Editing Night Surf

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}{{Infobox short story | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| name         = Night Surf
| author       = [[Stephen King]]
| country      = United States
| language     = English
| series       = 
| genre        = [[Post-apocalyptic]], [[Horror fiction|horror]], [[short story]]
| published_in = ''Ubris ''<br>''[[Night Shift (short story collection)|Night Shift]]''
| publisher    = [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]
| media_type   = Print ([[Hardcover]])
| pub_date     = [[1969 in literature|1969]]
| preceded_by  = 
| followed_by  = 
}}

"'''Night Surf'''" is a [[post-apocalyptic]] short story by [[Stephen King]], first published in the spring 1969 issue of ''[[Ubris]]''. In [[1978 in literature|1978]] it was collected in King's book ''[[Night Shift (short story collection)|Night Shift]]''.

==Plot summary==
On an August night on Anson Beach, [[New Hampshire]], a group of former college students have survived a plague caused by a [[virus]] called A6, or "[[The Stand|Captain Trips]]". They believe the virus spread out of [[Southeast Asia]] 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]] as a half-serious [[black magic]] [[human sacrifice]]. 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 [[immunization|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 (magazine)|Cavalier]]'' magazine.<ref name=":0" /> In [[1978 in literature|1978]], the story was collected in King's first book of short stories, ''[[Night Shift (short story collection)|Night Shift]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=De Fiuppo |first=Marsha |date=1990 |title=Stephen King: Bibliography |url=https://archive.org/stream/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v079n06_1990-12/Fantasy__Science_Fiction_v079n06_1990-12_djvu.txt |journal=Fantasy & Science Fiction |volume=79 |issue=6 |pages=56–62 |access-date=2024-06-01 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> At eight pages long, it is one of King's shortest short stories.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reino |first=Joseph |title=Stephen King: The first decade, Carrie to Pet Sematary |date=1988 |publisher=Twayne |isbn=0-8057-7512-9 |location=Boston |pages=50,104–109}}</ref>

== Adaptations ==
Writer-director [[Peter Sullivan (screenwriter)|Peter Sullivan]] adapted "Night Surf" as a short film, produced in 2002.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bannan |first=Karen J. |date=2000 |title=HOT SHOTS |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=3413629&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site |work=Hollywood Reporter |edition=International |via=[[EBSCOHost]] |volume=363 |issue=34}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Wood |first=Rocky |title=Stephen King: A literary companion |date=2011 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9780786458509 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |pages=132}}</ref> Optioned from King for a dollar, the film is part of the [[Dollar Baby]] collection of similar short films.<ref name=":0" />

== See also ==
* [[Stephen King short fiction bibliography]]
* ''[[The Stand]]''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://stephenking.com/works/short/night-surf.html "Night Surf" at StephenKing.com]
*{{Isfdb title|id=40747}}

{{Night Shift}}
{{Stephen King}}
{{Peter Sullivan}}
[[Category:1969 short stories]]
[[Category:Horror short stories]]
[[Category:Post-apocalyptic short stories]]
[[Category:Short stories by Stephen King]]
[[Category:Short stories adapted into films]]
[[Category:Short stories set in New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Fiction about viral outbreaks]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Ubris]]
[[Category:Films directed by Peter Sullivan]]
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