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hmbb99's review against another edition
4.0
I reread this book because I love the story of N. It is a spectacularly intense story. The Cat From Hell is also fun to read. A good collection of King stories.
meghan111's review against another edition
3.0
Most of these 12 stories don't fall into the horror category for me - the exceptions being an exploration of OCD and a short, kinda humorous one about a demonic cat. Contents include: two very similar, hard-to-stop-reading survival tales taking place in a deserted wealthy Florida beach community. There are a couple post-September 11th stories. There's an odd one about a stationary bike. I liked almost all of them.
donasbooks's review against another edition
5.0
I don't remember this one very well, and it's been recommended to me a couple times lately. So I'm going to reread it next year, 2023!
*Update March 2023
Buddy read this great collection with my friend Gareth Loves Books here on GR in February. Now have a clearer memory of the collection and the story "N." in particular. Below are two sentences about each story!
Willa (⭐️⭐️⭐️) -- A young couple on a stop on a Greyhound journey in the 80s find themselves in a small town in 2006 that is not exactly what it seems. "Willa" is beautiful, atmospheric writing, but I found this one a bit slow and longer than necessary.
The Gingerbread Girl (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)-- Emily runs to deal with all her problems: grief...family trouble...murder... "The Gingerbread Girl is one of my favorite stories in the book, it's empowered fmc, Stephen King flavor.
Harvey's Dream (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5) -- Janet realizes as she watches out the window at the neighborhood in the morning around her that the dream her husband describes might have some unusual qualities. This was a good story, but I didn't get the turn until talking about it with my reading buddy!
Rest Stop (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5) -- Can struggling writer Hardin gain a new perspective by anonymously confronting a domestic abuser at a rest stop? I love that this story is a fun look at the writing process!
Stationary Bike (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5) -- A commercial artist paints a picture on the wall in front of his exercise bike, but as he increases his riding, the painting starts to change. This is another of my favorites from this collection, I adored the character work.
The Things They Left Behind (⭐️⭐️.5) -- Scott is the protector of certain objects that survived the collapse of the twin towers and which, he claims, are still connected to that tragedy. This is a decent ghost story, fresh because of the objects, but the shape of the narrative is a bit contrived.
*more to come
Rating:
*Update March 2023
Buddy read this great collection with my friend Gareth Loves Books here on GR in February. Now have a clearer memory of the collection and the story "N." in particular. Below are two sentences about each story!
Willa (⭐️⭐️⭐️) -- A young couple on a stop on a Greyhound journey in the 80s find themselves in a small town in 2006 that is not exactly what it seems. "Willa" is beautiful, atmospheric writing, but I found this one a bit slow and longer than necessary.
The Gingerbread Girl (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)-- Emily runs to deal with all her problems: grief...family trouble...murder... "The Gingerbread Girl is one of my favorite stories in the book, it's empowered fmc, Stephen King flavor.
Harvey's Dream (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5) -- Janet realizes as she watches out the window at the neighborhood in the morning around her that the dream her husband describes might have some unusual qualities. This was a good story, but I didn't get the turn until talking about it with my reading buddy!
Rest Stop (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5) -- Can struggling writer Hardin gain a new perspective by anonymously confronting a domestic abuser at a rest stop? I love that this story is a fun look at the writing process!
Stationary Bike (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5) -- A commercial artist paints a picture on the wall in front of his exercise bike, but as he increases his riding, the painting starts to change. This is another of my favorites from this collection, I adored the character work.
The Things They Left Behind (⭐️⭐️.5) -- Scott is the protector of certain objects that survived the collapse of the twin towers and which, he claims, are still connected to that tragedy. This is a decent ghost story, fresh because of the objects, but the shape of the narrative is a bit contrived.
*more to come
Rating:
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
Willa: After a train derails leaving its passengers stranded, David Sanderson's wife wanders away from the station and he goes looking for her.
On the surface, this was a tale of people who don't realize that they're ghosts dealing with their fate. Beneath, I think it's about how time slips away and the deeper the rut you get into, the harder it is to get out and do something new. His Kingship picked a good tale to start the collection with.
