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The Jaunt, & Beachworld
Two horrifying science fiction stories. Read by Frank Muller.
1 pages, Audio Cassette
Published June 1, 1985
1 person is currently reading
195 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,399 books889k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 13, 2019
Was recommended this short story because I liked "white Christmas" an episode of black mirror
Was very thought provoking
Was very thought provoking
July 22, 2024
Specifically a review for Beach World…. I’m giving it 3 stars but I do think I will think about it anytime I’m on a beach especially with the very specific descriptions. So maybe I’ll bump it up to 4 stars depending on the stories lasting effect.
October 14, 2017
The Jaunt is so chilling. Excellent read.
June 4, 2018
The Jaunt 5/5
A science fiction tale in the style of Stephen King : ) So even there is a background with space, planets and interplanetary travel, there is also something bleak, macabre and scary.
This story is the first experience I've had with King writing science fiction under the classic themes of this literary genre: scientific discoveries and sidereal travel. And King was right in choosing teleportation and its implications. And here is where the beauty and shadow of this tale lies.
King also presents himself as a more intellectual author in the sense of deepening questions involving technology. Since the central theme is teleportation, King reflects through the characters about the consequences of it to human consciousness and mind.
Critically he also writes lines about consumerism and the domination of cartels in this case the petroleum; moreover he reflects from energetic exploration of civilization to the water being the new "gold" of humanity in the future.
That is - this story surprised me for two main points: Stephen King is showing another facet of himself, a different author besides the horror and suspense narratives. And sure, because this is a very interesting and chilling story : )
----
Beachworld 4/5
I'm crazy, but I'm cool.
This is a sci-fi story about survival and some of its variations: expectation, hope and surrender. When serenity comes in desperate desire. And sanity is questioned in its most radical selfishness.
A science fiction tale in the style of Stephen King : ) So even there is a background with space, planets and interplanetary travel, there is also something bleak, macabre and scary.
This story is the first experience I've had with King writing science fiction under the classic themes of this literary genre: scientific discoveries and sidereal travel. And King was right in choosing teleportation and its implications. And here is where the beauty and shadow of this tale lies.
King also presents himself as a more intellectual author in the sense of deepening questions involving technology. Since the central theme is teleportation, King reflects through the characters about the consequences of it to human consciousness and mind.
Critically he also writes lines about consumerism and the domination of cartels in this case the petroleum; moreover he reflects from energetic exploration of civilization to the water being the new "gold" of humanity in the future.
That is - this story surprised me for two main points: Stephen King is showing another facet of himself, a different author besides the horror and suspense narratives. And sure, because this is a very interesting and chilling story : )
----
Beachworld 4/5
I'm crazy, but I'm cool.
This is a sci-fi story about survival and some of its variations: expectation, hope and surrender. When serenity comes in desperate desire. And sanity is questioned in its most radical selfishness.
December 22, 2025
Beachworld
3/5
Two astronauts land on a seemingly harmless planet made up entirely of sand dunes and endless beaches. The sand starts to play tricks on their minds just like a desert mirage, only for them to realize that the huge body of sand that they're standing on may actually be part of a sentient creature that has lured them into a deadly, hypnotic trap.
Another interesting sci-fi story from Skeleton Crew, although it doesn't feel all that different from some of the others in the collection. It's basically the same story as The Raft, just in a different setting.
***
The Jaunt
3.5/5
"It's longer than you think." Scary way of describing an eternity and beyond of unimaginable Hell.
This is a concept I've seen before, but it's one I always enjoy seeing different interpretations of. The horror of infinite, a character being trapped in an eternity inside of their own mind while only a few seconds have passed in the real world. It feels like billions of years of unimaginable terror and suffering to them, but only the passing of a few seconds to everyone around them.
The Jaunt is basically a method of instantaneously teleporting someone from one planet to another millions of miles away in the span of a second while they're unconscious in a state of limbo. If it succeeds, everything works out quick and fine. If it fails, billions of years worth of absolute hell will torture you and drive you to complete madness.
