Skeleton Crew

by Stephen King

Unrivalled monarch of the macabre Stephen King again takes the unsuspecting reader on a fantastic journey through the dark, shadowy areas of our innermost fears. In a bumper collection of truly chilling tales, we meet Gramma, who only wants to hug little George, even after she was dead; The Raft - a primeval sea creature with an insatiable appetite; The Monkey - an innocent-looking toy with sinister powers; the unspeakable horror of The Mist. And there is a gruesome host of other stories, each with the distinctive blend of unimaginable terror and realism that typifies King's writing.

• ISBN10: 0751504386
• ISBN13: 9780751504385
• Publish Date: 17 July 1986 (first published 20 June 1985)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 30 December 2009
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Time Warner Paperbacks
• Edition: New edition
• Format: Paperback (A-Format (178x111 mm))
• Pages: 624
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

A mixed bag of stories, some amazingly creeptastic and others made me visibly shiver while others were downright strange. Typical of any anthology, but for fans of Stephen King it offers a wonderful collection of shorts all in one place.

“A short story is a different thing altogether – a short story is like a quick kiss in the dark from a stranger.”

Skeleton Crew is narrated by Stephen King, Matthew Broderick, Michael C. Hall, Paul Giamatti, Will Patton, Norbert Leo Butz, Lois Smith, Dylan Baker, Kyle Beltran, Dana Ivey, Robert Petkoff, David Morse, and Frances Sternhagen. What a fantastic group of narrators!

The short stories contained within this collection are 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, The 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 #1), Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2), Gramma, The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet, and The Reach.

“There are things of such darkness and horror—just, I suppose, as there are things of such great beauty—that they will not fit through the puny human doors of perception.”

Lord but some of these stories are terrifying on audio and others made me squirm. The Raft will freak you out and Survivor Type..nope, just nope. The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands was tantalizing, and The Monkey held me spellbound. One of my favorites was The Mist, and I loved that Will Patton narrated.

The stories are in varying length, some only a few minutes long, and others several hours. Each showcases King's brilliant, quirky, horrifying imagination. To have coffee with this man would be amazing. For example The Word Processor of the Gods, allows you to delete things..all kinds of things and Nona..so strange. I would love to hear about his inspirations for these tales.

Experiencing these stories on audio brought a whole new element. It is one thing to read about a man eating his flesh, or a creäture sucking you up bit by bit but to listen..OMG! This stellar cast of narrators added a whole new level of creepiness. I was seriously impressed with all of them. Skeleton Crew is a must collection for Stephen King fans and the perfect listen for the witching season.

Audio provided by publisher. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer