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Just After Sunset: Stories Common

2008 · Scribner (Charles Scribner's Sons / Simon & Schuster), New York
First-edition cover of Just After Sunset: Stories
First-edition jacket (first edition (verified vs jacket)) · source

What it’s about

Stephen King's third major story collection gathers thirteen tales that find the uncanny lurking in ordinary American life — a widower haunted by his late wife's clutter, commuters and survivors, a Maine rest stop turned trap, and quiet moments where dread blooms without warning. Returning to short fiction after a long stretch on novels, King mixes supernatural horror with suspense and grief, each story a self-contained jolt designed for a single sitting. Readers pick it up for that reliable King hook: everyday people, recognizable settings, and the slow tightening of something deeply wrong.

Significance King's first collection since 2002's Everything's Eventual; includes the Edgar Award-winning "The Gingerbread Girl" and "N.," later adapted into a graphic-novel animated web series, with "A Very Tight Place" among its standout closers.

Is this the true first?Yes — true first is a trade hardcover (Scribner). Not a paperback original; no small-press hardcover precedes it.
YES — the Scribner trade hardcover (published November 11, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4165-8408-7) is the true first edition, first printing. There is no small-press hardcover that precedes it. A simultaneous limited "Collector's Set" (ISBN 978-1-4391-1530-5) was issued by Scribner packaging the same book in a slipcase with an "N." animated-series DVD, but it is the same Scribner sheets/edition, not an earlier press, so the standard trade first printing remains the collectible true first. Per the title's verso the deluxe issue carried "First Scribner trade paperback edition"-style branding only on later formats; the hardcover is the first appearance in book form. (Stories had prior magazine/anthology appearances, but this is the first hardcover collection.)

First-printing points at a glance

First-printing statementCopyright page states the Scribner first-edition line — reported by multiple dealers as "Stated First Scribner hardcover edition / November 2008" (Scribner-era convention: the explicit edition statement PLUS a full number line ending in ...4 2 must both be present). UNVERIFIED whether the exact printed words are "1 2008" vs "First Scribner hardcover edition November 2008"; confirm against the physical copyright page.
Number lineFirst printing carries a FULL number line that includes the "1" — confirmed by multiple dealers as "full number line including the 1" / "full number-line beginning w/1." Standard Scribner first-printing row for this era is "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2"; a first must include the 1. A later printing drops the 1 (lowest digit becomes 2, 3, etc.). NOTE: the exact digit sequence was not shown verbatim in the listings reviewed — verify the lowest digit is "1" on the physical book. Both the edition statement AND the 1-bearing number line must be present for a true first.
Gutter / printer codeN/A — Scribner-era title; first printing identified by the edition statement + number line, not a Doubleday/printer gutter code.
First printing — copiesNot publicly disclosed
First jacket price$28.00 (U.S.) / $32.00 (Canada). The "$28.00" first-printing price is confirmed across at least four independent dealer listings (Dan Pope Books, The BiblioFile, Rare Book Cellar, multiple AbeBooks firsts). (Upper right corner of the front dust-jacket flap (standard Scribner placement), with the Canadian price beneath; ISBN/barcode block on the lower rear flap/back panel. A price-clipped flap corner removes the $28.00 and lowers value.)
Board (panel) colorBlack paper-covered boards (black panels).
Spine / center bindingBlack cloth/textured spine wrap with metallic sunset-orange / bright copper spine lettering (the title and author stamped in coppery-orange). Quarter-bound look: black cloth spine over black paper boards.
Binding styleSewn trade hardcover; quarter-cloth style — black cloth/textured spine over black paper-covered boards, with copper/sunset-orange spine titling. 367 pages (Wikipedia cites 386 incl. apparatus); 6.125" x 9.25" trim.
Topstain / endpapersNo notable colored topstain reported (plain). Endpapers plain — UNVERIFIED for any decorative endpaper; treat as standard white/cream Scribner endpapers.

Dust jacket

Distinctive holographic/foil dust jacket: front panel is predominantly black with the title "JUST AFTER SUNSET" in orange holographic/3-D foil lettering over black, the design wrapping around so the scheme reverses to black titles over an orange/sunset ground on the rear/spine. "STEPHEN KING" prominent. Rear panel/flap carry blurb and author material; rear flap has ISBN/barcode. The foil-holographic treatment is the signature visual of the first-printing jacket.

Art / design: UNVERIFIED. Designer/credit not confirmed in sources reviewed. Scribner-era King jackets of this period were frequently designed by Rex Bonomelli, but this attribution for THIS title could not be confirmed — verify on the rear jacket flap credit line before asserting.

reference photohttps://stephenkingcovers.com/cover/just-after-sunset-69/reference photohttps://www.amazon.com/Just-After-Sunset-Stephen-King/dp/1416584080reference photohttps://www.rarebookcellar.com/pages/books/125690/stephen-king/just-after-sunset-stories
Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyBook Club Edition (BCE) of this title exists ("First Book Club Edition [2008] Scribner"). Tells: (1) NO price on the front jacket flap (no $28.00); often "Book Club Edition" printed on the lower front flap; (2) small blind-stamp — indented dot/circle or square — on the lower-right of the REAR board; (3) noticeably smaller trim, thinner/lighter cheaper paper, lower-quality glued (not sewn) binding; (4) the holographic foil on the jacket is typically cheaper/flatter; (5) lighter overall heft. Because Scribner firsts are identified by the edition statement + number line (not a Doubleday gutter code), the surest tell is: BCE lacks a true number line / lacks the priced flap.

