Title - The Skeleton Crew
Author - Stephen King
Year - 1985
Stand Alone or Series - Anthology (22 Stories)
Pages - 573 (Masspaperback)
Reading Time - Oct 2010 through Jan 2011
Review and General Opinion
The Mist - The main piece on the book and probably one of the best stories on this tale. I had seen the movie and I expect the same feelings and I got them. Even if the ending was a little different. I must say that this was one of the few times I prefered the movie. The ending in the movie (there are two endings, and I mean the ending where David killed everyone in the car to spare them from confronting the large beast.. and I mean large. Hundreads of meters high). Even so and with these more optimistic ending I give 8.5/10
Mrs. Todd's Shortcut was an interesting piece as well. It has some reminscence with science fiction and wormholes. It remind me of the series "Sliders". 8/10
The Jaunt was the masterpiece of them all. Undoubtly the best story that King has written in my opinion (for what is worth). A Father tell his family about what they are doing called The Jaunt (a kind of tele-transportation). The only difference is that you must be assleep. As the father tells his tale he ommits some parts like anyone who done it alive becomes insane or death by old age. As he tells us the several attemps by the creator the son becomes more interested on the tale. As they are waiting for the nurses to give them some drugs to sleep (there can be no risk of waking in the precise moment of the jaunt) he tells more about the ramifications and why it's so immportant. As the nurses pass the family they make the Jaunt but the son has not be asleep and as he emmerges on Mars (coming from earth after only seconds, that's the time that takes to me jaunt) his hair is completly white with shock, corneas yellowed with age, clawing his own eyes as the boy reveals the terrible truth behind the jaunt "Longer than you think dad. Longer than you think!" While physically the process occurs nearly instantaneously (two miles between two portals in 67×10−12 seconds), to the conscious mind it lasts an eternity and beyond. 10/10 highly advice.
The Raft is another strong tale. It begins with two boys and two girls on a raft in a lake. A mysterious oil creature engulfs one girl. One of the boys tries to flee swimiing fast as he cans but to no avail and his consumed by it. The surviving couple try to make turns and rest without the risk of falling. After some intimid contact they make love and as they make love the girl hair touches the oil thing and it's consumed. The tale ends with the remaining boy pondering on commiting suicide. 8.5/10
Word Processor of the Gods is another masterpiece by Stephen King. With the word processor the writer can write things into existence and also delete things. The work was excelent with the writer even exchanging his wife and son by nephew and his mother which he thought they were nice than their own family. The story is excelent. 8.5/10
Surviving type - This story is gory. That's what I can say. A surgeon is smugling heroin and after an incident he is left marooned on a island. AS the story progress the writing change from a normal writing to an insane figurine. To survive he cuts and eats his own members. 6.5/10
Gramma - As I read this tale I thought it was familiar. Only after reading in wikipedia I remember where I had seen it... Twilight Zone. Very good tale. A Lovecraftian tale 7/10
Conclusion
These were the best tales on these anthology. With 22 stories I felt these tales compensate for the poorer ones. I must say that some of them I skipped because they were unappealing and uninteresting. Stephen King is like that. Either I love the tale or book or no. Even so he is a writer to check everything he writes because there are gems in them. 7/10
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