And after the storm,

I run and run and welcome to the Stephen King cast, one man's musings on the works of Stephen King.

Each week I'll review one entry in the bibliography of Stephen King

in the chronological order of publication. This week I will examine 1985's short story collection,

skeleton crew. With skeleton crew, King launches into a second collection of short stories, the first

having been Night Shift. Like Night Shift, skeleton crew begins with an introduction from King, but unlike Night Shift,

he isn't trying to adopt some EC-styled, EC-comic-styled persona describing the darkness

of the winter night or inviting you to come closer.

By this point, there's no need to try to impress the reader.

The days of early courtship are a distant memory.

The relationship between King as an author and his audience has developed into something

resembling a marriage.

He can speak honestly, opening up about how much money he's made from his short stories,

and adoringly refer to us as constant reader,

which I think is the first time he actually uses this term from himself to us. I think the first

time we actually see it in print in the Stephen King work is in the body, but that's within the

context of that particular narrative.

I think that this is the first time we see him actually use his term of affection to us.

Skelton Crew's introduction showcases the writing of a much more confident author,

one who is a bona fide literary superstar,

whose appeal has transcended the medium in which he has worked.

At this point, it's 1985.

...