Bazaar of Bad Dreams
I finished The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King. It is a collection of his short stories over the years. Within the first three stories, I had already decided I didn’t like the book. The first story really had me interested in what was coming next. Then, there are a few stories that are just odd….but not in the typically odd Stephen King way. It was more like an “I don’t really get it” feeling. Towards the middle and end the stories really picked up to meet my expectations. I will say that he is not an amazing short story writer. With short stories you are forced to cut out the deep details and background sections, and that’s really what he’s known for. This is the kind of writer who can write about a doorknob for two pages.
The stories range from curious to scary. You have stories of:
- A disguised alien who prays on good samaritans on the road
- The choice to live your life over again knowing what will happen, but also knowing you can change nothing that happened
- A kindle that arrives on a professor’s doorstep is a portal to alternate realities that change the timelines and publishings of famous authors; with an additional feature that shows the local paper with articles in the future.
- A rich man who has an alien living inside him that feeds off him and gives him immense agony which forces him to be bedridden.
- A man who writes obituaries for living people, and then they die.
- And a few I can’t talk about because it would give the endings away!!
Out of the 20 odd stories, there only ended up being a couple I didn’t like at all. I’m curious as to how editors choose the lineup of short stories in a publication. I feel like they put in a few stories as fillers that aren’t that great. I tell myself to push through and finish the book and then the stories in the middle or end leave me saying “Holy Shit…these are stories I will talk about for a long time.” I think it’s a kiss of death for a book to put any bad stories towards the beginning. There are a lot of readers who don’t have the same need to push through and finish a book that I do.
I would recommend this book to people who are already fans of King, or to people who like short stories because they are something quick to get through that you can pick up here and there.
Malia's Pizza Rating
Totino’s pizza rolls. They’re quick and good!