Chattery Teeth (short story)
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Author | Stephen King |
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Country | USA |
Language | English |
Genre(s) | Fantasy short story |
Released in | Nightmares & Dreamscapes |
Publication type | Anthology |
Publisher | Viking Adult |
Media Type | Print (Paperback) |
Released | 1993 |
Chattery Teeth is a short story by Stephen King. It was published in his collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes.
[edit] Plot summary
In the story, salesman Bill Hogan notices an odd pair of walking "Chattery Teeth" (odd due to their unusual large size and the fact that they are made of metal) in a convenience store display. The clerk ends up giving Hogan the teeth, claiming they had been dropped and no longer work.
Hogan reluctantly (having been robbed by a hitchhiker once before) gives a ride to a hitchhiker outside the convenience store; his fears prove prophetic when the hitchhiker tries to carjack him and then kill him. During the struggle, Hogan wrecks the van, and before the hitchhiker can recover and kill him, the teeth come to life and gruesomely dispatch the criminal. Hogan passes out to the vision of the Chattery Teeth dragging the hitchhiker's body off into the desert.
Nine months later, Hogan stops again at the same convenience store, where he is unexpectedly reunited with the "broken" teeth again.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The short story was turned into a short film in the television movie Quicksilver Highway.