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Summer Thunder
This powerful short story appears in the Stephen King collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams.
The world is in a nuclear war, and most of the population has been wiped out. Peter Robinson's wife and daughter were in Boston when everybody was suddenly killed.
His only comfort is his bond with a stray dog which helps him cope with the loss of his family.
His only joy is one final ride on his Fat Bob motorcycle (with a sound like Summer Thunder).
The world is in a nuclear war, and most of the population has been wiped out. Peter Robinson's wife and daughter were in Boston when everybody was suddenly killed.
His only comfort is his bond with a stray dog which helps him cope with the loss of his family.
His only joy is one final ride on his Fat Bob motorcycle (with a sound like Summer Thunder).
31 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 3, 2015
About the author
Stephen King
2,243 books894k followersStephen 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 20, 2021
Completing the Bazaar of Bad Dreams is this 15 page story about the end of the world. He has done several of these but this is a bit different. The bombs have fallen and this is simply seeing the world die.
There was something so profoundly sad about this little horror piece. It was beautiful and peaceful and very sad. King wrote it so it felt easy to believe it would be so easy for this to happen. I did appreciate this story too. The setting is the country of Maine and it's quiet and peaceful accept there are no bird songs any longer. The world is so beautiful in the story. It's heart breaking.
That’s the end of this one and it was pretty good for spooky season. Not too scary, but enough tingles to be good.
There was something so profoundly sad about this little horror piece. It was beautiful and peaceful and very sad. King wrote it so it felt easy to believe it would be so easy for this to happen. I did appreciate this story too. The setting is the country of Maine and it's quiet and peaceful accept there are no bird songs any longer. The world is so beautiful in the story. It's heart breaking.
That’s the end of this one and it was pretty good for spooky season. Not too scary, but enough tingles to be good.
November 1, 2018
This was such a wonderful end-of-the-world story. Scary and full of courage!
The world is devastated with nuclear holocaust. People are dead. There are carcasses of animals littered around. Yet there are three survivors, neighbours - living two miles apart. Robinson at fifty has been able to rescue Gandalf, a mutt, in whom he now finds the only purpose of living. And his Harley-Davidson, which he wants to ride - a symbol of liberation to him. Timlin, the neighbour somehow is able to carry on with his neighbours' company and beers. But soon they start seeing signs of advanced radiation poisoning amongst all three of them. Now its up to them to end their own suffering.
A great story. Post-nuclear apocalypse situation is very well exhibited using minimal words, a situation of horror has been so well maintained. The story showed what would happen to a human being in case of such a situation, wherein there is no hope of being able to survive, absolutely, at all! Wherein all purpose is lost, and there is no one, or nothing to live for.
It is most definitely a sad and a depressing story. Yet, how Robinson uses his Harley-Davidson to produce "Summer Thunder", the sound of the bike's engine so as to disturb the long quiet, and then proceed to courageously perform the thrill of his life, displays how man can endure to live a liberating life until the end.
Wow..., what a class of an ending! Much recommended. :)
The world is devastated with nuclear holocaust. People are dead. There are carcasses of animals littered around. Yet there are three survivors, neighbours - living two miles apart. Robinson at fifty has been able to rescue Gandalf, a mutt, in whom he now finds the only purpose of living. And his Harley-Davidson, which he wants to ride - a symbol of liberation to him. Timlin, the neighbour somehow is able to carry on with his neighbours' company and beers. But soon they start seeing signs of advanced radiation poisoning amongst all three of them. Now its up to them to end their own suffering.
A great story. Post-nuclear apocalypse situation is very well exhibited using minimal words, a situation of horror has been so well maintained. The story showed what would happen to a human being in case of such a situation, wherein there is no hope of being able to survive, absolutely, at all! Wherein all purpose is lost, and there is no one, or nothing to live for.
It is most definitely a sad and a depressing story. Yet, how Robinson uses his Harley-Davidson to produce "Summer Thunder", the sound of the bike's engine so as to disturb the long quiet, and then proceed to courageously perform the thrill of his life, displays how man can endure to live a liberating life until the end.
Wow..., what a class of an ending! Much recommended. :)
October 9, 2021
A very haunting short story that I revisit often. Its hopeless tone and quiet destruction are realistic and that makes it horrifying.
September 23, 2025
With the current events this story definitely hit me more than it would at any other time of my life
January 18, 2021
Summer Thunder is a story about the fallout of nuclear war as the world’s remaining population dies horrific deaths. The most shocking thing about this one was that the main character had the exact same name as someone I know. So shoutout to Peter Robinson. You die horrifically in a Stephen King story. King does well at setting the stage, but like a number of stories in The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, never does much with it.
