Just After Sunset: Stories (original 2008; edition 2009)

Just After Sunset: Stories by Stephen King features 13 short stories which were written in fairly quick succession over a two year period, according to the author's note in the back of the book. This book is not the typical Stephen King fare - there are a couple of horror stories here, but for the most part, Stephen King focuses on themes of the post-9/11 world, grief, loss and the afterlife in this collection.

In 'Willa', the first story in this book, David and Willa, a young couple traveling to San Francisco, are waiting at a train depot after their train derails. They become separated from each other while waiting for another train to arrive, but there is just something eerie and unexplained about the situation in which they find themselves. To be completely honest, I needed to give myself a slight refresher course in this particular story as I had momentarily forgot the plot.

'The Gingerbread Girl' focuses on Emily, a young woman who takes up running after her baby daughter, Amy dies. What initially begins as Emily's best way of escaping her grief, becomes the motive behind Emily's worst nightmare. This was actually a very good story - very suspenseful for me to read.

'Harvey's Dream' is about Harvey - a man on the brink of retirement - telling his wife about a terribly disturbing dream that he's had the night before. This was also quite a good story - very enjoyable. According to the author's note in the back of the book, this story was entirely based on a dream that Stephen King himself had.

In 'Rest Stop', a late night drive through the area causes a mild-mannered mystery writer to question his most appropriate course of action, when he overhears an argument between an obviously angry couple. In my opinion, this story was just okay.

'Stationary Bike' focuses on a man who receives the results of his most recent physical - not so good results. Forced by his doctor to go on a strict exercise regimen, he creates more than he thinks when he paints himself a picture to help him pass the time on his stationary bike. This was also a very good story for me to read - in my opinion, this story was incredibly eerie.

'The Things They Left Behind' is about Scott Staley, a man who should have died along with his co-workers on September 11, 2001, but curiously did not. Scott is not necessarily the 'Good Samaritan' type, but in August of 2002, while returning to his apartment after fixing his neighbor's air conditioner, Scott begins to find objects in his apartment that he had always associated with his now deceased co-workers. Scott does everything he can to get rid of each object, but no matter what he does, the objects always return to him. This was another very good story that I really enjoyed.

In Graduation Afternoon, the unthinkable strikes New York City. In my opinion, this particular story was just alright. Definitely not my favorite of this collection, but then, I don't really enjoy reading stories with 'end-of-the-world', apocalyptic themes.

In 'N.', a psychiatrist leaves behind notes on his delusional patient. N. is a troubled man who becomes increasingly suicidal throughout his sessions. When a mysterious key that once belonged to N. comes into the psychiatrist's possession, events are set in motion that can't be stopped. I really enjoyed this particular story. In my opinion, this one was perhaps the best one of the collection.

'The Cat From Hell' is about Halston, a hitman paid to perform a peculiar task - one that ultimately isn't part of his job description. This story was well-written, but if you didn't actually like cats, 'The Cat From Hell' might scare you off owning one for life.

'The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates' focuses on Annie - a recent widow who receives a phone call from her husband...on the day of his funeral. I have to say that I couldn't really understand the ending of this story very well.

'Mute' is about a man whose life has just fallen apart around him. He is driving along one night and picks up a deaf/mute hitchhiker to whom he feels safe confessing all his troubles. In my opinion, this particular story was sort of middle of the road for me. Not really my cup of tea, I suppose, but just alright.

'Ayana' is about terminally ill little girl who can heal others with a kiss. Her miraculous abilities are then passed on to those whom she has cured. This story was really very good - I enjoyed it.

'A Very Tight Place' features two feuding neighbors locked in a bitter, continuous battle over a piece of land in the Florida Keys. One of them decides to finish the feud once and for all. I have to say that in my opinion, this final story was really rather disgusting - quite the note to end on, I suppose. :)

Overall, Just After Sunset: Stories by Stephen King was really quite good. In general, I give this book an A+! Stephen King is an author who has an incredibly fertile imagination. The plot of each story was entirely different, but I do believe that his short stories tend to be stronger than many of his novels. I will certainly be keeping Just After Sunset: Stories on my bookshelf for the time being. ( )

Finished last night. October 3 2009.
Some stories were brilliant like The Gingerbread Girl, N and A Very Tight Place among others. Some i did not really care for like Graduation Afternoon and Harvey's Dream but I enjoyed reading this book. I've always loved short stories, used to collect short horror stories so I was very pleased to see King do one again. ( )

I listened to the audio book. I like almost anything Stephen King writes and this book is no exception. This is a collection of short stories in typical Stephen King fashion with each story varying from over two hours to fifteen minutes (if you're listening to the e-book). The Gingerbread Girl was my favorite short story in this collection. ( )

Warning! This review will be incredibly long because I find it impossible to review a collection of short stories without reviewing each story. Feel free to move along.

