The Raft

[NightShifter]

I read "The Raft" when I was a kid and it freaked me out. Even now as an adult I get nervous when I'm swimming in a lake. I remember there was a raft in one of the lakes in Baxter State Park, Maine along with plenty of loons. All the other kids were having a blast while I was keeping an eye out for an oil slick.

 

[SharonC]

Great story. So scary even now.

 

[staropeace]

Just about scared the crap out of me.

 

[91rewoT]

Pets and I ran across this on one of our sister vacations...not sure which is creepier though, the raft or the house!

 

[Chuggs]

Man oh man, I remember seeing the film version as a kid, and it freaked me out. When I grew up, I read the story, and it freaked me out! One of my favorites, for sure.

 

[91rewoT]

I never saw the film version...but I'm sure it would have scared the crap out of me as much as reading the story did!

 

[prufrock21]

I read the story and saw the film version. Creepy, especially when Deke's foot gets sucked in between the boards.

 

[not_nadine]

Oh, and the ring!

 

[prufrock21]

Ditto, the ring.

 

[OldDarth]

I love this story!

 

[Riot87]

This story freak me out as well but in a good way. Now when i go swimming i also look around the water first haha

 

[Rrty]

Here's a question about that story. I don't have "Skeleton Crew" in front of me, but I seem to recall that King mentioned in the introduction that he lost the original manuscript but had seemingly sold it to a men's magazine. I believe the title at that time was "The Float." He wrote that he could never locate the story in any of the magazines the company he submitted to published, but that he had received a check and assumed it had been published. He had asked if anyone had seen it and if someone had, then perhaps said someone could send him a copy of it. I was curious if that mystery was ever solved, if he ever did in fact receive a copy.

 

[Moderator]

Here's a question about that story. I don't have "Skeleton Crew" in front of me, but I seem to recall that King mentioned in the introduction that he lost the original manuscript but had seemingly sold it to a men's magazine. I believe the title at that time was "The Float." He wrote that he could never locate the story in any of the magazines the company he submitted to published, but that he had received a check and assumed it had been published. He had asked if anyone had seen it and if someone had, then perhaps said someone could send him a copy of it. I was curious if that mystery was ever solved, if he ever did in fact receive a copy.

No, he never did.

 

[Bev Vincent]

I think it would have turned up by now if it had ever gone to press. I've sold stories to places and had them never see print, so maybe that happened here.

 

[mjs9153]

the good news is if you have dry hair,then at least you'll die with a nice healthy sheen to your noggin..

 

[Bryan James]

I've also been paid before the ragazine "went under," unpublished.

Most of my low-end targets had long lead times and a tenuous existence.

Probably why they accepted my stuff.

~~~

I've been on freshwater lakes before. A lot.

Vacation idiots who use outboard engines once a year screw up. A lot.

Whenever I see an oil slick, I wonder. A lot.

I still swim, though. Not much.

Because this scares the hell outt'n me:

 

[krwhiting]

This story is terrifying. I used to swim in Cascade Reservoir and Payette Lake, both here in Idaho about an hour and a half from where I grew up. We had a summer cabin up outside of Donnelly, right on Cascade Reservoir. Both of the main swimming beaches had tethered rafts just like the one in this story to swim out to and sunbathe on. I was always creeped out by the lake grass brushing against my feet. I remember a nightmare I had about some sort of "lake-shark" chasing me to the raft in Cascade. I don't think I'd swim in them any more. Sure did a lot as a kid though.

Kelly

 

[Sunlight Gardener]

Oh man I loved this story...and almost forgot about it totally. That's why I have you people here.

 

[RichardX]

The Raft is a great story in part because there is no effort wasted on trying to explain the "blob." It's just there. A lot of horror plots are ruined with some type of message behind the creature (e.g. it's the product of pollution by some greedy capitalist). This story just avoids that temptation and sticks with folks confronting a terrifying situation. It's all the more terrifying because they have no explanation for what is going on. None of the characters are particularly likeable though. That seemed to be intentional but maybe takes away from the impact of the story.