Skeleton Crew: Stories Paperback – May 30, 2017

Reading Skeleton Crew slowly for over a year now, using it as a bridge between various other novels and such to help with my SK addiction, I can say Skeleton Crew serves as possibly the best sampling of Stephen King considering the diversity and length it gives, all for under $10. The collection features a full novel, nineteen short stories, and even a couple poems to mix things up. One can see that this really does include so much of the best from SK when so many of these stories later ended up being adapted into TV show episodes or even movies.Some notables include...The headlining feature of Skeleton Crew is certainly The Mist, which stands as one of his fan favorites, and even though it's shorter then most of his novels, he's able to still deliver on a great balance between tension, action, and character-development better than most of his 700+page novels. This story alone almost makes it worth the price, yet it only takes up a quarter of the collection.As many other reviewers note, Cain Rose Up sticks out awkwardly as a too simple and too violent story of a school shooting. It feels like it should actually be the end of a much more complex and interesting story (like Rage).The Jaunt is probably my favorite out of the whole collection for it's delivery on a interesting idea, and the resulting payoff at the end, it's also cool to read one from SK that delves into some fun sci-fi aspects. This whole story can be read online for free, so if nothing else, at least do that.The premise for Word Processor of the Gods is awesome enough, a homemade computer that is able to create anything into existence that is typed into it. However, I feel that this could've been made into something much bigger and better then it is, yet still stands as a good read.Nona felt the most like a SK story with a near excessive amount of characters that all felt like they should be part of a bigger story (which is why most of them later show up in other stories set in the same town). It still serves as a good read, especially if recently reading Body or Hearts in Atlantis.The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet takes some time to build up speed into a great disturbing yet subtlety comedic story. It's one of the longer and last stories in the collection and along with The Reach it's a great note to end on.Overall, I would recommend this collection for any SK fan, as it features many of his most popular and memorable works (especially in terms of works that are not full novels) might even be the best place for a newcomer of Stephen King to start.

Got for my boyfriend for Christmas per his wish list. He said he likes that it is short stories.

Skeleton Crew is one of several books that collect Stephen King short stories. The first and longest is The Mist, a novella that starts with a sudden and dangerous storm and continues with a far more dangerous fog and what is hidden inside of it. I won't give away any more plot details but King did a masterful job of balancing the menace from outside forces with conflict among the human survivors. The Mist is the true standout in this collection and it's worth the price of the book just to get it.The second longest story is The Monkey, and it also happened to be my second favorite in the book. A man is terrorized by a cymbal-clapping windup monkey that he believes has been responsible for a number of deaths since he was a young boy. This is his struggle to be rid of the thing to save himself and his family. It's a simple story, but a creepy one and a good example of what a short story should be.Over 20 stories are presented here of varying quality. Most of them run between 20 to 30 pages so even if you don't fall in love with some of them, it's not like you've invested too much time. I found nearly all of them to be reasonably entertaining and several to be well above average. The book is well worth buying and I would recommend it to all Stephen King fans willing to read him in small doses.

As always stephen king delivers, and he keeps your greater interest of what next?

Look, Kings' early to mid work is amazing. Nobody, and I mean nobody, could convey horror and evil from the pages of a book directly into the souls of readers. This is exactly why I read his older works such as Skeleton Crew over and over again. The stories are original, often shocking and written with an expertise that makes them so damned entertaining. Somewhere along the way King lost it (or as some have suggested passed the torch to someone else) and became an example of why some artists should quit while they're still ahead. Does he have any idea how bad his more recent writing is? Do his younger new readers? I don't know. Still I am ever thankful to rediscover books like Skeleton Crew, Night Shift, Different Seasons and his other masterpieces like The Stand, etc. King has proven that his brilliance was not limited to the horror genre with Delores Claiborne and The Shawshank Redemption which I believe was published as a novella. What is most irking is that not only has he lost such an amazing talent but has lost it to such an extent that one has to question if this is even the same person who brought us all those fantastic stories from his earlier writing days. Some say it was his becoming sober and getting clean from drugs that caused such a plummet in his creativity. Who knows? Still for his own sake I wish King would just stop and maybe take up something else like calligraphy or coin collecting. Too harsh? I don't think so. His long time faithful readers deserve better.

Good book for daughter.

If you're looking for some short stories, something to dip your toes into I can recommend this.Stephen King's are pretty good writer, I wouldn't say he's the best and I wouldn't say he's the worst, a lot of his stories and my opinion are hit or miss. That's why the skeleton crew is a pretty good way to see if you like his style. I can definitely recommend reading the mist first.I recommend this novel to anyone who's getting into Stephen King and not sure what to expect. And even if you're not into Stephen King, they're great short stories that won't involve you investing too much of your time. Remember your time is important don't waste it :)

I read this collection a good few years ago now and was very impressed then. Reading them again hasn't diminished them. I'm about 75% through but needed to comment. Wonderful book. The Raft and Survivor Type are brilliant(ly) awful. They are superb. The quality of the other stories is so high. Stephen is truly a genius.

Some of my favorite SK’s short stories are in this collection. I love The Jaunt and Mrs Todd’s shortcut. I had read these stories many years ago but the book wasn’t mine and I wanted to read them again.

Je connais le plupart des histoires. Heureusement ma memoire n'est pas très étanche. Il y avait aussi les parties non connus. Fan de Stephen King, je lis QUE cet ecrivain, en anglais pour ne rien perdre lors de la traduction, je peux dire que, encore une fois, je me suis bien amusé avec ce livre.

Good