The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories [MM0033]

2016 MMPB in nice clean condition. This masterful bestselling story collection from O. Henry Prize winner Stephen King includes twenty-one iconic stories with accompanying autobiographical comments on when, why, and how he came to write (or rewrite) each one. 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."

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "One of the best anthology horror collections out there. Some of the stories are duds, some are more macabre than horrific, but the best of this book represents the best of what both horror and short stories have to offer. Three or four of these stories have stuck with me for life since having read them. This honestly might be my favorite of King's work, in close competition with The Stand."; "King's short stories have that ability to make your entire mind turn over once you've figured out where they're going (if you can). Under the Weather is the star here for me. An incredible short story that runs like a drumbeat until you can see where the road is going. Then it crashes."; "Twenty-one SK stories are packed into this nice, fat book. While there were two that I didn't care for, the rest were all so amazing and entertaining that I would give them 5+ stars."; "King is one strange man to have the kind of brain that can think these things up. I, therefore, must be strange also, because I was absolutely sat for each and every one of these stories. I usually find King quite a difficult author to read because of his tendency to go off on chapter-long tangents, so this compilation of short stories was the best way to enjoy his work without committing to reading a whole novel. I especially loved the segments at the beginning of each chapter exploring the inspiration and thoughts behind each one - a fascinating way to get a glimpse into King's mind."