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A [[TV movie]] [[Sometimes They Come Back (film)|adaptation]] aired in 1991, starring [[Tim Matheson]] as Jim. The story was originally planned to be part of the [[1985 in film|1985 film]], ''[[Cat's Eye (1985 film)|Cat's Eye]]'' (which included two other stories adapted from ''Night Shift'': "The Ledge" and "Quitters, Inc"). However, producers thought the segment would do better on its own.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}
A [[TV movie]] [[Sometimes They Come Back (film)|adaptation]] aired in 1991, starring [[Tim Matheson]] as Jim. The story was originally planned to be part of the [[1985 in film|1985 film]], ''[[Cat's Eye (1985 film)|Cat's Eye]]'' (which included two other stories adapted from ''Night Shift'': "The Ledge" and "Quitters, Inc"). However, producers thought the segment would do better on its own.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}


In the film adaptation, Jimmy's brother Wayne comes back to help after Mueller (one of the original greasers who had fled and survived) sacrifices himself, having heard his former friends state that somebody could come back when somebody else died. Jim's wife also does not die in the film version, and Wayne's return does not appear to be nearly as sinister, and in fact allows him a chance to gain closure and move on as a spirit.
In the film adaptation, Jimmy's brother Wayne comes back after Mueller (one of the original greasers who had survived the crash) sacrifices himself; he learned from the resurrected greasers that a dead person can come back when a living person dies. Jim's wife is not killed. Wayne's return is not sinister, and instead gives Wayne closure, allowing him to move on to the afterlife.


The TV movie was followed by two [[straight-to-video]] sequels in 1996 (''[[Sometimes They Come Back... Again]]'') and 1998 (''[[Sometimes They Come Back... for More]]'').
The TV movie was followed by two [[straight-to-video]] sequels in 1996 (''[[Sometimes They Come Back... Again]]'') and 1998 (''[[Sometimes They Come Back... for More]]'').

Revision as of 00:08, 7 May 2016

"Sometimes They Come Back"
Short story by Stephen King
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Horror
Publication
Published inNight Shift
Media typeAnthology
Publication date1974

"Sometimes They Come Back" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1974 issue of Cavalier and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.

Plot summary

In 1957, nine-year-old Jim Norman and his twelve-year-old brother, Wayne, walk to the local library to return Jim's books. They are attacked by a gang of local greasers. Wayne is stabbed to death by two of the older boys, but Jim escapes.

In 1974, Jim is married. He returns to his home town of Stratford, Connecticut, to accept a job as an English teacher. All seems to go well until after the Christmas holiday. Jim learns that one of his students was killed in a hit and run accident. A new student is added to Jim's class. Jim recognizes the boy as Robert Lawson, one of the greasers who killed his brother. Lawson appears to be the same age as he was in 1957.

Another student falls to her death a week later, and another of the greasers, David Garcia, joins Jim's class. He also appears to be the same age as he was in 1957.

When a third student disappears - after expressing to Jim his concerns about the suspicious new arrivals - a third greaser, Vincent 'Vinnie' Corey, joins the class. Terrified, Jim calls an old acquaintance, Donald Nell, a policeman who knew him and his brother in 1957. Donald reveals that the three greasers died in a car accident soon after Wayne's murder; they were electrocuted when they crashed their car into a telephone pole.

Jim does not tell his wife Sally about the greasers, believing it would be better for her not to know. Sally is killed while riding a taxi cab when the resurrected greasers force the vehicle off the road. Jim decides to take justice into his own hands. He finds a spell to summon a demon, and asks that it defeat the undead greasers. In answer to his summons, Wayne appears and kills the greasers.

Adaptations

A TV movie adaptation aired in 1991, starring Tim Matheson as Jim. The story was originally planned to be part of the 1985 film, Cat's Eye (which included two other stories adapted from Night Shift: "The Ledge" and "Quitters, Inc"). However, producers thought the segment would do better on its own.[citation needed]

In the film adaptation, Jimmy's brother Wayne comes back after Mueller (one of the original greasers who had survived the crash) sacrifices himself; he learned from the resurrected greasers that a dead person can come back when a living person dies. Jim's wife is not killed. Wayne's return is not sinister, and instead gives Wayne closure, allowing him to move on to the afterlife.

The TV movie was followed by two straight-to-video sequels in 1996 (Sometimes They Come Back... Again) and 1998 (Sometimes They Come Back... for More).

See also