UNCOLLECTED
STORIES
STEPHEN KING
1
CONTENTS
1. Jhonathan and the Witches
3
2. People, Places and Things
5
3. In a Half-World of Terror
13
4.
The
Glass
Floor
28
5. Slade
36
6. The Blue Air Compressor
49
7. The Cat From Hell
57
8.
The
Crate
70
9. Squad D
97
10. The King Family & the Wicked Witch 104
11. The Night of the Tiger
111
12.
Before
the
Play
123
13. Man With a Belly
136
14.
Skybar
146
15.
The
Leprechaun
157
16. Keyholes
161
17.
For
the
Birds
163
18. The
Reploids
164
19. An Evening at God’s
176
2
JHONATHAN AND THE WITCHES
From First Words: Earliest Writing from Favorite Contemporary Authors (1993).
King wrote this in 1956 at the age of 9 for his Aunt Gert who used to pay him a quarter per story.
Once upon a time there was a boy named Jhonathan. He was smart, handsome, and very brave. But Jhonathan was a cobbler’s son. One day his father said, "Jhonathan, you must go and seek your fortune. You are old enough."
Jhonathan, being a smart boy, knew he better ask the king for work.
So he set out. On the way, he met a rabbit who was a fairy in disguise.
The scared thing was being pursued by hunters and jumped into Jhonathan’s arms. When the hunters came up Jhonathan pointed excitedly and shouts, "That way, that way!"
After the hunters had gone, the rabbit turned into a fairy and said,
"You have helped me. I will give you three wishes. What are they?"
But Jhonathan could not think of anything, so the fairy agreed to give him when he needed them. So Jhonathan kept walking until he made the kingdom without incident. So he went to the king and asked for work.
But, as luck would have it, the king was in a very bad mood that day. So he vented his mood on Jhonathan.
"Yes there is something you can do. On yonder Mountain there are three witches. If you can kill them, I will give you 5,000 crowns. If you cannot do it I will have your head! You have 20 days." With this he dismissed Jhonathan.
"Now what am I to do?" thought Jhonathan. “Well I shall try.”
Then he remembered the three wishes granted him and set out for the mountain.
Now Jhonathan was at the mountain and was just going to wish for a knife to kill the witch, when he heard a voice in his ear, "The first witch cannot be pierced. The second witch cannot be pierced or smothered.
The third cannot be pierced, smothered and is invisible.”
With this knowledge Jhonathan looked about and saw no one. Then he remembered the fairy, and smiled. He then went in search of the first witch. At last he found her. She was in a cave near the foot of the mountain, and was a mean looking hag. He remembered the fairy words, and before the witch could do anything but give him an ugly look, he wished she should be smothered. And Lo! It was done. Now he went higher in search of the second witch. There was a second cave 3
higher up. There he found the second witch. He was about to wish her smothered when he remembered she could not be smothered. And the before the witch could do anything but give him an ugly look, he had wished her crushed. And Lo! It was done Now he had only to kill the third witch and he would have the 5,000 crowns. But on the way up, he was plagued with thoughts of how?
Then he hit upon a wonderful plan. Then, he saw the last cave. He waited outside the entrance until he heard the witch’s footsteps. He then picked up a couple of big rocks and wishes. He then wished the witch a normal woman and Lo! She became visible and then Jhonathan struck her head with the rocks he had. Jhonathan collected his 5,000 crowns and he and his father lived happily ever after.
4
PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS
Self-published book of one-page stories that King co-authored with school friend Chris Chelsey at the age of 13 (Triad Publishing 1960). The complete contents read:
Foreword – Stephen King
‘The Hotel at the End of the Road’ – Stephen King*
‘Genius’
–
Chris Kelsey
‘Top Forty News, Weather, and Sports’ – Chris Chelsey
‘Bloody Child’ – Chris Chelsey
“I’ve Got to Get Away!’ – Stephen King**
‘The Dimension Warp’ – Stephen King (listed in contents, now lost)
‘The Thing at the Bottom of the Well’ – Stephen King
‘Reward’
–
Chris Chelsey
‘The Stranger’ – Stephen King
‘A Most Unusual Thing’ – Chris Chelsey
‘Gone’
–
Chris Chelsey
‘They’ve Come’ – Chris Chelsey
‘I’m Falling’ – Stephen King (listed in contents, now lost)
‘The Cursed Expedition’ – Stephen King
‘The Other Side of the Fog’ – Stephen King
‘Scared’
–
Chris Chelsey
‘Curiosity Kills the Cat’ – Chris Chelsey
‘Never Look Behind You’ – Stephen King and Chris Chelsey
*Published in the Market Guide for Young Writers (4th Edition), by Writer’s Digest Books, this story was printed exactly as it originally appeared. In 1986, the story was slated to be published in Flip magazine, but the student literary magazine ceased publication before the story made it to press. It was finally published in 1993.
**Published in Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, No. 202, Spring ’94
under the title The Killer. The story was originally written from the main character’s point of view. In 1963, when he was 14, King rewrote the story in third person and submitted it to Spacemen magazine, a companion to Famous
Monsters, but it was rejected. It was finally published in Famous Monsters 31