“The Monkey,” a chilling short story by Stephen King, was first published in Gallery magazine in 1980 and later included in Skeleton Crew. It tells the story of Hal Shelburn, a man haunted by a sinister toy monkey from childhood. With its haunting smile and brass cymbals, the monkey seems to bring death with it. When he reappears years later, Hal’s quiet life with his family is turned upside down. As old memories resurface, he must confront the dark connection between the toy and a series of tragic events.
Warning
The following summary and analysis is only a semblance and one of the many possible readings of the text. It is not intended to replace the experience of reading the story.
Summary of The Monkey by Stephen King
In Stephen King’s short story “The Monkey,” Hal Shelburn, a man with a quiet life, returns with his wife, Terry, and his two sons, Dennis and Petey, to the old family home. While inspecting the attic, Dennis finds a forgotten toy: a wind-up monkey with brass cymbals, which evokes in Hal a sense of profound horror. This toy is not only a childhood memory but a link to a series of traumatic events that marked Hal’s life, as a child noticed that this seemingly harmless toy seemed to unleash tragedy every time it rattled its cymbals.
Hal remembers how he first discovered the toy in a storage room in his Hartford home, inside an old box: a grinning wind-up monkey with gleaming teeth that struck brass cymbals when he turned its key. Although it was broken, Hal took it to his room, and one night, filling the darkness with the echo of its cymbals, he listened with surprise as its mechanism was triggered. Shortly thereafter, Hal’s babysitter, Beulah, died a violent death in an incident related to a domestic altercation. Hal linked this death to the monkey striking his saucers in an unexplained manner, which aroused his fears. But it was not the only event that marked him.
Another tragedy occurred one summer while playing with his best friend, Johnny McCabe. Johnny fell from a tree house and died when his neck was broken. Still a child, Hal also associated this death with the monkey, whose cymbals had sounded again that afternoon. Panic grew when, days later, the toy was triggered again, and the family dog, Daisy, died suddenly of an unexplained hemorrhage. Although these deaths seemed coincidental, they prompted Hal to try to get rid of the monkey. Desperate, he threw the toy into the bottom of a well on his Uncle Will’s property. His relief was short-lived, however, as the monkey reappeared shortly thereafter. Hal understood that he could not get rid of it so easily.
The deaths continued, including that of his mother, who suffered an unexpected stroke while at work. Convinced that the monkey was a curse, Hal tried to get rid of it several times, even giving it to a garbage collector and other old items, but it always returned.
As an adult, Hal tries to put those dark memories behind him. However, the reappearance of the monkey in the attic of the family home plunges him into all the terror of the past. Hal realizes that the toy threatens him and his family this time, especially his sons, Dennis and Petey. Determined to end the curse, Hal devises a plan: throw the toy into Crystal Lake, a deep lake he remembers from childhood.
Hal places the monkey in a travel bag, fills it with heavy rocks, and heads with Petey to the lake. While his son waits for him on the shore, he paddles toward the center, but the environment seems to turn supernaturally hostile. The waves grow, the wind intensifies, and the boat’s planks crack as if someone is trying to stop him. Hal hears the cymbals inside the bag and understands that the monkey will not give up easily. Finally, he manages to throw the bag into the water. For an instant, as he watches the bag sink, he has a disturbing vision of what lies at the bottom of the lake: familiar figures trapped in the darkness, as if the monkey has claimed them.
Struggling to return to shore, the boat sinks almost wholly, so Hal must swim to dry land. Exhausted but relieved, he is reunited with Petey, who greets him with tears and nervous laughter. Hal assures his son that the monkey is gone forever, although deep down, he harbors doubts.
The story ends with the news of the appearance of a strange phenomenon in Crystal Lake: hundreds of dead fish are found floating near the place where Hal threw the bag into the water. This detail suggests that the evil associated with the monkey may not have been entirely extinguished, leaving the possibility that it may continue to cause tragedies.
Characters from The Monkey by Stephen King
Hal Shelburn is the protagonist and central axis of the story. He is a man tormented by childhood memories, marked by the presence of the cursed monkey and the tragedies that accompanied him. Hal is a complex character, defined by guilt and determination. Since childhood, his life has been marked by the association between the sound of the monkey’s cymbals and the deaths that seemed to follow. This connection has left deep scars on his mind, shaping his character and decisions into adulthood. Hal struggles with mixed feelings toward his children as a father: he shows a protective and sincere love for Petey. However, his relationship with Dennis is more strained, filled with frustrations and resentments stemming from his insecurity as a father figure. His determination to destroy the monkey once and for all reflects his desperation to protect his family and free himself from the psychological burden that has plagued him for decades. Hal is, in essence, a man caught between the past and the present, seeking redemption in the face of an evil that seems invincible.
Although technically not a human character, The Monkey is, without a doubt, the story’s main antagonist. With its immutable smile and glass eyes, this mechanical toy functions as a symbol of inescapable evil and death. More than an object, the monkey seems to come to life at crucial moments to announce tragedies through the sound of its cymbals. Its malevolent influence and its ability to return again and again, despite Hal’s attempts to get rid of it, make it a disturbing and almost omnipresent presence in the story. The monkey embodies the idea that some evils are impossible to eradicate, and its role as a catalyst for the deaths in Hal’s life underscores the concept of powerlessness in the face of more extensive, unknown forces.
