Part Two of this review of the Skeleton Crew will now continue. Here’s the other 11 piecesthat comprise the whole of the book. You can find Part One of the Skeleteon Crew review right there.So sit back, relax and read on down…

"Beachworld" - Here’s another science fiction story with a horror twist. It was first
published in Weird Tales in 1985, just a year before Skeleton Crew was published. The story involves a starship crashing into a planet made entirely of sand. Only Rand and Shapiro, both crew members of the Federal vessel, survive the disaster. They each have a different approach to their situation. For some reason, this one seems somehow to be a rebellion against the whole beach fetish in the 80’s in a very vague way. I remember the title had me expecting something totally different from what I ended up reading, but also that it was a fun, if quick, read.

"The Reaper’s Image" - This story, centering around an antique mirror, was first published in Startling Mystery Stories in 1969. In this one we’ve got the antiques collector Johnson Spangler visiting the Samuel Claggert Memorial Private Museum, basically a sprawling mansion full of the kinds of items that’d make a junk shop dealer salivate. Spangler has come to buy Delver’s looking-glass, an Elizabethan mirror of much renown. Of course, the mirror is you know, haunted. You can probably guess fairly accurately what one might see within said mirror just by reading the title. I enjoyed the atmosphere King creates in this one because it ends up feeling like a longer story than it actually is - in a good way! That or maybe I’m just fond of all that old junk. Hard to say, really.

"Nona" - First published in the 1978 anthology Shadows, this is the tale of a college
dropout running from the shipwreck of his life so far. He’s thumbing it somewhere when he encounters an enchanting and adventurous girl who’s known as Nona. Of course, straight romance isn’t really why we read Stephen King. Don’t worry he delivers quite a tale that’s a damned fun read. You might find yourself as surprised by where the new couple’s adventures lead as I was. In the end, they’re so alike that it’s clear they were meant for one another…

"For Owen" - The second poem in the book, this one is dedicated to Mr. King’s own son. It’s a rather whimsical piece that captures the wonderous imaginings of childhood. It concerns father and son walking to school together as the little boy weaves the tale of a school full of… well fruitlike people. Or maybe it’s peoplelike fruit. It’s just thirty-four lines of free verse, so if you’re not into it you don’t have to deal with it for too long. Personally, I thought it sort of broke up the flow of the book, but I do believe that the intent was not just to memorialize Owen at a young age. I think it was placed there as a reminder that even the grand minds of authors like King begin with childhood fantasies just like this one before the grow into the adult versions are capable of earning a person’s livelihood and fame.

"Survivor Type" - Originally, this story appeared in a 1982 horror anthology called Terrors, which was edited by Charles L. Grant. It’s written in a diary style that serves its purpose extremely well. This is the tale of one Richard Pine, a medical school dropout who’s turned to smuggling heroin while on a cruise. Like the venerable Robinson Crusoe, he too finds himself marooned on a desert isle. A very small desert isle where he is the largest occupant. That poses a problem because when you’re at the top of the food chain, it’s not as glorious as it might at first seem. If you combine that with the whole issue of having a large supply of heavy narcotics, well, you can probably see the dangers awaiting Mr. Pine. The diary will detail what he does and over time, you’ll learn what happened to him. This is a highly disturbing story that you may want to avoid if you’re a bit weak in the stomach. It’s beyond grisly and yet at heart, a psychological thriller. The saying goes, "You are what you eat."

Perhaps poor Richard is just dyslexic.

"Uncle Otto’s Truck" - Yankee magazine (which is not a "men’s magazine" as I’d thought, but rather a publication specializing in New England life) first publishes this story in 1983.

It’s about a dilapidated truck that’s been abandoned by its owners after it fell on a Castle Rock businessman by the name of George McCutcheon. Otto Schenck has since become absolutely obsessed with the vehicle since that event and this is the tale of his madness. You get to revel in the terror of a Christine-like nightmare of a truck creeping steadily towards poor old Otto.

The artist Glenn Chadbourne will be bringing this story to The Secretary of Dreams, a
collection of comics based on Stephen King’s short fiction. It’s just been published by
Cemetary Dance this summer, in fact. It’s selling like crazy already, which I imagine is due to the awesome artwork so I’ll provide the link to their site at the end of this review.

"Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1)" - I’ve never personally utilized the services of a milkman (don’t be sick!), but I’ve seen enough black and white TV shows to know what they’re about. A bit like the postman, if you actually had to rely on him to deliver your daily sustenance.

Obviously there’s a lot of trust here that things aren’t being… tampered with. Spike
Milligan is a milkman who’s about to break some trust. His customers aren’t going to get milk this morning, they’re going to get a wild assortment of unique "prizes". It’s definitely a fun read, even if it is fairly disturbing.

"Big Wheels: A Tale of The Laundry Game (Milkman #2)" - This is the sequel to the previous story, yet it was first published in 1982’s New Terrors 2, an anthology edited by Ramsey Campbell. Spike is still ye olde milkmane, but there’s a couple other characters involved, too. These two are focused solely on two goals: getting a car licensed before midnight and drinking themselves a few yards past completely plowed. Of course, the narratives must meet, atleast by the end. It gets weird and it’s a great read just to see the continuation of Spike alone, not to mention the additional boneheads. Written the way only a true drinker could do, I found this one to be quite a good story overall and a bit faster paced than some.

"Gramma" - Published first in Weird Book magazine in 1984, this story is about a young boy named George. He’s a kid who’s been left alone with his grandmother during a stereotypical dark and stormy night. That in itself is creepy enough, but when you add in the twist that lil Georgie’s gramma gained some voodoo powers by reading some unspeakable ancient texts? Well, it all gets just a little Lovecraftian. Clearly, it’s a tale destined (if not designed) for The Twilight Zone and it was in fact an episode in 1985 with its screenplay having been written by Harlan Ellison. King always excels at realistically painting childhood fears and if you doubt that, this story will paint it to you. If you were left alone as a kid or had creepy grandparents, this one may dredge up a whole lotta icky memories. If you’re bent the way I am, you’ll love it!

"The Ballad of The Flexible Bullet" - This one is probably more of a novella than a short
story. It was originally published in 1984 by The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. The gist of the story is that an editor and a writer meet. The writer is a bit weird, but the editor takes it in stride. Afterall, artist-types have their quirks, right? Well, this writer certainly tests the boundaries of eccentricity by sharing that he’s got "fornits" dusting his typewriter with magic dust. Fairy elf-type things. It’s incredibly good with plenty of humor but just enough realistic craziness to keep you a bit unnerved overall. This is probably one of my absolute favorite stories ever penned by Stephen King. You’ll never guess how it all unwinds.

"The Reach" - Finally, we have another story published in that damned Yankee magazine. This time the year is 1981 and originally, this story was titled "Do the Dead Sing?" which sounds a bit better to me. The tale here is pretty much perfectly suited for closing the book. It revolves around an elderly woman known as Stella Flanders. She is the oldest living woman on an island off the coast of Maine which has the ironic name of Goat Island. She’s an old Goat Island resident - get it? So in this story we get to bear witness to the coldest winter on record which freezes "The Reach" (the water between the island and the coast) solid so that Stella is able to make like Jesus and walk across it. It last froze like this way back in 1938, so despite her age and health condition, Stella is going to make the trek to the Maine land. This is another of the stories to be included in The Secretary of Dreams collection.

In closing, I’ve got to say this book has many, many memorable tales. Much more than you or I really deserve. You should read it anyways, though. Oh! I promised a link to that cool graphic novel, didn’t I? Well, I suppose that’ll teach you to trust me, won’t it? Just teasing… here ya go:

Secretary of Dreams

So, I must now fade back into the gnarly shadows. Until such time as I spring upon you once more, I shamelessly remain GlowStormLion, hung like a rabbit with the libido of a moose!

