"Night Surf" is a

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

short story by

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 ...

, first published in the spring 1969 issue of '' Ubris''. In

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

it was collected in King's book '' Night Shift''.

Plot summary

On an August night on Anson Beach,

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, a group of former college students have survived a plague caused by a

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

called A6, or " Captain Trips". They believe the virus spread out of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and wiped out most of humanity. The characters' outlook is grim. They encounter a delirious man dying of the plague and burn him alive on a

pyre A pyre (; ), also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the pyre, which is then set on fire. In discussi ...

as a half-serious

black magic Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of Magic (paranormal), magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. The links and interaction between black magic and religi ...

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...

. The protagonist, Bernie, reflects upon this new world and reminisces about "the time before" when he went to Anson Beach in his youth, years before the plague. All the members of Bernie's group had survived a virus called A2, which supposedly made them immune to A6. But Needles reveals to Bernie that he has contracted A6. Bernie admits to himself that deep down they know that A2 is not a guarantee against A6 and that they will probably all be dead by Christmas. Bernie's girlfriend keeps up the pretense, accepting Bernie's explanation that Needles must have lied about having A2 so the others would not leave him behind.

Publication

"Night Surf" was first published in the spring 1969 issue of '' Ubris'' magazine. A heavily revised version was published in the August 1974 issue of ''

Cavalier The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...

'' magazine. In

, the story was collected in King's first book of short stories, '' Night Shift''. At eight pages long, it is one of King's shortest short stories.

Adaptations

Writer-director Peter Sullivan adapted "Night Surf" as a short film, produced in 2002. Optioned from King for a dollar, the film is part of the Dollar Baby collection of similar short films.

References

External links

"Night Surf" at StephenKing.com
* 1969 short stories Horror short stories Post-apocalyptic short stories Short stories by Stephen King Short stories adapted into films Short stories set in New Hampshire Fiction about viral outbreaks Works originally published in Ubris Films directed by Peter Sullivan {{1960s-horror-story-stub

Plot summary

Publication

Adaptations

See also

References

External links