The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: King, Stephen. Just After Sunset. Scribner. Nov. 6, 2008. Kindle.

Just After Sunset, a collection by Stephen King, includes 13 stories that explore a variety of topics including the horror of 9/11, a demonic cat, and a neighbor with nothing to lose. In his writing, King captures the feeling of terror brought about by the unnatural as well as the fears encountered when living everyday life. Themes include the power of perception, the power of the mind, and how good can come from a bad situation.

In “Willa,” the passengers from a derailed train refuse to accept that they are dead.

In “The Gingerbread Girl,” Emily begins running to help her deal with the death of her baby. Her running obsession helps to save her life when she is kidnapped by a psychotic murderer.

In “Harvey’s Dream,” a man’s dream foreshadows a family member’s tragic death.

The short story “Rest Stop” describes an English professor’s struggle to reconcile his identity as a writer and his identity as a professor after he presents to his writing group. Dykstra/Hardin must also deal with the propensity for violence that he discovered in his personality when he saved a woman from being beaten by her boyfriend.

In “Stationary Bike,” a man trying to lower his cholesterol levels is confronted by a metabolic work crew who disassembled his exercise bicycle because he was putting them out of a job.

In the story “The Things They Left Behind,” a man who survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks because he took a sick day is distraught when things belonging to his dead coworkers appear in his apartment. He alleviates his survivors' guilt when he gives these personal items to the families who lost their loved ones.

In “Graduation Afternoon,” a teen girl knows things will never be the same after an atomic bomb is detonated in New York City.

In “N.” a psychiatrist finds himself drawn to the same unusual stone structure that caused a patient’s debilitating obsessive-compulsive disorder and resulting suicide.

In “The Cat From Hell,” Halston doubts an elderly man’s claim that a stray cat his sister took in is responsible for three murders, but is convinced when the cat first causes him to wreck his car, and then kills him.

In the story “The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates,” a widow receives a phone call from her recently deceased husband.

“Mute” features a hitchhiker who claims to be both deaf and mute. After Monette gives this man a ride and confesses his anger with his wife not only for having an affair, but also embezzling a large amount of money from her employer, Monette worries the hitchhiker might not have been honest about his disability.

“Ayana” is the story of a special girl who heals a man of pancreatic cancer and passes along her gift of healing to the man’s son.

In “A Very Tight Place,” a disgruntled neighbor takes revenge into his own hands when he locks Curtis Jackson, the man he believes is responsible for his troubles, in a Port-O-Sans and leaves him to die. Curtis is able to escape from the toilet and gets revenge in his own way, eventually pushing his neighbor to the point of killing himself.