Language English Media type Print (Hardcover) Originally published 1978 Publisher Doubleday Country United States of America | Published in Night Shift Publication date 1978 Genre Horror fiction | |
 | ||
Similar Stephen King books, Other books | ||
Stephen king s strawberry spring short film
"Strawberry Spring" is a horror short story by Stephen King. It was originally published in the Fall 1968 issue of Ubris magazine, and collected in King's Night Shift in 1978. It employs a twist ending.
Contents
Setting
"Strawberry Spring" takes place at a fictional New England college, New Sharon College. The main setting for the story is March 1968, specifically starting on March 16, 1968.
Plot summary
An unnamed narrator sees the words "Springheel Jack" in a newspaper. It rekindles memories of a time about eight years previously when he was at New Sharon College. His recollections are nostalgic, almost melancholy.
It was March 16, 1968 when the strawberry spring, a "false" spring much like an Indian summer, arrived. It brought a thick fog that covered the campus at nighttime, providing perfect cover for a serial killer called "Springheel Jack". The body of a girl was found in a parking lot, the first murder in a series. Several more students were murdered during the strawberry spring. The narrator describes the reactions of the college community throughout this time, and the contradicting rumors that spread about the victims. The police arrested Gale Cerman's boyfriend, Carl Amalara, for the crimes. Another murder was committed while Amalara was in custody, and the police were forced to release him. The investigation was made more difficult by the fearful panic of police officers, security guards (an incident is recounted in which an unconscious student is misidentified as a corpse, and sent to the morgue by a terrified security guard), and the students. No legitimate suspects were found.
Eight years later, a new strawberry spring arrives, and so does "Springheel Jack", who has taken another victim at New Sharon College. The narrator can’t remember where he was the night of the murder; the last thing he remembers is that he was on his way home from work, turning on his headlights to find his way through the fog. The narrator's wife is upset, believing he was with another woman that night. The narrator believes that he was, his anxiety made all the worse by the irrational fear he feels about opening the trunk of his car.