''Beachworld'' is a short

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

story by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

, first published in ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, prin ...

'' in 1984, and collected in King's 1985 collection ''

Skeleton Crew A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item such as a business, organization, or ship at its most simple operating requirements. Skeleton crews are often utilized during an emergency and are meant to ...

''.

Plot summary

''Beachworld'' is set at an unspecified time in the distant future. Among the few clues to the date is the passing reference that the last of the

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

had died eight thousand years previously. The catastrophic crash-landing of a Federation spacecraft on an uncharted planet made up entirely of sand leaves one crewman, Grimes, dead while Rand and Shapiro survive. Rand stares out over the sand dunes as both men associate the endless rolling dunes with a beach. Rand becomes hypnotized by the dunes and refuses to move from the very spot he's standing on or drink water. Shapiro also feels drawn to the dunes but, unlike Rand, finds this hypnosis frightening and is relieved to go inside their ship where the dunes are out of sight. When a trader spacecraft arrives in response to Shapiro's beacon, the crew initially treat Shapiro's account with skepticism. However, they become convinced when they're unable to get Rand away from the dunes. Rand resists leaving the planet, and the sand reveals itself to be sentient. It prevents Rand's rescue by damaging a sampler android sent from the ship and sending a hand of sand up to stop a tranquilizer dart. The rescue ship escapes just in time, with Shapiro and the trader's captain both narrowly avoiding a giant hand of sand. Rand, left alone, stares up at the ship as it disappears, and then begins to pile handfuls of sand into his mouth.

Adaptations

Short animated film by

Maria Ivanova Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

. It was screened on several film festivals. Only the trailer is available on the internet (due to the

Dollar Baby The Dollar Baby (or Dollar Deal) is an arrangement by which American author Stephen King grants permission to students and aspiring filmmakers or theatre producers to adapt one of his short stories for $1. (He retains rights to his work. As he beg ...

contract) . It is the first official Russian Dollar Baby. It was made by one person: Maria directed it and animated. In February 2012, filmmaker Christian Skibinski acquired the rights to adapt "'Beachworld'" into an animated short film, which was scheduled to be released later that year. A live action version o
Beachworld
was released in 2015. A Dollar Baby version of ''Beachworld'' from OneNinth & Pointed Pictures premiered online in 2021 as part of the Stephen King Rules Dollar Baby Film Festival.

References

External links

* Short stories by Stephen King 1985 short stories Short stories adapted into films Science fiction short stories Works originally published in Weird Tales {{1980s-sf-story-stub

Plot summary

Adaptations

See also

References

External links