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lanternatomika's review against another edition
4.0
THE YEAR OF CONSTANT READING: In which I try to read 39 Stephen King books in one year
Everyone knows that some of the best Stephen King books are the short story collections, and Just After Sunset is a good enough showcase of King's skills with short-form storytelling. That being said, one thing that happens with collections that pack too many stories in is that the hit:miss ratio ends up going the wrong way. Just After Sunset has some really great stories...and some not so great ones
Willa: A rather slow but thoughtful story that's kinda hard to discuss without spoiling the thing that makes Willa good. I'll just say that death is weighing heavy on King's mind in this collection, and this story is one of the more interesting takes on the concept in this book. 3.5/5
The Gingerbread Girl: This one takes really long to start, but it gets really good in the middle...and then it takes even longer to end. The invincible villain isn't just a Stephen King trope, it's a horror trope, but this story's climax of a girl running for miles and miles from a lanky and injured creep will make you wish that this short story had an editor. 3/5
Harvey's Dream: On paper, if I were to describe Harvey's Dream, you would think the idea behind it is pretty lame, but the way King writes the protagonist's growing horror as she slowly realizes that Harvey's nightmare has come true is incredibly well executed. 4/5
Rest Stop: A pretty incisive take on armchair heroes who wouldn't be able to put their money where their mouth is when faced with an actual crisis, as well as writers and people in general who like to imagine themselves as the fictional heroes they admire. This is one of those stories that make you realize the insight that King has on how human's think and behave. 4/5
Stationary Bike: Some ideas are best left on the cutting room floor. Stationary Bike makes the best of its idea of a guy who imagines himself riding his exercise bike somewhere and actually getting trapped there with the horrors lurking in the shadows, but on the whole, this story seems a bit ill-conceived. 3/5
The Things They Left Behind: Nearly two decades after 9/11, it's still worth revisiting the efforts of people to process and make sense of the tragedy and the violence and the death of the morning of September 11th. Though this is a story about haunted objects, the real haunting is from the memories of the people who held those objects, and the story tells a brilliant tale of living with and letting go of those memories. 5/5
Graduation Afternoon: In the Sunset Notes portion of the book, King writes that this story was inspired by the vivid and seemingly random dreams he was having as he withdrew from antidepressants. Graduation Afternoon certainly feels dreamlike in its randomness, but not really in the best way, and being placed right after The Things They Left Behind may have you trying to make connections between the two that aren't really there. 3/5
N.: This is the story from this collection that has taken on a life of its own, being published separately in various formats and even being adapted into a graphic novel. It's not for nothing, King + Lovecraft makes for a near classic in King's short story library. This is the zenith of Just After Sunset. 5/5
The Cat From Hell: A story about a murderous cat should be more interesting than a significantly darker ending to Cujo. Like Stationary Bike, this story tries to make do with the thin idea behind it and overall, you're left with something that this collection could've done without. 3/5
The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates: Lie down. Try not to cry. Cry. 5/5
Mute: God works in strange ways. This story seems to keep building up to your standard crazy hitchhiker story before it swerves hard and provides an interesting - and cathartic - twist to the formula. But this story is really more about human relationships, and King manages to get both aspects of the plot pretty much right. 4/5
Ayana: Here we have another story about miracles. Going off Sunset Notes, this story is inspired by the stories of people who make miraculous recoveries and turn away from death's door. This is a pretty great story about how each person who survives nearly certain death gains the power to save someone else. A pretty optimistic note on which Just After Sunset ends its exploration of death. 4/5
A Very Tight Place: I love ya, Steve, but you should've left this one out of the collection. 2/5
Overall: 3.77, rounded up to 4/5
Everyone knows that some of the best Stephen King books are the short story collections, and Just After Sunset is a good enough showcase of King's skills with short-form storytelling. That being said, one thing that happens with collections that pack too many stories in is that the hit:miss ratio ends up going the wrong way. Just After Sunset has some really great stories...and some not so great ones
Willa: A rather slow but thoughtful story that's kinda hard to discuss without spoiling the thing that makes Willa good. I'll just say that death is weighing heavy on King's mind in this collection, and this story is one of the more interesting takes on the concept in this book. 3.5/5
The Gingerbread Girl: This one takes really long to start, but it gets really good in the middle...and then it takes even longer to end. The invincible villain isn't just a Stephen King trope, it's a horror trope, but this story's climax of a girl running for miles and miles from a lanky and injured creep will make you wish that this short story had an editor. 3/5
Harvey's Dream: On paper, if I were to describe Harvey's Dream, you would think the idea behind it is pretty lame, but the way King writes the protagonist's growing horror as she slowly realizes that Harvey's nightmare has come true is incredibly well executed. 4/5
