Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
This in my opinion is one of Stephen King's better collections of short stories even though three out of the thirteen I considered bad or just okay. I try to be objective when it comes to King but it is hard since he is my favorite writer of all time.
Most of these stories I would give a 5 out of 5. The middle of the book is slow because I think the three worst are all back to back. The slow part of the book for me was when you get to story #3 Harvey's Dream. I gave this a 3/5, then story #4 Rest Stop is a 2/5, followed by #5 Stationary Bike another 2/5. These three were my least favorite and really slow the book down. But everything is a solid 4-5/5.
This collection also holds my favorite Stephen King short story of all time #9 The Cat From Hell. Other highlights are #6 The Things They Left Behind, this one is very emotional about September 11th. #10 The New York Times At Special Bargain Rates, #11 Mute, and #12 Ayana all shine as great stories, and fun to read. The books ends are great fun story #13 A Very Tight Place, SO GOOD!!!
The least favorite story for me is #7 Graduation Afternoon, this one is one of the worst stories I have ever read by Stephen King. It was bad, didn't make much sense, and boring to read it got a 1/5.
Just After Sunset is certainly worth a read, especially if you love King like I do. Even with the bad this book gets a 4.5/5
Most of these stories I would give a 5 out of 5. The middle of the book is slow because I think the three worst are all back to back. The slow part of the book for me was when you get to story #3 Harvey's Dream. I gave this a 3/5, then story #4 Rest Stop is a 2/5, followed by #5 Stationary Bike another 2/5. These three were my least favorite and really slow the book down. But everything is a solid 4-5/5.
This collection also holds my favorite Stephen King short story of all time #9 The Cat From Hell. Other highlights are #6 The Things They Left Behind, this one is very emotional about September 11th. #10 The New York Times At Special Bargain Rates, #11 Mute, and #12 Ayana all shine as great stories, and fun to read. The books ends are great fun story #13 A Very Tight Place, SO GOOD!!!
The least favorite story for me is #7 Graduation Afternoon, this one is one of the worst stories I have ever read by Stephen King. It was bad, didn't make much sense, and boring to read it got a 1/5.
Just After Sunset is certainly worth a read, especially if you love King like I do. Even with the bad this book gets a 4.5/5
Nice book, easy to read, although it's quite far from King at his best. I like his novels much more than short stories.
It's not bad but I get the impression that King is just writing about things he is experiencing in his own life and throwing a twist of horror into them. I like his writing more when he wanders farther afield.
There were only a couple of stories that I didn't care for. Willa was one. But the NY Times story, Mute, and N. were great! Stationary Bike created the most amazing visual pictures in my head. Mr.Kind did NOT disappoint!
Thirteen stories. The stories follow two general story arcs: something supernatural happens to an ordinary person, with disturbing results; or, an ordinary person, usually working through personal issues, must respond to the heinous actions of a sociopath. King's storytelling is still good. Not as in-depth as his novels, no cosmic good v. evil death-match- just stories of people who could be you or me dealing with things we all hope never to.
Some decent short stories that you'll never remember.
I felt ripped off. Two of these stories I had purchased on audio book.
I liked the 9/11 story the best.
I liked the 9/11 story the best.
A great collection of stories that adds up to my first short story collection from King. My ranking of the stories from Best to Worst, the top 4 could easily switch around at any given time:
1. The Things They Left Behind— feels intensely personal with the central figure (even if he has a shady past) and the feelings of survivor’s guilt and grief. When King allows the stories to be about loss, it is the strongest work of the collection and also the stuff I relate to the most. 5/5
2. Willa— another moving story about death and the things we may or may not leave behind. Maybe the most optimistic King has been about romantic love I’ve experienced yet. 5/5
3. N.— an unsettling little story within a story within a story. Moved me to tears in its last few pages with its cruelty. TW: heavy warning for discussions on suicide. 5/5
4. The Cat from Hell— a delicious little number on cursed animals and their devious methods. Had so much fun with this one. 5/5
5. The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates— as I’ve said with some of the top selections, this collection was at its best with stories about loss. 5/5
6. A Very Tight Place— gross, timely, and full of dark humor. Not my favorite of the bunch but one of the most well written of the collection. 5/5
7. Stationary Bike— Intriguing concept I did not see coming at all. 5/5
8. The Gingerbread Girl— reminds me of the film of Gerald’s Game (excited to read the book someday) so I loved. 5/5
9. Ayana— King finally becomes aware of his use of the magical POC trope, but still indulges in it. It’s still moving as all hell though. 5/5
10. Mute— a twisted little story with an ending that actually shook me. Would be a nice companion piece to The Exorcist 3. 5/5
11. Graduation Afternoon— was moved by this one, even if after some reflection, it seemed to take the easy way to conclude this story. 4.5/5
12. Harvey’s Dream— pretty basic in execution but with an ending that flips the whole story on its head. Marriage eventually is just another annoyance and that’s heartbreaking. 4.5/5
13. Rest Stop— an interesting twist on split personality disorder that ultimately culminates in some of the sexism that the lead believes he’s saving the victim from. 4.5/5
1. The Things They Left Behind— feels intensely personal with the central figure (even if he has a shady past) and the feelings of survivor’s guilt and grief. When King allows the stories to be about loss, it is the strongest work of the collection and also the stuff I relate to the most. 5/5
2. Willa— another moving story about death and the things we may or may not leave behind. Maybe the most optimistic King has been about romantic love I’ve experienced yet. 5/5
3. N.— an unsettling little story within a story within a story. Moved me to tears in its last few pages with its cruelty. TW: heavy warning for discussions on suicide. 5/5
4. The Cat from Hell— a delicious little number on cursed animals and their devious methods. Had so much fun with this one. 5/5
5. The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates— as I’ve said with some of the top selections, this collection was at its best with stories about loss. 5/5
6. A Very Tight Place— gross, timely, and full of dark humor. Not my favorite of the bunch but one of the most well written of the collection. 5/5
7. Stationary Bike— Intriguing concept I did not see coming at all. 5/5
8. The Gingerbread Girl— reminds me of the film of Gerald’s Game (excited to read the book someday) so I loved. 5/5
9. Ayana— King finally becomes aware of his use of the magical POC trope, but still indulges in it. It’s still moving as all hell though. 5/5
10. Mute— a twisted little story with an ending that actually shook me. Would be a nice companion piece to The Exorcist 3. 5/5
11. Graduation Afternoon— was moved by this one, even if after some reflection, it seemed to take the easy way to conclude this story. 4.5/5
12. Harvey’s Dream— pretty basic in execution but with an ending that flips the whole story on its head. Marriage eventually is just another annoyance and that’s heartbreaking. 4.5/5
13. Rest Stop— an interesting twist on split personality disorder that ultimately culminates in some of the sexism that the lead believes he’s saving the victim from. 4.5/5
A solid collection of stories.
