Just After Sunset: Stories

I'm a bit surprised - disappointed even - in the rather mediocre average review score for Stephen King's anthology, "Just After Sunset." While this collection of short stories is not steeped in the sensational terror and gore of King's earlier works (most of which I thought were terrific), "Sunset" reflects a more mature King - the master of words relying less on horror and more on the subtleties of ordinary people in extraordinary situations. I always found King a keen observer of culture and society - one of the best at capturing the most mundane details of ordinary life, and in King's case, weaving them into a dark fabric of fear that lures one from the familiarity of (a pet, a car, and friendly neighbor...) into unsettled and disturbing worlds, and epic battles of good vs. malevolence. All of which are reflected in this baker's dozen of darkness - twelve new and the "bonus" of "The Cat from Hell" - an early King tale that made it to the big screen in the 1990 movie "Tales from the Darkside". To the point, the contrast in style between the graphic and simple story lines of "Hell Cat", and the cleverly drawn irony of "Mute" could not be more pronounced. Both frightening, engaging, and entertaining reads, but where "Cat" is pretty much gothic horror, "Mute" is a cleverly drawn, sophisticated tale of suspense and murder that would fit well in a collection of Hitchcock.

I didn't find a bad story in the lot, but if I were to pick my favorites, in addition to the fiendish "Mute", I'd place the diabolically gross "A Very Tight Place" near the top of the list. Or the poignant "The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates" - an oft-told tale in many respects, but never replayed more beautifully than here. Another from that dimension into which we may pass after death is the opener, "Willa", a story that takes a few pages to get into, and may have you scratching your head at first. But when it delivers, it delivers a punch more sorrowful than it is terrifying. But perhaps the defining effort is "N.", a frightening drama that recalls earlier King themes, but twists them around into a gripping and thoughtful thriller bridging Stonehenge and crop circles with pastoral Maine landscapes.

Events like King's near-fatal accident in 1999 and 9/11 clearly had a huge impact on the author's life, and the imprint of these seminal events are very evident in these pages. If there is a common theme between these pages, it is individual reaction to unthinkable tragedy, tempered by King's own passage from near death. While King chose "horror" as his literary path to follow, I'm certain the strength of his prose would have placed him near the top of any genre. Not unlike Poe, King's "Cold damp winds, white skies and fleeing crows" evoke disturbing but familiar images - places we'd prefer not to be but revel in reading. So while this may not be "The Stand", it is not "Cell" either, but a collection of dark little gems that will again remind us how fortunate we are to have King, the rare author as talented as he is prolific.

Marvelous, simply Marvelous. I can't say that I have read all your books, but it is probably close. I love the short story collections because they usually reach out and grab you immediately, unlike novels which may take many pages to do this. The variety in this collection is excellent. I enjoyed each of them and I especially liked Betsy coming to the rescue.

Just After Sunset was Stephen King's fourth short story collection (not counting his two novella collections that preceded this work), and I would say that this ranks as one of the better ones. While the stories aren't all winners, King covers a lot of different sorts storytelling themes, showing his amazing knack for getting reactions that range from terror, disgust, laughter and--most impressively--an unsettling sense that his tales could really happen. Compared to his earlier works, these stories have an impressive maturity that make them well worth taking in. In my case, I listened to the audio version, which includes all 13 stories across 13 CDs.

Here's the breakdown:

Disc 1: "Introduction" read by Stephen King -- King has an amazing ability to talk to his audience and it's never more evident than in his introductions. Here, he explains what prompted the collection and why the short story is important. Despite his almost nasally voice, King is a good reader of his own work and has a unique folksy way about him.

Disc 1: "Willa" read by Holter Graham -- Stephen King's story of the afterlife and the anxiety of what lies beyond our comprehension. Many of these stories deal with the unknown; unfortunately, "Willa" is one of the weakest stories in the collection. Holter's reading pretty good, though he seems hamstrung with the myriad of voices that are needed. Still, he acquits himself well enough in story that isn't very interesting. 2 stars

Disc 2 & 3: "The Gingerbread Girl" read by Mare Winningham -- here's a great example of two things King does well: building suspense and drawing wonderfully deep and detailed characters. This suspense yarn is bolstered by a great psychological profile of the main character and King's flourishes that lend everything an extra pop. Mare does very well with the story, even modifying her voice to show injury to the main character that impedes her speech. The only drawback is her attempt at vocalizing the killer, which comes off a little histrionic. 4 stars!

Disc 4: "Harvey's Dream" read by Stephen King -- another story that is strong on characterization, yet this brief tale doesn't have much else going for it. It's a fine listen, with King's vocals relaying the same matter-of-fact bristles of late life unhappiness and tragedy. Worth a listen. 3 stars

Disc 4: "Rest Stop" read by Denis O'Hare -- the story, about a writer that relies on his alter ego in a tight spot, is entertaining; however, I don't think it would come off nearly as well without the delivery of O'Hare. A tough, no-nonsense reading helps boost this story from forgettable to solid. 3 stars

Disc 5 & 6: "Stationary Bike" read by Ron McLarty -- Ron's voice took me a while to get used to (he sounds like he's had a lot of radio training and uses flair that remind me of Casey Kasem), but his take on the story of an artist haunted by his creation and addiction smoothed out over time. Another excellent character helps the plot to down easier, even with a some what disappointing ending. 4 stars!

Disc 6: "Graduation Night" read by Jill Eikenberry -- Very brief story about a girl that witnesses a calamity. The story isn't much, though King continues his rash of superlative character building. But the character has nothing to do, so this one is forgettable. The reading is serviceable, yet fails to mesh voice with character. 2 stars

Disc 7: "The Things They Left Behind" read by Ben Shenkman -- perfectly read by Shenkman, this is a great story that, unfortunately, seems to resolve too simply and then drags towards the end. There's a lot of haunting ideas and the main character has some of the most captivating asides. (There's one anecdotal story here that was perfect; King knows how to make us uncomfortable in the most delicious ways!) this is a great listen when you're in the mood to run the gambit of emotions. 4 stars!

Disc 8 & 9: "N." Read by Holter Graham, Denis O'Hare, Ben Shenkman & Karen Ziemba -- whoa, a full blown cast for this story?! What gives? This story, published for the first time in this collection, is another King tip of the hat to Weird fiction and it stands with the best of the lot. King May have been thinking Machen here, but Lovecraft fans will find a lot of tropes perfected by the master himself. The story concerns a man seeking help for OCD and explaining the fantastic reason while he's suddenly developed the condition. The build up of the story, which features the titular character describing his life an experiences is an extraordinarily insightful break down of OCD, only with a supernatural twist. This one is so good, it almost makes you mad that King can still wield the pen with this much precision, insight and creativity. The reading is quite good as well, though I felt it could've been done sufficiently with one less person... Maybe even two less. Still, if one story deserves this grand treatment, "N." Is it! 5 stars!

Disc 10: "The New York Times at Bargain Prices" read by Jill Eikenberry -- much like "Harvey's Dream", this sounds like the piece of a good story that isn't big enough to satisfy. A phone call from beyond effects a recent widow in this one but there's not enough to it. Jill reads the story well, but when the characters spend the entire story sitting to the side, never being proactive, it's hard to get invested. 2 stars

Disc 10: "Mute" read by Skip Sudduh -- another story that seems like a barrel scraper at first, and then turns out to be very good by the end. A strong character buoys a story of betrayal, anger and confusion that takes a bit more toned down view of organized religion than King is known for. Not a scary story, just one that has a strong emotional pull. 4 stars!

Disc 11: "The Cat from Hell" read by Holter Graham -- one of King's gross out stories that really works because it sly combines absurdism and explicit, visceral gore in such a way that you have to take it seriously until the trigger has been pulled and you realize the joke's on you. Doesn't really fit with the rest of the story, but it's nice to see this classic makes its way into an official collection. Holter's reading is solid. 3 stars

Disc 11: "Ayana" read by George Guidall -- a story about miracles... Both the good and the bad sides to them. Good story that is helped immensely by King's ability to craft nearly poetic passages in a narrative. Well read, if not spectacularly emotive. 4 stars!

Disc 12 & 13: "A Very Tight Space" read by Ron McLarty -- another gross out story... But this one's a knock out! The set up had already made me uncomfortable with one character spouting hate speech, but once the story fully unfolds, it becomes a suspenseful story that is well crafted underneath all the nasty stuff. Another story that is superbly read. 4 stars!

King also includes end notes, which I'm sure all his readers appreciate, and and few words from King about writing. I love these inclusions when read by King. This is a collection for those that love King's immaculate ability to build up believable, captivating characters.

Some of King's most popular movies were the result of his short stories, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and STAND BY ME to name just two. Although I don't see any comparable possibilities in this collection, there are a couple that are real page turners.

