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romankurys 's review for:
Nightmares & Dreamscapes
by Stephen King
Forgive me people, for I have blasphemed. It’s been a week or so since my last review and since the last time I finished a book.
I have rated Stephen King’s work a 2 star.
I am not proud of it, as King is my first love, my first literary kiss, my reading Godfather and yet...here we are.
There’s a small ray of redemption in this review for me: it’s a book of short stories. So it’s not really King King. That’s what I tell myself anyways.
I mean, this did not even FEEL or read like a Stephen King’s work. His other 2 short story collections weren’t my favorite either, I admit it they weren’t anywhere near this bad.
Yes, sure there were a couple of stories that peaked my interest, but overall it was very disappointing of a read.
Let me guide you through it.
1. Dolan’s Cadillac. This belongs in crime fiction. Ok story, I expected more “King” from an opener. This did the opposite to warm me up for the next story. I’m not a fan of crime fiction, so this was 1 star for me.
2. The End of the Whole Mess. Umm what did I just read? Kinda reminds me of Flowers for Algernon. Not terrible. 3 stars.
3. Suffer the Little Children. Ok. Now we are talking! I thought. This was a great story. 4 stars.
4. The Night Flyer. Ugh. Good potential. Modern Dracula. Just so much focus on the technical details of random stuff that I was bored most of the time. 2 stars.
5. Popsy. Good story #2! Solid, feels fun to read. 3 stars.
6. It Grows on You. What....I’m not sure what this was. Can’t tell you. I still don’t know what this story was about. Was confused in the beginning and more confused at the end. 1 star.
7. Chattery Teeth. Solid. Very solid. 3 stars.
8. Dedication. Disturbing story, I’ll give it that. But disturbing in a disgusting and confused way. It was ok, I suppose. At this point in the book, I’m happy with just OK. 3 stars.
9. The Moving Finger. Finally a good Stephen King like story, I felt was worthy of a name. Simple concept yet makes me take a glance and listen for scratching in my bathroom sync still. 4 stars.
10. Sneakers. Another solid one here. Very slow paced but also very creepy. Ghostlike, one might even say. 3 stars.
11. You Know They Have a Hell of a Band. This story did not age well pretty much at all. It is also very VERY heavy on American pop culture (or Rock culture I should rather say). It might have read better if I knew who all the people were but other then Elvis...it was just blah. I totally get how someone who knows all the names, would love this story. For me it was ok. 3 stars.
12. Home Delivery. Zombie apocalypse take. I think I’m just so over zombies at this point that I just sighed and chugged along through the story. I’m zombie burnt out. If you’re not, might be different for you. 2 stars.
13. Rainy Season. Another one where King came through for me. Solid, creepy, weird. 3 stars.
14. My Pretty Point. Get ready for a philosophical discussion about time. 30 pages long one. No real story here. Just a philosophical mind-break. For what it was, fine... 3 stars.
15. Sorry, Right Number. Finally. Finally. Finally. Yes! A great story. I think I was so excited after a mind numbing 200 pages or so that this just came thought really good. Why was it a play though? Why.... that was the only deterrent for me. 4 stars.
16. The Ten O’Clock People. Here I really thought things were beginning to look up. King saved the best of his stories for last. What a fun one. Really loved this story. 5 stars.
17. Crouch End. Yyyess! Another one I totally lost myself in. Lovecraft shines sooo good here. A perfect story. Loved it. 5 stars.
18. The House on Maple Street. Another really solid one. Funny idea. I would like to read a sequel. There probably won’t be one. But still an alien story of sorts is always fun. 4 stars.
19. The Fifth Quarter. Interesting take on heist/hitman story. Overall pretty short, packed with action and ok. 3 stars.
20. The Doctor’s Case. I like Sherlock Holmes but I just did not expect this in a volume of short stories by Stephen King. It caught my brain off guard. It was a good story though. Not a King’s story, but everyone is allowed to mess around here and there. Why not? 3 stars.
21. Umney’s Last Case. Really enjoyed this one. A fun and intriguing look inside the writer’s mind. Questions of identity. Reality. Duality. Who are we anyways? And while we’re at it what is real? 4 stars.
22. Head Down. And we plunged right down the gutter and into oblivion. It didn’t help that I’m not a baseball fan, obviously. But this entire story felt like I just read a transcription of a baseball game. That’s all this was. There was no spin to it...nothing. Just basically reading a baseball game. What.... 0 stars.
So here you go. I felt like I needed to pay a penance for my rating of 2 stars, but I stand by it. This did not feel like a book of Stephen King. It had its sparks but there were many times I wondered if I was not going to finish this. If I would put it on the shelf of DNF and move on.
Well...can’t win them all, right?
