Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

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.

Average Customer Rating:

Sad to say...	Customer Rating:
I used to be a SK fan. Nothing in this book held my interest. Sorry. iill not be buying any more SK books. No character development/no sympathy.

Best at short stories	Customer Rating:
He along with Raymond carver is a master of the short story. I took a writing seminar in which he spoke and he is awe inspiring. Love short stories especially when you have a schedule that allows only short spurts in which to read. This collection will not disappoint.

Like a letter from an old friend.

Customer Rating:

Does anyone else feel that often Stephen King's book intro's are as good or better than the book themselves? I mean this book is no slouch and its a fine read but the way his intro's just sound like "him." Maybe I am getting nostalgic as I age - grins. I am not a huge fan of short stories, but as King says in this intro, a lot of writers forget how to write them when they get famous. They don't need to write them. Stephen K. certainly doesn't need to write them but thats what makes these so good - he writes them for the fun of it. Some of these stores have been published else where and on audio so careful if have listened to the Gingerbread Girl or the Stationary Bike, but there's lots of other good stuff here. I would put Stephen King and Neil Gaiman together as the 2 people who can really write short stories well.

Time to ride into the sunset!	Customer Rating:
He uses toooooo many words to set the scene. Would be a better book if he didn't try to impress us. I could read two books in the time it took to read this one due to this. Ugh...it'll be a while before I read any more of his books. Koontz, Patterson, there are too many others...

I still leave the lights on.....	Customer Rating:
I have not read every story yet but the ones I have read have kept me glued to them. I particularly liked "very tight space" where the guy is locked in the porta-potty. This is totally Stephen King at his best.