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dullshimmer's review against another edition
4.0
I have always enjoyed Stephen King's short story collections. Whether they were filled with a number of stories like Night Shift or with a few larger stories like Different Seasons. Skeleton Crew is more like Night Shift, and while I still enjoyed it, I didn't feel like it had quite the solid line up of stories as either of these two entries. There are some good ones here, but I also thought there were a number that were just okay and some that I just didn't really like very much.
Head and shoulders above the rest is the Mist in my opinion. It was really the only one I was familiar with before reading this one. This is probably due to the movie that was based on the story. It's by far the longest story of the collection, but was an enjoyable read. It was definitely the one I liked the most, and honestly might have even liked to see it made as a full novel, but oh well.
Here are some others that I would consider good.
The Monkey: This was a creepy little tale of a cursed/possessed? toy monkey that can cause death when his cymbals hit together.
Mrs. Todd's Shortcut: This was a strange one about a woman who was obsessed with finding shortcuts. It's an interesting story that takes something so mundane and puts a supernatural twist to it that makes for an intriguing read.
The Jaunt: This is an interesting sci-fi tale. It does have a bit of a problem making the science too believable, but the result that's produced is intriguing and also a bit terrifying in a strange way.
Word Processor of the Gods: This was also a strange one, but one I found quite interesting and enjoyable. It's about a man who is gifted a word processor that his nephew, who recently died, made for him. This word processor has the ability to alter reality, but is very unstable and has limited use. I thought it was an interesting story and I wonder how often authors wish they could do that to their own lives.
Beachworld: Another sci-fi tale about two space travelers who crash landed on a planet of sand. There is something a bit strange about the planet though and the question of survival and rescue is up in the air.
Gramma: Probably the creepiest of the bunch, but also made me wonder why the main character was put in the situation he was in, in the first place. Granted some part of me wanted to know how the story continued.
Next are the middle of the pack entries. Ones I liked parts of, but just wasn't my top favorites.
The Raft: While I thought the "monster" or whatever it was, was interesting, I didn't really love the characters for the most part. The main character was okay, but two of the four characters were really unlikable to me and kind of deserved what they got. It was a pretty creepy and gruesome story though, but I just thought it was okay.
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hand: It was odd and interesting, but I felt like the framing while interesting and one King has used in other short stories, just didn't really help the story. You felt too removed from the action. Ending was also a bit predictable here as well.
The Reaper's Image: This one I liked and found interesting, but also found it a bit short and just didn't feel completely satisfied by the story. The idea of some kind of cursed mirror is interesting, but wasn't really developed all that well.
Nona: This one was interesting, but the ambiguity of the story brought it down for me a bit. Was Nona real or not? Was it all a figment of the main characters insanity? It's not really known. Personally, I think the story is better if Nona is real, but King seems to like his insanity in the short stories of this collection.
Uncle Otto's Truck: This one about a haunted truck is maybe a bit longer than needed, but was an interesting story even so. It's weird and how the truck moves isn't really super clear. Is it really moving, is it some kind of ghostly form of the truck, why does it move so slowly? It's all a bit murky and brings the story down, but it does create a sense of dread and mystery at the same time.
The Reach: A bit of a different tale about an island community and an old woman who has never left her island or crossed the reach to the mainland. It's a sad and haunting story about death and what comes after. I liked it well enough, but also wasn't my favorite either.
Then we have the ones I just wasn't a huge fan of.
Here There Be Tygers: This was a super short story that was weird and just too short to really have me care about it too much.
Cain Rose Up: As I said insanity seemed to be a thing for King here, he also has a tendency to write murderous teens/college kids too. This is pretty much what's going on here, and I'm not really a big fan of the story.
The Wedding Gig: This just didn't feel much like a Stephen King story. It was more of a crime/gang story told form the perspective of a band leader hired to do the wedding for the sister of a wanna be crime boss. I didn't enjoy it very much, it wasn't an enjoyable story and the tone of the story is rather grating when it comes to views on women and race.
Paranoid: A Chant: I didn't love this chant/poem it's again another look at insanity, but I didn't really find it all that enjoyable.
For Owen: This poem was a bit more enjoyable, but also just seemed really out of place here. The idea of anthropomorphized fruit is a very childlike idea, but is surrounded by less childlike stories.
Survivor Type: Interesting premise, but let's just say I'm not a huge fan of the character or self-cannibalism.
Milkman #1 and #2: There are two stories involving a murderous Milkman, but neither really did it for me. The first is actually the one I enjoyed more, but even then there were aspects that just didn't really make sense to me, especially the one house he entered. The second story was even worse as the characters you're following for the majority of it are just annoying.
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet: This was the pinnacle of King's fixation with insanity and was somewhat interesting, but also probably quite a bit longer than it needed to be. The best was probably near the ending where you're given enough to make you really wonder if it was just insanity or if there really was more going on that what seemed possible.
