The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories Kindle Edition

I’ve been a Stephen King fan since before I was allowed to read his novels. When I was in first grade, Mom would make me get in bed with her when Dad was away on business and she was reading _The Stand_ because she couldn’t bear to read it alone. I remember being entranced by the cover illustration of an evil-looking crow-headed beast locked in battle with his fair-haired opponent. As far as I know, I’ve read every book and story King has ever written, some of them more than once, and he’s long been one of my favorite authors. But _The Bazaar of Bad Dreams_ is the first King book I’ve reviewed. Not because I doubt my ability to offer an objective review but because it’s only the third King book I’ve read since I started posting reviews publicly, and after finishing _Revival_ and _Finders Keepers_, both of which I liked a lot, a few months ago, I didn’t have enough free time and wasn’t inclined to write a review of either. Also, I so strongly disagree with some of the more critical reviews posted here and on Goodreads that I couldn’t help but offer my own opinion._The Bazaar of Bad Dreams_ is a great book. It’s not a thrilling, chilling horror anthology, although there are plenty of frightening moments in several of the stories. It’s not a terrific short story collection, although there are several in it worthy of prize consideration (if you’re interested, I’ve given a superbrief synopsis and rating of each story and poem below). As some reviewers have complained, it’s not even a collection of new work. In fact, of the 18 stories and 2 poems in the book, I believe only three (“Bad Kid”, “Mister Yummy”, and “Obits”) are previously unpublished, although it’s unlikely that anyone but King’s most diehard fans has read all of the previously published items. But in the Author’s Note at the very front of the book, King warns prospective readers that some of the stories were published previously then goes on to explain why they’re included here. Other reviewers have also lamented that some of the stories seem highly derivative of King’s prior works, and that’s not an unfair statement. But with an oeuvre the size of King’s, dedicated readers are bound to find similarities, overlaps, and repeated themes or events here and there, so I don't consider it a valid criticism.What makes this a great book is that, more than he ever has in any previous book except _On Writing_, King has let the doors of some of the darker, dustier closets of his imagination creak open, allowing his insatiable Constant Readers to rummage around and see how things work in there. Each story and poem (there are only two poems) is preceded by a brief introduction explaining a bit about how King first came to conceive of it, or what events in his life preceded it, or what situation or other author’s work inspired it. He references authors, books, movies, and stories that have impressed or influenced him throughout his life and career, and he shares anecdotes about interactions with and his feelings for friends and family members. With this book, King has opened up a dialogue with his readers and seems to be offering answers to some of the questions he fields at book signings, public readings, and in letters from fans. In the introduction to “The Little Green God of Agony”, King states that he’s “not in the business of confessional fiction”, but _The Bazaar of Bad Dreams_ is a good blend of fiction and autobiography, which of course is always a form of confessional fiction. I am grateful for the opportunity to peek behind the curtain, and I imagine most King fans will be grateful too. If you’re a longtime King fan, even if you have read some of these stories before, the book is worth owning or at least reading. If you’ve never read anything by King but enjoy good short stories, some of which are a little scary, if you’re a casual King fan, or if you’re an aspiring author who wants a rare glimpse into an established writer’s mind & creative process, I heartily recommend _The Bazaar of Bad Dreams_.SYNOPSES & RATINGS:“Mile 81”: People-eating alien disguised as car, child heroes; 3.5 stars.“Premium Harmony”: A souring marriage, a killer argument; 3 stars.“Batman and Robin Have an Altercation”: Elderly father with dementia, a dutiful son, a surprising stand; 4 stars.“The Dune”: An aging adjudicator, a dubious younger attorney, a shocking revelation; 3 stars.“Bad Little Kid”: Nasty demon in disguise, a would-be hero, a lamentable end; 4 stars.“A Death”: Desolate western story, a naive sheriff, fitting justice; 2.5 stars.“The Bone Church”: Narrative poem of supernatural adventure & madness; 3 stars.“Morality”: Struggling couple, ailing & twisted benefactor, lucrative but suspect decision; 4 stars.“Afterlife”: Two poor schlubs have deja vu all over again; 3 stars.“Ur”: Pitiful professor, out-of-this-world tech, and a great save; 5 stars.“Herman Wouk Is Still Alive”: Two aging poets musing on tragic deaths; 3 stars.“Under the Weather”: Self-deluded lovesick adman surrenders to the inevitable; 3.5 stars.“Blockade Billy”: Colorful narrator, a baseball tale, a killer catcher; 4 stars.“Mister Yummy”: Two aging friends discover the Grim Reaper isn’t always a cloaked figure with a scythe; 3 stars.“Tommy”: Narrative poem of a death in the psychedelic, queer 1960s; 3.5 stars“The Little Green God of Agony”: Wealthy insufferable boor gets undeserved exorcism; 4 stars.“That Bus Is Another World”: Chilling tale of apathy-inducing ambition; 4 stars.“Obits”: Struggling boomerang child discovers a powerful talent and its unforeseen consequences; 5 stars.“Drunken Fireworks”: Hilarious escalating war between two wealthy families across a lake; 4 stars.“Summer Thunder”: Two men go out on their own terms after the end of the world; 4 stars.

