Skeleton Crew

"There are plenty of people who won't walk under ladders or open an umbrella in the house... I think it's the rational mind playing a bad stereo accompaniment with the irrational subconscious. Forced to define 'irrational subconscious,' I would say it is a small padded room inside all of us where the only furnishing is a small card table and the only thing on the card table is a revolver loaded with flexible bullets.

"When you change course on the sidewalk to avoid the ladder or step out of your apartment in the rain with your furled umbrella, part of your integrated self peels off and steps into that room and picks the gun up off the table. You may be aware of two conflicting thoughts: Walking under a ladder is harmless, and Not walking show more under a ladder is also harmless. But as soon as the ladder is behind you--or as soon as the umbrella is open--you're back together again."

The writer said, "When does the irrational part stop fooling with the gun and put it up to its temple?"

"When the person in question starts writing letters to the op-ed page of the paper demanding that all the ladders be taken down because walking under them is dangerous.

"The irrational self has actually fired the flexible bullet into the brain when the person begins tearing around town, knocking ladders over and maybe injuring the people working on them. It is not certifiable behaviour to walk around ladders rather than under them. It is not certifiable behaviour to write letters to the paper saying that NYC went broke because of all the people callously walking under workmen's ladders. But it is certifiable to start knocking over ladders."

"Because it's overt," the writer muttered.

This book is a series of stories about the various flavours of madness, of firing that flexible bullet into your brain, and knocking down the ladders. Maybe you knock them down in the name of religion, or in the desire to save your child. Maybe you do it for your own lost youth. Maybe it's because you think there's a tiger in a toilet stall or a demon in your toy. Or maybe you want to find a shorter path, or just take a look around while you're on that short path.

And while this collection doesn't always hit the mark as well as the [b:Night Shift|10628|Night Shift|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1342215309s/10628.jpg|2454497] collection did, there's still some winners here.

This time around, I found stories that left me cold before, Mrs. Todd's Shortcut and Uncle Otto's Truck for example, completely grabbed me this time around. Others that snagged me the first time, like The Jaunt and Beachworld and Word Processor of the Gods, lost me this time.

And the story that the quote comes from at the start of this review, The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet, didn't do a lot for me, until I read that section.

That piece about running around knocking down ladders because they're dangerous? Yeah, to me, that shows me how many people have that revolver sitting on that card table, and how many have access to flexible bullet ammo. That short section explains, at least to me, how racism, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny, and everything else that's tied to hate and fear came about. It explains how many voters shot themselves in the head, then headed to the polls to elect Trump. It explains why we have so many easily-triggered, easily-offended university students.

It explains a lot.

And, with a simple analogy, it also shows me why I keep coming back to King. The man is entertaining, but he also has a hell of a lot of intelligent things to say. show less

I was very unsure on how I would rate this one, for I found the two poems to be pretty dull and really hated "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut". But how about the rest? Well, it's so good I can't restrain myself from giving 5 stars.
Writing an accurate review for each individual story would be a real headache. Still, I decided to spend a "few" words on a handful of them.

I've had already read "The Mist" a month a go and have to say this second round made me appreciate it even more.
The story begins with a violent thunderstorm that knocks out power in the town of Bridgton. The next morning, David Drayton heads to the grocery store with his young son to stock up on supplies.
A thick mist rolls in from the nearby lake, obscuring everything beyond a few show more feet. As more and more people seek refuge in the store, tensions rise. Some believe they should stay put and wait for rescue, while others want to venture out into the mist to find help or escape. As they debate their options, it becomes clear that something sinister is lurking outside.
King's writing is masterful in its ability to create tension and suspense. The claustrophobic atmosphere of the store as people huddle together for safety is palpable. The fear and paranoia that grip the characters are contagious, making it impossible not to feel on edge while reading.
What makes "The Mist" so effective is not just its monsters, but also its exploration of human nature under extreme circumstances. As resources dwindle and hope fades, some characters become desperate and turn on each other. Others cling to their faith or try to maintain their humanity even as they face unimaginable horrors.

"The Raft" is probably one of the best short story King has ever written.
Four college students decide to swim out to a raft on a remote lake. However, when they reach the raft, they discover that something deadly lurks beneath the water's surface. As night falls and temperatures drop, things take a turn for the worse.
One of King's greatest strengths as a writer is his ability to create vivid characters who feel like real people rather than just plot devices; in this story, he does an excellent job of establishing the personalities and relationships of the four friends, which makes their plight all the more harrowing.
Another aspect that stands out is its use of setting. The remote lake feels like a character in its own right, with its eerie stillness and sense of isolation adding to the overall sense of dread.
"The Raft" is a classic Stephen King story that showcases his ability to create tension and terror in even the most mundane settings.

"Survivor Type" is the most gruesome story of the lot.
King explores the limits of human endurance and the dark side of survival instinct. The story is written as the diary of Richard Pine, a former surgeon who is shipwrecked on a tiny island in the Pacific with no food, water, or hope of rescue.
He reveals in his diary entries that he was smuggling heroin on a cruise ship when it exploded and sank, and that he has a history of malpractice and corruption in his medical career. He blames everyone else for his misfortunes and vows to get revenge on those who wronged him. Pine's only companions on the island are his logbook, his surgical kit, and his stash of heroin. He tries to survive by eating whatever he can find: insects, seaweed, seagulls. But soon he runs out of options and faces starvation.
As the situation becomes more dire, he begins to lose touch with reality and becomes increasingly delusional.
How far would you go to survive?

"Gramma" is truly terrifying. It plays on our fears about family relationships. We're taught from a young age that we should love and respect our elders no matter what they do, but what happens when that love and respect is misplaced? George loves his grandmother, but he's also afraid of her. He knows that something is wrong, but he doesn't want to believe that his own flesh and blood could be capable of such evil.
This one scared me so much I had to turn the lights on.

"The Monkey" is one of my all time favorites.
It follows Hal, a man who has been haunted by a toy monkey since he was a child. He inherited the toy from his father, who was a merchant mariner and disappeared mysteriously. Hal suspects that the monkey had something to do with his father's fate. It seems to have a life of its own and begins to wreck havoc on Hal's family, as every time the toy claps its cymbals a tragedy occurs. He tried to get rid of the monkey several times, but it would always came back to him somehow.
The tension in the story builds steadily, with each new incident involving the monkey becoming more terrifying than the last.
A classic example of King's ability to create suspense and terror with simple objects and situations, the story explores themes such as childhood trauma, family bonds, guilt and fate. It also shows how something innocent and playful can turn into something sinister and deadly.

"Beachworld" is an eerie tale taking place on an uncharted planet made of sand, where two astronauts crash-land with no hope of rescue. As they struggle to survive in this hostile environment, they begin to realize that something is not quite right about their surroundings.
As the story progresses, it becomes clear that there is something sinister at work, as the sand seems to be a sentient entity that wants nothing more than to consume everything in its path.
This story shows how a seemingly harmless environment can become a deadly trap for those who succumb to its allure. show less

I enjoy Stephen King's earlier short stories the most, and this is probably my favorite collection. It opens with "The Mist," an excellent end-of-the-world story in which Lovecraftian monsters cross over into our dimension. The psychological suspense is as ramped up as the horror; King focuses on a group of ordinary people trapped in a grocery store and the effects that the nightmarish situation has on them, turning some into religious fanatics, others into unlikely heroes. Despite the doorstopper nature of many of King's books (and I really do enjoy the big books), I think most of his best work is in the more contained novella format.

The remainder of the stories run the gamut. Some are creepy, some read like an episode of the Twilight show more Zone, and some are just full-on gross-outs. This collection contains the infamous story "Survivor Type," as well as such gems as "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" and "The Raft." I particularly enjoyed the creepier, more haunting pieces like "Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1)" and "The Reach." One of the most memorable stories in the collection for me is "The Jaunt," a quasi-science fiction story about teleportation that I often find myself thinking about at odd moments.

It's good to get this collection down off the shelf and wander back through it, looking back on stories I may not have read for 25 years (imagine that). SKELETON CREW holds up very well. show less

This collection of stories (including one longish novella, "The Mist") was first published in 1986, although some of the individual stories are significantly older.

As with most story collections, the quality here is a little variable, but I think the least interesting or well-written ones are mostly also the shortest ones, so that works out well enough. And overall, it's a pretty solid collection. I'm not sure if any of the pieces quite rise to the extreme heights of creepiness or sensitive storytelling that King is capable of at his very best, but some of them might come close, and most of them are at the very least engaging and do basically what you want a Stephen King story to do for you. And I'm actually pretty impressed by the way show more in which he repeatedly takes basic ideas that were hardly fresh and new in 1986 -- people trapped somewhere isolated by monsters, a creepy doll that reappears when you try to get rid of it, a murderous companion who turns out to be all in the main character's head -- and somehow makes you forget for the course of the story just how cliche they might be.

Although I do have to say, while these tales in some respects don't feel particularly dated at all, in others they feel like dispatches from a strange and uncomfortable past world, a world in which things like drunk driving, domestic abuse, and casual racism were much more easily accepted, or at least tolerated and ignored. And so was the practice of writing female characters who are nothing more than ugly or annoying stereotypes cut from the flimsiest variety of cardboard. Alas.

And "The Mist," I'd say, has aged weirdly in an entirely different way as well. In King's notes, he describes that story as having a deliberate sort of cheesiness to it, and imagines the reader watching it in black-and-white at a drive-in theater. But I think reading it through two layers of nostalgic remove -- 50s B-movies filtered through 80s Stephen King as viewed from the perspective of 2020 -- makes it feel stranger, cheesier, and more off-kilter than it was probably meant to. That being said, though, it's still one of those stories that does a surprisingly good job with an old-fashioned trapped-by-monsters plot. It also gave me a mildly unpleasant dream a couple of days after I read it, and it's a very rare horror story, indeed, that I can say that about.

Rating: Despite its flaws, I'm going to give this a 4/5, if only in honor of the fact that it did kinda-sorta manage to give me a nightmare. I mean, that's got to deserve some kind of recognition. show less

Holy crap I like King's short stories. I think I've only read Cujo and The Shining of his, besides this, and while I liked the guy and definitely intended to read more, I was/am under the impression that most people don't really like his stuff as much as his novels? I feel like most people have told me something along those lines. Either way, I like these much better! I didn't like the two poems (but I've never really liked poetry...) nor Milkman #2, but the rest were thrilling in their brief way, like a kiss in the dark, as King said in the intro. If I were the type of person to read leisurely before bed (as apposed to one who feverishly must get through chapters and chapters before I turn out my light) I would keep this under my show more pillow or on my bedside table, and it would become a lovely, worn out old friend. show less

An INCREDIBLE collection of short stories. I read this book over fifteen years ago and only read it once. I have read many novels since then (including most of what Mr. King has put out), but without even checking the table of contents I can vividly remember The Mist, Survivor Type, The Raft, The Jaunt, Wordprocessor of the Gods, Uncle Otto's Truck, Mrs. Todd's Shortcut and The Monkey. These stories have really stayed with me.

The novella The Mist alone is worth buying the book. I've always been a fan of horror stories involving a group of people in a confined space. Here you'll hole up with people who were just grocery shopping before the mist rolled in...

This is my second reading of Stephen King’s Skeleton Crew, which serves as the June selection for our Constant Reader book club meetup. First published in 1985, this collection of short stories has stood the test of time. It boasts a diverse range of stories, varying in length, intensity, and horror gore. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection, just as much as I did during my first reading. While not every story in the collection resonated with me, I found myself savoring most of them. Some of my favorites include “The Mist,” “The Monkey,” “Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut,” “Nona,” and “The Reach.”

I particularly enjoyed how the stories were sandwiched with King’s insightful words of wisdom in the forward and afterward. The show more forward shed light on the limited earning potential of writers after deducting fees to agents and taxes, among other expenses. While I acknowledge King’s immense wealth from his writing, I believe the anecdote he shared offers valuable insights into the actual earnings of an author from a single short story and the corresponding hourly rate. The afterward section was intriguing as King delved into the origin of many of the stories. Skeleton Crew is an exceptional short story collection that is a must-read for any King enthusiast.

Several stories have been adapted for television shows, such as Tales from the Darkside, The Twilight Zone, and Creepshow. “The Mist” and “The Monkey” have also been adapted into movies. You’ll find the trailers for your viewing pleasure on my blog, linked below.

I generally enjoyed the movie “The Mist.” It appeared to closely follow the story until the very end, which I loathed.

I haven’t seen “The Monkey” movie yet. Perhaps I’ll watch it someday, but it doesn’t pique my interest. Some members of the Constant Reader book club enjoyed it when it was released.

I have photos, videos, and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog show less