That about sums up Skeleton Crew. It was overall an enjoyable read, but some stories were just more enjoyable than others. I really enjoy collections like this as it gives you a taste of King trying out different genres and types of stories as well as ones that are much more common for him. Also fascinating is the range of years that the material comes from. The oldest story being "The Reaper's Image" and the newest being "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet". If you're a fan of King you'll probably enjoy it.
Head and shoulders above the rest is the Mist in my opinion. It was really the only one I was familiar with before reading this one. This is probably due to the movie that was based on the story. It's by far the longest story of the collection, but was an enjoyable read. It was definitely the one I liked the most, and honestly might have even liked to see it made as a full novel, but oh well.
Here are some others that I would consider good.
The Monkey: This was a creepy little tale of a cursed/possessed? toy monkey that can cause death when his cymbals hit together.
Mrs. Todd's Shortcut: This was a strange one about a woman who was obsessed with finding shortcuts. It's an interesting story that takes something so mundane and puts a supernatural twist to it that makes for an intriguing read.
The Jaunt: This is an interesting sci-fi tale. It does have a bit of a problem making the science too believable, but the result that's produced is intriguing and also a bit terrifying in a strange way.
Word Processor of the Gods: This was also a strange one, but one I found quite interesting and enjoyable. It's about a man who is gifted a word processor that his nephew, who recently died, made for him. This word processor has the ability to alter reality, but is very unstable and has limited use. I thought it was an interesting story and I wonder how often authors wish they could do that to their own lives.
Beachworld: Another sci-fi tale about two space travelers who crash landed on a planet of sand. There is something a bit strange about the planet though and the question of survival and rescue is up in the air.
Gramma: Probably the creepiest of the bunch, but also made me wonder why the main character was put in the situation he was in, in the first place. Granted some part of me wanted to know how the story continued.
Next are the middle of the pack entries. Ones I liked parts of, but just wasn't my top favorites.
The Raft: While I thought the "monster" or whatever it was, was interesting, I didn't really love the characters for the most part. The main character was okay, but two of the four characters were really unlikable to me and kind of deserved what they got. It was a pretty creepy and gruesome story though, but I just thought it was okay.
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hand: It was odd and interesting, but I felt like the framing while interesting and one King has used in other short stories, just didn't really help the story. You felt too removed from the action. Ending was also a bit predictable here as well.
The Reaper's Image: This one I liked and found interesting, but also found it a bit short and just didn't feel completely satisfied by the story. The idea of some kind of cursed mirror is interesting, but wasn't really developed all that well.
Nona: This one was interesting, but the ambiguity of the story brought it down for me a bit. Was Nona real or not? Was it all a figment of the main characters insanity? It's not really known. Personally, I think the story is better if Nona is real, but King seems to like his insanity in the short stories of this collection.
Uncle Otto's Truck: This one about a haunted truck is maybe a bit longer than needed, but was an interesting story even so. It's weird and how the truck moves isn't really super clear. Is it really moving, is it some kind of ghostly form of the truck, why does it move so slowly? It's all a bit murky and brings the story down, but it does create a sense of dread and mystery at the same time.
The Reach: A bit of a different tale about an island community and an old woman who has never left her island or crossed the reach to the mainland. It's a sad and haunting story about death and what comes after. I liked it well enough, but also wasn't my favorite either.
Then we have the ones I just wasn't a huge fan of.
Here There Be Tygers: This was a super short story that was weird and just too short to really have me care about it too much.
Cain Rose Up: As I said insanity seemed to be a thing for King here, he also has a tendency to write murderous teens/college kids too. This is pretty much what's going on here, and I'm not really a big fan of the story.
The Wedding Gig: This just didn't feel much like a Stephen King story. It was more of a crime/gang story told form the perspective of a band leader hired to do the wedding for the sister of a wanna be crime boss. I didn't enjoy it very much, it wasn't an enjoyable story and the tone of the story is rather grating when it comes to views on women and race.
Paranoid: A Chant: I didn't love this chant/poem it's again another look at insanity, but I didn't really find it all that enjoyable.
For Owen: This poem was a bit more enjoyable, but also just seemed really out of place here. The idea of anthropomorphized fruit is a very childlike idea, but is surrounded by less childlike stories.
Survivor Type: Interesting premise, but let's just say I'm not a huge fan of the character or self-cannibalism.
Milkman #1 and #2: There are two stories involving a murderous Milkman, but neither really did it for me. The first is actually the one I enjoyed more, but even then there were aspects that just didn't really make sense to me, especially the one house he entered. The second story was even worse as the characters you're following for the majority of it are just annoying.
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet: This was the pinnacle of King's fixation with insanity and was somewhat interesting, but also probably quite a bit longer than it needed to be. The best was probably near the ending where you're given enough to make you really wonder if it was just insanity or if there really was more going on that what seemed possible.