Overall, this was not a typical Stephen King short story collection. His short stories generally give me nightmares. There were a few horror stories in here, but really he was exploring the post-9/11 world, grief, loss, and the afterlife. Some of his efforts were more successful than others, but the ones that worked really worked for me.

"Willa"--3 stars--A young couple on their way to San Francisco are waiting at a train depot for another train after theirs derails. This story was just sort of eerie. King is so great at setting a mood that you realize right away that something's not quite right, but mostly this story just felt like page filler.

"The Gingerbread Girl"--5 stars--A young woman runs to escape her grief, and then a nightmare. This one was straight-up suspense. I found my shoulders tensed and my body hunched over as I read this one. It's amazing to me that an author can do that in so few pages.

"Harvey's Dream"--3 stars--A man on the brink of retirement tells his wife about a terrible dream he had the night before. It was well-written, but I just didn't care.

"Rest Stop"--4 stars--A mild mystery writer overhears a disturbing argument at a rest stop late one night and must decide what to do about it. This one left me wondering what I would do in his shoes. There's some exploration of the hidden depths we carry around inside that we hope we never tap into. A good "makes-you-think" story.

"Stationary Bike"--A man creates more than he thinks when he paints himself a picture to help pass the time as he rides his stationary bike. I had no idea where this was going. And who can't relate to the mind-numbing boredom of an exercise machine?

"The Things They Left Behind"--5 stars--My favorite story from this book. A man who should have died along with the rest of his office on 9/11 suddenly finds objects in his apartment that he associates with his co-workers. This was a quietly powerful story that had much more going on than meets the eye. It read like a good exploration of survivor's guilt. Don't dismiss this one as "just another Stephen King story." This one's Literature. I actually pulled some good quotes out of this one: "Obliqueness is the curse of the reading class." "They did it in the name of God, but there is no God. If there was a God, Mr. Staley, He would have struck them dead in their boarding lounges with their boarding passes in their hand, but no God did. They called for passengers to get on and those fucks just got on." If we're being honest, who among us didn't feel that, at least for a second, on that day?

"Graduation Afternoon"--4 stars--The unthinkable happens in New York City. This was probably one of the most truly scary stories in the book. Before 9/11, this would have just been a fantasty/horror story. Post-9/11, I think deep down we're all waiting for this to actually happen, at least in our darkest, most pessimistic hours.

"N."--4 stars--A psychiatrist leaves behind notes on a delusional patient. King mentions the story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" in this story. That "descending-into-madness-with-the-character" feeling seems to be what he was going for, but he didn't accomplish it like Charlotte Perkins Gilman did. This was supposed to be a horror tale, but I somehow never quite got there. The fantasy world was never very real to me. I don't know if that's because King's writing fell short or because my imagination is not the equal of his.

"The Cat From Hell"--4 stars--The title describes the plot. This was an absurd, but at the same time scary, story. It reminded me of that Chattering Teeth story he wrote in an earlier collection in that I wanted to laugh at the same time that I was freaked out.

"The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates"--3 stars--A woman receives a phone call from her husband--as she's dressing for his funeral. This was another one where all I have to say is that I really didn't care.

"Mute"--3 stars--A man whose life has just fallen apart picks up a deaf/mute hitchhiker and feels safe confessing all his troubles. I found this one pretty predictable. But here's a quote that made me giggle: "He pointed toward the silhouettes on the side of the [bathrooms] instead--black cutout man, black cutout woman. The man had his legs apart, the woman had hers together. Pretty much the story of the human race in sign language."

"Ayana"--3 stars--All I'm going to say about this one is "The Green Mile revisited." It might have been more interesting if I hadn't read the novel first. There was a good quote in here too though: "The medical definition of miracle is misdiagnosis."

"A Very Tight Place"--4 stars--Two neighbors are feuding over a piece of land in the Florida Keys. One of them decides to end the feud once and for all. This one was a good, old-fashioned, Stephen King gross-out. Don't read it if you have a weak stomach. ( )

Another collection of King's shorter works. He's still got it! ( )