The Raft (short story)

Four college students – Randy, Deke, Rachel, and LaVerne – swim to a wooden raft on a remote Pennsylvania lake in October as a final outing before winter.

Randy notices a mysterious black substance floating on the surface that appears to chase the girls as they reach the raft.

Deke and LaVerne ridicule Randy's suspicions until Rachel remarks on the beautiful bands of colors on the patch's oily surface and touches it.

Randy contemplates swimming to shore while the creature eats Deke but realizes that means he would have to leave the unconscious LaVerne behind.

As the temperature drops, the two slowly embrace for warmth and gradually begin to have sex, Randy assuring her that he will keep an eye on the creature.

"The Raft" was adapted to film as a segment of the 1987 horror anthology movie Creepshow 2, directed by Michael Gornick from a screenplay by George A.

As the creature quietly slides back down into the lake, the screen pans over a no-swimming sign that also features a warning, which was hidden in overgrown reeds, near the now-abandoned Camaro.

A short time after the story was accepted, King was arrested in the town of Orono, Maine, for removing traffic cones from the street after one of them had damaged his car.