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A review by laertes
Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King
4.0
In my opinion, Nightmares and Dreamscapes is one of King's most varied collections. It contains everything from the gore-streaked (Home Delivery, The Moving Finger), to the quiet and thoughtful (It Grows on You, My Pretty Pony), a sci-fi tale (The House on Maple Street), and a couple of Bachman/Stark efforts (The Fifth Quarter, My Pretty Pony again). There's also a tele-play script (Sorry, Right Number), a piece of sports journalism (Head Down), a poem (Brooklyn August), and a couple of pastiches (The Doctor's Case, Umney's Last Case), along with the Lovecraftian-inspired Crouch End.
There are some genuine curios here -- but there are also a lot of classic King stories, and if you wanted to provide someone with a taster of King's work, this would be a good choice. The tales span King's career up to the point of the volume's publication in 1993, from early tales to contemporaneous creations.
Of course, this could see it accused of being a collection of sub-standard work, stories that weren't quite good enough to make it into other collections. This is something King himself discusses in the introduction and notes -- a lot of these tales have been published elsewhere in marginally different forms, and some were cut from previous volumes. Even so, these tales don't come across as second rate in the slightest -- the variety means that not everyone will like or appreciate every tale, but also that there's something for everyone. This truly is a volume that could appeal to everyone, as it showcases horror in all its various guises and forms, and demonstrates its versatility in a way few others can.
The perfect introductory volume -- and great for any King fan. If horror is your thing, you really don't have anything to lose.
There are some genuine curios here -- but there are also a lot of classic King stories, and if you wanted to provide someone with a taster of King's work, this would be a good choice. The tales span King's career up to the point of the volume's publication in 1993, from early tales to contemporaneous creations.
Of course, this could see it accused of being a collection of sub-standard work, stories that weren't quite good enough to make it into other collections. This is something King himself discusses in the introduction and notes -- a lot of these tales have been published elsewhere in marginally different forms, and some were cut from previous volumes. Even so, these tales don't come across as second rate in the slightest -- the variety means that not everyone will like or appreciate every tale, but also that there's something for everyone. This truly is a volume that could appeal to everyone, as it showcases horror in all its various guises and forms, and demonstrates its versatility in a way few others can.
The perfect introductory volume -- and great for any King fan. If horror is your thing, you really don't have anything to lose.