That about sums up Skeleton Crew. It was overall an enjoyable read, but some stories were just more enjoyable than others. I really enjoy collections like this as it gives you a taste of King trying out different genres and types of stories as well as ones that are much more common for him. Also fascinating is the range of years that the material comes from. The oldest story being "The Reaper's Image" and the newest being "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet". If you're a fan of King you'll probably enjoy it.
rociovoncina's review
3.0
Titulo: Skeleton Crew
Autor: Stephen King
Motivo de lectura: #StephenKingChallenge
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Mi edicion: Tapa dura, 512 paginas, Putnam
Puntuacion: 3.5/5
Una antologia con 20 relatos y 2 poemas.
Lei esta antologia en ingles junto a la traduccion en español que fue editada en 4 libros (siempre pense que editar esta antologia en 4 libros es ridiculo, claramente lo hicieron asi para recaudar mas dinero).
En este caso comparando la version original con su traduccion no encontre grandes errores, los que tenemos experiencia leyendo a King tanto en ingles como en español sabemos que un ejemplo emblematico de mala traduccion fue el septimo volumen de la torre oscura (editado por Plaza & Janes), la primera edicion en español de ese volumen de la torre oscura realmente contiene errores demasiado notorios.
Volviendo a esta antologia, es bastante variada, igualmente no es una antologia que destaque por tener historias extraordinarias, si hay tramas que destacan, pero al analizar en su totalidad todos los cuentos, es un nivel medio, que por momentos tiene sabor a poco.
Aca dejo en detalle pequeñas reseñas de cada cuento, divida por tomos:
La niebla
Historias fantasticas
Dos historias para no dormir
La expedicion
Autor: Stephen King
Motivo de lectura: #StephenKingChallenge
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Mi edicion: Tapa dura, 512 paginas, Putnam
Puntuacion: 3.5/5
Una antologia con 20 relatos y 2 poemas.
Lei esta antologia en ingles junto a la traduccion en español que fue editada en 4 libros (siempre pense que editar esta antologia en 4 libros es ridiculo, claramente lo hicieron asi para recaudar mas dinero).
En este caso comparando la version original con su traduccion no encontre grandes errores, los que tenemos experiencia leyendo a King tanto en ingles como en español sabemos que un ejemplo emblematico de mala traduccion fue el septimo volumen de la torre oscura (editado por Plaza & Janes), la primera edicion en español de ese volumen de la torre oscura realmente contiene errores demasiado notorios.
Volviendo a esta antologia, es bastante variada, igualmente no es una antologia que destaque por tener historias extraordinarias, si hay tramas que destacan, pero al analizar en su totalidad todos los cuentos, es un nivel medio, que por momentos tiene sabor a poco.
Aca dejo en detalle pequeñas reseñas de cada cuento, divida por tomos:
La niebla
Historias fantasticas
Dos historias para no dormir
La expedicion
mattrose's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Wide story variety. Some are very good, others seem to drag.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Terminal illness
aliyahovert's review against another edition
4.0
was a slay but some of the stories were better than others
liseyp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
libri_e_cappuccini's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Scheletri è una raccolta di short stories che spaziano dal macabro, al soprannaturale all'horror psicologico, confermando la capacità dell'autore di esplorare e manipolare le paure più recondite dell'animo umano. Le tematiche principali sono, come spesso accade nelle opere di King,: la paura dell’ignoto, il potere devastante della mente umana, l’isolamento e la solitudine, traumi d’infanzia e oggetti maledetti. Il suo stile è diretto e colloquiale, senza inutili fronzoli e capace di catturare l’attenzione del lettore fin dalle prime righe.
I racconti che mi sono rimasti più impressi sono:
•La nebbia: in cui si fonde la paura dei mostri all'esterno col senso di claustrofobia delle persone chiuse nel supermercato. Da questa storia è stato tratto anche il film "the Mist".
•Il word processor degli dei: una riflessione su come riscrivere la propria vita, esplorando il tema del desiderio di avere una seconda possibilità e le conseguenze di manipolare il proprio destino.
•La zattera: Un racconto di orrore puro, dove un gruppo di ragazzi è minacciato da una creatura misteriosa che infesta un lago.
I racconti che mi sono rimasti più impressi sono:
•La nebbia: in cui si fonde la paura dei mostri all'esterno col senso di claustrofobia delle persone chiuse nel supermercato. Da questa storia è stato tratto anche il film "the Mist".
•Il word processor degli dei: una riflessione su come riscrivere la propria vita, esplorando il tema del desiderio di avere una seconda possibilità e le conseguenze di manipolare il proprio destino.
•La zattera: Un racconto di orrore puro, dove un gruppo di ragazzi è minacciato da una creatura misteriosa che infesta un lago.
theatretenor's review against another edition
4.0
I’d probably go 3.5 stars on this if I had to. It was good in some parts, average in some parts, and shitty in some parts 🤷🏻♂️ it’s a long ass collection tho, I can tell you that much!
lwalker77's review against another edition
4.0
7.8/10 I’m glad to have finally read Skeleton Crew. I can’t say that all of the short stories were great, but I really enjoyed several of them. The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands, Gramma, The Mist, The Raft and The Monkey were my favorites. I enjoyed The Monkey most of all. I highly recommend.