Wait… I think I got that backwards… Damn you Richard Pine!

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When it comes to Stephen King books, I tend to like almost all of them. Whether he’s writing in the genre of horror, thriller, science fiction or drama, I find them all enjoyable to various degrees. Even his technical books about writing have been great reads. If I had to pick a favorite, though, I’d have to say that I like his short stories and novellas best of all. Not to suggest that I don’t enjoy his full-length novels, because I do immensely, but a good short story is not that common. King has a definite skill for the craft.

The Skeleton Crew, which came out in the 80’s, was just such a collection. Not only does it have nineteen short stories, there are two poems and a novella included as well. Beyond this, the introduction and notes at the end go even further towards creating one hell of a good time for readers, using King’s trademark coversational style and seemingly open approach to communication. Published in 1985, just two years after Different Seasons (another of his anthology books), the works presented span 17 years and 512 pages (in the hardbound edition I read) of writing.

This article is going to be released in two parts. I’ll cover 11 of the writings in this half and the rest in the final posting. So, enough of my rambling, let’s get to the review.

"The Mist" - The opening piece isn’t a short story, it’s actually considered a novella. It was first published in Dark Forces, a horror anthology edited by Kirby McCauley, in 1980. Set in the small town of Bridgeton, Maine, the tale centers around an artist named David Drayton and his son Billy. They become trapped in their local grocery store as a mysterious layer of, well, mist smothers their town. It’s rumored that the bizarre incident is somehow related to a secret military project said to be taking place at a nearby military base. You’ll get to see King’s take on just what happens when people from our modern age get flung back through the centuries into fear and superstition.

This novella was adapted into a text-based computer game, was the inspiration for the video game Half-Life and quite possibly Silent Hill, which was not only a game but also made into a movie. An audio version of it is available on cassette or CD and it’s actually in development, at the time of this article’s publication, as a full-length feature film. Frank Darabont is set to direct. You may remember him as the director of both Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. I’m really looking forward to being able to watch this play out on screen because I found this particular novella to be extremely cinematic long before I knew of its actual production as a film. [you can read my review of the Mist now]

"Here There Be Tygers" - While it is true that Ray Bradbury has a story bearing this same title, this story is not in any way science fiction. It’s a short piece that focuses on a young boy of elementary school age who believes that there are tigers in the bathroom. Not my favorite in the book, but it’s not terrible either. My struggle with it was that it required a bit more childlike thinking than I felt like doing when I read it. It’s also interesting to note that it was written in 1968, when Stephen King was 18 years old, apparently as his first story that would one day actually be published (not his first story ever published, though).

"The Monkey" - Continuing on with the animal theme, up next we’ve got this little literary offering. Here we’re told the story of one of those little stuffed monkeys that is wound up so that it can clang a small pair of cymbals together. These things really creeped me out as a kid, so I felt instantly at home with this story. Fortunately I never encountered one similar to the toy monkey in this story, because that one predicts people’s death. This was a very classic style of horror tale. Overall, I enjoyed it quite alot.

"Cain Rose Up" - Here we’ve got a depressed college student. You know what happens when college kids get depressed, right? Yep, they go on homicidal sniper rampages from the comfort of their own dorm rooms! This one might remind you of Rage by Richard Bachman. That’s because Richard Bachman is just a pseudo-name for Stephen King, silly. This story is kind of disturbing, honestly, because it has an intensely real feel to it. I couldn’t help but think of Apt Pupil as I read it, either. One might begin to think that Mr. King has considered a career in the mercenary sharpshooting industry after reading this one.

"Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut" - Redbook magazine first published this short story in 1984. The plot stars the free-spirited character Mrs. Todd (who reminds me of The Wind in the Willows‘ Mr. Toad). She’s obsessed with finding a shorter route between her home and her workplace. She does find something, alright but I’m not going to blow the surprise by detailing that here. I really enjoyed this one because the main character is alot of fun to read about.

