People, Places and Things
Encyclopedia
People, Places and Things is a self-published magazine sized collection of short stories by US author Stephen King
, written in 1960 together with his friend Chris Chesley and published using their own press. It comprises a mere 18 stapeled together pages, yet can offer a glimpse into King's very early imagination (he wrote the oldest story at the age of 12). Copies were sold to school friends for about $0.10 to $0.25 each
The original collection consists of 8 short stories by Stephen King, nine by Chris Chesley, and one co-production; according to King only one copy of about ten is left – he owns it himself.
Two gangsters, Tommy Riviera and Kelso Black, find rescue in an old hotel whose ominous proprietor doesn't want money. He wants the men themselves – as part of his private museum of the dead.
It's like waking up, but the dreamer remembers nothing, not even his name. Shocked, he realizes that he's working at a conveyor belt and knows only one thing: He's got to get away. But he is immediately arrested by guards who reprogram him – for the dreamer is nothing but a faulty robot who seems to lapse into humanhood from time to time.
A small boy enjoys torturing animals: He tears out the wings of flies, kills worms or maltreats a dog with needles. One day, he is lured to a well by a strange voice and climbs down mesmerized. When his body is found, his arms are severed from the body and there are needles in his eyes.
A thief and murderer is waylaid by the Reaper himself.
Two astronauts land on Venus, finding an Earth-like atmosphere and believing to have found Eden. There is delicious fruit, the temperature is perfect. But when one of the crew is found dead, the survivor is too late in realizing that the planet itself – or at least its surface – is alive, finally swallowing him and his rocket.
A mysterious fog serves as a door between dimensions. Pete Jacobs involuntarily travels into the future (the year 2007) and eventually to a world inhabited by dinosaurs. Helpless, he wanders from one dimension to the next, searching for his own.
The short story written together with his friend tells about a mysterious woman killing in a most peculiar way.
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, written in 1960 together with his friend Chris Chesley and published using their own press. It comprises a mere 18 stapeled together pages, yet can offer a glimpse into King's very early imagination (he wrote the oldest story at the age of 12). Copies were sold to school friends for about $0.10 to $0.25 each
The original collection consists of 8 short stories by Stephen King, nine by Chris Chesley, and one co-production; according to King only one copy of about ten is left – he owns it himself.
The stories
Only the titles, but not the contents, of the stories I'm falling and The Dimension Warp are known.- The Hotel at the End of the Road
Two gangsters, Tommy Riviera and Kelso Black, find rescue in an old hotel whose ominous proprietor doesn't want money. He wants the men themselves – as part of his private museum of the dead.
- I've got to get away
It's like waking up, but the dreamer remembers nothing, not even his name. Shocked, he realizes that he's working at a conveyor belt and knows only one thing: He's got to get away. But he is immediately arrested by guards who reprogram him – for the dreamer is nothing but a faulty robot who seems to lapse into humanhood from time to time.
- The Thing at the Bottom of the Well
A small boy enjoys torturing animals: He tears out the wings of flies, kills worms or maltreats a dog with needles. One day, he is lured to a well by a strange voice and climbs down mesmerized. When his body is found, his arms are severed from the body and there are needles in his eyes.
- The Stranger
A thief and murderer is waylaid by the Reaper himself.
- The Cursed Expedition
Two astronauts land on Venus, finding an Earth-like atmosphere and believing to have found Eden. There is delicious fruit, the temperature is perfect. But when one of the crew is found dead, the survivor is too late in realizing that the planet itself – or at least its surface – is alive, finally swallowing him and his rocket.
- The Other Side of the Fog
A mysterious fog serves as a door between dimensions. Pete Jacobs involuntarily travels into the future (the year 2007) and eventually to a world inhabited by dinosaurs. Helpless, he wanders from one dimension to the next, searching for his own.
- Never Look Behind You
The short story written together with his friend tells about a mysterious woman killing in a most peculiar way.
Annotations
- Three of the stories are like sketches for later works by Stephen King:
- 1) Animal torturing Patrick Hockstetter in ItIt (novel)It is a 1986 horror novel by American author Stephen King. The story follows the exploits of seven children as they are terrorized by the eponymous inter-dimensional predatory life-form that exploits the fears and phobias of its victims in order to disguise itself while hunting its prey. "It"...
is very similar to the boy in the story of the well; moreover, George Denbrough is also lured by a friendly voice, to be killed by losing an arm. - 2) In BeachworldBeachworld"Beachworld" is a short science fiction story by Stephen King, first published in Weird Tales in 1984, and collected in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew.-Plot summary:"Beachworld" is set at an unspecified time in the distant future...
(Skeleton CrewSkeleton CrewSkeleton Crew is the second collection of short fiction by Stephen King. The first collection, Night Shift, was published seven years prior in 1978. Different Seasons, a collection of four novellas, was published between the two in 1982. Skeleton Crew was originally published in hardcover form by...
), astronauts are landing on a living planet the sand of which proves to be of deadly intelligence. - 3) The MistThe MistThe Mist is a horror novella by the American author Stephen King, in which the small town of Bridgton, Maine is suddenly enveloped in an unnatural mist that conceals otherworldly monsters. It was first published as the first and longest story of the 1980 horror anthology Dark Forces. A slightly...
(Skeleton CrewSkeleton CrewSkeleton Crew is the second collection of short fiction by Stephen King. The first collection, Night Shift, was published seven years prior in 1978. Different Seasons, a collection of four novellas, was published between the two in 1982. Skeleton Crew was originally published in hardcover form by...
) is a major development of The Other Side of the Fog – even the dinosaurs are recycled.- Early on, King likes to create his own world: Delinquent Kelso Black dies twice – in Hotel at the End of the Road and The Stranger.
- King's story about the robot is strongly reminiscent of Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
, whose books King devoured as a child.
Source
- Beahm, George. Stephen King from A to Z – An Encyclopedia of his Life and Work. Kansas City, 1998.