Rest Stop: A pretty incisive take on armchair heroes who wouldn't be able to put their money where their mouth is when faced with an actual crisis, as well as writers and people in general who like to imagine themselves as the fictional heroes they admire. This is one of those stories that make you realize the insight that King has on how human's think and behave. 4/5
Stationary Bike: Some ideas are best left on the cutting room floor. Stationary Bike makes the best of its idea of a guy who imagines himself riding his exercise bike somewhere and actually getting trapped there with the horrors lurking in the shadows, but on the whole, this story seems a bit ill-conceived. 3/5
The Things They Left Behind: Nearly two decades after 9/11, it's still worth revisiting the efforts of people to process and make sense of the tragedy and the violence and the death of the morning of September 11th. Though this is a story about haunted objects, the real haunting is from the memories of the people who held those objects, and the story tells a brilliant tale of living with and letting go of those memories. 5/5
Graduation Afternoon: In the Sunset Notes portion of the book, King writes that this story was inspired by the vivid and seemingly random dreams he was having as he withdrew from antidepressants. Graduation Afternoon certainly feels dreamlike in its randomness, but not really in the best way, and being placed right after The Things They Left Behind may have you trying to make connections between the two that aren't really there. 3/5
N.: This is the story from this collection that has taken on a life of its own, being published separately in various formats and even being adapted into a graphic novel. It's not for nothing, King + Lovecraft makes for a near classic in King's short story library. This is the zenith of Just After Sunset. 5/5
The Cat From Hell: A story about a murderous cat should be more interesting than a significantly darker ending to Cujo. Like Stationary Bike, this story tries to make do with the thin idea behind it and overall, you're left with something that this collection could've done without. 3/5
The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates: Lie down. Try not to cry. Cry. 5/5
Mute: God works in strange ways. This story seems to keep building up to your standard crazy hitchhiker story before it swerves hard and provides an interesting - and cathartic - twist to the formula. But this story is really more about human relationships, and King manages to get both aspects of the plot pretty much right. 4/5
Ayana: Here we have another story about miracles. Going off Sunset Notes, this story is inspired by the stories of people who make miraculous recoveries and turn away from death's door. This is a pretty great story about how each person who survives nearly certain death gains the power to save someone else. A pretty optimistic note on which Just After Sunset ends its exploration of death. 4/5
A Very Tight Place: I love ya, Steve, but you should've left this one out of the collection. 2/5
Overall: 3.77, rounded up to 4/5
the_mad_writer's review against another edition
I put a random number for the pages but I got to the story where she lost her child and I put it down and just didn't pick it back up for ages
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Self harm
narzack's review against another edition
4.0
It's Stephen King, it's a collection of his stories. What more do you want?
katielucys's review against another edition
2.0
this was my first time reading any work by stephen king - the first three stories were fab, particularly harvey’s dream which I really thought was brilliant, and the gingerbread girl was also exceptional - would give those stories 5 stars
then it got to the third story in which a man stood debating whether or not to step in to help a pregnant woman who was being beaten up by her partner and that was me out
then it got to the third story in which a man stood debating whether or not to step in to help a pregnant woman who was being beaten up by her partner and that was me out
liketheday's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not the world's biggest fan of short stories, but I do like Stephen King and I really like the cover of this book (sunset-y and out of focus), so I picked it up.
As I figured, some of the stories were cool and some were lame (mostly the ones that King describes in his endnotes as more dictation than fiction).
read more...
As I figured, some of the stories were cool and some were lame (mostly the ones that King describes in his endnotes as more dictation than fiction).
read more...
mbrandmaier's review against another edition
3.0
Contains lots of gristly descriptions and creepy scenarios. No nightmares resulted though.
sammiereads7791's review against another edition
3.0
I will start by saying, definitely not my favorite short story collection by King, but I did enjoy reading them. I found that a lot of them were more sad than terrifying and I’m wondering if that’s why people didn’t enjoy this one that much. My favorite stories in the book were N., The Things They Left Behind, The Cat From Hell, and Ayana. I had a love/hate relationship with the last story, A Very Tight Place. I’m sure if you’ve finished this book, you’ll know why. Overall, it was a decent read for me, but if you’re looking for a scare, I’d recommend Night Shift or one of his other novels.
ris_stitches's review against another edition
3.0
Listened to this on audio - took forever to finish it because Matt returned it to the library and I wasn't done, so I had to go get it back! Heh. It was pretty good, some of the stories were better than others. I just think Stephen King gets a little redundant at times. But overall I like short stories and this didn't disappoint.