Just After Sunset: Stories

Does a bad story from Stephen King even exist? Well, if it does, you won’t find it in this collection. The stories in Just After Sunset are as entertaining and wonderfully written as expected. My favorite story is “N.”—the letter format is intriguing, the patient reports of N.’s growing mental illness stopping demons entering our sphere (is it really an illness?) even more so. Another highlight is “A Very Tight Place”—I felt I was the one being captured in this lonesome, fallen-over Dixi toilet. “The Gingerbread Girl” could have run a little less at the beginning, this darned cat from “The Cat from Hell” I will never forget, and the rest is just as good with some stories conveying a deeper sense than horrific entertainment.

I've never really enjoyed reading short stories - they can feel like bad sex at times; over too quickly and hard to recall a week or so down the line. Life gets too short for short stories sometimes. I might just have changed my mind after reading this collection. Reading through it feels very much like listening to one of those classic rock albums for the first few times: the tracks are all right on target - even the ones that don't hook you right away still let you know they're going to get your attention sooner or later. Even the order they come in just feels 'right'. It's the same with this book. The first story, 'Willa', starts the tome with a nice, gentle - almost romantic - tale. It's very post-accident King (for those who don't know, he was ever-so-nearly killed when a truck ran him over in 1999. According to him it was a matter of inches between him and death). Since then, his writing has become far more philosophical; he has always had amazing talent, but he seems to have gained a lot more from the experience. He's become aware of just how tenuous our existences are; where before his stories always had great ideas driving them, now they often ask questions about our perceptions. But it's difficult to capture the essence of writing that feels so alive - it's like trying to hold an eel. So let's get back to this collection. After the gentle welcoming of 'Willa' comes a shocker - 'The Gingerbread Girl' - one of the fastest-paced and most driven of King's scenes for a long while. It sets everything out nice and sedately, everything ticks along nicely, then BANG - the trademark nightmare that King does so well kicks in. I won't go through all the stories (there's a limit to the word-count I'm allowed for a start), but Steve has rediscovered his muse in the last few years. All the tales here are full of vivid imagery. One or two are short, almost wistful, snapshots capturing moments. Others are as dense as beefsteak: full of blood, gristle and bone. But you'll enjoy them all - the order they come in, just like the tracks on that classic album, just seems right. He seems full of fresh ideas (even though there is nothing new in the world, he still manages to surprise), he's enjoying his writing more than ever (one senses), and his empathy and kindness (it's essential to have a kind heart if you are to care about the characters you create as a writer) has never been more evident. So, if you have read this far, thank you. To answer the question in the title: what makes SK so great? I've come to the conclusion that he has the ability to write with persuasive lucidity about completely insane situations. And he always drops the reader right into the middle of it. Read this and enjoy.

GREAT READ! MY ALL TIME FAVORITE AUTHOR!!!

Received well packaged and brand new.

Great collection of ideas from the master of unusual thoughts. Any King fan will enjoy this.