I can't believe no one has reviewed this yet!! People, work with me!!

Okay..._Nightmares and Dreamscapes_ made me very, very happy when it came out. And I will explain why.

Some of Stephen King's novels are more readable than others. All of them, on the first read, are wonderful. But the ones that stand the test of criticism are less the wild joyride through the funhouse (um...not naming any.. <<CHRISTINE>>...ahem...) than the solidly-welded craft that drops you headfirst into Hell (ie, _The Gunslinger_ series, _The Stand_, _The Dead Zone_...etc... everyone's got their 'favorites' list, but I am talking about the ones that have come to be regarded as classics in the field, over the years.)

So the debate about his books is always thorny.

But as far as his short stories are concerned, finding one that I hadn't read was always an unparalelled joy. And the only one I had seen from _Nightmares and Dreamscapes_ before it came out was 'Suffer the Little Children', just because I was a total horror junkie and found the anthology _Bare Bones_ on a library search.

So, when _Nightmares and Dreamscapes_ came out, I took some uh rather extreme measures to stay awake, and read the whole thing cover-to-cover in the lounge of the dorm where I was staying. And it was one of the happiest moments,literarily speaking, that I have ever had.

Because his short stories had lost nothing. It had been a while since King put out an anthology. A long while. Before and since, I was enjoying his experimentation with author-as-shapeshifter (things like _Rose Madder_ and _Insomnia_), and just generally noticed his work getting tighter and tighter as time passed, like a fine wine..

But _Nightmares and Dreamscapes_ made me feel like a little kid picking up that first Roger Ellwood ghost story anthology again. Because you literally never know what to expect next..and at every turn, you are quite pleasantly surprised. I must admit that I read King's stories as a pupil of the craft first and foremost, and that was yet another reason to be overjoyed.

I can remember the sun rising over North Philly, the long night over.. and a huge smile on my face. King had taken me into his world in a way that no one had for a long time. You could see his perspective switching into the Nineties, and it was a wonderful and inspiring thing.


Okay... a few teasers without summarizing, just because I can..

"The Moving Finger" is a richly symbolic piece of quickly-told 'Twilight Zone'-esque urban paranoia. 'Why do terrible things happen to bad people?' the yuppie losing his mind asks a police officer in the horribly cliff-hanging last scene. 'Because they can.' This story is very tightly told.. I actually got an entire paper out of it for a bull$hit fiction course right after I read it (the symbolism of the finger; ie, seven openings in the average bathroom, seven orifices on the human body, and the usual examination method by which the middle-aged urbanite finds out that they have cancer...) In symbolic form, "The Moving Finger" is the kind of news you never want to get. Imagine finding out that you have cancer...and deciding to remove it yourself before your wife finds out.
(shudder) Definitely needed a shower and detox after reading this story.

"Crouch End" is Stephen King's unique and startling take on Lovecraft's idea of hidden cities within cities, and that places of sacrifice hold bad blood. He uses London for this, richly characterized (and with spot-on Cockney slang; King lived in England for a short time)...and the idea of people being "lost" on a subway train, like being "lost" at sea, rather than for-a-fact "dead"... "SIXTY LOST IN UNDERGROUND HORROR".. Bruh. London is a scary place, with many cities within it, and King picks up on that well. For a cross-reference, check out the first story in _Night Shift_

"Rainy Season" is just stupidity. Necessary stupidity. King is good at not taking himself seriously, and anyone who is not a critic who reads this will lose their lunch. I had to read it two or three times to get what he was trying to do.... Other than the fact that an unnecessarily long time is spent on the gastric symphony of the old man's dog, I thought it moved like a well-paced episode of "Tales From the Crypt".. crossover, anyone?


Okay, I could go off, but... it's almost necessary for you to pick up the book at this point. I have shared too much. The lights are starting to flicker, and I can feel a breath of cold air in the room. Any minute now,
I
oh wait the door is off its hinges. maybe if I click the "submit" button soon enough I can run but they're already in here

[EDITOR'S NOTE: THIS EPINION WAS RECOVERED FROM THE CACHED COPY ON A HARD-DRIVE FOUND IN A DESERTED BASEMENT IN PORTLAND. POLICE SUSPECT IT TO BE THE WORK OF A CRANK.]



Recommended: Yes