Hi friends, happy Friday! I hope you’re all doing well. It’s been a while but I’m back with the latest book I read for my Stephen King Project. Today I will be talking about his second short story collection: Skeleton Crew.

I read this from March 31, 2024 – July 7, 2024 (3 months)

The Book (1985)

The Mist: This is just the start of this short story and already the reader knows that King is very good at writing survival scary stories, so we’re curious to see where this mysterious fog is going to go. There’s been a lot of build up, and people are just beginning to get scared and freak out, so our interest has been piqued.

The Mist: A little further in and the reader was not prepared for what was going to come out of the fog. Some alien, squid like thing possibly. All of the characters are definitely riled up. There’s something about having the young boy, Billy, that gives this story an added edge. King likes to add young children to his story because they always seem to bring out that childlike fear, adding more to the story.

The Mist: So King went a little rouge for a bit, giving us details that didn’t feel very relevant to the overall story. It’s great he wanted to give more background to our main character, but in a short story it felt more weighed down than progressive. It did pick back up when we were led to the pharmacy; some great, intense, fear inducing writing there to hopefully lead to a good ending.

The Mist: The reader shouldn’t be surprised that King ended this ambiguously because he’s known for them. The fact that he even explains his ambiguous ending felt boring and took the fear out of the story. It lost steam by the end as the reader had to come up with their own explanation and monster.

Here There Be Tygers: Not really sure what the point of this short story was. A young boy who has to go to the bathroom really bad and runs into a tiger and becomes too afraid to go. The reader thought there’d be more to this, because even when he does get ‘caught’ nothing really comes of it and it just ends. This felt like a waste of a story.

The Monkey: About a possessed clapping monkey who can make things die. An captivating story; the reader didn’t like the back and forth of past and present nor the additional background that didn’t feel relevant, but it still had good fear factor to it; that heart pounding fear that makes the reader keep turning the pages. This actually had a good ending.

Cain Rose Up: This was such a strange story; a college kid decides to shoot random people through a window and he has no emotions or regret about it. It’s short to the point but kinda sadistic. It’s not bad, the subject matter is troubling makes it a little hard to swallow. King made this character like a robot so it was really chilling to read.

Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut: This was such an interesting concept for a short story. A woman looking for a shortcut on her long drive gets caught in the wrinkles of a map – it’s really hard to describe in a short amount of words, but it was an excellent story. The beginning was a bit of a drag, but really pulled through. Hard to tell who was telling the story but it still managed to impress the reader.

The Jaunt: This could have been a full length novel in the way King had to describe everything. The concept was so interesting & we wanted more. This was about transporting people to Mars because of a gas/oil crisis. It worked as a short story for how it ended; but there could have been more to explore & expand on. The writing was so good despite a few instances where King went on for too long. Great story overall.

The Wedding Gig: Well this story didn’t age well… or if we’re being honest was never good to begin with. Dealing with a main character who is very fat and how that’s the worst thing in the world. We spend the whole story with our narrator telling us how ugly and horrible this character is. There were slight moments where this was bearable, but this wasn’t worth the trouble of reading, not great at all.

Paranoid: A Chant: A short, little, story told in verse, that paints a picture of creepy things. It was a short taste of the creep we’ve come to know from King, but it wasn’t enough to truly dive in and enjoy. It was good, but the reader would have loved to see more.

The Raft: Another story with an ambiguous ending. 4 friends decide to swim to a raft on an unseasonably warm October day… only to be met to their doom. It’s a really great concept for a story and King did well on creating tension, but could have done without all the sex/touching parts. If he focused more on the gore less on the sex it would have been even better.

Word Processor of the Gods: This was a good short story. It had good pacing and tension. Richard wants the life his brother has and when his nephew is able to give him that in the form of a word processor, he takes the chance. The good ol’ what if you could rewrite history was really well done here because we never knew what Richard was going to do. This also has a very satisfying ending.