Gingerbread Girl: After leaving her husband, Emily takes up running on the beach. Her life is turning around until she runs afoul of killer!
This was a pretty gripping tale about a woman running for her life from a serial killer. Serial killers have been done to death but King makes a good tale out of it.
Harvey's Dream: A woman in a boring marriage is surprised when her husband wants to share a dream of his with her.
This one felt like a well-written Twilight Zone episode to me. The characters felt very real to me.
Rest Stop: A writer on the way home stops at a rest area to pee and interrupts a man beating his wife.
This one was okay. It dealt a little with identity but was mostly a writer gathering up the courage to do something about a bad situation.
Stationary Bike: An overweight commercial artist gets a stationary bike. Twilight Zone style weirdness ensues.
Yeah, I kind of liked this but it was a little long for what it was. Stationary bike takes guy into his drawing, guys working inside his body to keep his body healthy, it was a strange ride that ultimately went nowhere. See what I did there?
The Things They Left Behind: Mysterious objects appear in a 9/11 survivor's apartment, objects belonging to his deceased co-workers.
Another Twilight Zone-ish story that should have been a lot shorter.
Graduation Afternoon: A young woman knows she's attending one of her boyfriend's family's gatherings for the last time. It turns out being the last in more ways than one.
Meh.
N: A psychiatrist commits suicide and his sister reads the file on his last patient, an OCD man named N.
Holy shit! I enjoyed the hell out of this one. An OCD guy's rituals keeping a world devouring monster straight out of H.P. Lovecraft at bay? Loved it!
The Cat From Hell: A pharmaceutical millionaire hires a hitman to kill... a cat?
Pretty brutal. You can tell this one was early King, especially compared to the writing style of the other stories. No wonder it was featured in Tales from the Dark Side: The Movie.
The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates: A woman gets an unexpected phone call from her dead husband.
Yawn. Another plane crash-related tale. King's getting soft in his old age.
Mute: After finding out his wife has been having an affair, a man picks up a deaf-mute hitchhiker and bares his soul. But was the man really deaf?
This confessional tale was pretty good. King likes his shorts Twilight Zone-ish, doesn't he?
Ayana: This was a tale about miracles. It was a little Hallmark-y for my taste.
A Very Tight Place: A guy gets trapped inside a Johnny-On-The-Spot by his vindictive neighbor.
This was a revenge story that wasn't shitty despite the setting.
Closing Thoughts: Not a bad short story collection. N and the Cat from Hell were my favorites. I wouldn't say any of the stories were duds but this wasn't my favorite King collection. Three out of five stars.
On the surface, this was a tale of people who don't realize that they're ghosts dealing with their fate. Beneath, I think it's about how time slips away and the deeper the rut you get into, the harder it is to get out and do something new. His Kingship picked a good tale to start the collection with.
Gingerbread Girl: After leaving her husband, Emily takes up running on the beach. Her life is turning around until she runs afoul of killer!
This was a pretty gripping tale about a woman running for her life from a serial killer. Serial killers have been done to death but King makes a good tale out of it.
Harvey's Dream: A woman in a boring marriage is surprised when her husband wants to share a dream of his with her.
This one felt like a well-written Twilight Zone episode to me. The characters felt very real to me.
Rest Stop: A writer on the way home stops at a rest area to pee and interrupts a man beating his wife.
This one was okay. It dealt a little with identity but was mostly a writer gathering up the courage to do something about a bad situation.
Stationary Bike: An overweight commercial artist gets a stationary bike. Twilight Zone style weirdness ensues.
Yeah, I kind of liked this but it was a little long for what it was. Stationary bike takes guy into his drawing, guys working inside his body to keep his body healthy, it was a strange ride that ultimately went nowhere. See what I did there?
The Things They Left Behind: Mysterious objects appear in a 9/11 survivor's apartment, objects belonging to his deceased co-workers.
Another Twilight Zone-ish story that should have been a lot shorter.
