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Editorial Review:
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-a-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.
Customer Reviews:
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Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0 
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Just After Sunset is right for Just About Anytime 
Simply Outstanding! I would say that is my opinion of Mr. Kings newest collection of stories. I could not put this collection down. If you have enjoyed his other short story collections this effort will not let you down AT ALL. Some of my favs were:
Willa (A look at what might happen after we die)
Stationary Bike (A definate thrill ride for acid takers and non acid takers alike)
Graduation Afternoon (My favorite of all is a small glimpse at the moment a nuclear bomb is dropped on N.Y. -Go... more info
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Keep the lights on all night with this one...
I haven't read any Stephen King short stories in a decade, just couldn't wait to get this book, and was not disappointed. As in his other recent work, King has shifted away from the flashy, ghoul-filled stuff to the inner horrors of personality, mental state and an unstable society. Sure, there are the elements of fantasy, but a lot of this stuff is scary because it could be true and could happen to you. There are 13 stories, ranging from the abduction of an obsessed runner (The Gingerbread Girl), to the... more info
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These are more "ideas" than stories and few are compelling 
Although the stories get better as you progress through the collection, overall these are basically just "ideas" that are put down with no real sense of a "story."
What would happen if people were dead but didn't know it....?
...if a bomb blew up New York City....?
...if a cat was really evil?...
The first story "Willa" is the easily the weakest of the batch, an idea that goes on too long. "The Things They Left Behind," "Mute" and "N" are probably the best because they are real stories... more info
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An engaging, thoughtful collection 
Stephen King has always been able to scare the willies out of people. With "Just After Sunset," he manages to do it again: This time by remdinging us of our own mortality.
Some of the stories in this collection are not particularly easy to read. They deal with decay and entropy, as encountered in normal life; this is best exemplified in "A Very Tight Place," the final entry here, but it crops up again throughout. In fact, all but one of the stories follows this theme; that one exception (his "hidden... more info
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