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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Great short stories. Some better than others, but worth the read!
This is actually my first time reading Stephen King's short fiction -- I've always heard that he's excellent at it (to the extent that some prefer them over his novels), so I'm glad to see that it's true. I'm often more critical of short fiction, because it's such a hard form to do right, but I really really enjoyed this collection.
Looking at my 18 highlights, most of them are from King's pre-story introductions and asides about the writing itself, which really just underscores that I should read [b:On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft|10569|On Writing A Memoir of the Craft|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436735207s/10569.jpg|150292] already. My very favourite thing is when an author includes these non-spoilery mini-introductions to each chapter (Neil Gaiman does this as well), which contextualises the story to come or provides insight to what inspired them, or which authors they're riffing on for that particular story. It's like a behind-the-scenes making-of, and I love reading it.
As for the stories themselves... Many of them are not explicitly horror, as such; often it's a banal, everyday sort of tragedy. He describes the 'bazaar of bad dreams' as a collection of nightmares, essentially, which means they can range from a supernatural car on a murdering spree to the quotidian horror of looking after a parent with Alzheimer's. As a newer collection, written later in King's life, you can see his ruminations on death, either unexpected ("Premium Harmony", "Under the Weather"); or slowly encroaching, along with senility and retirement homes and issues of inheritance ("Batman and Robin Have an Altercation", "The Dune", "Mister Yummy", "The Cookie Jar", "Morality"); some stories that seem to contain echoes of vehicle horror or his van accident ("Mile 81", "Herman Wouk is Still Alive", "The Little Green God of Agony"); or others that are more quietly existential ("Afterlife", "Summer Thunder").
He says he's not a confessional writer, but I feel like you can see such seeds of his life sprinkled throughout these.
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams is a smorgasbord of different styles and genres too: from domestic tragedy to elegiac apocalyptic poignancy to gruesome paranormal horror to an old Western mystery. The only two I skimmed over/half-skipped were the narrative poems, because I just don't dig that format as much, though I do love that he was consciously echoing our man Robert Browning.
I won't list my thoughts on every single story, but a few faves:
In short, it was great. Solid 4/4.5 stars.
(Read as the 6th of my Horror Aficionados "Mount TBR" reading challenge, which just entails tackling horror books that were already on your to-read.)
Looking at my 18 highlights, most of them are from King's pre-story introductions and asides about the writing itself, which really just underscores that I should read [b:On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft|10569|On Writing A Memoir of the Craft|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436735207s/10569.jpg|150292] already. My very favourite thing is when an author includes these non-spoilery mini-introductions to each chapter (Neil Gaiman does this as well), which contextualises the story to come or provides insight to what inspired them, or which authors they're riffing on for that particular story. It's like a behind-the-scenes making-of, and I love reading it.
As for the stories themselves... Many of them are not explicitly horror, as such; often it's a banal, everyday sort of tragedy. He describes the 'bazaar of bad dreams' as a collection of nightmares, essentially, which means they can range from a supernatural car on a murdering spree to the quotidian horror of looking after a parent with Alzheimer's. As a newer collection, written later in King's life, you can see his ruminations on death, either unexpected ("Premium Harmony", "Under the Weather"); or slowly encroaching, along with senility and retirement homes and issues of inheritance ("Batman and Robin Have an Altercation", "The Dune", "Mister Yummy", "The Cookie Jar", "Morality"); some stories that seem to contain echoes of vehicle horror or his van accident ("Mile 81", "Herman Wouk is Still Alive", "The Little Green God of Agony"); or others that are more quietly existential ("Afterlife", "Summer Thunder").
He says he's not a confessional writer, but I feel like you can see such seeds of his life sprinkled throughout these.
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams is a smorgasbord of different styles and genres too: from domestic tragedy to elegiac apocalyptic poignancy to gruesome paranormal horror to an old Western mystery. The only two I skimmed over/half-skipped were the narrative poems, because I just don't dig that format as much, though I do love that he was consciously echoing our man Robert Browning.
I won't list my thoughts on every single story, but a few faves:
• "Premium Harmony": Heartbreaking in its conscious banality.
• "Batman and Robin Have an Altercation": That poignant mixture of aged parents, dementia, and coincidental factors all combining to cause a single monumentally unlucky accident is just so good.
• "Afterlife": I loooooove fresh takes on afterlives, and this one reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Other People a bit, though it's more purgatory than hell.
• "UR": My absolute favourite in the whole collection. Written as a Kindle Single, and thus incorporates the Kindle itself as a plot element -- but rather than being a cash-grab sell-out for Amazon, it's an eerie examination of technology and experiencing basically a glitch in the matrix, a rip in the seams of the universe, as the main character tinkers with a Kindle that can download information from alternate universes and even the future. It ties right into The Dark Tower and hints of bullets dodged, sea monsters waiting in the deep that our protagonist accidentally manages to swan right past.
• "Under the Weather": Absolute nightmare fuel, with the feel of an urban legend that you might have heard in 60 seconds -- except that it's expanded by being cast against the gloss of memory and the inability to cope with grief.
• "The Cookie Jar": King sometimes isn't great with endings -- this one peters out a little at the end -- but I loved the story-telling in this one, an entire life lived around a small and technically innocuous glitch in reality.
• "That Bus is Another World": Short and punchy, and with a helluva ending this time. Sort of a better musing on morality than the story actually called "Morality".
• "Summer Thunder": While [b:The Stand|149267|The Stand|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1213131305s/149267.jpg|1742269] tackles the apocalypse in broad scope, King describes this story as examining it in intimate focus -- which means I actually kinda like it more? It's these small vignettes, these small images captured after the end, that really drive in this melancholy mourning for a world that's passed. My heart really hurt after this one.
In short, it was great. Solid 4/4.5 stars.
(Read as the 6th of my Horror Aficionados "Mount TBR" reading challenge, which just entails tackling horror books that were already on your to-read.)
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A collection of short stories and novellas. I loved listening to this audiobook version as Stephen King introduced many of the stories with info about why, where, or when he wrote it, as well as reading a couple of them himself.
There was only one or two stories that I would consider under the horror genre...the rest were just sort of creepy. I'd probably say this for every Stephen King I've read so far, but it's amazing how much he can get you invested in his characters in a short amount of time. I love his writing and the rich lives of his characters.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Like most anthologies, it has its hits and misses, but, overall, I enjoyed myself. I have to say, "Bad Little Kid" was my favorite.