My Long Walk Through Stephen King's Lot

I am finding that Skeleton Crew contains some very good stories.  I just read two stand-outs, "The Monkey" and "The Raft."  The original cover image for this collection features an image of "The Monkey," so how could I not read that one?  And "The Raft" is apparently a fan favorite, because I hear it mentioned a bit more often than a lot of King's other short fiction.   I found both of these stories to be entertaining, creepy, well-written works.  One thing that stands out about them is that both stories center on premises that, in the hands of a lesser writer, would likely come off as absurd.  But in King's hands?  They are effectively unnerving. One of the reasons they work is that King elects to regard the evil entities as mysterious and unexplained.  (The black, oily monstrosity in "The Raft" is described at one point as an "unknowable thing.") The less-is-more approach is generally an effective one whe...

The Mist is a Stephen King story I've wanted to read for a long time.  I have always been aware of its positive reputation, but when I began hearing it referred to as maybe the best of his novellas, I figured it was high time I gave it a look.  The image above is from the paperback copy of Skeleton Crew I recently purchased.  It’s far from my favorite cover image, but the therapist in me does like the Rorschach-ian quality of it.  The novella is not necessarily what I expected, and that is in no way a bad thing. This is not a “scary” story; at least it isn’t for me.  But it is, in certain ways, intense and unnerving.  There are some nice short sequences of suspense, but mostly the story works because King so effectively draws us into what is a very disconcerting, hopeless-feeling scenario.  King generates a good amount of empathy for the plight of those trapped in the supermarket, especially by focusing on the distress that comes from knowing...