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kattheloremistress 's review for:
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
by Stephen King
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.
For a full review, see here: http://chasedbymyimagination.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/book-review-bazaar-of-bad-dreams.html
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.
For a full review, see here: http://chasedbymyimagination.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/book-review-bazaar-of-bad-dreams.html