"The Gingerbread Girl" is about a woman who can't stop grieving about her lost child. She turns to long-distance running to alleviate her pain. But then, one day, she passes the gate to this mansion and sees a woman's body in the truck of a car. Her running obsession comes in handy later when she ends up running for her life. The other adventure story has a definite Edgar Allen Poe "Cask of Amontillado" influence. "A Very Tight Place" is about these two big shots who hate each other's guts. The real estate hot shot lures the stock broker to a meeting site where he says he wants to negotiate a truce, but it's a trap and the stock broker ends up entombed in a Porta-Potty. Stephen King is his usual scatological self as the stock broker looks for a way out.

King seems to be consciously looking for relevance even in his thirty-year-old story "The Cat from Hell." The cat in the story apparently craves vengeance as one of its victims is a scientist who sacrificed several thousand cats in his quest for a pill for the terminally ill. Another story, "N", deals with Obsessive compulsive disorder and how it can be catching. Another is about a man who stops at a road-side rest stop and overhears an argument between a man and a woman in the women's toilet. It sounds like he's about to kill her. Does he mind his own business or does he try to save the woman?

Probably my favorite story is "Ayana," about a dying young negro girl who has the power to heal. What makes this story different is that she seemed to have the power to pass it on to the recipient. One of the recipients, a writer like King, is called on every so often to do the same thing for other people. He has a guide, a businessman type who also happens to be an atheist.

King includes a notes section at the end of the book where he explains where he got the ideas for his stories. "Ayana" seemed to have been the result of King's accident and his wonder over why he survived while others in similar predicaments don't. "A Very Tight Place" was influenced by a Poe story but it was "A Premature Burial" not "The Cask of Amontillado."

For the most part, King manages to restrain himself. I can only think of a couple of times where he adds a grotesque, other-worldly monster and I don't remember any refrigerators falling out of the sky.

I thought half the stories were very good, two in particular, A Very Tight Place and Mute. Great! No holds barred there. That's the SK I really love. In fact, these stories remind me more of Bachman than King. I thought The Cat from Hell and N. were very good, too. The Things They Left Behind, although well written and engaging, I thought was weighted down with too much pathos. Maybe it's me. I live in NYC. Maybe I just don't want to think about 9/11 anymore.

I wish there had been two new stories instead of a reprinting of The Gingerbread Girl and Stationary Bike. Those were the weakest ones for me. Willa was sweet but bland. The rest were decent.

A special note about N. As an OCD sufferer, I can sympathize with N. At it's worst, OCD IS debilitating. There's nothing funny or kooky about it as suggested by shows like Monk, or movies like As Good As It Gets. Imagine having a mortal fear of flying, and you're on a plane. Not just any plane, but a DC10. The plane is preparing for landing at Chicago's O'Hare airport amid a terrible thunderstorm. There is severe turbulence. As you're bouncing around, you immediately recall that just the other day one of your colleagues, knowing your fear of flying, thought it would be funny to remind you that the worst accidental plane crash in US history happened at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in which all 273 people on board died. In 1979 a DC10, like the one you're in, lost one of it's engines upon take off. It took about 30 seconds from the moment the engine fell off to crashing. During those 30 seconds, everyone on board felt extreme g-forces thrust against their bodies as the plane banked hard left, then took a nosedive into eternity. You might find some comfort by telling yourself that this is a landing not a take off. But aren't landings as dangerous as takeoffs? Isn't that what they say? You imagine Katie Couric looking solemn as she reports that flight 121, your flight, has crashed. "There are no survivors." You don't want to think about it right now but you can't help it. You try to think of something else, something positive, maybe Katie Couric telling the world, "Flight 121 has landed safely. There is no news to report." But the thoughts of doom just keep coming back, making you a near basket case.

Now, imagine feeling that anxious...all...the...time. You're never at ease. Something's always amiss. If it's not one obsession, it's another. Not too funny, is it? The anxieties and urges to bring relief to those anxieties are powerful. They're powerful because OCD is a disease that affects the brain's ability to cut off or "gate" emotionally driven thoughts. As a result, you're under continual assault by a very hot brain circuit. Anyway...

In my opinion, N. captured this kind of anxiety. What separates N, the character, from an OCD sufferer, however, is that an OCD sufferer's fears are not based in reality. They're entirely driven by fear alone. OCD sufferers are not delusional. They might be afraid of becoming delusional. See the difference? If N. had OCD, he wouldn't actually see the phantom stone or monsters. He would just be afraid of seeing them. He would frequent the site of the stones out of a pathological need, an urge, to be sure that nothing strange will happen, hence the ritual or compulsive component of OCD. Since N. had actually seen weird things, and their existence was confirmed by the doctor's own eyes, those things from another dimension were probably real. I don't think N. or his doctor had OCD, but were instead very unlucky guys.