Petey Shelburn, Hal’s youngest son, represents the innocence and emotional connection the protagonist maintains with his family. Petey is a perceptive and sensitive child, able to intuit the danger inherent in the monkey even without fully understanding its history. Throughout the story, his relationship with Hal is the closest and most affectionate. Petey trusts his father and supports him, even when Hal’s actions seem strange or frightening. His attitude toward the monkey, marked by fear and revulsion, reflects the toy’s disturbing influence even on those who do not know its history. Petey becomes a crucial motivation for Hal, who wishes to protect him at all costs from the evil he perceives in the monkey, an evil that has already shattered too many lives.
In his relationship with his father, Dennis Shelburn, Hal’s oldest son, is a more distant and complicated character. As a teenager asserting himself, Dennis is caught in a generational and emotional conflict with Hal, who feels he is losing connection with his older son. Dennis represents Hal’s fatherhood challenges, exacerbated by the emotional crisis he is going through because of the monkey’s return. Although he does not play a central role in the plot, his defiant attitude and strained relationship with Hal contrast with the protagonist’s more straightforward, more natural connection with Petey. Dennis embodies Hal’s everyday concerns, from drug use to disrespect, problems that seem trivial compared to the supernatural threat of the monkey but which contribute to the protagonist’s emotionally drained state.
Terry Shelburn, Hal’s wife, is a character who, while not directly involved in the events related to the monkey, plays a significant role in reflecting the emotional strain on the nuclear family. Terry is a woman who struggles with her issues, such as the frequent use of sedatives to deal with the stresses of family life and the economic situation. Throughout the story, her relationship with Hal seems marked by distance and communication, intensifying the protagonist’s isolation. Although Terry does not fully understand her husband’s connection to the monkey, her concern for his behavior adds realism to the narrative. It reminds us that the supernatural horrors of the story have an impact on human and everyday relationships.
Secondary characters include figures from Hal’s past, such as his Uncle Will and Aunt Ida, who represent a mix of familial support and connection to the source of the evil that haunts the protagonist. Uncle Will, in particular, plays a vital role in Hal’s memories, as he is a paternal role model and someone who introduces him to the environment where the monkey’s influence is unleashed. Although these characters are not present in the actual events of the plot, their impact on Hal’s life is evident, especially in how he associates them with the traumatic events of his childhood.
Analysis of The Monkey by Stephen King
Stephen King’s“The Monkey” is a story that combines psychological horror with a profound analysis of guilt, fear, and the connection between the everyday and the supernatural.
The story revolves around a mechanical monkey, a seemingly harmless toy loaded with an inexplicable evil that seems to cause tragedy whenever it sounds its cymbals. This object, which in other circumstances could be considered a symbol of childhood or nostalgia, becomes here a metaphor for fear and destiny. The monkey represents the inevitable, that which one tries to ignore or reject but which returns again and again. It is important to note that the monkey does not act directly but that its presence always precedes a tragedy. This ambiguity makes it all the more terrifying, as it is never thoroughly explained how its curse works or why it exists. This leaves the reader feeling that evil needs no logic; it is simply there.
The protagonist, Hal Shelburn, is the emotional center of the story. Through his memories, we understand that the monkey has haunted him since childhood, linking him to the deaths of people close to him. Hal carries a constant sense of guilt, believing he is somehow responsible for these tragedies simply because he has the toy. This guilt consumes and isolates him, reflecting a recurring theme in the story: the internal struggle between the desire to protect loved ones and helplessness in the face of forces beyond his control.
The setting of the story influences its tone. The old house, the deep lake, and the garret evoke a sense of isolation and danger. The narrative takes advantage of these spaces to intensify the psychological terror. The well where Hal tried to get rid of the monkey during his childhood and the lake to which it leads him in the present are symbols of unfathomable depths, both physical and emotional. These places symbolize Hal’s attempts to overcome his fear and past, although the story shows these efforts are futile. The monkey always finds his way back, which underscores the idea of the inescapable.
The story’s message can be interpreted as a reflection on how we deal with our fears and guilt. Hal spends much of his life trying to escape the monkey but only finds peace when confronting it directly. This final act, in which he throws the toy into the lake, symbolizes his struggle to take control of his life and protect his family. However, the story leaves the door open for the monkey’s evil to persist, adding uncertainty. This can be interpreted as a warning that we cannot always completely eradicate our problems or fears, but we can learn to face them with courage.
Another interesting detail is how King uses the monkey to represent evil physically. Unlike in other stories, where the villain is a person or creature that acts directly, here, the evil is passive but relentless. This makes the story more disturbing because it forces the characters and the reader to reflect on their own relationship to fate and tragedy. The story suggests that evil does not always have a clear cause, nor can it be rationalized or controlled, which reinforces the disturbing and unsettling tone.
Finally, it is essential to note that The Monkey is not only about fear or tragedy but also about redemption and sacrifice. Hal makes a courageous decision at the end of the story: to face his greatest terror to protect his family. Although the monkey’s fate is left ambiguous, Hal’s act demonstrates that, even in the most terrifying situations, it is possible to find the strength to fight for those we love. This aspect makes the story more than just a horror tale; it is also an exploration of human courage in the face of the incomprehensible.
