Editing Four Past Midnight (section)

===''The Sun Dog''===
{{Redirect|The Sun Dog|similar uses|Sun dog (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox novella | 
| name             = The Sun Dog
| image            = Polaroid Sun 660 (2167122493).jpg
| caption          = A Polaroid Sun 660
| author           = Stephen King
| genre            = [[Supernatural horror]]
}}

When Kevin Delevan receives a Sun 660 [[Instant camera|Polaroid camera]] for his fifteenth birthday, he discovers a strange defect: the only photos it produces are of a malicious black dog which seems to move closer with each shot as though to attack the photographer. On a recommendation, Kevin seeks help from Reginald "Pop" Merrill, the wealthy and unscrupulous owner of a [[junk shop]] in the town of [[Castle Rock (Stephen King)|Castle Rock, Maine]]. While just as unsettled by the phenomenon as Kevin, Merrill sees an opportunity to further his own interests; namely, selling the camera to a [[paranormal]] enthusiast for a great deal of money. He manages to switch out the camera for another of the same model, which Kevin destroys. Much to his dismay, however, Merrill cannot rid himself of the Sun as his customers either dismiss it as a hoax or decline to purchase it due to the discomfort and unease they feel upon viewing the photos. Furthermore, he finds himself increasingly compelled to use the Sun{{ndash}}the dog slowly advancing and transforming into something more savage and monstrous with every picture he takes.

In the meantime, Kevin is plagued by recurring [[nightmare]]s about the dog. Realizing that Merrill tricked him and the Sun was never destroyed, he sets out to prevent Merrill from taking any more photos for fear that the dog will "break through" into the real world. By this point, the camera's influence over Merrill has caused him to lose his grip on sanity. After waking up one night to find himself holding the Sun and repeatedly pressing its trigger, he resolves to smash it in the morning. However, he hallucinates that one of the [[cuckoo clock]]s hanging on the wall of his store is really the camera and smashes that instead. Under the illusion that he is repairing a clock at his workbench, Merrill starts taking pictures again. At this moment, Kevin and his father arrive to confront Merrill, but are too late to stop him. The dog tears its way out of the final photograph, killing Merrill in the process. Inspired by his nightmares, Kevin has brought another Sun with him, and just as the dog is about to release itself, he takes its picture, trapping it once more in the "Polaroid world".

In the epilogue, Kevin gets a computer for his following birthday. In order to test its [[word processor]] function, he types "[[The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog]]." Rather than a printout of this text, the page reads, "The dog is loose again. It is not sleeping. It is not lazy. It's coming for you, Kevin. It's very hungry. And it's ''VERY'' angry."

====Adaptations====

The audiobook of this story is read by Maine humorist [[Tim Sample]].