I first heard about this book from a friend of mine when he was telling us one of the stories from it. The story he had read was so good that I decided that I wanted this book as well. So, when the opportunity arose in a visit to a nearby town, I jumped at the chance. I have not been sorry.
The book comprises of a collection of short stories by the master of horror himself all but one of which you will not be able to put down until you get to the very end. The book opens with a rather long short story entitled ’The Mist’, which takes place in a small lakeside community. A strange mist appears over the lake one day after a storm and has strange powers....
The short stories in this book deal with a range of situations, such as a man who is trapped alone on an island, and all that he has is a great quantity of heroin. What is so unnerving about this particular story is that the results COULD actually happen to another normal person.
Another classic in the book is set in the future, where a method of travelling millions of miles in one second has been invented. It tells the tale of a family getting ready for their first ’jaunt’ and the father telling the story of how it was first invented. Yet, there is something slighlty odd about the story, and it appears that something could go wrong.....
Easily the best story in this book is The Monkey. This is about a young boy who, up in his attic one day, finds a toy monkey with little cymbals attached to his hands. He takes it down to play with it. But this toy is no ordinary toy and it holds mysterious powers, that no-one could understand.
The short stories in this book are very well-written, and so much so that when you start to read one you can’t stop until you reach the final twist or the final act of devastation in each one. This really is top-notch, and has got to be one of King’s best works. So read it, but not before you go to bed!