Book Review: Just After Sunset

Title: Just After Sunset
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner
Year Published: 2008

Overview: 4 out of 5
A collection of mostly new short stories. Overall, not as strong as previous collections, but there are a couple of gems here. Most of the stories are new, but there is one, “The Cat From Hell” which is over 30 years old. It’s also my favorite in the collection, and seems in many ways to be very “Poe-esque.” I think I may have even seen the television version of it on Tales from the Darkside he mentions in the notes section at the end of the book, but I can’t be sure of anything further back than Tuesday’s breakfast.

Detail
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating… I’ll read everything Stephen King writes. I may not like everything he writes, but I’ll certainly give him the benefit of the doubt. Such is the effect King’s prose has had on me over the years. And, with the exception of The Stand and The Dark Tower series, I prefer his short fiction over his longer work. That said, it was with great excitement I picked up his latest collection of short stories.

Just After Sunset is King getting back into his groove as far as I am concerned. For the most part, he cruises happily along with stories that do not disappoint, but also just don’t seem to have the same kind of ooomph that his older stories have. There are, however, a couple moments of brilliance.

“N.” is easily the strongest of the new batch of stories. Much of King’s recent longer work has focused on psychological and emotional explorations of his characters. Here he continues that exploration through, of all things, a psychologist’s report on patient “N.” King combines his new focus with his focus of old: the unexplainable and perhaps supernatural. It’s a wonderful tale of obsession and intrigue.

In “Willa,” the first story of the collection, King explores the afterlife. The subtlety of this particular piece is what sets it apart from the others. Rather than keep us locked out of the reality of the situation, this is a new kind of King, I think, one that starts with the door cracked open and lets us peek through at what is really going on with his characters. It’s touching, charming, and, I think, the most endearing piece I the book. It also contains my favorite quote: “Perception isn’t everything. But perception and expectation?”

If “Willa” is the new King, then “Stationary Bike” is a tribute to what first attracted me to King so very many years ago. There are no rules in a story like this. Reality and fantasy blend, and with them goes the “perception and expectation” of the story’s central character, Richard Sifkitz. It is this blending that captured my own imagination in his early collections. Everything about this story just screams vintage King.

In some cases, though, such as the final story, “A Very Tight Place,” King’s absence from the short form is painfully evident. To be completely honest, I was utterly repulsed by this story, and I think that is exactly what King intended. In my mind, it’s the kind of story I’d expect to receive in a freshman creative writing class. Granted the writing is technically superior to anything I’d receive at that level, but the story itself is, quite simply, needlessly gross. Moreover, to end the collection on such a note is to do a disservice to all the stories that preceded it.

Overall, if you enjoy Stephen King, I think you’ll enjoy the stories here. Or, conversely, if you can find the four good ones I mention (“The Cat From Hell,” “N.,” “Willa,” and “Stationary Bike” in other places, definitely pick them up, as they are King at close to his best.