Skeleton Crew
by Stephen King
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen KingEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1986-06-03
ISBN: 0451168615
Number of pages: 576
Publisher: Signet
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780451168610
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Skeleton Crew
Book Review: Not Just Horror Stories
Summary: 5 Stars
SKELETON CREW is mostly a collection of Stephen King short stories (there are a couple of poems). The collection was published around 1986. King had been a world-wide publishing phenomenon for just over a decade at that point. The stories are mostly hits, including a few bona fide classics, including "The Mist", "The Monkey", and "The Raft" with just a few lackluster tales. Most of the stories are works that were published previously in various print sources. The stories are prefixed with an introduction by King explaining why he still writes short stories. The works in the book are as follows.
"The Mist"--recently published as a stand alone novella and adapted by Frank Darabont into a motion picture. "The Mist" is probably the strongest story in the collection and one of the better known and well-liked stories from SKELETON CREW. "The Mist" tells the story of a group of people that find themselves stranded at a local shopping center when a mysterious mist covers the town and surroundings and brings with it creatures from a prehistoric age. If you've seen Darabont's film, you really should read the story. The story has an ambiguous ending, but literally ends in "hope".
"Here There Be Tygers"--a little boy has to go to the bathroom but is scared because he believes that there is a tiger inside the stalls. Not everything is in one's imagination and children don't cry wolf as often as many adults think they do.
"The Monkey"--this is probably the best known tale from SKELETON CREW, after "The Mist". "The Monkey" is a story about a man who believes that a mechanical, cymbal-crashing monkey is cursed. He believes that every time the monkey crashes its symbols someone close to the man dies. The man tried to get rid of the monkey before, but it keeps coming back.
"Cain Rose Up"--this story reminded me quite a bit like King's novel RAGE and the novella APT PUPIL. A young, seemingly together college student goes on a shooting spree after taking his finals.
"Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"--a homespun yarn told by an elderly man about the wife of one of the "summer people" who used to go driving and was able to find all kinds of shortcuts through Maine, the United States, and even beyond. King is known for writing scary and horror stories, but he really shines as a writer in stories like this.
"The Jaunt"--a sci-fi story about the dangers of traveling through time in order to travel through space.
"The Wedding Gig"--a Prohibition-era story about a group of musicians who go to play at the wedding of the sister of a local gang boss. The festivities turn violent, but the narrator witnesses the turning point in the life of a female gang boss.
"Paranoid: A Chant"--a poem about paranoia.
"The Raft"--four college students, two males and two females, set out for a swim and a little excitement out on a raft in a private pond on the last warm day of autumn. They think they are alone, but there is something in the water that is hungry and just won't let them leave. This story was adapted into a film short as part of CREEPSHOW 2.
"Word Processor of the Gods"--a young man is married to a woman he that no longer loves him and has a good-for-nothing son. He's brother married the girl of his dreams and his nephew was like the son he never had. But they were killed in a car accident. His nephew made a special gift for his uncle and it's delivered to his writing studio not long after they die. The gift is a word processor of enormous power that changes his life forever.
"The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands"--a club of elderly gentleman gather together to tell stories (the group also appears in "The Breathing Method" in DIFFERENT SEASONS). George Gregson tells a story about a murder he witnessed caused by a man who would not shake hands.
"Beachworld"--a sci-fi story about a group of future astronauts from a different world crashing into the desert of an unknown world. All the have to do is wait for rescue, but they aren't alone because the desert sands are alive.
"The Reaper's Image"--there is a mirror that seems to be normal. However, it is incredibly valuable because there is only one other like it known to exist in the world. It is said that the mirror is cursed because if you look into the mirror and see the Reaper, you disappear forever.
"Nona"--a young man meets a dark and mysterious young woman and begins a night of intense violence that ends in the shed of a graveyard.
"For Owen"--a poem
"Survivor Type"--a story about a man shipwrecked on an island who eats himself to death.
"Uncle Otto's Truck"--an ancient broken-down antique truck left in the fields to rust causes a man to die and another to go insane.
"Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1)"--the milkman delivers milk, but he also delivers death.
"Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2)"--this story connects with "Morning Deliveries" and illustrates what happens to one of the people the milkman delivers to.
"Gramma"--young George is left alone with his gramma when his mother has to leave when George's brother breaks his arm. George doesn't like gramma. She's been dying for several years, but people say there isn't something right about gramma. People are scared of her because she's a witch.
"The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet"--an aging editor tells the story of the greatest story he never got to publish and how it caused him to go insane.
"The Reach"--a ghost story about an old woman who lives on an island who has never been to the mainland.
The stories are followed by a series of notes where King expounds upon some of the stories in the book. Out of all the stories in the book, the ones I liked best are "The Mist", "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut", "The Raft", "Word Processor of the Gods", "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands", and "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet".
Overall, a great short story collection full of tales from a variety of genres. A must read for fans of Stephen King. Also recommended for anyone who likes reading short stories (and who doesn't mind a few minor frights).
Summary of Skeleton Crew
In this brilliant collection of stories, Stephen King takes readers down paths that only he could imagine...A supermarket becomes the place where humanity makes its last stand against destruction...a trip to the attic becomes a journey to hell...a woman driver finds a scary shortcut to paradise...an idyllic lake harbors a bottomless evil...and a desert island is the scene of the most terrifying struggle for survival ever waged.In the introduction to Skeleton Crew (1985), his second collection of stories, King pokes fun at his penchant for "literary elephantiasis," makes scatological jokes about his muse, confesses how much money he makes (gross and net), and tells a story about getting arrested one time when he was "suffused with the sort of towering, righteous rage that only drunk undergraduates can feel." He winds up with an invitation to a scary voyage: "Grab onto my arm now. Hold tight. We are going into a number of dark places, but I think I know the way."
And he sure does. Skeleton Crew contains a superb short novel ("The Mist") that alone is worth the price of admission, plus two forgettable poems and 20 short stories on such themes as an evil toy monkey, a human-eating water slick, a machine that avenges murder, and unnatural creatures that inhabit the thick woods near Castle Rock, Maine. The short tales range from simply enjoyable to surprisingly good.
In addition to "The Mist," the real standout is "The Reach," a beautifully subtle story about a great-grandmother who was born on a small island off the coast of Maine and has lived there her whole life. She has never been across "the Reach," the body of water between island and mainland. This is the story that King fans give to their friends who don't read horror in order to show them how literate, how charming a storyteller he can be. Don't miss it. --Fiona Webster
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