Publisher's Synopsis
"The Monkey's Paw" was published in Jacobs's short-story collection The Lady of the Barge -1902-, and the story's popularity has been extraordinarily long-lasting. The story has been included in approximately seventy collections, from horror and gothic anthologies to the New York Review of Books' collection of classic fiction. The story has also been turned into a play, parodied on The Simpsons, and made into eight separate movies. Stephen King wrote about "The Monkey's Paw" in The Dead Zone -1979- and Apt Pupil -1982- and based his novel Pet Sematary -1983- on its themes. The spare but colorful characterization of the White family, fascination with wishing and wishing gone awry, and story's mix of humor and terror have made "The Monkey's Paw" popular with generations of readers.
