The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'Skeleton Crew':
Reviewer amazon.com wrote: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.
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