Stephen King - Just After Sunset

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Stephen King - Just After Sunset (Hodder & Stoughton, 2008)

Introduction

Willa
The Gingerbread Girl
Harvey's Dream
Rest Stop
Stationary Bike
The Thing They Left Behind
Graduation Afternoon
N
The Cat From Hell
The New York Times At Discount Prices
Mute
Ayana
A Very Tight Place

Sunset Notes

It's King, so it's sure to be a very mixed bag and there is a fair chance that not all of these will be much cop, even to fans. The Cat From Hell puts in what may well be its first reappearance since since Peter Haining exhumed it from Cavalier for Tales Of Unknown Horror way back in 1978 (Steve mentions elsewhere that the Tales From The Darkside adaptation stars the New York Dolls' David Johanson as the doomed hit man). N is, apparently, King's tribute to Arthur Machen, Mute is his attempt at something Alfred Hitchcock Presents and A Very Tight Place is another for the toilets of terror index.

The Cat From Hell: Contract killer John Halston is hired by old man Drogan to rid him of a ferocious cat with a half black, half white face. Drogan Pharmaceuticals have been responsible for the deaths of over five thousand felines in their research labs, and this particular pussy has taken it personally and, according to his client, has already been responsible for the "accidental" deaths of three elderly parties. 'Easiest $12, 000 i ever made' thinks Halston as he drives away to perform the dirty deed. 'That's where you're so fucken wrong' thinks the cat.

The New York Times At Discount Prices: As featured by Stephen Jones in both Best New Horror 20 and The Very Best Of Best New Horror. Jimmy died two days ago when his passenger jet crashed into a Brooklyn apartment block. As he and the other casualties prepare to leave what appears to be a waiting room for the afterlife (it looks like Grand Central Station), ghost of Jimmy uses his cell phone to call wife Annie, tell her how much he loves her and provide some insider information on small-scale tragedies to come and how best she can avoid them. This shapes up like it's another variation on The Monkey's Paw (see Pet Sematery) before King changes tack, steers it in a less traumatic direction.

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A Very Tight Place: Tim Grunwald is bankrupt, dying of liver cancer and his wife has run off. He blames it all on his neighbour, that "gay witch" Curtis Johnson, who he cheated over a property transaction. It didn't help matters when his new security fence electrocuted Johnson's ass-faced dog and the pansy sued him! With nothing left to lose, Grunwald has only one ambition left; to get even with Curtis. On the pretence that he wishes to apologise, he lures him out to an abandoned building site where a Port-A-Sans toilet - re-enforced with sheet metal - provides the perfect means of a re-enacting The Premature Burial.

This couldn't be any less clever and grown up if it had little cartoon bubbles of a "Ghastly pong!" and "Heinous stench!" nature drawn in the margins, and you'll be rushing to and from the shower throughout the final third, but it's a page-turner, by god, is it a page-turner!