'The Bazaar of Bad Dreams'

The weather's pretty crazy in my part of the country.

It's not even Winter yet, and it's cold enough to _________.  I'll let you fill in the blank.

I haven't been running through books as I usually do at this time of year; that's what illness will do to you.  But the books I do manage to finish are quite interesting.  Especially this one. 'The Bazaar of Bad Dreams', by Stephen King, is a collection of twenty short stories. There are a few that I really wish had been longer, but I feel lucky that I had a chance to even read them.  Some are bazaar (see what I did there?  Did ya?), some are straight fiction 
(and very dazzling, if I might add).  And some of them make you think.

Some of these stories have never been published, and some of which Stephen has revised. He introduces each one with the story of it's origin, or the reason he wrote it. Very enlightening info from a man who doesn't shy away from sharing.

King's 20 short stories have connections: Themes of morality, the afterlife, guilt, what we would do differently if we could see into the future or correct the mistakes of the past.

'Afterlife' is about a man who died of colon cancer and keeps reliving the same life. Other stories address what happens when someone discovers that he has supernatural powers--the columnist who kills people by writing their obituaries in 'Obits', or the old judge who, as a boy, canoes to a small island and sees names written in the sand, the names of people who then die in freak accidents.  

Some of the stories are scary in another way:  They tell of real life and the real horror hidden within the nicest person.

Author 'Little Stevie' King

The story that really stayed with me was 'Ur', and when you read it, you'll know why.  

King's stories tend to become instant classics the minute the ink hits the paper.  He's done a great job with this new collection.  The stories have kept me up all night, and it wasn't because I was scared.

It's the writing.  The writing pulls me in and doesn't let me go.

When it starts pulling me under the bed, I'll send for help.




'The Bazaar of Bad Dreams', published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, is available at your local library and favorite bookstore.  ISBN 9781501111679