"The Monkey" is a
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
by
Stephen King, first published as a booklet included in
''Gallery'' magazine in 1980. It was significantly revised and published in King's collection ''
Skeleton Crew
A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item such as a business, organization, or ship at its most simple operating requirements. Skeleton crews are often utilized during an emergency and are meant to ...
'' in 1985.
"The Monkey" was nominated for a
British Fantasy Award
The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of ...
for best short story in 1982.
Plot summary
The story begins with two young brothers, Peter and Dennis, finding a
cymbal-banging monkey toy
A cymbal-banging monkey toy (better known as Jolly Chimp) is a mechanical depiction of a monkey holding a cymbal in each hand. When activated it repeatedly bangs its cymbals together and, in some cases, bobs its head, chatters, screeches, grins, ...
in the attic of their great uncle's house. Soon, it's revealed how their father, Hal, discovered the toy monkey inside an antique chest owned by his father (Hal's father was a merchant mariner who disappeared under mysterious circumstances; Hal suspects that the monkey led to his father's disappearance). The monkey is actually cursed, and every time it claps the mechanical cymbals together, someone close to Hal dies. Hal was tormented by the monkey as a child. He helplessly watched as the toy worked its lethal
enchantment onto his family and killed them off, until Hal chucked it down an old well at the home of his uncle. In the present, Hal takes the monkey and throws it into Crystal Lake, hoping that it will be finished for good and never kill anyone again. The story ends with an excerpt from a newspaper article, which reports the mysterious death of many fish in the lake.
Similar stories
''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...
'' episode "
Chinga", scripted by Stephen King, deals with a cursed doll and bears similarities to "The Monkey". This doll, which deals out suffering in much the same way as the monkey, similarly finds itself sinking to the bottom of the ocean at the end of the episode.
The film ''
The Devil's Gift'' is very similar to "The Monkey," leading some to believe that the filmmakers
plagiarized
Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...
the story.
''The Devil's Gift'' was later re-edited as the second story in the film ''
Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders'', which was featured on the television series ''
Mystery Science Theater 3000''.
In the ''
Supernatural'' episode "Home", the evil entity of the episode possesses a toy monkey with cymbals, which turned on the garbage disposal while a plumber was working with the sink.
See also
*
Stephen King short fiction bibliography
References
External links
King's official website
1980 short stories
Horror short stories
Short stories by Stephen King
Works originally published in Gallery (magazine)
Thriller short stories
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