The Monkey

For the film adaptation, see The Monkey (film).

"The Monkey"
Short story by Stephen King
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Horror
Publication
Published in	Gallery
Publication type	Periodical
Media type	Magazine
Publication date	November 1980

"The Monkey" is a 1980 horror short story by Stephen King featuring a cursed cymbal-banging monkey toy. The story was first published as a booklet included in Gallery magazine in 1980. It was significantly revised and published in King's collection Skeleton Crew in 1985.

"The Monkey" was nominated for a British Fantasy Award for best short story in 1982.

Plot summary

Two brothers, Peter and Dennis, discover a cymbal-banging monkey toy in the attic of their great-uncle's house. It is revealed that their father, Hal, had previously found the toy in an antique chest belonging to his own father. Hal's father, a merchant mariner, disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and Hal suspects that the monkey was involved in his disappearance.

The monkey is cursed, and whenever it claps its mechanical cymbals, someone close to Hal dies. As a child, Hal was tormented by the monkey and helplessly watched as it caused the deaths of members of his family. Eventually, Hal threw the toy into an old well on his uncle's property.

In the present, Hal retrieves the monkey and throws it into Crystal Lake, hoping it will be finished for good and kill no one else. The story concludes with a newspaper report about the mysterious deaths of many fish in the lake.

Commentary

The antagonist of "The Monkey" is a malevolent cymbal-banging monkey toy.

Harold Bloom said King's short story "plays the same theme" as the "more famous" "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs.

Time parallels and the inescapable past

Leonard G. Heldreth wrote in Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts that the short story explores time parallels and the connection between past and present through the reappearance of a toy monkey. When Hal Shelburn finds the monkey in a deteriorating Ralston-Purina box, it vividly recalls his childhood, prompting him to quote his long-dead Uncle Will and compare the scene to a closet in his childhood home in Hartford, thinking, "I won't think about that." Despite his efforts to suppress these thoughts, they overwhelm him, as the past remains an inescapable and burdensome part of his identity. Hal struggles to cope, seeking "to get through it so it would be gone again", as the monkey haunted his childhood, returning each time he discarded it. During the story, he sinks the monkey in a lake, though he imagines it being retrieved. King's characters often anticipate the future ambiguously, as Hal reflects, "those were only things that might be," though evidence suggests precognition.

Guilt, subconscious, and the monkey's symbolism

Joe Sanders, writing in Extrapolation, says the story portrays a father's struggle with a malevolent toy that seems to cause violent deaths. Critics debate whether the toy represents external evil or Hal Shelburn’s inner guilt and subconscious desires. Douglas Winter views the monkey as an external force of chance, while Tony Magistrale connects it to Hal’s unresolved guilt and subconscious mind. Gene Doty identifies a link between Hal and the monkey, interpreting it as an ambiguous embodiment of persistent, incomprehensible evil.

Sanders says Hal's memories of the monkey highlight his unreliability as a narrator, blending childhood delight with instinctive disgust. His attempts to rid himself of the monkey fail, reflecting his inability to confront its symbolic meaning. The story parallels Freud's concept of the id, with the monkey representing suppressed destructive impulses. The narrative culminates in Hal's unsuccessful attempt to destroy the monkey, leaving its threat unresolved.

Intertextuality and Poe's influence

Marta Miquel-Baldellou analyzes the story as as a narrative influenced by Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". The story reflects intertextual links, particularly through the symbolic use of the monkey, which parallels the razor-wielding orangutan in Poe's tale. Both are connected to psychological and creative forces, drawing on Jungian concepts of the shadow, encompassing Eros and Thanatos.

Miquel-Baldellou says Hal confronts suppressed childhood trauma through the monkey toy, which symbolizes repressed fears and unresolved influence. The analysis also references Harold Bloom’s "anxiety of influence", portraying King's struggle to reconcile Poe's legacy within his own literary development. Biographical similarities between King and Poe, including the absence of a father figure, reinforce their shared thematic exploration of unresolved fears and creativity.

Film adaptations

Main article: The Monkey (film)

In 2022 an official adaptation of the story was produced under the terms of King's Dollar Baby contract. The hour-long short film, written and directed by filmmaker Spencer Sherry and shot in the Capital Region of New York State, premiered in May 2023.

In May 2023, it was announced that Oz Perkins is set to write and direct the adaptation with Theo James starring in the film. James Wan is set to produce through his Atomic Monster banner. The film is set to release in the United States on February 21, 2025.

See also

• Stephen King short fiction bibliography
• Killer toy

External links

• "The Monkey" at StephenKing.com
• The Monkey title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database