"Graduation Afternoon" is a short story by American writer
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 ...
, originally published in the March 2007 issue of ''
Postscripts'', and collected in King's 2008 collection ''
Just After Sunset''.
Plot summary
The story tells of a young woman enjoying her wealthy boyfriend's high school graduation party at his suburban
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
home when events take an unexpected turn.
Critical response
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
compared the ending of the story to ''
Two Suns in the Sunset'' by
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
. M. John Harrison at
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
called it an "elegiac and old-fashioned end-of-the-world piece." Matt Thorne at
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
said the horror in ''Graduation Afternoon'' "is not just a premonition of something that could happen, but something that would happen."
Short film adaptation
The story was adapted by Marie D. Jones into a
short film
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
in 2019 as part of
Dollar Baby and released on January 10, 2021.
The film stars
George Jac, Jade Kaiser,
Diane Sargent,
Noor Razooky, and
Brian Patrick Butler.
Production
Jones chose to adapt the story because it was one of King's shorter
Dollar Baby choices. It was shot over three weekends during the Spring and Summer 2019 and
Rob Padilla Jr. directed the film.
Critical response
Steve Hutchinson at Tales of Terror said it was a quality film that is relatable because the filmmakers connected
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. Adam Groves at The Bedlam Files said "the film isn’t very invigorating."
See also
*
Short fiction by Stephen King
References
External links
"Graduation Afternoon" at StephenKing.com*
*
Short stories by Stephen King
2007 short stories
Horror short stories
Fiction about nuclear war and weapons
Short stories set in Connecticut
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