Stephen King's Just After Sunset

I like reading novels, but I generally love reading short stories, especially by certain authors. And Stephen King is one of them. He has come out with some notable collections in the past (Night Shift, Skeleton Crew, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, and Everything’s Eventual). Of King’s earlier works, my favorite is Skeleton Crew, and my favorite individual piece is The Mist, a novella from Skeleton Crew that was recently made into a movie (which changed and ruined the written story’s original ending, in my opinion.)

Just After Sunset contains thirteen short stories, some of which I liked more than others. Although they are written in different styles and portray completely different characters in widely varying circumstances, they all share the common thread of examining how people must come to terms with the socially taboo subject of death. That doesn’t mean that these stories are all horror stories, although a couple of them would definitely fit into that genre. Just After Sunset contains ghost stories, science fiction, murder/suspense, alternative reality tales, and psychological reflections. Here are my five favorite stories:

#5 Rest Stop--A writer traveling home on the Interstate in Florida stops at a rest stop and finds himself an unwilling (and unseen) witness to a man viciously beating his girlfriend. Should he wait and see if it ends peacefully, or should he intervene to prevent a possible murder? Or should he just get back in his car and drive off? This is one of those “what would YOU do” types of stories.

#4 Stationary Bike--A man, commercial artist by trade and faced with the need to exercise, purchases an exercise bicycle and puts it in his apartment’s basement. Bored by the tedium of riding it, he decides to make a picture of pretty country scenery to look at while he is exercising. And then, as he rides on the stationary bike, the picture begins to take on a reality of its own! This story has a conceptual similarity to The Road Virus Heads North (from Everything’s Eventual).

#3 The Gingerbread Girl--A young woman, after the tragic death of her infant child, begins to get the urge to run. And run. And run. Her running eventually causes her to split up from her husband, and she moves to a beach cottage (in Florida). Where she continues with her running, of course. And experiences one of those trademark Stephen King life-or-death adventures. I liked King’s tale about running and Florida beaches. And his “moral” revealed by its ending.

#2 Willa--Way out in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, an Amtrak train has derailed and its passengers are huddled in a nearby train station, awaiting their rescue. Willa, the strong-willed young wife of the protagonist, gets tired of waiting and wanders away. Our hero goes out to find her, and in the process finds out much more than what he had bargained for. This story definitely has a strong Twilight Zone feel to it.

#1 N. No, that’s not a typo: the story’s title is “N.”. This story, to me, is head and shoulders above all of the others. I’d even say it ranks right up there with The Mist. N. is about obsessive-compulsive disorder and alternative realities. And the transference of the burden of guardianship from one to another. This was also King’s contribution for the book that was set in Maine, his original home state. And it has that eerie, creepy feel of earlier tales like Pet Sematary and It. N. also reads a little like one of H.P. Lovecraft’s twisted tales, which is a big plus (I am a fan of his writing).

Stephen King has a tendency to write about areas that he lives in. For the most part, he has resided in Maine. But recently, he has kept a home in Florida as well. As a result, some of the stories in this book have a Florida setting. I even know the rest stop he’s writing about in Rest Stop! Pick up Just After Sunset at a store or check it out from the library, if you can find it there. Or maybe just wait awhile until it eventually comes out in paperback. I liked all of the stories. But once again, I recommend N. the most!