The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands: This was an interesting story and gave off The Breathing Room vibes. It was such a captivating concept, we just didn’t get enough, we wanted more; more backstory and plot progression. There’s a reason Bower doesn’t shake hands and it’s gruesome, fascinating and fearful. Too bad this wasn’t expanded on more, would be great as a full length novel.

Beachworld: This was some creepy Sci-fi story that the reader didn’t completely get, but they felt the essence of a beach that was slowly killing the people around it and how each of the characters tried to survive. It was a slow build up with some relatively good creepy/horror scenes, but this was only an okay read for this reader.

The Reaper’s Image: This was a short, to the point, creepy story. Dealing with an old mirror that depicts the image of the Grimm Reaper to those who gaze upon it. We follow one man and his denial about what he’s seeing. It was spooky and a little harrowing; the way it ended definitely gave slight chills.

Nona: This was a longer short story, but had the reader hooked from the start. There were backstories that probably didn’t need to be added, but it did make for a good reading experience. About a man who meets a woman named Nona, and he starts killing for her and with her. A wild ride with a grotesque yet satisfying ending.

For Owen: The reader isn’t sure if this is supposed to be sweet or horrific or a blend of both in honour of his son, but it’s a strange little ode that doesn’t quite make sense, but is interesting.

Survivor Type: This was a great short story about a man stranded on an island with more drugs than he knows what to do with. Driven mad by lack of food and the drugs he begins to lose his limbs. The reader liked the details that we were given and how it was told in journal format. By the end we’re left to decipher a crazed man’s thoughts; made for a suspenseful read.

Uncle Otto’s Truck: The reader found this short story very wordy; they didn’t mind it, but it felt like it could have been cut down a bit. A story about a man who is one with his truck. The pacing was ok, but the tension wasn’t as good as it could have been. Plus, the ending was kinda left to figure out yourself.

Milkman Part 1: A very slow progression into this story. We’re introduced to Spike, the milkman who seems more than what King is telling us. The reader feels like something is going to happen to him… or he’s going to do something to someone on his route. The tension and suspicion are good, well set up.

Milkman Part 2: This didn’t go exactly the way the reader thought it would. We wanted more milkman and less of the two characters we were given; it would have made for a more impactful story. Instead it was full of 2 drunks farting around for most of it. The set up from part 1 was only a blimp in this. The reader liked where it was going & how it ended, but the middle was kinda trash.

Gramma: This was an interesting short story because it was told in the point of view of a young boy who’s in the presence of an ailing grandmother and all the things that go through a kid’s head as scary. It was a good POV and gave the story that edge it needed to, to be scary. The ending was chilling and didn’t drag.

The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet: A short story within a short story; King is good at those. This one felt like it went on for too long tho. The story of a man who wrote a short story and how he went crazy because of it. It was effective and a little meta to read but still engaging and a little fascinating as we read his progression into madness.

The Reach: A fitting ending to a collection of short stories as it deals with death, reflection of life and crossing over to the other side. It was a great short story, but it wasn’t exactly scary. The setting was really beautiful and his imagery was really well done. Dealing more with our perception of death and the unknown.

Final thoughts: As a whole, this collection of short stories was pretty good. Sure, some were better than others, but you’re always going to have that with a collection. For the most part, each story was well told and had a clear message with a good scare, or gruesome detail thrown in. There were a few that this reader had wished were full length novels because the concept was so good, they couldn’t help but want more; to spend more time with the characters and that world… the you have the Mist, which was long and wasn’t told that great. It was a great concept, but the execution of the whole thing fell flat, and the ending sucked. King had a few ending flops, but he also had a few ending wins that left the reader feeling chilled by its ominous and sometimes just plan scary endings. The way these stories sometimes fit together, but at other times didn’t made for an ok reading experience. Sometimes there felt like there was a theme and others it just felt really erratic in story telling. That’s what made it exciting, but at times also a bit all over the place. In the end, this was an enjoyable read, where this reader would read some stories again, but not the whole collection again.

