Stephen King Fans discussion

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I think this is my favorite of his short story collections. My favorite among this favorite is definitely the raft. You know in the beginning that something is going to happen, and then everything goes wrong. My favorite scene is when the jockey gets pulled THROUGH the raft.

I really enjoyed this book also! One of my favs! There is a topic called Skeleton Crew where we discuss each short story in detail so you should check that out Jack! The Raft is CRAZY!

The Raft is nuts. I do think my favorite is still Night Shift though. Skeleton Crew may be right behind it.

love love love love loooooooove The Raft ... I wish I could think of something intellectual to say about it but I can't

Here here! Favorite collection, favorite story. Though, I also loved Night Shift and Nightmare & Dreamscapes. I love his short story collections. They're almost scarier than the full length novels. Almost.

Survivior Type! That story ws so freaky. I could be wrong but is Springheel Jack in Skeleton Crew or Night Shift?

awh crimsonflutterby - my Nanna used to scare my sister and I with stories about Springheel Jack ... which was very naughty because she had an outside toilet - and we both refused to use it after dark because Springheel Jack would get us ... i miss her

Read The Monkey the other day from the book Skeleton Crew... In the back of the book, S.K. talks about where the story ideas may have originated. Does anyone know who the lady with the shears is? Is that from a short story I haven't heard about? Here's that paragraph:

"The Monkey" -- I was in New York city on business about four years ago. I was walking back to my hotel after visiting my people at the New American Libary when I saw a guy selling wind-up monkeys on the street. There was a platoon of them standing on a gray blanket he'd spread on the sidewalk at the corner of Fifth and Forty-fourth, all bending and grinning and clapping their cymbals. They looked really scary to me, and I spent the rest of my walk back to the hotel wondering why. I decided it was because they reminded me of the lady with the shears... the one who cuts everyone's thread one day. So keeping that idea in mind, I wrote the story, mostly longhand, in a hotel room.

Isn't that Fate, Destinty and Random? One of them? Also referenced in Insomnia.

The thread being your "life thread". It's pre-determined butrandom can mess with it. Something like that.

I must confess, I have never finished Insomnia. (Plus I'm old and my memory is not what it used to be. haha) Maybe I'll start it up here in a sec.

Like the first book in the Dark tower series, Insomnia is given-up-on by a lot of SK fans. The first part of it is monotonous. But it's supposed to be. It really gets you into the old guys head as he looses his grip. No sleep, halucinations, disorientation, anger and dispair. Stick with it and you'll start making all the connections to the Tower. Watch out for the pharmacist. also the It characters. good stuff really.

Thanks Margaret! Insomnia it is. It's been waiting on my shelf for years, bout time I trek through it...

The lady with the shears is Atropos, the Fate in Greek Mythology responsible for cutting "the thread of life". King uses the Fates in Insomnia but makes them more evil and sinister.

yes that's it! So around 1980 or 81 he gets this idea and writes out a short story The Monkey pub. 1985. but then takes the sinister aspect to a full novel 9 or 10 years later with Insomnia. pub 1994. Interesting to be puzzling over a theme for so long.

Ohhh... okay. Wow, that's pretty neat :) Thanks Rachel. I guess the question of "Who determines our fate?" is one of those great themes like "Will good overcome evil?" or "Does the boy get the girl?" that will probably never go away.

Lachesis :) she was the one who decided how long the thread should be (woo-hoo! Useless trivia comes to the rescue, LOL)

Stacie wrote: "Lachesis :) she was the one who decided how long the thread should be (woo-hoo! Useless trivia comes to the rescue, LOL)"

Thank You!! -= Never underestimate the value of a classical education!! - (especially in crossword puzzles ;-)

ha! you got that right, Rob. I've learned more from the internet (and reading fiction) that I ever learned from college courses.

Rob wrote: "Ejucashun haz its yooses. "

Damn. I've been spelling edjamacation wrong all this time!

Margaret wrote: "Interesting to be puzzling over a theme for so long. "

Margaret, I think she's everywhere I look! My 19-year-old is reading Dolores Claiborne... The 'Lady with the Shears' theme is in there as well... He said that (It's so great to see my kid's face light up about a good story!) while Vera was rambling on, Delores was watching her crochet and thinking about the strands of woven string and the lady with the scissors.

Age old question: Are our lives guided by fate or chance... Some say a little of both.

Is there another thread for the Skeleton Crew book? If there is, I can't find it.

Here, Bonita. It has its own folder:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

Thank you, Chris! :)

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

we are currently reading this here ^ but most of us hasn't started yet. anyone can join us.

Matthewcross8877 wrote: "Id love to but at the moment im 32 % into reading IT and my skeleton crew novel is at my dads , il have to pop over one day in the week and pick it up :)"

I read some of it before when we, the group ^, read the mist but I stopped at the story about the family going to space. I won't be picking it up again until one day this coming week. Feel free to join us Matthew.

Your welcome Matthew

Latasha, do you mean The Jaunt? That's a weird one.

Kandice wrote: "Latasha, do you mean The Jaunt? That's a weird one."

I don't remember the name of it.

Go back to Tommy Knockers Matthew there are your aliens, come to think of it, Pennywise is an alien as well. You also have aliens in dreamcatcher.

I really excited to get to tommyknockers. I don't think I've ever finished the movie.

I hope I didn't ruin anything for you Latasha, if so I'm Sorry

Nope not as far as I know Matthew

No Mr. Brooks. I've seen some of the movie and I know is aliens or something to do with them but we all know how vastly different the books are vs. the movies.

I'm on to this novel now. I've pretty much been in a Stephen King marathon for a few months. I like this collection so far, but I have to confess I usually dig the novels more. Skeleton Crew is shaping up to be a fun one though.

King seems to really like the idea of aliens (the others mrbooks mentioned and also Under the Dome and other shorts) but doesn't seem at all interested in space. I think that's a little odd, but part of King's genius is in getting a setting perfectly down, so maybe that's his hesitation. We can assume he hasn't actually been in space!

Kandice, I think his hesitation about space is that we have not concurred more then what would be considered the end of our driveway. Why discuss the horrors of space when there are still plenty of horrors here on earth, yes we do get visits and they are all disastrous. King shows we aren't capable of protecting ourselves here on our home planet so how could we protect our self out in space.

mrbooks wrote: "Kandice, I think his hesitation about space is that we have not concurred more then what would be considered the end of our driveway. Why discuss the horrors of space when there are still plenty of..."

What I like about King's aliens is that they are often bungling and incompetent.

Yes funny that they are no different then man really, except Pennywise that is.

I'm halfway through and I'm a little disappointed with this collection. It not bad its just not Wowing me. So far The Raft is the only story I'd give 5 stars.

The raft was fun!

I'm 60% through and so my favorite stories are(in order)
1)The Reapers Image
2) The Raft
3)Word Processor of the Gods

Your 2nd one cut off. My favorite was Gramma! That was great.

I have always felt it was a tad too much that King pulled Rage from all shelves and printings, and feel that even more since I just reread Cain Rose Up last night. I know there were very specific instances where Rage was cited in shootings, but Cain is just shooting for shooting sake and there is no background given so it feels like just pages of violence for no reason.

I'm positive I've read Skeleton Crew. I don't however, seem to remember any of the stories. I used to own it but I lost probably about 75% of "our" Stephen King books in my divorce. If a reread is in order, the library will do just fine.