The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

Stories

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Stephen King, Dylan Baker, Brooke Bloom, Hope Davis, Kathleen Chalfant, Santino Fontana, Peter Friedman, Cotter Smith, Will Patton, Edward Herrmann, Frederick Weller, Mare Winningham, Craig Wasson, Thomas Sadoski, Tim Sample

Winner of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award

Includes the story “Premium Harmony”—set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine

The masterful #1 New York Times bestselling story collection from O. Henry Prize winner Stephen King that includes twenty-one iconic stories with accompanying autobiographical comments on when, why, and how he came to write (or rewrite) each one.

For more than thirty-five years, Stephen King has dazzled readers with his genius as a writer of short fiction. In this collection, he introduces each story with a passage about its origins or his motivations for writing it.

As Entertainment Weekly said about this collection: “Bazaar of Bad Dreams is bursting with classic King terror, but what we love most are the thoughtful introductions he gives to each tale that explain what was going on in his life as he wrote it."

There are thrilling connections between stories; 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. In “Afterlife,” a man who died of colon cancer keeps reliving the same life, repeating his mistakes over and over again. Several stories feature characters at the end of life, revisiting their crimes and misdemeanors. Others address what happens when someone discovers that he has supernatural powers—the columnist who kills people by writing their obituaries in “Obits;” the old judge in “The Dune” who, as a boy, canoed to a deserted island and saw names written in the sand, people who then died in freak accidents. In “Morality,” King looks at how a marriage and two lives fall apart after the wife and husband enter into what seems, at first, a devil’s pact they can win.

“I made these stories especially for you,” says King. “Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth.”

Stories include:
-Mile 81
-Premium Harmony
-Batman and Robin Have an Altercation
-The Dune
-Bad Little Kid
-A Death
-The Bone Church
-Morality
-Afterlife
-Ur
-Herman Wouk Is Still Alive
-Under the Weather
-Blockade Billy
-Mister Yummy
-Tommy
-The Little Green God of Agony
-Cookie Jar
-That Bus Is Another World
-Obits
-Drunken Fireworks
-Summer Thunder

Doesn't Belong in the Horror Genre

This is a really nice collection, but it doesn't belong in the Horror Genre. I realize that it is almost automatic to assume that "because it was written by THE ONE AND ONLY Stephen King", that it must be horror. Well I disagree. I've read quite a bit of King's work over the last 30 years, and what I've noticed is that the older he gets, the more his stories revolve around the issue of mortality. These stories range from "it was okay" to "wow, that was amazing". but the one thing that I believe holds true, is that these are not the type of stories the man used to write. While listening to this book, I found myself hoping that the next one would send chills down my spine. Well I'm almost through the book and "no such luck". I don't want to take anything away from this collection, as the stories are truly heart-warming. I also know that horror is somewhat relative to the perceptions of the reader. So I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions. But to me, this is not Horror. Thanks for reading my review.

whispering is so irritating!

it's a great book, and I loved listening to it. but I really need to point out to you that if the narrator whispers, I have to turn my volume way up to hear it. then the next line is normal voice, or even yelling, and my ears ring!!! volume balancing is a thing, ppl.

Amazing

The voice work is so good, so much talent, bringing the stories to life. Stephen King is a master and I love hearing him describe how and why he wrote these. Wonderful little literary gems of fantasy and horror.

horrible

some of the stories were disturbing and depressing without the fun of other Stephen King books

King keeps getting better!

What made the experience of listening to The Bazaar of Bad Dreams the most enjoyable?

The narration was perfect and as an added bonus, Stephen king speaks before each story telling a little about how it came to be. This is one of his better collections of short stories and all with a similar theme.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dune was my favorite story. I think of it as the perfect story. It ends with a subtle bang and leaves you wanting just a little more even though you got everything you needed. Voila! Perfect story you won't forget

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I had planned to only read a couple stories a day, but once I started I couldn't stop. It's that good.