I would like to say first off, I am fairly new to the multiverse of King's works, so if I am mistaken about something, by all means let me know. That being said, I have a theory behind the monster in The Raft.
Having seen the movie version and read the story, this is probably my most enjoyable King story. It's creepy and interesting and sparks a lot of questions. Also, I am aware that both The Raft and The Crate take place in either the same universe, or similar alternate universes, as they both mention Horlick's University.
However, my theory actually involves more assumption than actual connections. I believe that the monster in Cascade Lake is really a creature from Todash Space and is currently an expirement by "The Shop". Let me explain.
In The Raft, we know that this creature is not an oil slick by how Randy says it looks like it developed "on purpose". It has some manner of sentience as it knows what the teens are doing on the raft, since it has shown to outsmart them by seeping through the cracks and waiting on them instead of moving on to other food sources. Its eldritch abomination-like form is symbolic to other creatures from Todash Space.
Now, I say this is an expirement by "The Shop" because if you look at other stories, it is not unlikely that the group would do this. The Crate had a creature sent to Horlick's University. We know The Shop has expiremented at universities before because of Lot Six. We also know that they have bases in seemingly unexpected locations like farms. It's not farfetched to believe that once their former expirement (the crate monster) was lost that they would focus on expirementing with their new creature at the nearby Cascade Lake.
It is also important to know that this expirement began shortly before the teens went to the lake. How do we know this? In Creepshow, we see the monster eating a duck. This means that local wildlife has not adapted to this predator being in the lake. Also, when Rachel is eaten, we see the creature grow significantly. So it's smaller size in indicative of it being newly introduced to the lake and growing slowly due to only eating the local wildlife. We also know it has to be a recent event because Randy did not notice it on his geology fieldtrip and it was likely never reported by the locals. This is because The Shop knew the area would not likely have any visitors due to the weather and could study how the creature manages in a natural Earth setting.
We know The Shop is basically the Men in Black of the King Multiverse, being the organization behind Project Arrowhead. So it's not completely out of the realm of possibility.
Again, this theory is based purely on speculation as the only real connection is Horlick's University, which may or may not have been shoehorned in because of Creepshow. I highly doubt it, but again, not beyond the realm of possibility.
I would appreciate your thoughts on this, and hopefully I'll have more theories as I continue to become more familiar with King's works.
Having seen the movie version and read the story, this is probably my most enjoyable King story. It's creepy and interesting and sparks a lot of questions. Also, I am aware that both The Raft and The Crate take place in either the same universe, or similar alternate universes, as they both mention Horlick's University.
However, my theory actually involves more assumption than actual connections. I believe that the monster in Cascade Lake is really a creature from Todash Space and is currently an expirement by "The Shop". Let me explain.
In The Raft, we know that this creature is not an oil slick by how Randy says it looks like it developed "on purpose". It has some manner of sentience as it knows what the teens are doing on the raft, since it has shown to outsmart them by seeping through the cracks and waiting on them instead of moving on to other food sources. Its eldritch abomination-like form is symbolic to other creatures from Todash Space.
Now, I say this is an expirement by "The Shop" because if you look at other stories, it is not unlikely that the group would do this. The Crate had a creature sent to Horlick's University. We know The Shop has expiremented at universities before because of Lot Six. We also know that they have bases in seemingly unexpected locations like farms. It's not farfetched to believe that once their former expirement (the crate monster) was lost that they would focus on expirementing with their new creature at the nearby Cascade Lake.
It is also important to know that this expirement began shortly before the teens went to the lake. How do we know this? In Creepshow, we see the monster eating a duck. This means that local wildlife has not adapted to this predator being in the lake. Also, when Rachel is eaten, we see the creature grow significantly. So it's smaller size in indicative of it being newly introduced to the lake and growing slowly due to only eating the local wildlife. We also know it has to be a recent event because Randy did not notice it on his geology fieldtrip and it was likely never reported by the locals. This is because The Shop knew the area would not likely have any visitors due to the weather and could study how the creature manages in a natural Earth setting.
We know The Shop is basically the Men in Black of the King Multiverse, being the organization behind Project Arrowhead. So it's not completely out of the realm of possibility.
Again, this theory is based purely on speculation as the only real connection is Horlick's University, which may or may not have been shoehorned in because of Creepshow. I highly doubt it, but again, not beyond the realm of possibility.
I would appreciate your thoughts on this, and hopefully I'll have more theories as I continue to become more familiar with King's works.