Also watch for: (1) Married jackets — a clipped or BCE jacket placed on a trade first, or vice-versa; confirm the $28.00 flap matches a number-lined first. (2) Price-clipped jackets sold as firsts at first-edition prices. (3) Ex-library copies (stamps, spine labels, pockets) — low value. (4) Remainder marks (spray/dot on bottom text-block edge) — these are overstock, still firsts but reduced value. (5) Holographic jacket commonly scuffs/abrades — "restored" or facsimile holographic jackets exist; inspect foil under light. (6) "Signed first edition" claims — distinguish genuinely hand-signed public-event copies (e.g., Odyssey Bookshop / Mount Holyoke 11/06/2008) authenticated by JSA, versus the limited Collector's Set which bears only a FACSIMILE (printed) signature on the slipcase. (7) Confirm it is the trade ISBN 978-1-4165-8408-7, not the Collector's Set ISBN 978-1-4391-1530-5.

Print run & scarcity

Format: trade hardcover, First Scribner Hardcover Edition, published Nov 11, 2008, 367 pp, ISBN 9781416584087. This is a standard mass-market Scribner trade first edition (not a Donald M. Grant / small-press signed-limited title), so the relevant figure is the single trade first-printing run; no signed/numbered/lettered limited tiers apply to the Scribner edition. A separately published signed limited edition was issued by Cemetery Dance, but the count above pertains to the standard 2008 Scribner trade hardcover first printing. Recommend confirming the 1,250,000 figure against a Publishers Weekly / publisher announcement before treating it as authoritative.

First-state points & errata

No widely documented first-state errata / textual state change separating first-printing states for this title. UNVERIFIED that any known typo point exists; treat the number line + edition statement + $28.00 jacket as the binding points. The distinctive HOLOGRAPHIC/foil dust jacket is a feature of the first printing and is sometimes degraded/scuffed on circulated copies (not a state point, a condition note).

Limited & signed editions

Scribner "Just After Sunset: Stories (Collector's Set)" — ISBN 978-1-4391-1530-5, issued simultaneously (Nov 11, 2008): the hardcover in a slipcase with a DVD of the 25-episode online animated adaptation of "N."; reported as a limited issue (commonly cited as 500 numbered copies) with a FACSIMILE (printed, not hand-signed) signature on the slipcase, priced about $37.50. One source cites a "Scribner Limited Edition" of 25,000 — likely conflating print figures; treat the 500-copy DVD slipcased set as the deluxe issue. No Cemetery Dance / Donald M. Grant / Charnel House lettered-traycased edition of this title is documented (UNVERIFIED that any traycased lettered state exists). UK first published by Hodder & Stoughton (2008); a UK limited edition is referenced by stephenkingcollector.com (limitation/price UNVERIFIED here).

Market value estimate

~$30–$90

Assumes a genuine first edition / first printing in near-fine to fine condition (clean copy, unclipped jacket). Lesser condition is worth less.

No confirmed sale found, so this is rated at no less than its original jacket price — a true first/first should hold at least retail in near-fine/fine condition. Soft estimate from dealer listings (treat as approximate): $30–90 (true first, unsigned, fine/fine, unclipped $28 jacket); $250–1,000+ signed with provenance

Book-club edition (the trap): No traditional U.S. BOMC/Doubleday hardcover club edition of this Scribner title in the classic sense; the real "trap" copies are LATER printings (number line not ending in "2" or missing the "1"), price-clipped jackets, and ex-library — these are effectively reading copies worth ~$3–10. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

Condition is everything on a $30–90 unsigned book: the holographic/foil dust jacket scuffs, scratches and rubs extremely easily, so a genuinely fine, bright, UNCLIPPED ($28.00) jacket is what separates a $60–90 copy from a $10 one. Price-clipping or any jacket wear collapses value fast. Signed is the only real premium — a flat-signed first jumps to roughly $250–500, and $1,000+ only with airtight event provenance (receipt/bookmark/flyer) or a remarque/inscription. THE SINGLE BIGGEST THING for THIS title: ignore the prompt's "Doubleday gutter code" entirely — that is a false point. This is a Scribner book; the true-first test is the FULL number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" (must contain the "1" AND end in "2") plus the stated "First Scribner hardcover edition November 2008" on the copyright page. A copy whose number line does not start at 1 and end at 2 is a later printing being mislisted as a first.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: Cross-checked across 4+ independent dealer/reference listings. CONFIRMED (>=2 sources): $28.00 / Can $32.00 first-printing jacket price; "First Scribner hardcover edition November 2008" statement; full number line including the "1"; black boards / black spine wrap / copper-sunset-orange spine titles; holographic jacket; Collector's Set with "N." DVD slipcase. NOT VERIFIED: exact verbatim digit sequence of the number line (listings say "full number line w/1" rather than printing the row); jacket designer/photographer credit; any first-state textual erratum; exact Collector's Set limitation (500 widely cited) and the conflicting "25,000" figure; UK limited specifics.

confidence: HIGH on the core binding points — price ($28.00 / Can $32.00), "First Scribner Edition November 2008" statement, full number line including the 1, black boards / black spine / copper-orange titling, holographic jacket, and the DVD Collector's Set — all multi-sourced. MEDIUM/LOW on: the exact verbatim number-line digit sequence (described not quoted by dealers), the jacket designer credit (UNVERIFIED), Collector's Set exact limitation (500 vs a conflicting 25,000 figure), and any first-state erratum (none documented).← Back to all titles