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 "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 magichuman 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 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.[1] In 1978, the story was collected in King's first book of short stories, Night Shift.[2] At eight pages long, it is one of King's shortest short stories.[3]
Adaptations
Writer-director Peter Sullivan adapted "Night Surf" as a short film, produced in 2002.[4][1] Optioned from King for a dollar, the film is part of the Dollar Baby collection of similar short films.[1]
