Skeleton Crew
Stephen King

Evil that breathes and walks and shrieks, brave new worlds and horror shows, human desperation bursting into deadly menace - such are the themes of these astounding works of fiction. In the tradition of Poe and Stevenson, of Lovecraft and The Twilight Zone, Stephen King has fused images of fear as old as time with the iconography of contemporary American life to create his own special brand of horror - one that has kept millions of readers turning the pages even as they gasp.
In the book-length story "The Mist", a supermarket becomes the last bastion of humanity as a peril beyond dimension invades the earth...
With "Word Processor of the Gods", you can make your dreams come true - along with your nightmares...
Touch "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands" and say your prayers...
There are some things in attics which are better left alone, things like "The Monkey"...
The most sublime woman driver on earth offers a man "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" to paradise...
A boy's sanity is pushed to the edge when he's left alone with the odious corpse of "Gramma"...
If you were stunned by Gremlins, the Fornits of "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet" will knock your socks off...
Trucks that punish and beautiful teen demons who seduce a young man to massacre; curses whose malevolence grows through the years; obscene presences and angels of grace - here, indeed, is a night-blooming bouquet of chills and thrills.

One of King's older, but definitely still fantastic and relevant to the modern world, short story collections, Skeleton King does not disappoint. Some of these stories you might already know, some you probably have never seen anywhere else. All are impressive.

The Mist has been made into a movie, but things (especially the ending) were changed so dramatically that this version is worth reading. The ending is much better than the movie's and while reading this, your imagination brings more horror than even the best special effects artist could show you.

Here There Br Tygers has something for everyone who has ever disliked any of their teachers or has felt humiliated in a class room.

The Monkey just proves my theory that those cymbal clapping monkeys are nothing but trouble and evil. They look it, don't they?

Mrs. Todd's Shortcut is my favorite out of all of these stories. The wonder in it and the ending will make you smile.

The ending of the Jaunt is one you'll never forget. It is absolutely terrifying.

Chances are you've seen The Raft in Creepshow 2, but once again, reading it brings so much more horror to the story.

Nona is another one with a chilling ending. Read the story carefully and decide for yourself what and who are real and what is not.

Survivor Type asks the question, what would one do to stay alive? What if you were starving? Would you eat yourself?

Gramma is reminiscent of Lovecraft's horrors and deals with a creepy grandmother that might be dead, but wants to come back to her life through her ties to the Old Ones.

The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet will have writers everywhere understanding the phrase "Fornit Some Fornus".

These, and many other short stories, are all absolutely brilliant. I highly recommend this compilation.

My rating: Five out of five snails.