JUST AFTER SUNSET: Stories
Stephen King
Scribner
Fiction/Short Stories
ISBN: 9781416584087
Stephen King again proves that he can mesmerize readers with his graphic imagination and story-spinning skills. JUST AFTER SUNSET, which plumbs an astonishing range of genres, gives fans everything they've come to anticipate from him. As the author explains in his introduction, he has been away from the short story game for a while. His last collection, EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL, was published more than six years ago. In fact, King tells us, he feared he had lost his knack entirely. But serving as an editor for one of the annual BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES reinspired him.
King starts us out gently with "Willa." David is surprised to discover that his fiancée, Willa, left the Amtrak station where they and a group of fellow travelers are stranded. When he decides to ignore the others' advice and go look for her, he finds her where he would most expect to find her --- or at least that's the way it seems at first. The plot twists in a manner that both shocks and (on second thought) feels entirely logical.
In "The Gingerbread Girl," Emily begins running compulsively in an attempt to deal with an unbearable tragedy. She runs from her husband, landing in her father's "conch shack," a summer cottage on a Florida Key. She continues to run, run, run, just as fast as she can. And while she does, she marvels that the area has been taken over by the wealthy who have built McMansions everywhere. The huge homes are mostly deserted in the summer since their owners use them to get away during winter. But when she can't resist taking a peek behind the gate of one monstrosity, she is stopped in her tracks.
A husband recounts a nightmare in "Harvey's Dream" that begins slowly --- but watch out for that inevitable kicker. In "Rest Stop," a mild-mannered professor answering a late-night call of nature interrupts a nasty scene of abuse in a roadside restroom. Who can he call for help?
Expect to experience vertigo while reading the brilliant "Stationary Bike." Richard Sifkitz explores a world within a world that makes him wonder which Russian nesting doll he's really living in. In the somehow ultimately comforting "The Things They Left Behind," how can a survivor cope when the possessions of co-workers killed on 9/11 persistently appear in his home? Definitely less reassuring is "Graduation Afternoon," in which Janice's worries about status and her wealthy boyfriend get a whopping dose of perspective.
In "N.", therapist Johnny Bonsaint's sister wonders why and how he died, especially after she reads his disturbing notes on one of his patients. "The Cat from Hell" is a classic horrorfest, featuring one particularly unforgettable scene.
King displays his romantic side as well as his fascination with what comes after death in the quiet "The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates." A priest has never heard a confession like the one he listens to in "Mute," while one explanation for miracles weaves through "Ayana."
Try though they might, readers will never forget the plight of poor Curtis Johnson, who is trapped in "A Very Tight Place." (I'm not easily grossed out, but this story has to be the most disgusting thing I've ever read. [I suspect King will take that as a compliment, especially since I still could not stop reading.])
Readers won't want to skip over the author’s notes at the end of JUST AFTER SUNSET, in which King explains how each story came to him. His ingenuity makes for fascinating reading --- a kind of dessert after devouring a deliciously disturbing 13-course dinner served up by a master creator.
--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)
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