"The Jaunt" - First published in The Twilight Zone Magazine (1981), this story is not so much a horror tale as it is a science fiction tale. Okay, it’s actually a fine mixture of both. It’s set in a future where people, amazingly, still rent time on computers. The "jaunt" being referred to is actually a super-duper new way to travel: to planets beyond Earth. In this world, Exxon/Mobile and other giants of the petroleum industry are now water purification companies thanks to an oil crash in the earlier part of the 21st century. King mentions "The Stars My Destination" by Alfred Bester which turns out to be the inspiration for this story. The plot centers around a family that is about to jaunt and what happens to them when something unexpected happens. If you’re at all interested in the possibilities of teleportation you’ll really enjoy this one’s imaginative presentation.

"The Wedding Gig" - Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine first published this story in 1980. It’s told from perspective of a band’s leader. Basically, this band is asked to perform at a wedding. Of course, that in itself wouldn’t really make for a tale of much interest to anyone. As expected, the situation deteriorates in typical King fashion. Though it’s not an utterly brilliant story, it’s a good one and a definite step out of what you might’ve come to expect from its author.

"Paranoid: A Chant" - Before reading this book I wasn’t aware that Stephen King wrote poetry, though I’m not flabbergasted that he has. This is one of the two poems in the book and it’s 100 lines in total. It’s a first-person narration of a person’s diary and this person just happens to be a paranoid schizophrenic. They’re seeing threats and persecution at every turn. They’re recording every wrong they perceive as having been done to them. The poem is "recursive" which means it ends the same way it began. Not only does this poem tie into the Dark Tower series, it’s also connected to The Stand. There was an 8-minute short film made about it as well, which was for some time available via download. It’s an interesting piece that changes the pace a bit, so that’s a plus.

"The Raft" - Gallery, a "men’s magazine" first published this story in 1982. The story revolves around two college aged couples who set out for a swim in a Pennsylvania lake. Of course, King can’t just tell us this story, so you know to expect some sort of danger, right? You’ll get one of his stranger "monsters" in this one. It was also committed to film in 1987 as a part of Creepshow 2, directed by Michael Gornick who used a screenplay by George Romero.

As an intriguing sidenote, King submitted this story to the magazine Adam, where it was supposed to be published in 1969. However, he’s never been able to locate a single printing of it as far as I know. He was paid for it, though and the check actually ended up preventing him from having to do jail time when he was unable to pay a fine.

"Word Processor of the Gods" - Originally titled "Word Processor", this story made its debut in the January 1983 issue of Playboy magazine. Since no one actually reads the words in that magazine, especially stories about word processors, King decided to include it with this anthology. It’s a pretty neat concept, really. Basically, the lead character is a miserable man who was gifted with a word processor by his nephew. That’d be pretty mundane, but this nephew is a marvellous genius who later perishes in a tragic accident. The man finds out that his gift can actually alter reality and that’s where things get interesting. I enjoyed this one and also learned that it was included in a November 25, 1984 episode of Tales from the Darkside, a TV series.

"The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands" - This is the final story we’ll be taking a look at in part one of this review. First published in the 1982 horror anthology Shadows 4, edited by Charles L. Grant, this story is told by a wealthy gentleman from society’s upper echelons. It’s a classic sort of tale that feels quite genuine and almost as if you’re hearing it from a cigar-smoking old timer around a fireplace rather than reading it in a book. The man referenced in the title has been cursed, but you’ll have to actually read the story in order to find out more, because I am The Man Who Will Not Spoil Stories.

Here you go: Part 2 of The Skeleton Crew by Stephen King to finish this review!

