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.
Misery by Stephen King 1987 / 454 pgs. (110,565 words) Psychological-Horror-Thriller
Misery, a classic by Mr. King. It grips you from the start and does not let go. Paul Sheldon, author of the Misery Chastain novels wakes up from a confused and drugged out haze. As he gathers his wits and surroundings, he feels agonizing pain from his hips and below. He meets his savior, Mrs. Annie Wilkes, not only a former nurse, but also his number-one fan. Also, he realizes that he is not in a hospital being cared for by trained professionals but held against his will at Annie’s house. However, with two shattered legs, he is not going to be leaving anytime soon.
Annie loves the Misery books and really does not care for Pauls other works. As he has heard and read from other fans, please, just write those wonderful Misery books –signed, your number-one fan. His latest manuscript was in the car that Annie pulled him from. She reads it and finds it horrible, his worst writing ever. She did mention that she was waiting for the latest Misery book, Misery’s Child, to be released in paperback. What she does not know yet is Paul killed Misery. He despises Misery Chastain, as he feels he can write a lot more than just romance novels that swoon all of his fans. Once Annie has Misery’s Child in hand and devours it, she is terribly upset, and blames Paul for murdering Misery.
With the help of a BBQ pit, Annie demands Paul to burn his latest manuscript, the horrible book called Fast Cars. Once that is complete, she brings him an old Royal typewriter and has him author a book just for her, the greatest novel he has ever written, Misery’s Return! That, dear readers, is the first fifty pages of this masterpiece, for it only gets worse for Paul, much worse as he drafts the only book that will keep him alive.
Annie Wilkes, I believe is one of Mr. Kings greatest antagonist. She is one of the most polarizing characters because you are not sure what she will do at any given moment. This effectively makes the narrative an on-the-edge of your seat experience. The conclusion is incredibly satisfying with frightening consequences.
This novel, I felt, was a narration of frustration from Mr. King as he feels like Paul in various interactions with fans that have played out over the years. Considering, Mr., King received backlash from fans after the release of Eyes of the Dragon. Many fans just demanded him to continue writing horror books. I would imagine it was the same feeling that Tom Clancy received when Red Storm Rising was published, which was not a Jack Ryan novel, and readers demanded another Ryan book. I could imagine many authors reading this novel and stating, “that is how I feel”. Geroge R. R. Martin faces this all the time with his fans demanding for the author to sit a write Winds of Winter and do nothing else until it is complete.
Would I recommend this book, oh yeah! It is a great read and did not disappoint.
Enjoy a good cup of coffee and a delightful book! Lopaka
Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King 1984/ 378 pgs. (90,335 words) Fantasy
Eyes of the Dragon, a different book than what we are used to, from Mr. King. When I read this book over 30 years ago, I was deep into fantasy books like the Dragonlance Saga. This is one the first books that I saw the title, read the short intro on the back cover, took it home from the school library, read it and thought, this book sucks! It was my first foray into the world of Mr. King. Reading this book again with fresher eyes and a different expectation, I was not jaded when I first finished it.
In the book, we get reintroduced to Flagg. He is the Magician that “advises” the King of Delain, Roland. Not the same Roland from the Gunslinger. Flagg thirst for chaos and sets things in motion to see that it happens. He arranges for those that stand to block his pursuit of chaos for the Kingdom with death or imprisonment.
Flagg arranges for the death of the Queen, Sasha, while she gives birth to Thomas, the second in the line to the throne. Flagg felt that Sasha was starting to gain influence of King Roland that would interfere with Flaggs plans. Peter, the first born, was like his mother and Flagg could see that when Peter became King, he would dismiss Flagg as his advisor. Thomas, on the other hand, was like his father, King Roland, and easily swayed by the powerful influence of the Magician.
Flagg arranges for Peter to be charged and found guilty of the vicious murder of his father, King Roland, and imprisoned for life in the great tower called the Needle. His younger brother, Thomas, becomes King at the age of twelve. With King Roland and Queen Sasha dead, Prince Peter locked in the Needle, Flagg has complete control over King Thomas to create the Chaos that he desires for the Kingdom of Delain. This, dear reader, is all I will tell you about the story.
Mr. King wrote this in a narrative form as if he were a bard or great storyteller reciting the plot to you and even includes his own thoughts in the story.
Would I recommend this for reading, not really. Still not one of his great novels and for a Stephen King book, not what you would expect. It is not horrible, just not even in the top tell books that I would recommend from Mr. King.
