviews

You'll Wish This Sun Had Never Risen!
To begin with, at the risk of sounding like Annie Wilkes from "Misery", I am one of Stephen King's biggest fans and have read & own everything by him. This being said, I am extremely disappointed with his latest release, "Just After Sunset".

This mostly depressing tome of work deals with life and death - coming directly from Mr. King's own battle with mortality a few years back. However, with the exception of 2 stories ('Willa' - a great tale about the afterlife and those not aware they are dead and 'N.' - an homage to H.P. Lovecraft) the tales range from depressing to just plain awful. Specifically, 'The Things They Left Behind' is a painfully depressing take on post 9/11 trauma and having personally known some who perished in that tragic event this story was not a comfort.

I long for the classic Stephen King short story collections that he does better than anyone in the business - "Night Shift", "Nightmares and Dreamscapes", etc. Perhaps, he is taking himself too seriously since he has found acceptance (at last) from serious literary critics over the past few years. I can only hope Mr. King gives his 'constant readers' a better effort the next time out.

Good But Not Great
This book is a collection of short stories by the "Master of Short Stories." Most of these are very good and I wished they were longer. I found only a couple that I didn't get into; hence 4 instead of 5 stars. Must read for all King fans!

Stephen Kings "After Sunset"
Excellent book of short stories. King at his best, and the hits just keep on coming.