Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
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Book Reviews of Skeleton Crew
Book Review: King opens the gate
Summary: 5 Stars
Skeleton crew is a highly recommendable collection of short stories by Stephen King, including a large variety of little masterpieces that are worth reading more than once. More than anything, the novella "The mist" makes this book a must-buy for any serious horror fan. It is not typical Stephen King, miles away from "Christine", "Cujo", "Salem's Lot" and even "The Shining", it is, apart from some short stories, Stephen King's darkest, most hopeless, and most cosmic story ever.It is in every sense lovecraftian without even mentioning one of the usual prerequisites, but combines Lovecraft's concept of cosmic alienation with all the merits of Stephen King's fine writing: a detailed and sympathetic characterisation of his protagonists and antagonists, a good sense of black humour, an action-packed plot and some delvings into the funny horror of old school splatter movies (among many others).
"The mist" tells about the dire adventures of a bunch of Mainers (of course) caught in a supermarket and confronted with the unknown and utterly alien, told from the perspective of a family father. The horror is generated on several levels, by the mysterious "mist" that traps the people (and for which a good 1950'ies horror movie explanation is provided) which creates an eerie atmosphere of constant threat, by the creatures that inhabit it (which range from the ridiculous to the awe-inspiring), and particularly by the behaviour of the people that are confronted with supreme horrors, and which slowly but constantly go nuts one after the other.
It is easily one of Stephen Kings masterpieces and easily outshines any of the other stories in the collection -well done as they are. It is more lovecraftian than anything Derleth, Carter or Lumley ever wrote, because it understands the cosmological concept. H. P. L. always raged about what would happen if the gates to the outer spheres are opened. Stephen King shows it and leaves no (or, at best, a pathetic) hope for mankind.
To put it in one word: brilliant. If King wouldn't have written anything else, this book would secure him a place among the masters of weird fiction.
Book Review: An exhilarating collection of pure gems!
Summary: 5 Stars
In this collection of short stories, Stephen King explores many themes. I will only consider some that deal with recurring ideas. « The Mist » deals with illegal, secret and uncontroled experiments by the army. Those produce monsters in a very thick mist. The characters are trapped in a supermarket and try to defeat the monsters and survive waiting for emergency services to rescue them. The tape version is very effective in its sound environment that recreates the tense and psychotic atmosphere. « Here There Be Tygers » deals with a schoolboy who is terrorized by his schoolteacher. He manages to get permission, quite an achievement, to go to the restroom during a class. But he lingers there because he meets a tiger. His lingering brings some messengers and the teacher to check what is happening, and the schoolboy gives the order - or does he really ? - to the tIger to devour the teacher. « The monkey » is by far one of the best. This monkey that comes from Asia, keeps recurring and reemerging from his own destruction, one generation after another. The crimes of this monkey are considered in two generations : that of the father and that of the sons. The parallel reveals that the monkey only comes into the picture to satisfy some destructive, more or less paranoid, more or less justified, desire to kill on the side of one male character. Two couples of brothers in two different generations and the monkey strikes again. Rivalry between two brothers. Death and killing desires in all growing young male teenagers. The attempt to get rid of the monkey will give rise to a catastrophe on the lake. In the background unemployment, poverty, moving on, frustrations of all types. Finally « « Milkman # 1 & 2 » shows that in our consumer's society we must not trust in the least any thing that comes from outside, from the market, because it way well be a trap. This deep dissatisfaction that is always found in Stephen King's fiction about the mercantile and consuming society that is ours. Many more stories, all of them outstanding or very good. Rush to that skeleton and become one of its crew. Dr Jacques COULARDEAUBook Review: Are you afraid
Summary: 5 Stars
Sean Howell 2/27/06
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King, 0-451-16861-5
Are You Scared?
"Good food good meat good god lets eat." This statement comes up several times in this suspense novel. They all end in the same way death and insanity. But that doesn't mean that the stories are all the same. These stories range from school shootings to eating you self alive!
This book is a page turner because the writing is so intense that you feel like your going through the same events as the character. The writing is so detailed that you get shivers down your spine and the stories hit you like a drug, you can't stop reading. When I was reading the book it felt like the characters were real and I was concerned for them so I couldn't rest until I found out what happened. I enjoyed this genre because it is the only way to get a realistic story because the stories always have a powerful evil and the hero doesn't always win. The author writes in an unusual style to confuse the readers and I love that. The way the book misleads you and then all the sudden surprises you is why I like suspense/horror stories. But this book shouldn't be for kids under 12 because there is a lot of swearing and adult content. I would recommend book for people who don't get grossed out easily or people who enjoy getting scared. There were lots of surprises in this book and I found them very interesting because they are the keys to what's going to happen next. A great example of a surprise is in the story called Cain rises up the surprise is that this kid who cleaning out his dorm is actually going to go on a shooting rampage. In the story this kid seems normal but when he is alone he is a psychopathic murderer
Book Review: Get a Stephen King "Quick Fix"
Summary: 5 Stars
Most book critics are less than enthusiastic over Stephen
King's short story collections; but if you're a fan, you
probably don't much care. If you haven't read any of King's
books, then this collection is the perfect medium for an
introduction not only to the Master of Horror, but also to
fiction writing at its finest. Whether you're looking for
entertainment, or for a crash-course in superior
writing technique, Skeleton Crew is well worth a look. The
stories range from the eerie to the unsettling to the downright terrifying. What makes them so effective is their
believability; the mundane "family-next-door" quality that
so many of King's characters possess. These are not the
brilliant lawyers, hard-boiled private eyes or blushing
debutantes that form the character base of so much of today's
popular fiction. King's characters are regular folks
conducting their day-to-day lives in the same way we all do,
and it is this quality which reaches into your imagination
and takes hold of your personal fears with a grip hard to
shake loose.
"The Mist" is the signature piece of this collection. More
of a novella, it is so poignantly authentic in its creation
that you cannot help seeing your own family, summer cottage
and small town as the cast and character of the tale. The
pace of the story is akin to the snowball rolling downhill;
slow and benign at first, speeding up to a pitch that is
maniacal and devastating, testing the limits of your sanity.
Whether you're looking for your next Stephen King fix, or
just a shot of pure adrenaline riding the crest of crisp
prose, this book is for you!Book Review: Excellent collection
Summary: 5 Stars
Skeleton Crew is a great collection that includes "The Mist," a classic novella, as well as a number of shorter stories. "The Mist" is an incredible story not just for its supernatural elements but more for its human development. It is - beyond just a horror story - an examination of mob psychology and the way humans act under (extreme) duress. I agree with some of the other reviewers who note that one of King's weaknesses is that he has difficulty with children. While he depicts adult drama and tension with great success, when it comes to children, it seems like King has more difficulty. Maybe his own mind has strayed so far from childhood that he finds kids hard to realistically conjure. That said, it is really only in the light of his otherwise brilliant storytelling that this slight weakness becomes apparent.
The other stories in Skeleton Crew range from superb to fair, with most of them being either very good or at least having some element of value. Mrs. Todd's Shortcut, The Reach, The Man who would not Shake Hands are all examples of King blending horror with genuine literary merit. However, there are a few weaker ones, notably Gramma (which is sort of a compact version of what happened to "Zelda" from Pet Cemetary). Likewise, King does better with terrestrial terror and with supernatural reflections of our own fears and motives than with space and time travel: The Jaunt and Beachworld do not allow King to really flex his talents. That said, this is a great place to start if you have never read Steven King before.