The Reach
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| "The Reach" | |
| Author | Stephen King |
|---|---|
| Original title | "Do the Dead Sing?" |
| Country |  USA |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Short story |
| Published in | Yankee (1st release), Skeleton Crew |
| Publication type | Magazine (1st release) |
| Media type | Print (Periodical & Paperback) |
| Publication date | 1981 |
The Reach is a short story by Stephen King. First published in Yankee in 1981 under the title "Do the Dead Sing?", the re-titled story was collected in Skeleton Crew in 1985.
[edit] Plot summary
The story is about Stella Flanders, the oldest living woman on Goat Island off the Maine coast. In the coldest winter on record, The Reach - the stretch of open water between the island and mainland - freezes over for the first time since 1938, and may be traversed by foot. Though Stella has never left the tiny isle and its insular community in her life, with her health failing from cancer, she hears The Reach calling her. She sets off across the ice and as she nears the shore, darkness and a snowstorm blind her. Her deceased husband Bill and other dead residents of the island appear to her and guide her the rest of the way. They join hands and she goes with them to the afterlife. Her body is found on the mainland.
[edit] Adaptations
"The Reach" has been adapted by artist Glenn Chadbourne for the book The Secretary of Dreams, a collection of comics based on King's short fiction released by Cemetery Dance in December 2006.
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