Friday Faceoff – One thing about skeletons – they’ll always give you a smile… #Brainfluffbookblog #FridayFaceoffskeletoncovers

This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This meme is being nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and this week we are featuring covers with SKELETONS. I’ve selected the science fiction classic Skeleton Crew by Stephen King, which I haven’t read.


This edition was produced in June 2007 by Berkley. I really dislike this cover. Those heaped skulls drenched in red could be effective – but for the fact they are squeezed between two charmless text boxes. The green effort at the bottom of the cover for the title font is particularly grotty – it doesn’t match or tone with anything at all and the font style has virtually no visual impact.

 

Published in November 1986 by Futura, this one is my favourite. I think the image is far more coherent than the previous effort. The skeleton is looking out at the reader and directly engaging with us. The author font is particularly attractive, I love the embossing on it – and in Stephen King’s case, it makes marketing sense to feature his name, rather than the title. While it might be less snazzy than the title, I do like the way the scythe is positioned in front of the lettering on the title font.

This Polish edition, published by Proszynski i S-ka in 2000, is another reasonable design. I rather like the misty effect, giving a slightly more creepy vibe which is important in a horror book. I have two niggles with this effort, however – I think the backdrop is too dark, which doesn’t allow those skeletons to sufficiently pop. And the title and author fonts are once again, drearily plain.

 

This Czech edition, produced by Beta Dobrovský in 2014, is a departure from the skeletons, instead featuring a rather dramatic sea monster. Given that this is a fairly basic design, I think it is effective with the detailed tentacle and the splash of blood. The author font is especially good, echoing the design of my favourite and while the title font is a lot less attractive and eye-catching, it does at least look as if some thought has gone into it.

 

This edition, produced by Scribner in January 2016, is a complete departure from the horrible skeletons or sea monsters – the creepy absence of anyone on a deserted pier, just the empty seat. I really like this one – the warmth of the lighting and misty effect that reflects off the wet wooden boards gives a sense of wrongness. It is a lot more subtle than the other covers and would have been my favourite, but for the woefully underwhelming author and title fonts. Why would you simply not bother to make the title and author information look attractive, after to the trouble of producing such an effective image? Which one do you like best?