Dexter Stanley

Dexter Stanley is a character in the 1982 Stephen King horror anthology film Creepshow, in the segment entitled "The Crate". He was played by the late Fritz Weaver.

Biography
Dexter Stanley was the best friend of Henry Northrup. Both of them taught as professors at the prestigious Horlicks University. Dexter, or "Dex", as he liked, was the head of Horlicks' zoology department. During a faculty party, Dex received a call from Horlicks janitor Mike Latimer about an old wooden crate he had discovered hidden under the stairs in the basement of Amberson Hall, Horlicks' science building. Initially Dex was uninterested until Mike mentioned the date stenciled on it: June 19, 1834.

His interest piqued, Dex left the party and drove to Amberson Hall where he and Mike took the crate, wrapped in heavy duty chains, into Dex's classroom. The two then set about opening it, and quickly wished they hadn't. When a curious Mike stuck his hand inside, he was seized by something ferocious and powerful within, and despite all of Dex's efforts to free him, the unfortunate janitor was dragged inside the crate and devoured. After catching a glimpse of the creature inside the crate, a terrified Dex ran from the room and encountered Charlie Gereson, one of his students. Charlie didn't believe his professor's story, until Dex showed him the blood-splattered classroom.

There was only one problem. The crate was gone, following a trail of blood, they discovered the thing in the crate had moved it back under the stairs, "Where it's felt safe for so long." Against Dex's advice, Charlie ventured underneath the stairs with the intention of retrieving Mike's shoe (all that remained of him) for evidence. Although he got the shoe and handed it to his professor, he was attacked by the monster, and violently killed by it in front of Dex's eyes. Once again Dex fled, this time all the way out of the building and to the home of Henry Northrup, armed with Mike's bloody shoe as evidence. To his immense relief, Henry believed his story.

Dex explained how he thought about chaining the crate back up with the monster inside, and dumping into the water-filled Ryder's Quarry, however he was too nerve-wracked to do it himself. Giving him some sleeping powder in his drink to knock his colleague out and let him sleep, Henry promised Dex he'd take care of it. By the time Dex awoke the following morning, he discovered that Henry had indeed chained up the crate and disposed of it and its occupant in Ryder's Quarry — but not before luring his abusive wife Wilma Northrup to the campus so the beast could claim her as its final victim.

Both Dex and Henry looked forward to a lifetime of friendship and chess games, little suspecting that even at that very moment, the monster was bursting free of the crate at the bottom of the quarry.