Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
1985 / 512 pgs. (~195,600 words) / Fiction, Horror

Skeleton Crew is a collection of 23 short stories that were published in magazines over many years. Several of them have been turned into movies. The most famous is The Mist.

These are my favorites of the collection.

The Mist – A mist falls over a town in Maine, and several individuals get stuck in a store fighting the creatures inside it. When they do escape, are they really free? I’ll say this: I liked the movie ending better.

The Monkey – A mechanical monkey that bangs cymbals haunts a man, and everywhere he goes, misfortune follows when the monkey bangs its cymbals.

The Raft – A group of college students jump into a lake and get stuck on a stationary raft in the middle of it. An oily substance comes and eats each one until only one is left on the raft, watching his car and keys sitting on land, just out of reach. This was made into a movie, and I enjoyed that ending better too.

Word Processor of the Gods – A man is gifted a homemade word processor by his now-deceased nephew. He discovers that whatever he types comes true — but the word processor only has a short life.

The rest of the stories are solid, if not standouts.

Would I recommend it? It’s a good pick if you enjoy short story collections.

Enjoy a cup of coffee and a good book.

Lopaka