When I was a kid I loved watching Creepshow, Tales from the dark side and Alfred Hitchcock. That's one funny thing that sticks out - shades of some of those old Alfred Hitchcock jumped out at me in these short stories. Not a bad thing ; most of my latter teenage years weren't good and it brought me back to a time before that when they were! In a nutshell , its a bunch of gems that only Stephen King can tell brought together in one enjoyable novel!

I waited so, so long for this book, and while I cannot say I disliked it, I do feel that it wasn't as strong as some of Mr. King's other collections. There were some stories here I loved, and some that, as some of Mr. King's more colorful characters might say, "Sucked the big one." I don't want to bog you down in Reviewland, so I'll just give a sentence or two for each, and an individual rating. It may or may not average out to four stars, but I'm giving it one for the cover. Sue me.Mile 81 - Yeah, no. This one dragged on too long by at least two devourings. Two stars, max.Premium Harmony - ....not sure if I was meant to be scared or horrified or grossed out by this. I do have to say that I felt more for the dog than Mary. Does that make me a bad person? Three stars.Batman and Robin Have an Altercation - This one was great. Extra love for the ending. Five stars.The Dune - Glimmers of Duma Key. Liked but not loved. Characters not what I expect from King - too flat. Three stars.Bad Little Kid - I actually liked this one a lot. Would've liked a better explanation on the transfer of the bad juju, but still. Four stars.A Death - Very DT vibe to this one, without the fantasy aspect to the Westernishness. (No, that is not a word. I acknowledge that freely.) Four stars.The Bone Church - I hate narrative poetry. Ew. This could have been fantastic as prose. One star.Morality - Riveting and with fascinating characters. Four stars.Afterlife - What a completely horrifying view of what happens when we die. Like a not funny but terrifying Groundhog Day. Four stars.Ur - Another appearance by my least favorite King baddies. They sucked in Hearts in Atlantis, they sucked in The Dark Tower series, and they suck here. Two stars.Herman Wouk Is Still Alive - Not a fan of this one much. I think Brenda and Jasmine are caricatures of clichés of drunken fat moms. Shame on this story. One star.Under the Weather - OMG the creep factor of this one. Undiminished by guessing the ending. Five stars.Blockade Billy - I don't care if this was about baseball. It wasn't just about baseball, and I loved it. Five stars.Mister Yummy - Weird, and not in a great way. Three stars.Tommy - UGH. Shades of Allen Ginsberg. Please, no. One star.The Little Green God of Agony - Very creepy and well characterized. "Monster" a little weird, but did like the ending. Four stars.That Bus Is Another World - Sometimes neurotic MCs work, sometimes they don't. I didn't like this one very much. Two stars.Obits - This one had a refreshingly original premise, and (despite warnings to the contrary) I thought the ending worked well. Four stars.Drunken Fireworks - Meh. Reminded me of Delores Claiborne, but with none of DC's compelling characterizations and horror. Three stars.Summer Thunder - Cannot compete with The Stand, obviously, since it's not 89879349871234098143 pages long, but a horrifying mini-apocalypse just the same. Four stars.TL;DR: Read this for the high points, but expect some low ones, as must be with any short story collection. You'll enjoy some of them, at least, because there's something for everyone here. Truly a bazaar.

I've read quite a bit of King, including at least one other short story collection. This is the first 'modern' King I've read (as in, from the current century) & I found it underwhelming. I skipped by three stories as they didn't interest me. The others were fine, but not amazing or thought-provoking.Something that bothered me was the first story, based on modern day children and seen partially through the eyes of a ten year old, yet told very firmly in King's old-fashioned kids voice. The slang used, the knowledge, the names - they're not right. Find me a kid named Normie in 2022 and I'll give you a shiny penny. The names are outdated and the way the kid thinks is outdated. If kids have gangs nowadays, they don't have names like 'The Raiders' or whatever they were called. If this story was set in, perhaps, the 1950s - it would be fine and I'd think nothing of it, but I didn't enjoy the dissonance. With all this said, I do believe the first story was the best in terms of storyline (followed by the last story).

The prolific Stephen King’s latest is a feast of short stories and novellas that indicate that what we see as reality is far from benign; and can induce nightmares.Having been a reader of King since my teenage years, I have found that his Novellas and Short Stories to be particularly unsettling. This new collection contains some of his darkest tales, often with a spin on morality and social norms. They also allow us to peep into one of King’s themes; that our reality may coexist with others, in terms of shared dimensions.As this is a collection by the King of Horror, these dimensions that impinge upon our own; contain horrors that we have difficulty comprehending, like ‘Mile 81’ where a dangerous vehicle stalks an abandoned freeway rest-area [aka ‘Motorway Services’], or the evil child in ‘The Bad Kid’, who causes death and mayhem to whom he stalks; even right up to the final walk of a death row prisoner.It contains some new work, though a significant proportion of the stories here have been available previously; but King has updated them for this collection [as he indicates in his introduction].I would make specific mention of the surreal ‘Ur’ which was first published when the eBook / Kindle boom gathered momentum. Though one should remember that King was an early pioneer of the ebook, with his first forays being ‘The Plant’ [which remains uncompleted], and ‘Riding the Bullet’. ‘Ur’ features a college professor whose strange eReader is one that contains work by established and famous writers, now deceased – but the works within the eReader are from a different dimension, or are they?There is also pathos blended in with the horror, such as in ‘Batman and Robin have an Altercation’, which has the theme of the ravages of age upon a Son and his elderly Father whose mental faculties are dimmed, but not totally gone.The short introductions by King where he prefaces the stories add welcome insight, showing the story in context as well as inception.Specific favourites are the very droll ‘Drunken Fireworks’, which started life as an audio novella, and is indeed a very engaging morality tale that when placed into context, mirrors the inherent madness in humanity’s need for the arms race. Though my favourite is the dark reflection of age and the mysteries of death in ‘The Dune’ [originally published as a story in the British literary journal Granta].I subsequently purchased the audio version of this collection from Audible, which is remarkable, as King prefaces the stories vocally, but each is narrated by professional actors and vocal artists, such as Craig Wasson; and these narrations brings the stories to life [and death].It is of little surprise that this collection was recognised by The Mystery Writers of America [MWA], with the story ‘Obits’ gaining an Edgar Award.Highly recommended, and as a paperback or audiobook, these tales will unsettle as well as entertain in equal measure, with the promise of the Bad Dreams as alluded to by the title.Ali KarimAssistant EditorShots Magazine[...]

