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The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

Quite possibly the greatest thing this collection has to offer is not the short stories it contains, but a look into the creative process of the author himself. Before each entry, Mr. King provides the reader with some insight into the evolution, spark of an idea, and/or history of the story you are about to read. That is not to say that the stories are lacking. They are indeed entertaining, although casual fans might find themselves disappointed that not all the stories have that Stephen King signature style. And that just might be what makes this collection so great in my opinion. Because there is no formula assigned to the collection, the reader is delivered into new adventures as they move from story to story. The opening story “Mile 81” is classic King, a story about a rest stop with deadly intentions for passing motorists. This story is followed by “Premium Harmony”, a story that disturbed me the most in the entire collection. Without giving away the plot, I found the main character to be too realistically despicable. Three of the most memorable stories of the entire collection are “Ur”, “Bad Little Kid”, and “Blockade Billy”. “Ur” is a unique take on E-Readers and is possibly the best in the collection suited to film adaptation. “Bad Little Kid” is almost what it sounds like with that special Stephen King style to make it all his own. My thoughts after reading it was “Well I guess if Pennywise had a child...” “Blockade Billy” is, well its almost to gripping to be a work of fiction. It reads like a tragic sports biography that you'll swear actually happened. Most telling of this collection was not my desire to complete it as fast as I could. Rather, I found myself wanting to savor these stories. I read one per night and often found myself referring back to Mr. King's intro to each tale. One a night is the recommended pace from this reader. This is a collection to internalize, to ponder, and reflect on.

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