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When I was but a wee lad, my family and I used to go on vacations. During these we never left the country, but we generally always left whatever state we resided in at the time. Since I was basically an only child, when it came to choosing touristy destinations, I was outnumbered. It’s not so much that they didn’t care what I wanted to do, it’s just that we have vastly different sensibilities. This is excruciatingly apparent in the realm of entertainment. I’m just not the sort of person who finds Civil War battlefields or pioneer museums all that exciting. The rock shops weren’t so bad, particularly if they had colorful stones or books about dinosaurs, but no child should be subjected to Silver Dollar City (located in Branson, Missouri) when they live in a country where Disneyland or Six Flags is available. Granted, if left up to me our vacations would have mostly consisted of nationwide tour of Chuck E. Cheese or Showbiz Pizza restaurants, but it sure would’ve been a blast!

I’ve digressed, though. What I was working up to, in my own tortuously slow way is the subject of tourist traps. Not the grand, college fund draining types, but rather those of modest means in obscure locations. Roadside ice cream parlors, museums of no repute and guided tours of locations no one has ever heard of. As a child, these places were mysterious and usually disappointing. The people who ran them seemed either like retirees from the carnie circuit or formerly unemployable history majors. Just an all around creepy vibe.

The story in Midnight’s Lair, penned by the venerable Richard Laymon, reminded me of these places if they’d had a bit more cash. There’s a hotel and a main attraction: Mordock’s Cave. It’s a sprawling underground cavern filled with stalagtites and stalagmites and all that. Of course, this isn’t why anyone visits the cave. No, they go to this fine family-run ‘resort’ to indulge their morbid curiosity with the legend of Elizabeth Mordock’s ghost. Ely Mordock, the man who first set up camp here build a wall called Ely’s wall and.. well, if you want the whole spiel, that’s what the book is for, right?

That’s just the backstory, the real story is about what happens when a group of tourists get trapped in the cave with their guide (and our protagonist), Darcy. If you can imagine being trapped in a dark, damp subterranean cave with a group of strangers then I’m sure you can envision the sort of pandemonium that takes place here. As usual, Laymon also tells another story of what’s going on above those trapped below. He juggles the various storylines so well I end up practically forgetting the rest as I read any given one. The man is a masterful storyteller and Midnight’s Lair is no exception to the kind of work I’d come to expect from him, even though it was originally attributed to his pseudonym Richard Kelly.

If you have even the faintest familiarity with Laymon novels then you most likely assume this tale goes far beyond any typical ghost story. I’m pleased to inform you that if that was your assumption, you’re entirely correct. This book is gruesome, engaging and entirely perverted. I loved it! Instead of just grossing us out or painting out lurid sexual fantasies, Laymon seems to be making alot of social statements about his character’s personalities and substance as individuals. It’s always a delight to see who will survive a Laymon story, but Midnight’s Lair is particularly fun, most likely because there are so many characters involved.

Were I to sum up the overall style of the book, I’d call it a disaster-meets-psychos-who-are-connected-with-monsters. I guess I did just sum it up afterall. This is a perfectly blended concoction of horror that I’m pleased to award a 5 out of 5 to. It’s good stuff, Maynard.

Until next time, this is GlowStormLion, tunneling beneath the floorboards of the universe, gnawing at the ties that bind us one to another. I’m trying to say I’m seeking liberation from materialism. Honestly.

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When I first began seriously reading the works of Stephen King a few years ago, one of my first books was Four Past Midnight. This book is a compilation of four novellas or short stories, however you want to look at it. This was back in the dark, hot house where I first read Carrie. The thing is, I only read two of the four stories at that point, which is unusual for me because I’m generally doggedly determined to finish even the worst books or movies I’ve ever witnessed. Over a year later I picked up the book again and read the other two stories within.

You might be thinking that the book must be a stinker if I stopped reading it after only two stories, but that’s not the case. I had access to a large collection of reading material at that point, before I sold everything I owned and journeyed around the country. Fortunately, since this was a collection of unrelated stories, it didn’t ruin the reading experience. I picked up right where I left off. To me, that speaks volumes in and of itself, but let’s learn what I thought of the actual stories.

Now I’m not going to review these in any particular order, but I’ll try not to cross back and forth among the stories I’m referencing so you’ll be able to keep it all straight. The hardbound edition I had was a monster of a book, over 700 pages in all, I believe. This is the sort of reading I generally sit at a desk or table for. Let’s skim through what Four Past Midnight has to offer, amigos.

The Library Policeman - This story stars a guy in a small town, Sam Peebles, who’s a realty/insurance agent. He’s got to make a speech and to spice up this speech he plans to patronize his local library. At first, you may get the impression that this would be a silly or humorous story, but King goes ahead and kicks you in the butt for that one. I didn’t take it very seriously at first, but thankfully it lived up well past my expectations. The ambience is right, the flow feels like life in a small town because as always, King’s managed the details of his subject matter quite well. There’s a sincere tale here that explores fear, guilt and the process of growing up (including all that it entails for both the adult and child). While I did enjoy this story immensely, it’s not my favorite. However, it does deliver the goods to fans of traditional King stories.

Secret Window, Secret Garden - Here we have one of my favorite themes in all of modern literature: the writer writing about writers writing. To your left is me being entirely sarcastic, lying through my teeth. If you can get over the whole ‘writing about writers’ gig then I don’t see any reason you won’t enjoy this story if for no other reason than the mystery it presents. While sometimes movies butcher the story that the book they’re based on carries, Secret Window, Secret Garden does no such thing in film-form. If you’ve seen the movie it covers everything within the book and arguably is better since you can see the characters rather than just descriptions of them. The story itself centers around the consequences of success, even the battle to cope with the emotional realities of getting what you set out to obtain. The antagonist is alot of fun to read about, a real character even though he’s not some sort of supernatural monster - or is he? The mystery unravels slowly here, so take your time to savor it.

The Langoliers - Out of all the stories in Four Past Midnight, this one in particular is vying strongly for most original. It’s definitely a thought-provoker, but it’s also a bit outlandish for my tastes. I’m not a person who’s terrified of planes or traveling, so it wasn’t scary to me and the scary parts seemed more cartoonishly over-the-top than genuinely frightening. Really, though, the meat is in the interesting scenario King is posing for the reader. There’s the strong question of ‘what would you do if this happened to you?’ combined with a Twilight Zone-esque setting. It works together quite well and provides an interesting angle for insight into the characters in the story. Not a bad read, just difficult to be all that moved by.

The Sun Dog - Finally, we come to what is definitely my top choice for best story of the compilation. We’ve got young Kevin Delevan as our central protagonist who comes into possession of a Polaroid camera. As soon as I read that part, I was hooked. I have loved Polaroids for as long as I can remember (atleast age 4) which I first saw one. The process of the photographs developing is fascinating. The story has Kevin visiting a junk store which adds even more points because I can thing of few things I enjoy more than pawing through old stuff, especially if I can buy it! Also, there’s my whole my-favorite-animals-are-dogs thing I’ve had since childhood, too, so it all just sort of converged in this story for me.

The premise here is awesome. Old technology doing weird things makes for a completely captivating story and even though it’s not delving straight into claw-your-face-off horror, it’s keeping you entertained. A lot of this story is told in dialogue. While that apparently bothered some people, I appreciate King’s attempt to try and capture the essence of a story you’d speak rather than simply write because it came off more naturally this way.

If you’re going to take a chance on Four Past Midnight like I’m recommending then I say be a rebel! Discard the order the stories are in and read ‘em like this: The Sun Dog (to set up the mood), Secret Window, Secret Garden (to give you a bit of a jolt), The Library Policeman (to shake you up further), and then end it all with The Langoliers (in case you don’t like it since it’s very different from the rest). I think you’ll find it to be a 4 out of 5, as well.

I’m going now, but when I get back I’ll still be GlowStormLion. And I’ll still be exploring dark, dusty thrift stores in search of obscure treasure other people consider comedy items.

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