Skeleton Crew

Title: Skeleton Crew

Author: Stephen King

Published in: 1985

Date read: 15th March 2021

Score: 4/5

Genre: History, Supernatural, Thriller, Psychological

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Skeleton Crew" by Stephen King, published in 1985, is his second major collection of short stories and a novella, showcasing his prolific output and versatility across horror, fantasy, and suspense. The collection features twenty short stories and one novella, "The Mist," along with a poem, "Paranoid: A Chant," and an introduction by King himself reflecting on the power of fear.

The strength of "Skeleton Crew" lies in its diverse range of scenarios and scares, moving from supernatural terrors to psychological dread, and from sci-fi tinged horror to grim reality. King's introduction, "Notes from the Underground," offers a fascinating look into his creative process and his view on why people read horror.

Some of the most memorable and impactful stories in the collection include:

"The Mist" (Novella): A terrifying and acclaimed novella where a small town is engulfed by an unnatural, seemingly sentient mist filled with monstrous creatures. A group of survivors, including artist David Drayton and his son, are trapped in a supermarket, forced to confront both the external horrors and the breakdown of human civility. This is often considered one of King's best longer works.

"The Jaunt": A chilling sci-fi horror story about instantaneous teleportation through space ("the jaunt") and the horrifying, timeless experience of consciousness during the process.

"The Raft": Four college students swimming to a raft on a secluded lake encounter a sentient, predatory oil slick that wants to consume them. A visceral and claustrophobic tale.

"The Word Processor of the Gods": A struggling writer discovers that his new word processor has the power to make anything he types (or deletes) become real, leading to a dark fantasy of wish fulfilment.

"The Monkey": A boy finds an old cymbal-banging monkey toy that seems to be cursed, causing death every time it claps. A classic haunted object story.

"Gramma": A young boy is left alone with his dying, monstrously obese grandmother who practices black magic. A deeply unsettling tale of childhood terror.

"The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet": A tale of madness and creativity, where a writer believes tiny, benevolent beings (faeries, "Fornits") live in his word processor and inspire his work, but his obsession blurs the line with reality.

"Mrs. Todd's Shortcut": A whimsical yet unsettling story about an elderly woman who finds shortcuts through reality by driving her car through seemingly impossible routes.

"Typhoid Mary": A chilling look into the mind of a twisted, obsessive babysitter.

"Survivor Type": A gruesome first-person account of a surgeon stranded on a deserted island, resorting to extreme self-cannibalism to survive.

"Skeleton Crew" showcases King's mastery of the short form, his ability to create compelling characters and terrifying situations in just a few pages, and his enduring fascination with the dark corners of the human psyche and the unknown. It remains a highly regarded collection within his extensive bibliography.

Comments:
Just looking at the list of stories tells you the quality of this collection. The Mist is particularly famous (I haven't seen the TV adaptation yet) but the others are of high quality. I did criticise one of King's earliest collections but since then, they have become exceptionally good.

Books that we've read by Stephen King (68):
Carrie (1974), 'Salem's Lot (1975), The Shining (The Shining, #1) (1977), The Stand (1978), Night Shift (1978), The Dead Zone (1979), Firestarter (1980), Cujo (1981), The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1) (1982), Different Seasons (1982), Christine (1983), Cycle of the Werewolf (1983), Pet Sematary (1983), The Talisman (The Talisman, #1) (1984), Skeleton Crew (1985), It (1986), The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2) (1987), The Eyes of the Dragon (1987), The Tommyknockers (1987), Misery (1987), The Dark Half (1989), Four Past Midnight (1990), The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, #3) (1991), Needful Things (1991), Dolores Claiborne (1992), Gerald's Game (1992), Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993), Insomnia (1994), Rose Madder (1995), The Green Mile (1996), Desperation (1996), Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4) (1997), Bag of Bones (1998), The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999), Hearts in Atlantis (1999), On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000), Black House (The Talisman, #2) (2001), Dreamcatcher (2001), Everything's Eventual (2002), From a Buick 8 (2002), Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, #5) (2003), Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, #6) (2004), The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower, #7) (2004), The Colorado Kid (2005), Cell (2006), Lisey's Story (2006), Duma Key (2008), Just After Sunset (2008), Under the Dome (2009), 11/22/63 (2011), Full Dark, No Stars (2011), The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower, #4.5) (2012), Dr. Sleep (The Shining, #2) (2013), Joyland (2013), Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1) (2014), Revival (2014), The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015), Finders Keepers (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #2) (2015), End of Watch (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #3) (2016), Elevation (2018), The Outsider (2018), The Institute (2019), If It Bleeds (2020), Billy Summers (2021), Later (2021), Fairy Tale (2022), Holly (2023), You Like It Darker (2024)