August 22, 2025
Тут годен лиш один коментар: "Без коментарів"(((
January 1, 2025
A real bummer of a story, Summer Thunder gives a bleak look at a post-apocalyptic nuclear holocaust. I have read/seen plenty of post-apocalyptic works but this one takes a unique angle in just how bleak it is. I won't say it's a fun read, but it is a good end to the Bazaar of Bad Dreams
May 12, 2024
This is a short story about the end of the world. A couple of men and a dog converse about how things are for them and briefly discuss how the people decided to bomb each other. They deal with their personal ends of life in what little is left alive.
February 27, 2023
Ooft.. this one is bleak and sad yet somewhat beautiful.
July 23, 2025
Summer Thunder is a nice moody finale for the Bazaar of Bad Dreams collection.
It’s written in the same vein as The Stand, but obviously a fraction of the size and scope. It feels like it could be a chapter in that book. The narrative and characterization reminds me a lot of the movie version of I Am Legend with Will Smith. It primarily revolves around a man and a dog trying to survive a horrifying apocalypse together, refusing to give up in the face of absolute despair.
This story has a bleaker tone and outcome, but the melancholy journey the man and his dog go through at the end of the world is a touching sendoff.
It’s written in the same vein as The Stand, but obviously a fraction of the size and scope. It feels like it could be a chapter in that book. The narrative and characterization reminds me a lot of the movie version of I Am Legend with Will Smith. It primarily revolves around a man and a dog trying to survive a horrifying apocalypse together, refusing to give up in the face of absolute despair.
This story has a bleaker tone and outcome, but the melancholy journey the man and his dog go through at the end of the world is a touching sendoff.
May 6, 2025
I couldn't disagree more with the 1 and 2 star reviewers (but goodreads errors when I try to comment on heir reviews). I've read everything King has done, and this is my favorite of his short stories. It's the ultimate journey over destination, about how we can find meaning and joy in even the smallest things, despite having the end of the world (and our own end) staring us in the face. It doesn't have a grand plot or poignant character arcs. It's a quiet reflection on what life might actually be like for the last few survivors as they count their last days.
April 16, 2022
В современных реалиях читать особенно страшно и грустно. Все писатели - фантасты рано или поздно становились предсказателями для будущих поколений, и, как бы нам не хотелось верить, что такое никогда не произойдет, вероятность от этого никогда не станет меньше. Произведение напомнило ранее прочитанную мной книгу Ричарда Мэтисона - "Я-легенда". Хотелось бы и рассказ Стивена Кинга прочесть в большем объеме, но, увы
May 2, 2024
Final book in the collection of The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. This book focused on the end of the world. Humanity has destroyed itself through nuclear weapons and looks at a couple of the survivors battling on. A sad but also sweet story. A good and fitting end to this book.
May 4, 2023
I enjoyed it thought it was very sad & dreadful, vividly told and not overly long
July 8, 2023
Muy buena historia corta. Pobre perrito
January 19, 2024
A melancholic post-apocalyptic story is always welcome.
April 11, 2024
Classical Stephen King writting ruined by complete lack of knowledge of nuclear exchange results.
July 18, 2024
I don’t like this one
March 23, 2025
A little heartbreaking but a wonderfully told end of the world story.
May 24, 2026
WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCKING HELL😭😭
July 3, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
http://thebookcornerchronicles.com/20...
This short story is included in the “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams” which ive already reviewed not so long ago.
The plot as in the other short stories by Stephen King just don’t work for me, because in my opinion they are so shallow, boring and uninteresting that I cant fully get into them and actually enjoy them.
For me personally reading this one was a torture because it was far too long than it needed to be.
Again we are talking about a short story from Stephen King which didn’t work for me. I personally don’t like any short stories written by Stephen King.
The characters in this short story were very very boring, uninteresting, predictable, shallow and flat. Which is the absolute worse traits a character could have.
http://thebookcornerchronicles.com/20...
This short story is included in the “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams” which ive already reviewed not so long ago.
The plot as in the other short stories by Stephen King just don’t work for me, because in my opinion they are so shallow, boring and uninteresting that I cant fully get into them and actually enjoy them.
For me personally reading this one was a torture because it was far too long than it needed to be.
Again we are talking about a short story from Stephen King which didn’t work for me. I personally don’t like any short stories written by Stephen King.
The characters in this short story were very very boring, uninteresting, predictable, shallow and flat. Which is the absolute worse traits a character could have.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews