Skeleton Crew - Softcover

Stephen King

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1444723200 ISBN 13: 9781444723205

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 2012

Synopsis

A No. 1 New York Times bestseller and winner of the 1986 Locus Award for Best Collection, SKELETON CREW is a classic collection of riveting stories from the outer limits of one of the greatest imaginations of our time, now with a stunning new cover look.

Features ''The Mist'', adapted into both a feature film directed by Frank Darabont and a 2017 Netflix series.

Hold tight. We are going into a number of dark places, but I think I know the way. Just don''t let go of my arm . . .

Unrivalled master of suspense Stephen King takes the unsuspecting reader on a fantastic journey through the dark shadows of our innermost fears.

Do the dead sing?

In this bumper collection of chilling tales, we meet: a woman who has never crossed The Reach, the water dividing her from the mainland; a gramma who only wants to hug little George, even after she is dead; an innocent looking toy with sinister powers; and a primeval sea creature with an insatiable appetite.

This ''wonderfully gruesome'' collection (The New York Times Book Review) includes:

-The Mist
-Here There Be Tygers
-The Monkey
-Cain Rose Up
-Mrs. Todd''s Shortcut
-The Jaunt
-The Wedding Gig
-Paranoid: A Chant
-The Raft - Word Processor of the Gods
-The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands
-Beachworld
-The Reaper''s Image
-Nona
-For Owen
-Survivor Type
-Uncle Otto''s Truck
-Morning Deliveries (Milkman No. 1)
-Big Wheels: a Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman No. 2)
-Gramma
-The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet
-The Reach

About this title

Review

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

About the Author

STEPHEN KING is a master of the novella and short narrative form. As he describes it: 'A short story is like a kiss in the dark from a stranger.' King's novellas and stories are among his most popular and some have been turned into celebrated films including STAND BY ME and THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1444723200
• ISBN 13: 9781444723205
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 770