"Never Look Behind You" is a short story by Chris Chesley and
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
. It was
self-published
Self-publishing is an author-driven publication of any media without the involvement of a third-party publisher. Since the advent of the internet, self-published usually depends upon digital platforms and print-on-demand technology, ranging fr ...
by Chesley and King in 1960 as part of the collection ''
People, Places and Things
''People, Places and Things'' is a play by the British playwright Duncan Macmillan.
Production history
The inaugural production was directed by Jeremy Herrin and staged in the Dorfman Theatre at the National Theatre in London in 2015. The ...
''.
Plot summary
An "old miser"
and "
usurer
Usury () is the practice of making loans that are seen as unfairly enriching the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is charged in ex ...
"
named George Jacobs is counting his money when an old woman dressed in rags with a scarred face enters his office behind him. As Jacobs finishes counting his money, the woman tells him "too bad you won't be able to spend it". After Jacobs turns around to confront the woman, she raises her hand, killing Jacobs with "a flash of fire on his throat".
Following Jacobs' death, an unnamed character queries what killed him, while another states that he is glad that Jacobs is dead. The latter character is described as "lucky" as "he didn't look behind him".
Publication
"Never Look Behind You" was written by Chesley and King in the summer before beginning high school.
It was
self-published
Self-publishing is an author-driven publication of any media without the involvement of a third-party publisher. Since the advent of the internet, self-published usually depends upon digital platforms and print-on-demand technology, ranging fr ...
in 1960 as part of the
short story collection
A short story collection is a book of short stories and/or novellas by a single author. A short story collection is distinguished from an anthology of fiction, which would contain work by several authors (e.g., '' Les Soirées de Médan''). Th ...
''
People, Places and Things
''People, Places and Things'' is a play by the British playwright Duncan Macmillan.
Production history
The inaugural production was directed by Jeremy Herrin and staged in the Dorfman Theatre at the National Theatre in London in 2015. The ...
'',
which was
mimeograph
A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator or stencil machine) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a co ...
ed by Chesley and King.
Reception
Rocky Wood
Rocky Wood (19 October 1959 – 1 December 2014) was a New Zealand-born Australian writer and researcher best known for his books about horror author Stephen King. He was the first author from outside North America or Europe to hold the pos ...
describes ''People, Places and Things'' as "
juvenilia
Juvenilia are literary, musical or artistic works produced by authors during their youth. Written juvenilia, if published at all, usually appear as retrospective publications, some time after the author has become well known for later works. Bac ...
" but with "clear hints of the King to come". Reviewing "Never Look Behind You", Wood comments that "it is the punch line that makes the story."
Michael R. Collings
Michael Robert Collings (born October 29, 1947) is an American writer, poet, literary critic, and bibliographer, and a former professor of creative writing and literature at Pepperdine University. He was Poet in Residence at Pepperdine's Seaver ...
states, "In approach, content, theme, and treatment
he stories
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...
clearly suggest directions the mature King would explore in greater detail...".
Tyson Blue describes "Never Look Behind You" as "an intriguing little tale not so much for what it says as what it does not say".
See also
*
Stephen King short fiction bibliography
This is a list of short fiction works by Stephen King (b. 1947). This includes short stories, novelettes, and novellas, as well as poem
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Never Look Behind You
1960 short stories
Horror short stories
Short stories by Stephen King