When I first began my blog, almost three years ago now, Stephen King's 'It' was one of the books that I chose to read because I'd started it and wanted to finish. Sitting at 1000 pages plus, it took me a LONG time to do so and while I did enjoy it, I didn't feel as fully invested in it as I have done in other books of the same length (Martin's 'A Song Of Ice & Fire' series for example). This was a real shame as Horror is one of my favourite genres, I had really liked the film, and King is supposed to be a master of scares and the 'creep factor'. It's taken me a long time to get back to this guy as I really want to give him another chance to win me over. I chose 'The Bazaar Of Bad Dreams' because I thought maybe some of his shorter stories would win me over.Firstly, let me say that these stories are still quite long. Some of them even have mini chapters. I didn't necessarily see this is as a bad thing but it reconfirmed my idea that this book was a much better idea than ploughing into one of his full length novels again (though classics like 'The Shining' and 'Christine' are definitely beckoning to me). King's writing is exquisitely detailed and in this format, that reflected on him a lot better than it would have done had the book been so long. I really loved the variation within the stories here too: there's something for everyone though all contain elements of the horrifying, be it supernatural or not. Particular favourites of mine include 'Obits' which obviously won the 2016 Edgar Award for a good reason, 'Summer Thunder' which allowed a small glimpse into a post-apocalyptic world filled with radiation poisoning, quiet and tragic memories, and 'Ur' which made me VERY curious to read King's 'Dark Tower' series. 'Bad Little Kid' was also great, giving me fond memories of the things I had enjoyed about 'It' in a condensed form.One of the things that I probably found most frustrating was King's penchant for ambiguous endings. He says himself that he has a soft spot for them and while they did work for the stories, they also left me feeling liken I'd missed out on something important. Stories such as 'That Bus Is Another World', 'A Death' and 'The Little Green God Of Agony' particularly made me feel this way. King, for the most part, likes to stick with what he knows as well. Most of the stories are set in a shady, grubby Maine and while it meant that he knew the place well, I would have loved some more variety in the settings. A lot of the characters felt the same too in the way that they spoke and thought about things so it didn't give much variety as a whole. This is a great collection of stories other wise and I am definitely willing to have another go at one of King's other novels in the future.

This is probably 4.5 stars for me. It has a different feel to many of Stephen King's other volumes of short stories. There is less out and out horror and more; I'm not sure how to best describe it, drama maybe. The interesting introductions to each story give you an insight into King's thinking. For example "Premium Harmony" a ten page short, was written by King after he had a read a lot of Raymond Carver. I think this is a trait that has been developing for many decades; going right back to Different Seasons. He seems to visit more mainstream subject matter now than he used to.Fear not though, there is certainly horror here, but some of the time it's mixed with pathos and sadness, such as the 17 page "Herman Wouk Is Still Alive". This is a horrific story, inspired by real events, but the nature of the 2 sets of characters involved takes it beyond being just a short horror story. Well in my view anyway!As with all of King's writing it's his imagination that takes your breath away, and this group of stories is no different in that regard. The variety of the material and the ideas are simply amazing. I don't know how he does it. The title of this volume is perhaps a reference to himself, as I'm sure I've read that if King stops writing he starts having bad dreams.

I bought the Kindle edition of a few of Stephen King’s books over the last week because I’ve read all the books on my shelves and my husband hasn’t done as I’ve asked and gone into the loft to get the many boxes of books I shoved up there five years ago, many of which I will have forgotten I own. I like this book because it is recent SK, and I like that he gives notes prior to each story, because if I can’t read short notes provided by a hugely successful author, who the hell do I think I am?Horror and gore are present, as are King’s usual themes: life, death, happiness, the unexplained, ridiculous unworldly happenings that are somehow made real in the imagination. I wondered if age has mellowed him somewhat, and I think it maybe has to some extent, but SK still doesn’t shy away from calling a zombie spade a zombie spade. This collection is one of an author who shares his success but still recognised his limitations, and he himself writes that writing is always a learning curve, however successful you are at doing it. And not every short story can be loved by everybody, right?I remember reading Night Shift for the first time. If there is anyone out there who hasn’t read King’s short story collections before, I would urge you to begin with that particular one. In fact, I know for a fact that my thumbed and moth-eared copy is still in the loft, waiting for my husband to bring it down.I might be too scared to go up there myself.