Personally, I’d suggest to skip this one. I couldn’t wait to put it back in my shelf so that it can collect dust for the next ever after.
Roman.
I have rated Stephen King’s work a 2 star.
I am not proud of it, as King is my first love, my first literary kiss, my reading Godfather and yet...here we are.
There’s a small ray of redemption in this review for me: it’s a book of short stories. So it’s not really King King. That’s what I tell myself anyways.
I mean, this did not even FEEL or read like a Stephen King’s work. His other 2 short story collections weren’t my favorite either, I admit it they weren’t anywhere near this bad.
Yes, sure there were a couple of stories that peaked my interest, but overall it was very disappointing of a read.
Let me guide you through it.
1. Dolan’s Cadillac. This belongs in crime fiction. Ok story, I expected more “King” from an opener. This did the opposite to warm me up for the next story. I’m not a fan of crime fiction, so this was 1 star for me.
2. The End of the Whole Mess. Umm what did I just read? Kinda reminds me of Flowers for Algernon. Not terrible. 3 stars.
3. Suffer the Little Children. Ok. Now we are talking! I thought. This was a great story. 4 stars.
4. The Night Flyer. Ugh. Good potential. Modern Dracula. Just so much focus on the technical details of random stuff that I was bored most of the time. 2 stars.
5. Popsy. Good story #2! Solid, feels fun to read. 3 stars.
6. It Grows on You. What....I’m not sure what this was. Can’t tell you. I still don’t know what this story was about. Was confused in the beginning and more confused at the end. 1 star.
7. Chattery Teeth. Solid. Very solid. 3 stars.
8. Dedication. Disturbing story, I’ll give it that. But disturbing in a disgusting and confused way. It was ok, I suppose. At this point in the book, I’m happy with just OK. 3 stars.
9. The Moving Finger. Finally a good Stephen King like story, I felt was worthy of a name. Simple concept yet makes me take a glance and listen for scratching in my bathroom sync still. 4 stars.
10. Sneakers. Another solid one here. Very slow paced but also very creepy. Ghostlike, one might even say. 3 stars.
11. You Know They Have a Hell of a Band. This story did not age well pretty much at all. It is also very VERY heavy on American pop culture (or Rock culture I should rather say). It might have read better if I knew who all the people were but other then Elvis...it was just blah. I totally get how someone who knows all the names, would love this story. For me it was ok. 3 stars.
12. Home Delivery. Zombie apocalypse take. I think I’m just so over zombies at this point that I just sighed and chugged along through the story. I’m zombie burnt out. If you’re not, might be different for you. 2 stars.
13. Rainy Season. Another one where King came through for me. Solid, creepy, weird. 3 stars.
14. My Pretty Point. Get ready for a philosophical discussion about time. 30 pages long one. No real story here. Just a philosophical mind-break. For what it was, fine... 3 stars.
15. Sorry, Right Number. Finally. Finally. Finally. Yes! A great story. I think I was so excited after a mind numbing 200 pages or so that this just came thought really good. Why was it a play though? Why.... that was the only deterrent for me. 4 stars.
16. The Ten O’Clock People. Here I really thought things were beginning to look up. King saved the best of his stories for last. What a fun one. Really loved this story. 5 stars.
17. Crouch End. Yyyess! Another one I totally lost myself in. Lovecraft shines sooo good here. A perfect story. Loved it. 5 stars.
18. The House on Maple Street. Another really solid one. Funny idea. I would like to read a sequel. There probably won’t be one. But still an alien story of sorts is always fun. 4 stars.
19. The Fifth Quarter. Interesting take on heist/hitman story. Overall pretty short, packed with action and ok. 3 stars.
20. The Doctor’s Case. I like Sherlock Holmes but I just did not expect this in a volume of short stories by Stephen King. It caught my brain off guard. It was a good story though. Not a King’s story, but everyone is allowed to mess around here and there. Why not? 3 stars.
21. Umney’s Last Case. Really enjoyed this one. A fun and intriguing look inside the writer’s mind. Questions of identity. Reality. Duality. Who are we anyways? And while we’re at it what is real? 4 stars.
22. Head Down. And we plunged right down the gutter and into oblivion. It didn’t help that I’m not a baseball fan, obviously. But this entire story felt like I just read a transcription of a baseball game. That’s all this was. There was no spin to it...nothing. Just basically reading a baseball game. What.... 0 stars.
So here you go. I felt like I needed to pay a penance for my rating of 2 stars, but I stand by it. This did not feel like a book of Stephen King. It had its sparks but there were many times I wondered if I was not going to finish this. If I would put it on the shelf of DNF and move on.
Well...can’t win them all, right?
Personally, I’d suggest to skip this one. I couldn’t wait to put it back in my shelf so that it can collect dust for the next ever after.
Roman.