Coming out in November, is called After Sunset, and it’s 13 short stories.
I think King is at his best when he does short stories. I love his novels, but when he reins in his rambling, he does short and sweet very well.
Yeah, I tend to like short story collections more, as well. I thought Jeffery Deaver’s Twisted and More Twisted were great!
But back to King, I remember reading Everything’s Eventual in about two or three hours. I cannot wait for this one to come out. First I’ve heard about it, too, so thank you for this topic.
I’m a King fan, and love his novels, but I agree his short work is his best work. I am anxiously awaiting this, and have reminded my family again and again that it will be out “just in time for birthday gift-giving” (with my birthday being Nov. 10th). 
Excellent. I too think Stephen King is untouchable when he’s doing short stories (partly because his weakness has always been endings in long novels. The short form seems to eliminate that flaw.)
Hopefully it won’t be 13 stories about a writer from Maine that nearly dies, usually by being hit by a truck.
I think one of my favorite parts of the unedited The Stand was the vignettes…the brief stories, usually just a paragraph or two, some just a few lines, of the people who didn’t die of Captain Trips but did die in the aftermath of the world falling apart. Some were stupid (a drug addict dying after shooting up pure heroin) and some were poignant (a little boy falling down a well and dying of dehydration) and some were horrifying (a woman accidentally locking herself in a freezer.)
It shows that King can purely pack a punch with brevity. It reminds me of an urban legend about Papa Hemingway. He was challenged to write a six word short story.
Supposedly he came up with:
For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.
Just damn.
My wife, son and I are going to see Stephen King and Richard Russo speak (and get a signed copy of “Just After Sunset”) this Thursday (Nov. 6). It’s my son’s 14th birthday, and it’s actually the second time he’s seen him and gotten a book signed (the other one was at a signing for the Best American Short Stories of 2007 that King edited).
If anyone is interested to go to the talk (although no more Stephen King book tickets are available) the details are:
Thursday Nov 6 at 7PM
Chapin Auditorium, Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, Massachusetts
http://odysseybks.com/kingrusso.html
The talk is a Benefit for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, and is being arranged by the Odyssey Book Store.
I first read The Stand in its edited version and enjoyed it very much. But I enjoyed the second version so much more, because of the bits you mentioned. It really made the situation more realistic and scary.
I just acquired this book yesterday. I didn’t even dare take it into my bedroom last night for fear that I’d stay up reading until 3AM then be a hurtin’ pup when my alarm went off at 8. I’m in the middle of the first story, but more stoked than you can imagine about reading every word of it. I know it’s been said many, many times, but King is at his finest when brevity is called for.
Man, I’m kind of disappointed now. I forgot all about this book and just picked up the paperback of Duma Key, today. I didn’t even look around to see if there were other titles. I’ve been wanting to read Duma Key because I’m about 15 miles from his Winter Place here in Florida and the Geography and subject matter should count for developing a more personal psychological horror and connection to this book for myself. I’ll probably get a little view into how he feels about FL, as a snowbird, which is interesting to me since we share that in common. I hope I made the right choice.
I just finished reading it last night and LOVED it. It’s probably the best work I’ve read from him in the past 10 years or so. And that includes Duma Key.
When I read short story collections, I’m usually prepared for at least one or two duds but there’s none here. There’s a couple of stories that are a bit weaker than the rest but still brilliant. And except for a couple of outright horror-filled blood fests (The Cat from Hell), they’re all pretty quietly terrifying which to me, is a lot scarier than in-your-face horror.
Really enjoyed “N” and “The Stationary Bike”. “N” would make an awesome movie.
And that’s all I’m going to say for now–hurry up and read it, guys! 
I picked it up last night and read the first two stories. While I love King’s novels, like many other fans, I think that he’s at his best when he’s writing short stories. I think it’s because of his background reading EC comics and Weird Tales as a kid, then getting his start by publishing short stuff in stag mags in the seventies.
Again, I’ve only read the first two stories, but either the sequencing is weird or this collection is starting off on a bit of a rough note. The first story is just a re-write of “You know they got a hell of a band” from Nightmares and Dreamscapes, and the second one reads like a sort version or trial run for Duma Key. I think it’s notable that in the preface, King talks about how he’s gradually and naturally written less and less short fiction over the years, and how he started struggling to do so, and that this whole collection is sort of an attempt to get back to doing that.
I hope it picks up after the first two! I really want this to be the next Night Shift or Everything’s Eventual.
Are Cat from Hell and Stationary Bike the only reprints? I was hoping this would be all new stuff.
I’m waiting for my copy to arrive from the Stephen King Library. Good Lord, I just realized I’ve been a member for going on 18 years now!