The horrors of the mind are endless, and being trapped inside your own subconscious for billions of years without escape would drive anyone insane.
3/5
Two astronauts land on a seemingly harmless planet made up entirely of sand dunes and endless beaches. The sand starts to play tricks on their minds just like a desert mirage, only for them to realize that the huge body of sand that they're standing on may actually be part of a sentient creature that has lured them into a deadly, hypnotic trap.
Another interesting sci-fi story from Skeleton Crew, although it doesn't feel all that different from some of the others in the collection. It's basically the same story as The Raft, just in a different setting.
***
The Jaunt
3.5/5
"It's longer than you think." Scary way of describing an eternity and beyond of unimaginable Hell.
This is a concept I've seen before, but it's one I always enjoy seeing different interpretations of. The horror of infinite, a character being trapped in an eternity inside of their own mind while only a few seconds have passed in the real world. It feels like billions of years of unimaginable terror and suffering to them, but only the passing of a few seconds to everyone around them.
The Jaunt is basically a method of instantaneously teleporting someone from one planet to another millions of miles away in the span of a second while they're unconscious in a state of limbo. If it succeeds, everything works out quick and fine. If it fails, billions of years worth of absolute hell will torture you and drive you to complete madness.
The horrors of the mind are endless, and being trapped inside your own subconscious for billions of years without escape would drive anyone insane.
October 22, 2025
Beachworld only
I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that this is one of King's few science fiction stories set in the distant future and it actually starts off quite well. The isolation and possible delusions of both characters create a nice eerie atmosphere.
However, the story lost me halfway through when they were found. The isolation contributed so much to the tension in the first half, which is now suddenly gone without being replaced by anything equally eerie.
I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that this is one of King's few science fiction stories set in the distant future and it actually starts off quite well. The isolation and possible delusions of both characters create a nice eerie atmosphere.
However, the story lost me halfway through when they were found. The isolation contributed so much to the tension in the first half, which is now suddenly gone without being replaced by anything equally eerie.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2026
A ship collides on a world entirely of sand.
I am only partially joking when I say that this reminded me of reading Dune but much, much faster. The claustrophobic openness. The constant dread. The casueally dropped sci-fi lexicon. The scrabble for water.
Horror meets sci-fi, melding perfectly. 5/5.
I am only partially joking when I say that this reminded me of reading Dune but much, much faster. The claustrophobic openness. The constant dread. The casueally dropped sci-fi lexicon. The scrabble for water.
Horror meets sci-fi, melding perfectly. 5/5.
November 3, 2025
beachworld wasn't on goodreads without being attached to the jaunt but that's ok because i'm reading skeleton crew and they're both in here.
DUNES! this was fun.
the jaunt is one of the best horror shorts of all time, but i already reviewed it solo and rated 5 stars as well.
DUNES! this was fun.
the jaunt is one of the best horror shorts of all time, but i already reviewed it solo and rated 5 stars as well.
August 1, 2017
Creepy, stays with you, very Stephen King.
Blends its plausible science fiction history with the terrible outcomes we always court and secretly wish for.
Blends its plausible science fiction history with the terrible outcomes we always court and secretly wish for.
January 27, 2024
The word sand has no meaning, I read it so many times.
July 19, 2024
I want more science fiction from this guy. Those were fantastic.
February 26, 2025
(Just BEACHWORLD - paper, not audiobook)
Fuck sand. Fuck the beach.
Fuck sand. Fuck the beach.
April 9, 2025
This was a unique story however I was left with far more questions than answers by the end of it.
November 12, 2025
Specifically for Beachworld:
Very creepy, insanity is scary.
Too short to be any better the a 3 though, I liked it, but it was eh
Very creepy, insanity is scary.
Too short to be any better the a 3 though, I liked it, but it was eh
December 9, 2025
review for beach world
December 22, 2025
Beachworld
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews