The Sun Dog

by Stephen King

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King’s novella The Sun Dog, published in his award-winning 1990 story collection Four Past Midnight, now available for the first time as a standalone publication. The dog is loose again. It is not sleeping. It is not lazy. It’s coming for you. Kevin Delavan wants only one thing for his fifteenth a Polaroid Sun 660. There’s something wrong with his gift, though. No matter where Kevin Delevan aims the camera, it produces a photograph of an enormous, vicious dog. In each successive picture, the menacing creature draws nearer to the flat surface of the Polaroid film as if it intends to break through. When old Pop Merrill, the town’s sharpest trader, gets wind of this phenomenon, he envisions a way to profit from it. But the Sun Dog, a beast that shouldn’t exist at all, turns out to be a very dangerous investment.

Genres: Horror

Paperback

Published February 25, 2021

About the author

Stephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.

Reviews

[Dawn Corbin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't one of my favorites by far.

[Mark Stol · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me this story was ok but my least favorite in the Four past midnight collection. The concept is quite innovative and interesting with a dog/ monster getting closer every time when you make a polaroid picture. It became a bit dragging for me with the whole selling of the camera. Liked the end but I agree with one of the other reviewers that it would work better as a short story of about 100 pages.

[Ruth E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story quite a lot, but there were times when it dragged a bit. The descriptions were really good, but some of them were a bit long (e.g. the checkout girl's reaction when Mr. Merrill buys the film). I think the story would have been just as good if they were just a bit shorter. But, otherwise, I liked the book. I liked how it built from almost boring to really exciting.

[Christopher Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great weekend read! Filled with an unsettling feeling and a sprinkle of existential dread for a summer afternoon. I love polaroids and this makes me love them even more. Great standalone short story. Well done as always Mr. King

[Jenn West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting concept for a story. Nice, quick and easy read with an unexpected twist at the very end. Sometimes I really do enjoy SK's 'other' genres and 'The Sun Dog' fell somewhere in between all of them.

[Steve Mckenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first 75% of this book, but felt like the last quarter was a bit of a let down. Was a well built story, quite unique I thought with a good small character base. A decent read but I feel like it should have been a four star with a better ending.

[Peter Sannizzaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Stephen King short story - so far!

[Caitlyn Mitravich · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt the book was a bit slow, it didn’t really pick up until the last 50 pages or so. It was well written like many of Kings books, but just a little underwhelming.

[Nicki]

I really wasn’t into this one, though the premise was interesting. Honestly I was bored and it’s not a long book. DNF.

[audrey !! 🎼 · Rating 3 out of 5]

for the first like 150 pages it’s painfully boring but towards the end it really picks up and gets pretty gross and scary!!

[Bill Engle · Rating 4 out of 5]

another good book by Stephen King!

[Julie Malone · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was ok for a short story.

[Ted Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I swear I read this story collection back in the day and just don’t remember. It had the familiar feel of a good Twilight Zone episode. Good, but not great.

[Krystal Dregon · Rating 2 out of 5]

kinda boring but cool concept that would have worked better as like a 100 page short story. def reminds me of an episode of goosebumps idk which came first but love a spooky dog story.

[Bees Sys · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan of King's short stories, but I definitely enjoyed the premise of this one a lot. The pacing could've been better, but otherwise it was a good read!

[Bogi Sztranyiczki · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