Willa: a story about death and haunting, yet it’s actually quite sweet. A nice little story about love, and denial.
The Gingerbread Girl: very creepy and effective horror story about a serial killer who has trapped someone. It has a horror movie vibe (and indeed the idea of horror movies is mentioned late in the story) to the point that I found myself shaking my head at what choices the character makes. It takes place in Florida where, like with Duma Key, he’s good at showing how isolated the keys can be.
Harvey’s Dream: short and sweet, basically about nightmares coming true. OK but nothing special. King says in the notes that he just transcribed a dream he had.
Rest Stop: this is a weird one. Basically, it’s about using your pseudonymous author name as a way to think like another, tougher person. It’s King rethinking old ideas—the relationship between the novelist, his pseudonym, and his ideas. In the notes, he mentions Richard Bachman. Kind of peters out at the end, though.
Stationary Bike: this is kind of a dopey one, with a moral about not letting exercise become an obsession.
The Things They Left Behind: a quite sentimental story about the survivors of 9/11.
Graduation Afternoon: an odd, very short story about a massive bomb exploding in New York City. King says it was another transcription of a dream.
N.: Frankly, I found this story repetitive and tedious. People develop OCD in order to save the world, so to speak. The OCD character in the story lives in Castle Rock (though sadly there is no real discussion of it) and notes that the number 19 is “powerful and bad.” At the end, there is a news article by Julia Shumway (from Under the Dome).
The Cat From Hell: a very basic “evil animal” story. Not so exciting.
“The New York Times” at Special Bargain Rates: a nicely creepy story about the afterlife.
Mute: A really compelling story about a man who picks up someone he thinks is deaf mute, though the end just fizzles out. Mentions Derry.
Ayana: A story about performing miracles, but it doesn’t really go anywhere.
A Very Tight Place: A really twisted story about a rivalry (using Florida again). King goes straight for the serious gross-out. As he writes in the notes, “I even grossed myself out.” The end is meh.
Willa: a story about death and haunting, yet it’s actually quite sweet. A nice little story about love, and denial.
The Gingerbread Girl: very creepy and effective horror story about a serial killer who has trapped someone. It has a horror movie vibe (and indeed the idea of horror movies is mentioned late in the story) to the point that I found myself shaking my head at what choices the character makes. It takes place in Florida where, like with Duma Key, he’s good at showing how isolated the keys can be.
Harvey’s Dream: short and sweet, basically about nightmares coming true. OK but nothing special. King says in the notes that he just transcribed a dream he had.
Rest Stop: this is a weird one. Basically, it’s about using your pseudonymous author name as a way to think like another, tougher person. It’s King rethinking old ideas—the relationship between the novelist, his pseudonym, and his ideas. In the notes, he mentions Richard Bachman. Kind of peters out at the end, though.
Stationary Bike: this is kind of a dopey one, with a moral about not letting exercise become an obsession.
The Things They Left Behind: a quite sentimental story about the survivors of 9/11.
Graduation Afternoon: an odd, very short story about a massive bomb exploding in New York City. King says it was another transcription of a dream.
N.: Frankly, I found this story repetitive and tedious. People develop OCD in order to save the world, so to speak. The OCD character in the story lives in Castle Rock (though sadly there is no real discussion of it) and notes that the number 19 is “powerful and bad.” At the end, there is a news article by Julia Shumway (from Under the Dome).
The Cat From Hell: a very basic “evil animal” story. Not so exciting.
“The New York Times” at Special Bargain Rates: a nicely creepy story about the afterlife.
Mute: A really compelling story about a man who picks up someone he thinks is deaf mute, though the end just fizzles out. Mentions Derry.
Ayana: A story about performing miracles, but it doesn’t really go anywhere.
A Very Tight Place: A really twisted story about a rivalry (using Florida again). King goes straight for the serious gross-out. As he writes in the notes, “I even grossed myself out.” The end is meh.