Just After Sunset

A stunning collection that displays King's phenomenally broad readership (stories published in the New Yorker, Playboy and McSweeney's and including the 25,000 word story "Gingerbread Girl" published in Esquire)-the first collection since King guest edited the bestselling Best American Short Stories 2007.

'A gripping and satisfyingly scary' ( Sunday Telegraph ) bumper collection of RIVETING, DARK STORIES from the No. 1 bestselling master of the form. Just after sunset, as darkness grips the imagination, is the time when you feel the unexpected creep into the every day. As familiar journeys take a different turn, ordinary objects assume extraordinary powers. A blind intruder visits a dying man - and saves his life, with a kiss. A woman receives a phone call from her husband. Her late husband. In the emotional aftermath of her baby's sudden death, Emily starts running. And running. Her curiosity leads her right into the hands of a murderer . . . and soon her legs are her only hope for survival. Enter a world of masterful suspense, dark comedy and thrilling twists which will keep you riveted from the first page. Enter the world of No. 1 bestseller Stephen King. Stories include: -Willa -The Gingerbread Girl -Harvey's Dream -Rest Stop -Stationary Bike -The Things They Left Behind -Graduation Afternoon -N. -The Cat from Hell -The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates -Mute -Ayana -A Very Tight Place

'A gripping and satisfyingly scary' ( Sunday Telegraph ) bumper collection of RIVETING, DARK STORIES from the No. 1 bestselling master of the form. Just after sunset, as darkness grips the imagination, is the time when you feel the unexpected creep into the every day. As familiar journeys take a different turn, ordinary objects assume extraordinary powers. A blind intruder visits a dying man - and saves his life, with a kiss. A woman receives a phone call from her husband. Her late husband. In the emotional aftermath of her baby's sudden death, Emily starts running. And running. Her curiosity leads her right into the hands of a murderer . . . and soon her legs are her only hope for survival. Enter a world of masterful suspense, dark comedy and thrilling twists which will keep you riveted from the first page. Enter the world of No. 1 bestseller Stephen King. Stories include: -Willa -The Gingerbread Girl -Harvey's Dream -Rest Stop -Stationary Bike -The Things They Left Behind -Graduation Afternoon -N. -The Cat from Hell -The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates -Mute -Ayana -A Very Tight Place

Stephen King -- who has written more than fifty books, dozens of number one New York Times bestsellers, and many unforgettable movies -- delivers an astonishing collection of short stories, his first since Everything's Eventual six years ago. As guest editor of the bestselling Best American Short Stories 2007 , King spent over a year reading hundreds of stories. His renewed passion for the form is evident on every page of Just After Sunset . 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.

Stephen King -- who has written more than fifty books, dozens of number one New York Times bestsellers, and many unforgettable movies -- delivers an astonishing collection of short stories, his first since Everything's Eventual six years ago. As guest editor of the bestselling Best American Short Stories 2007 , King spent over a year reading hundreds of stories. His renewed passion for the form is evident on every page of Just After Sunset . 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.