The #1 New York Times bestseller—a mesmerizing treasury of short stories by Stephen King, including “The Monkey” and “The Mist”!

From one of the greatest storytellers in modern times comes this classic collection of twenty-two works of fright and wonder…unforgettable tales that will take you to the edge of imagination, where your darkest fears await. Whether it’s a mysterious, impenetrable mist camouflaging bizarre, otherworldly terrors that could herald the destruction of humanity…or an eerie-looking child’s toy that harbors an unimaginable evil…or four college students on a deserted lake encountering something that crosses the boundary of sanity…or a man suddenly given the omnipotent ability to quite literally edit his own reality…the extraordinary narratives found in Skeleton Crew are the enduring and irresistible proof that Stephen King is a true master of the short fiction form.

Skeleton Crew includes:
“The Mist”
“Here There Be Tygers”
“The Monkey”
“Cain Rose Up”
“Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut”
“The Jaunt”
“The Wedding Gig”
“Paranoid: A Chant”
“The Raft”
“Word Processor of the Gods”
“The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands”
“Beachworld”
“The Reaper’s Image”
“Nona”
“For Owen”
“Survivor Type”
“Uncle Otto’s Truck”
“Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1)”
“Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2)”
“Gramma”
“The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet”
“The Reach”

Excerpt

About The Author

Stephen King

Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Never Flinch (May 2025), the short story collection You Like It Darker (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), Holly (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.