Movies

2007: The Mist: This adaption was probably better than the novella it’s based on. To be fair, this stuck to the original story and followed the book well, but the film adaption really brought the story to life. This was also probably the best King adaption this viewer has seen so far. Most adaptions take the books too literally or they go in a different direction, but this film really struck a happy medium. 

For a two hour film to be based on a novella, they definitely had to stretch things and invest in things more, and they did a really good job of it. We get a lot more character backstory and development, like our main character, David and his neighbour Brent. Right from the beginning we’re given so much with just a few conversations that never really happened in the book, that just gave us a little more inside life on this small town, Castle Rock. 

The amped up character of Mrs. Carmody was perfect because it was dramatic and it needed to be that way, otherwise it wouldn’t have been as believable as it was. She was annoying to read, but even more so to watch, and because the viewer wanted her gone and taken out by whatever was out there, she did a great job of doing what that character set out to be, a thorn in everyone’s sides.  

The way the things in the mist were portrayed were so good. They were creepy and gruesome. The anticipation of what to expect was so well done too because the viewer never really knew what was going to come next. Sure, if you’ve read the novel you have a sense of what’s coming, but it didn’t quite prepare for  what these filmmakers had in store for us. Truly horrifying and the way it would grab its victims, it was so hard to tear your eyes away. 

There were some of the things that the viewer didn’t remember from the book, for example those flying bug/mini dragon things. They may have been in the book, but they weren’t as memorable as the tentacles, and the film really brought all these weird things to life.   

The pacing was great because it never felt like a two hour movie. Nothing dragged, the action was continuous and plots kept moving that when we got to the end, it was like, we’re already here?! They did a great job of making it feel like the characters had been in the store for ages, yet no time at all, when really it was supposed to be two days. 

Now for that ending that completely changed the story, but changed it for the better, in this viewers opinion. In the book, this is being told by our main character after everything has happened, and the way he ends it by telling his audience that they should just use their imagination to figure out what was in the mist… was such a cop out ending. The film had a true ending. Throughout the film we see these military guys and everyone has suspicions that they’re behind it, but no one has proof and they’re obviously not going to say anything. The way it was engrained into the story to lead up to the ending was perfectly executed because it could have gone either way, and you’re left going wait, what. 

It was also such a harrowing ending because after everything this town and these people suffered, our main character had to suffer just a little bit more. The way he thought he was being a hero… and if he just waited five more minutes. Oh man, was it ever gut wrenching to watch. 

This film truly took the book and made it it something to be terrorized over. This had all the elements of a good horror movie; it had high stakes, gruesome alien life forms, fear of the unknown and the loss of humanity and self. It hit fear in so many different levels, and all without being too overwhelming. 

2022: The Mist (mini series): I’m not going to dive into details here about this because I wrote a whole post on the one season that exists of this remake, and you can read that here!

2014: Mercy: Based off of the short story, Gramma, although it’s a very rough basis. The only thing this film took from the book was the concept and that was it. As an adaptation, this film doesn’t do any justice to the book, but as a separate entity, this film was an ok horror flick.

They aged up the boys in this, and what worked in the book was taking a little kid’s imagination and turning it on them. But when you turn the 5 year old into a 13 year old, that becomes hard to do. So what they introduced was a supernatural element. 

They made the grandmother a witch, cursed since she was a child. So when she becomes possessed, and her family has to come and take care of her. Her young grandson becomes the one who has to, and can save her. 

It wasn’t a bad plot, it had a few holes and it wasn’t always engaging. The viewer just wanted the story they got in the book, so having to watch this play out felt disappointing. 

The acting was alright, it didn’t quite make the plot believable and so that also didn’t help this film.

In the end, this was alright, with a few brief good moments, but for the most part, it was a movie that took a good story and made it a generic story.

Creepshow: I’m going to leave my write up of Creepshow here if you’d like to 1) read my thoughts on that book and 2) at the bottom are my thoughts on the TV adaptation to Survivor’s Type and The Raft.

I also filmed my thoughts on the book if you’d like to check that out:

Up next: IT