Just after Sunset » (Unabridged, 14 CDs, 15 hours)

Few authors have tapped into our secret fears as adeptly as Stephen King, Master of the Macabre and one of the most widely read novelists writing today. With his trademark blend of fantasy, horror, and psychological suspense, this prolific and immensely popular contemporary writer continues to remind us that evil is still a potent force in the world.

This short story collection is read by:

Stephen King (reading "Harvey's Dream")

Jill Eikenberry (reading "Graduation Afternoon" and "The New York Times at Special Discount Rates")

Holter Graham (reading "Willa," "The Cat from Hell" and excerpts of "N.")

George Guidall (reading "Ayana")

Ron McLarty (reading "A Very Tight Place" and "Stationary Bike," previously recorded)

Denis O'Hare (reading "Rest Stop" and the title character for "N.")

Ben Shenkman (reading "The Things They Left Behind" and the character Johnny for "N.")

Skipp Sudduth (reading "Mute")

Mare Winningham (reading "The Gingerbread Girl," previously recorded)

Karen Ziemba (reading the character Sheila for "N.")

The Barnes & Noble Review

For starters, let's set aside the irrelevant arguments about Stephen King's place in the canon of American literature: i.e., what's a nice, lowbrow hack like him doing in a swanky establishment like The Paris Review, Esquire or -- gasp! -- The New Yorker? Furthermore, aren't his "literary" novels, like Lisey's Story and Duma Key, merely transparent attempts to earn respectability among highbrow critics (who, truth be told, are probably reading Pet Semetary behind that copy of Ulysses on their subway commute)? For the moment, let's shrug off the truly Needless Things: the natterings about the value of genre literature that have shadowed King ever since the publication of the tales in Different Seasons, his first evident steps out of the puddle of gore toward fiction that had a deeper purpose than the quick, cheap scare.