In the introduction to Skeleton Crew, his second collection of stories, King pokes fun at his penchant for "literary elephantiasis," makes scatological jokes about his muse, confesses how much money he makes (gross and net), and tells a story about getting arrested once when he was "suffused with the sort of towering, righteous rage that only drunk undergraduates can feel." He winds up with an invitation to a scary voyage: "Grab onto my arm now. Hold tight. We are going into a number of dark places, but I think I know the way."

And he certainly does. Skeleton Crew contains a superb novella ("The Mist") that alone is worth the price of admission, plus two forgettable poems and 20 short stories on such themes as an evil toy monkey, a human-eating water slick, a machine that avenges murder, and unnatural creatures that inhabit the thick woods near Castle Rock, Maine. The short tales range from simply enjoyable to surprisingly good.

In addition to "The Mist," the real standout is "The Reach," a beautifully subtle story about a great-grandmother who was born on a small island off the coast of Maine and has lived there her whole life. She has never been across "the Reach," the body of water between island and mainland. This is the story that King fans give to their friends who don't read horror in order to show them how literate, how charming a storyteller he can be. Don't miss it.

RELEASE NOTES:

This book is going to the Northampton Green Fest www.greenfestival.org.uk and will be available there on the Freecycle/Book Crossing stall.

As a member of staff working for Midland Mainline, I found the book when i joined the train at Wellingborough. It had been found by the crew who were already on board, so I can't say exactly when it was 'caught' The train in question was the 22:00 HST service from London - Nottingham on the 26.09.05, and as the going was slow and all work was done I started to read my favourite story in skeleton crew: "The Jaunt" after a very enjoyable 15 mins or so, still nothing to be done, so I started "Word Processor Of The Gods" with just enough time to finish before I had to leave at Nottingham. As I already own this book, I released it 'back into the wild' heading to Derby Etches Park - Train maintenence depot. I await with interest to see where it shows up again...