Reader 19: Review THE CRATE

Review by Reader 19 (TSK contributor). There are spoilers ahead. This review is primarily a summery of the story. It is not meant to take the place of ACTUALLY READING King's work. Now the reivew. . .

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The CrateKing does it again! Even though this is a newly published work, it was written early in his career. But definitely has the classic King style. There is some suspense and some scare and a bit of gore. You know it will be quite a tale when the main character Dex, has a tale to tell and there are two people dead.
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Oh and he is recounting his tale to his best friend Henry, who has an annoying wife, Wilma, who always tried to control him–this is key to the story at the very beginning even though you don’t know it yet.
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So here is the premise–the janitor and Dexter Stanley–Dex-- a Zoology professor are at the university during Summer break cleaning and moving things from an old classroom building to new one. The janitor finds a crate under the stairs–this is a returning theme in The Crate "under the stairs." The crate is very old, the date says 1832 on it. They carry this crate to the zoology lab-very heavy close to 200 pounds and it makes an odd sound when its moved.
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After some discussion, the janitor decides they should open it. The nails are evidence of a very old crate, square type nails, not shiny like they make now. He pulls off the first board–they can’t see inside. It is about halfway open by the time he removes the fourth board off the top–and now our fun begins. If you don’t want to know what happens next then don’t read any more but here part of the story. The janitor’s arm gets pulled inside the crate by something–something very strong with teeth and its begins to tear at his arm. Dex tries to free him but it is useless; the thing has a hold on him and is not letting go until he finishes his meal. The thing comes out of the crate eventually and tears at the janitor’s jugular to finish him off.
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More excitement and scare round out this brief story of horror. I was truly engaged throughout the whole story. One phrase he likes in this story is"squat and mute"–the character Dex seems to think the phrase sounds creepy. Cool, yes, but I am not sure it’s creepy.
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I like his descriptions of the moon in this story–just pay attention and you will see thery are very vivid.
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The wrap up was a surprise to me–but very cleverly done. The plot was never boring and neough gross out for those of you who like gross out. Just don’t forget King always introduces characters for a reason–that’s all I have to say about that.
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Overall, the story was well done. I liked his use of imagery and his descriptiveness throughout this brief story. There are some truly bloody descriptions after the creature has attacked.
One thing not explained however is the consistency in its description. The first encounter withe the creature it is" dry, brown and scaly" ,like a reptile. Then in the next encounters it is furry and has the head of a lynx has 6 legs and " eyes the color of an owl’s eyes only smaller." I am not sure how it got fur-- maybe it morphs-- I don’t know--but whatever, it is still a good tale.
It is amazing to me how well a guy who can write 1000 page books can also write short stories well. Well told, vivid story Mr. King!