Sometimes They Come Back

Infobox short story
name = Sometimes They Come Back
author = Stephen King
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Horror
published_in = "Night Shift"
publisher =
media_type = Anthology
pub_date = 1974
preceded_by =
followed_by =

Sometimes They Come Back is a short story by Stephen King, first published in 1978 in the compilation "Night Shift".

etting

Sometimes They Come Back is set in Stratford High School in Stratford, Connecticut.

Plot summary

Two brothers are walking to the library when they are attacked by a gang of local greasers. One brother is killed while the other gets away. Many years later, Jim, the survivor of the attack, takes a job as an English teacher at a high school. Students from his class are murdered and are replaced by students that resemble the greasers that attacked him years before.

As it turns out, the greasers were killed in a car accident after they attacked the boys. They have been brought back to life to finish their business with Jim. After they kill his wife, Jim uses a ritual to summon a demon (taking the form of his slain brother) to kill the greasers. Because he deals with the powers of darkness, things turn out less well than he had hoped. The ending implies that the forces he summoned to dispatch the greasers may also be just as sinister and difficult to rid himself of as the greasers themselves were (the demon posing as his brother states "I'll be back, Jim").

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

A TV movie adaptation aired in 1991, starring Tim Matheson and was followed by two sequels in 1996 and 1999.

External links

*imdb title|id=0102960|title=Sometimes They Come Back
*imdb title|id=0117692|title=Sometimes They Come Back… Again
*imdb title|id=171768|title=Sometimes They Come Back… for More