The Monkey (Originally Featured in Gallery, November 1980)

New York: Montcalm Publishing Corporation , 1980. Rare softcover insert and first publication of this nightmarish tale originally bound into Gallery magazine in November, 1980 (now separate from periodical). Striking pictorial wraps, moderate cover, edge wear. Cover with bold SK titles font in red and white with glowing green-eyed maniacal, mechanical monkey drummer over dark b.g. Classic advert at back panel for "Mr Boston" cocktails book. Pages near fine with attractive toning. Saddle-stich bind, fine. From original magazine: "Exclusive New 32-page Horror Story by Stephen King - Best-selling Author of 'The Shining.'" "A shocking fright published here for the first time ever, in a pull-out paperback. Be careful, though. The Monkey may be after you!" When two brothers, Dennis and Petey Shelburne, find a cymbal-crashing doll in their great uncle's attic, it is revealed how their father, Hal Shelburne, first discovered this monkey drummer many years prior in his father's old chest. The odd expressionless monkey is cursed, and when it claps the metallic clang, someone close to Hal dies. Hal's father was a merchant mariner who disappeared at sea under mysterious circumstances and he knows this possessed toy led to his father's vanishing. Hal was tormented by the drumming monkey as a child and watched in horror as it inexplicably enthralled his family. So, looking to destroy the nefarious little monkey and end his terror, he threw it down an old well at the home of his uncle. But now the evil doll has somehow returned to be found by his boys! How did the monkey escape the well for his sons to find decades later? Hal did not learn his lesson of disposal the first time, and angrily chucks it out into waters of Crystal Lake. King ends with an excerpt from a newspaper reporting the death of the lake's fish. A rare early SK short in its original format. Insured post.. First Edition. Soft Cover. Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.