The Monkey Author:Stephen King It was originally published in the November 1980 issue of Gallery, and later included in King's own 1985 collection Skeleton Crew. — The story centers on a cymbal-banging monkey toy that is possessed by an evil spirit. Every time the monkey claps its little cymbals together, a nearby living thing dies. The monkey is found in a family's attic in a... more »n old toy chest by a group of children, unknowing that their father was tormented by the monkey years ago, when it worked its lethal magic on his family and friends. The father takes the monkey, rows out to the deepest part of the lake, and throws it down. At the end of the story is an excerpt of a newspaper article, which talks about hundreds of dead fish floating in the lake.