Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
Great Short Fiction From A Master Storyteller
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
dont read horror in order to show them how literate, how charming a
storyteller he can be. Dont miss it. --Fiona Webster
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This is quite a huge book - at almost 800 pages - but its definitely worth
your time.
The Mist is the size of a novella (almost a novel by itself) and if you can get
yourself into that B-movie mode, you should enjoy it. As King makes clear
in his notes (at the end of this book), this story should be read the way one
watches a classic horror flick. Not aware of that, but aware that Stephen
King enjoys B-movie-like stories, I found the characters to be very
stockish, the plot pretty good for a short story (but kind of a let down for a
story of this size; by the end, you expect more closure than what you get),
and the overall feeling was precisely that of a short story gone swollen. I
didnt dislike it, but its by far not my favourite of the lot.
The Monkey is yet another story in which an inanimate object seems to
come to life - Stephen King is obsessed with those - and so far, I havent
read a story based on this concept that worked well for me.
Im not going to review all of them, by the way, just a couple. Lets continue.
The Jaunt is pretty splendid. If you play videogames, itll remind you of
Portal. This story is a mix of sci-fi and horror, thoughly mostly sci-fi, and it
was a good read. Recommended.
The Raft is about a group of young people who get chased by some eerie
entity as they find themselves trapped on a raft. Another good one.
Beachworld is another sci-fi piece. It takes place in the distant future, on a
planet seemingly made of nothing but sand, where two spacemen got
stranded... Nicely done.
The Reapers Image is a story that I actually found chilling, and that almost
never happens to me, sadly. But this one had it going.
Nona is a VERY impressive story. The writing is stellar, the story is
gripping. Throughout this one I was impressed by Kings literary abilitie s.
This is the sort of story that lets me know King doesnt nearly get the
amount of respect he deserves as an author. Highly recommended.
Survivor Type is another jewel from this collection. Its about a man who
gets stranded on a strip of rock in the ocean. All he has is a couple of
matches, a knife, and lots of heroin. Its a fun story in a very sinister way, a
true master-piece of dark humor, and I very highly recommend it.
The two Milkman stories are good stuff.
Gramma is another chilling piece, about a dead grandmother that may not
have said her last word...
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet is an extraordinary piece about a writer
and his madness. This is a very imaginative story, very enjoyable.
The Reach is another of these stories that show Kings true literary talent.
This one is about an old lady who never left her island for the mainland. In
her old age she doesnt have much to live. This is a beautiful story.
This was a rather dry review of most of these stories. But on the whole, it s
a great collection. I havent liked all of them, but none of them bored me.
Having read some of the negative reviews on this site, I have to insist on
the fact that Stephen King is a real author, and that youll appreciate his
stories better if you read them as stories, and not as scripts for horror
flicks.
This book was a perfect follow-up to NIGHT SHIFT, another collection of
stories. If youre into short stories, you wont go wrong with this one.
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