Inspiration From The Distant Past

Inspiration From The Distant Past
Found note in an old book... warms the cockles of my bookish heart...

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Short Stories on Wednesday: King of Creepy Edition


Short Stories on Wednesday is hosted by the lovely Risa of Bread Crumb Reads.  Click the text link to visit the brand new Bread Crumb Reads on Wordpress. Click the button to visit the old Bread Crumb Reads on Blogger. (but it really isn't old)


I'm so excited to finally be joining in Risa's celebration of short stories. I love love love short stories. As a child, I read them frequently. As an adult, not so much but I do miss reading them. 

During this year of bargain book buying like a wild woman,  I've acquired several interesting and eclectic (genre to literary) anthologies that I've been longing to read.  Since it is October, I decided to start with the King of Creepy.


Skeleton Crew, first published in 1985, is King's second anthology. It contains one novella and twenty-one short stories.

Sunday, I read three selections in the car coming home from a long weekend getaway. It was a five hour roadtrip so I could have read many more stories but three was plenty of creep for one sitting. 

By the way, I'm not a wimp. I am actually a backsliding Horror addict. And I blame my return to the genre on reading the always terrific and sometimes horroric blogs Shredded Cheddar and Serendipity's Library. 

So which short stories did I read? 

 Cain Rose Up 

This six page shorty, written in 1968, is about a nutter sniping people from his college dorm window.

Sounds like something off the current nightly news, doesn't it.  Scary!

 The sniper's attitude and negative way of describing other people is very reminiscent of Holden Caulfield but there aren't enough pages for him to get too annoying.  I really thought the story might be a little tip of the hat to Salinger but there is no information from the author about this story in the book's Notes.  Wikipedia states that the story might have been inspired by the 1966 sniper shootings at the University of Texas.  

(I'm from Texas but don't recall knowing about that mass murder. If you are into true crime, the article at Wiki is interesting. The guy left sane sounding notes, seemingly bewildered by his own behavior and requesting his own autopsy. He had a brain tumor.) 

 Anyway, back to this story.  The sniper justifies his rampage to a poster of Humphrey Bogart (yeah, he's nuts) with an interpretation of the Cain and Abel story.  After all, God isn't a vegetarian. God wants meat.

Here There Be Tygers

This five pager was also written in 1968. It is about a hungry tiger in a school basement bathroom. Is there really a tiger in the bathroom? Is it just the fantasy of a third grade boy who is constantly targeted and embarrassed by a mean teacher?  

I don't know but in the Notes, King says his first grade teacher was pretty scary. 

So fellow teachers: Stay out of basement bathrooms and whatever you do... do not use the word urinate in reference to a student!

The Monkey

This short story from 1980 is more of a longy at thirty eight pages and OooOOooOOooo... Can you guess which creepy monkey this is about? 
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This broken monkey toy refuses to be thrown away and when it claps it's cymbals... yes, the cymbals clap even though it is broken... so when the cymbals clap... are you on the edge of your seat? 

Okay, when the cymbals clap... terrible things happen. Mwahahaha... You didn't really think I would reveal evil monkey deeds, did you?

I don't want no monkeys after me!

 In the Notes, King says this story was inspired in New York City by a platoon of wind-up monkeys for sale on the street, all bending, grinning and clapping... and looking very scary.

All three of these stories are good creepy little tales. Which is my favorite? Hmm.. Cain Rose Up is scary because random shootings by crazy people are real.  Here There Be Tygers is creepy in a folktale urban legend sort of way. The Monkey is traditional horror with supernatural evil.

I enjoyed them all but The Monkey is my favorite.

Do you have a thing for short stories? Any particular author or genre? Please share. And do head over to Bread Crumb Reads to check out all the other short story devotees' weekly selections.

12 comments:

  1. I've been meaning to read more of King ever since I read his On Writing. I'm thinking, his short stories are probably the best place to start. Thanks for the great review.

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  2. Thanks for sharing. I love a good scary story.

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  3. oooooo, scary is not for me, but I am happy you enjoy them! LOL! Hugs, GraceinAZ

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  4. I like Kings books and his movies even better. Doylene

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  5. Che: what King said in the intro about writing was interesting so I bet his On Writing is very informative and thought provoking for writers. Well, the shortstories would be a quick place to start but for novels, I'd suggest Cujo, Carrie or Salem's Lot-- those are some of my fave oldies. I stopped reading him in the mid 90s so don't know anything about his newer books-- he is so prolific that I may never catch up if I start reading his books again.

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  6. Wendy, Grace and Doylene: Thanks so much for stopping. I love your lovely comments no matter which side of the scary fence you are on! haha

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  7. Well, I do like short stories, but NOT scary ones...if I want that, I'll just turn on the news.

    My dad was actually at the UT campus during the time that happened, if I remember his story right. He had crossed that courtyard many times and maybe a little before it happened or something like that. Creepy!

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  8. Wow, what stories! I am a huge wimp, and in fact just used the word in a recent book report I wrote. :<) I've not read any SK, but I do admire the man. Isn't it interesting how children's toys and dolls often are creepy in the hands of some writers for books or tv or movies? Also, that sing-song child's voice that often accompanies a scary film. So much for innocent, joyful childhood! :<)

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  9. Ooh, I LOVE Stephen King (in fact, according to Goodreads, he is my most-read author). I haven't read Skeleton Crew for years, but I do remember the monkey story. I may have to look out my old copy now you've reminded me!

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  10. Oh I don't like scary, and Stephen King is one scary writer, giggle Hugs and sending wishes for a weekend filled with laughter xo

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  11. I'm a whimp...I wouldn't read any of them!... I could feel my hair on the back of neck stand on end just by your two-line descriptions...:-/....and it's night here!

    Can't wait to see what else you've read!...and if they're horror I'll read them during the day.:D

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  12. Leslie, Nan, Risa, and Katie: Chickens!!!
    hahahah

    L: Oh my, he was lucky! Real life random violence is way scarier than any story.

    Nan: Kids in those creepy orphan type movies are very scary. And remember the 'bad seed' girl, yikes!

    Sophie: Might be good Halloween reading!

    Risa: I can't wait to join in again. SSoW is fun and I enjoyed meeting the other linkers. I do have a creepy one to tell about but not so intense-- it is a Poe. did'n't you get a book of Poe? Or am I thinking of someone else?

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