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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Greer feel that Henry is headed for a breakdown?

2. What does the milkman place on the empty chocolate milk container at the McCarthy home?

3. What does Shapiro begin to think the sands can do?

4. What does the milkman discover at the house with the cancellation note?

5. To what does the child in "For Owen" compare the fat children?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the opening in "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands"?

2. Reg likely suffers from a serious mental illness, yet Henry continues to encourage Reg's fantasies. What do you think was Henry's motivating factor?

3. Henry encourages a writer who apparently believes in the whimsical creatures about which he writes. Henry begins the encouragement out of amusement and boredom. Do you think the resulting actions leading to the writer's death were what Henry expected to happen?

4. Often, a killer's choice of weapon will say a lot about that person. What do you think Spike's method of operation and choice of weapon say about him?

5. Richard Pine is a man who has made his fortune as a surgeon with his hands, but the rest of his life has been shady and complicated. However, through it all, he protected his hands. How do you think he felt when his hands were the only things he had left, and he was faced with eating those for survival?

6. Gramma is fat, flabby, blind, and smells funny. She also often wears a sly, frightening appearance. Do you think she plays up her frightening aspects to keep the family in line?

7. What is an example of personification in the story "Beachworld"? How does it affect the story? Explain why you chose this example.

8. Quentin seems terrified of Uncle Otto's truck himself, especially after seeing first hand what happened to Uncle Otto. What does Quentin fear the most?

9. What do you think the story "For Owen" is about?

10. At the end of "Nona," the narrator is surrounded by rats, and Nona herself turns into a huge, disgusting rat. The narrator then embraces the rat and indicates that he is planning suicide. What do you think this story is really about?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Stephen King is most well-known for his horror novels and stories. The majority of the stories contained within "Skeleton Crew" are no exception. However, there are a few stories which do not fall within King's typical genre. What do you think King's purpose was in including these off-genre stories in a book that is obviously intended to be horror?

Essay Topic 2

The horror genre is one of the most uncomplicated forms of entertainment and is characterized by the author's effort to produce fear in the reader through the use of antagonists such as monsters, ghosts, or even feral animals. The basic concept is the same: the hero must fight against horrific forces for his life and often his soul. Choose one of the stories in "Skeleton Crew" and explain how it fits into the horror genre and how it follows the horror genre formula.

Essay Topic 3

Charles seems to be a boy with a very active imagination. In "Here There Be Tygers," what appears to be the motivating factor for Charles's tiger lurking in the bathroom (or basement as he calls it)? Is it fear, revenge, motivation, or possibly something else that makes the tiger real for him?

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