Graduation Afternoon: A young woman knows she's attending one of her boyfriend's family's gatherings for the last time. It turns out being the last in more ways than one.
Meh.
N: A psychiatrist commits suicide and his sister reads the file on his last patient, an OCD man named N.
Holy shit! I enjoyed the hell out of this one. An OCD guy's rituals keeping a world devouring monster straight out of H.P. Lovecraft at bay? Loved it!
The Cat From Hell: A pharmaceutical millionaire hires a hitman to kill... a cat?
Pretty brutal. You can tell this one was early King, especially compared to the writing style of the other stories. No wonder it was featured in Tales from the Dark Side: The Movie.
The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates: A woman gets an unexpected phone call from her dead husband.
Yawn. Another plane crash-related tale. King's getting soft in his old age.
Mute: After finding out his wife has been having an affair, a man picks up a deaf-mute hitchhiker and bares his soul. But was the man really deaf?
This confessional tale was pretty good. King likes his shorts Twilight Zone-ish, doesn't he?
Ayana: This was a tale about miracles. It was a little Hallmark-y for my taste.
A Very Tight Place: A guy gets trapped inside a Johnny-On-The-Spot by his vindictive neighbor.
This was a revenge story that wasn't shitty despite the setting.
Closing Thoughts: Not a bad short story collection. N and the Cat from Hell were my favorites. I wouldn't say any of the stories were duds but this wasn't my favorite King collection. Three out of five stars.
emmada11ow's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Just after sunset is a collection of short stories so I'll rate the stories individually and then see what rating is more common for my main rating.
Willa ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The gingerbread girl ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Harveys dream ⭐️
Rest stop ⭐️⭐️
Stationary bike ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The things they left behind ⭐️⭐️
Graduation afternoon ⭐️⭐️
N ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The cat from hell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The new York Times ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mute ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ayana ⭐️⭐️
A very tight place ⭐️
Willa ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The gingerbread girl ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Harveys dream ⭐️
Rest stop ⭐️⭐️
Stationary bike ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The things they left behind ⭐️⭐️
Graduation afternoon ⭐️⭐️
N ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The cat from hell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The new York Times ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mute ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ayana ⭐️⭐️
A very tight place ⭐️
kbogdano80's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good collection of short and slightly longer short stories by King. Not my personal favorite collection he's done (for me it will always be Nightmares and Dreamscapes or Night Shift)but still a fast, interesting read filled with tales only Stephen King could and would write.
My favorite stories in the book include:
1)N.-A story about a psychiatrist's new patient, simply called N, whose symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder may be a little more sinister and complicated than anticipated. A truly creepy and disturbing little tale.
2) Stationary Bike- A classic King-style story in which simple objects (in this case an exercise bike) may be more than they appear and can lead to unexpected and scary adventures.
3) A Tight Place- One of the grossest stories King has done to date, and that's definitely saying something. However, still very enjoyable and fun to read.
Recommended for anyone who likes Stephen King.
My favorite stories in the book include:
1)N.-A story about a psychiatrist's new patient, simply called N, whose symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder may be a little more sinister and complicated than anticipated. A truly creepy and disturbing little tale.
2) Stationary Bike- A classic King-style story in which simple objects (in this case an exercise bike) may be more than they appear and can lead to unexpected and scary adventures.
3) A Tight Place- One of the grossest stories King has done to date, and that's definitely saying something. However, still very enjoyable and fun to read.
Recommended for anyone who likes Stephen King.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. I've previously stayed away from Stephen King's short story collection as I didn't enjoy the format overall but now my reading have changed a bit and I fond that I enjoy reading them a lot more.
This had some hits and misses as most of the short story collections tend to be but I liked quite a few of them. Not sure which is my favorite, perhaps Willa or the one where a wife get a call from her dead husband.
This had some hits and misses as most of the short story collections tend to be but I liked quite a few of them. Not sure which is my favorite, perhaps Willa or the one where a wife get a call from her dead husband.
alexisestevens's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0