Just After Sunset

Stories

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Stephen King, Jill Eikenberry, Holter Graham, George Guidall, Ron McLarty, Denis O'Hare, Ben Shenkman, Mare Winningham

Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

2010 Audie Award Finalist for Short Stories/Collections

Stephen King - who has written more than 50 books, dozens of number-one New York Times best sellers, and many unforgettable movies - delivers an astonishing collection of short stories. The stories in this collection have appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, Esquire, and other publications.

Who but Stephen King would turn a Port-O-San into a slimy birth canal, or a roadside honky-tonk into a place for endless love? A book salesman with a grievance might pick up a mute hitchhiker, not knowing the silent man in the passenger seat listens altogether too well. Or an exercise routine on a stationary bicycle, begun to reduce bad cholesterol, might take its rider on a captivating -- and then terrifying -- journey.

Set on a remote key in Florida, "The Gingerbread Girl" is a riveting tale featuring a young woman as vulnerable -- and resourceful -- as Audrey Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark.

In "Ayana," a blind girl works a miracle with a kiss and the touch of her hand.

For King, the line between the living and the dead is often blurry, and the seams that hold our reality intact might tear apart at any moment. In one of the longer stories here, "N.", which recently broke new ground when it was adapted as a graphic digital entertainment, a psychiatric patient's irrational thinking might create an apocalyptic threat in the Maine countryside...or keep the world from falling victim to it.

Just After Sunset - call it dusk, call it twilight, it's a time when human intercourse takes on an unnatural cast, when nothing is quite as it appears, when the imagination begins to reach for shadows as they dissipate to darkness and living daylight can be scared right out of you. It's the perfect time for Stephen King.

©2008 Stephen King (P)2008 Simon & Schuster

Not his Best

There were a couple of the short stories that were worth the listen but overall there were more that just weren't that great. Ended up wishing I had used my credit for something else.

Wow - Great Stories & Great Narrators!

My favorite story was probably "N", but that's just because I had already downloaded "Stationary Bike" when it was released. But I also really liked "MUTE" which was narrated by Skip Sudduth. It was weird - I was convince that it was Anthony Lapaglia narrating, but the telling was just perfect.

If you like Stephen King, you can't go wrong with this one!

I enjoyed it for the most part

This book was interesting. It had some good stories but the 2 that really stood out were N as well as a very tight place. Another story that was reasonable was the Gingerbread girl. The opener which was called Willa wasn't bad either. All and all not a bad audio book, enjoy

Mediocre story set saved by Winningham (& others)

Mediocre story set saved by Mare Winningham (and others)!

Not a single one of these stories is one that I'd care to read again. The stories themselves just aren't good. The best of them are mediocre. None are worth a second read. Some aren't worth a first read.

This set has, however, some of the best readers I've heard on Audible. And I have a new favorite reader: Mare Winningham! I want more stories read by her!

Since the book description doesn't list who reads which story and which chapters they are, here's that:

Chapter 2 - Willa, read by Holter Graham (predictable Twilight Zone style story, but the reader is good)
Chapter 3 - The Gingerbread Girl, read by Mare Winningham (one of the better stories in this set; best reader!)
Chapter 15 - Harvey's Dream, read by Stephen King (boring, standard, non-unique, predictable; the worst part is the lazy non-ending)
Chapter 16 - Rest Stop, read by Denis O'Hare (not a fan of how the character handled the situation; if this were nonfiction, the girl would be right back in danger)
Chapter 17 - Stationary Bike, read by Ron McLarty (seems to be one of the better stories, but I was distracted and missed some of it because I was coincidentally working out while listening)
Chapter 23 - Graduation Afternoon, read by Jill Eikenberry (boring story; I didn't remember it at all until I checked back again; the reader does pretty well, but the story isn't a memorable or unique one)
Chapter 24 - The Things They Left Behind, read by Ben Shenkman (dull cashing-in kind of story, trying to get that post-911 attention)
Chapter 25 - N., read by Holter Graham, Denis O'Hare, Ben Shenkman, and Karen Ziemba (one of the most interesting stories of this set, and I like that it has multiple readers)
Chapter 32 - The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates, read by Jill Eikenberry (boring story, but the reader does well enough)
Chapter 33 - Mute, read by Skip Saddath (another predictable one, but reader is good)
Chapter 44 - The Cat from Hell, read by Holter Graham (have I seen a TV version of this?)
Chapter 45 - Ayana, read by George Guidall (another meh one, not a unique plot, but the reader does well)
Chapter 46 - A Very Tight Place, read by Ron McLarty (worst story, not worth even one listen)

My favorite reader in this set is Mare Winningham. She's the reason I bought this audiobook, hoping that her reading would be as good as the movie I saw her in. Audible needs more books read by her; she's the best reader I've heard on all of Audible! The story she reads, "Gingerbread Girl", isn't a particularly good story. But she reads it well, and I'd listen to it again just because her reading of it is so good.

Stephen King read one of the stories himself. He isn't a great reader, but I like hearing stories read by the authors so you know exactly how the author meant it to sound. Unfortunately the story itself, "Harvey's Dream", is pretty boring and is one of those lazy no-ending stories.

The other readers are people I'd never heard of outside of this audiobook, but they're all good readers. Eikenberry is the only weak one, but it could be that she just got stuck with the two most boring stories.

The only bad story (bad rather than just mediocre) is the last one, "A Very Tight Place", and it's pretty bad. It's disgusting, and not because it's about poo. It's disgusting because it makes a hero out of Curtis, a man who let his dog run loose in his neighbor's yard and then tried to sue his neighbor when the dog was hurt on the neighbor's fence. Curtis was careless with his own dog's safety and inconsiderate with his neighbors, and HE tried to sue the very neighbor he terrorized with his dog. Sick. Realistic, though. We've all seen it on the news many many times, and likely many of you have suffered through it yourselves, having neighbors who terrorize you with their dog and then blame you when their dog is hurt while they let the dog go illegally into your yard, and then sobbing for the public's sympathy about what a monster you are for having a fence around your own land. The story ends with the dog owner getting a new dog and vowing to continue forever terrorizing the neighbor he'd tried to sue. The reader was good. It's just the story itself that was terrible, making a hero out of selfish, careless bullies like Curtis who use dogs as weapons.

Skip the Curtis story, and the rest of this will be a good audiobook for when you need something on in the background while you work, something with good readers and with story plots that aren't quite good enough to distract you.

Just After Sunset

Loved all the stories. The last one was my favorite. Stephen King entertained me on my many hours of travel.

I loved this collection so much!

IMHO some oh King's best short stories are in this book. Such a great read!

A great collection for sure!

If you're a fan of the great Stephen King, you will not be disappointed.

I truly enjoyed the entire collection and found all the readers to be very talented in their ability to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Pretty good but prefer his novels

Stephen King's long narratives where he can creep you out are better in my opinion but still worth the listen if you are a fan.

Good collection of stories

Not my favorite by far, but still a wonderful collection of stories. Definitely recommend this title to those who enjoy really good fiction & horror.

JUST AFTER SUNSET

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of stories with its unexpected twists and turns. King does it again. Highly recommend this book.