NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
King returns with another fantastically dark collection of mostly new short stories—delivered by an all-star group of narrators. The group includes some reprints (such as “Ur") but mostly new stories, and even two poems. Each narrator is a perfect fit for the stories he or she reads—it’s rare to find such a collection with no misses, but it’s not unusual for King. Narrating the stories’ introductions himself, King makes the listener feel like his confidant every time. Cotter Smith steals the show, masterfully performing several pieces, including the poem “The Bone Church,” the best performance of the collection. Smith’s craggy, emphatic projection and morose pauses capture the essence of the poem and tingle the spine. L.E. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 09/14/2015
Renowned author King’s impressive latest collection (after 2010’s Full Dark, No Stars) wraps 20 stories and poems in fascinating commentary. Each work’s preface explains what inspired it and gives readers insight into King’s writing methods, with occasional tidbits of his daily life. The stories themselves are meditations on mortality, destiny, and regret, all of which showcase King’s talent for exploring the human condition. Realistic and supernatural elements sit side by side. The tragic “Herman Wouk Is Still Alive” contrasts the charmed lives of two world-famous poets enjoying a roadside picnic with the grim existence of two single mothers who are taking one last road trip. “Under the Weather” tells of a man’s fierce love for his wife and the terrifying power of denial. “Summer Thunder,” a story about a man and his dog at the end of the world, is a heart-wrenching study of inevitability and the enduring power of love. Other standouts include “Ur,” about a Kindle that links to other worlds, and “Bad Little Kid,” about a terrifying murderous child (complete with propeller hat). This introspective collection, like many of King’s most powerful works, draws on the deepest emotions: love, grief, fear, and hope. Agent: Chuck Verrill, Darhansoff and Verrill. (Nov.)
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Wendeline O. Wright
A triumph…Stephen King’s shorter works have inspired readers, writers, filmmakers and other artists for more than 40 years. His newest short story collection, THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS, continues his tradition of compulsively readable short stories, novellas and narrative poems that will thrill fans looking for scares, surprise critics that write him off as a ‘genre’ author and inform artists about his personal creative process…[the] introductions are a fascinating look into the mind of one of the most popular writers in the world, and much like his writers’ manual “On Writing,” he provides readers with concise and insightful observations about the art of the written word…remarkably resonant… The last story of the collection, ‘Summer Thunder,’ takes the reader through the last days of two survivors of a worldwide nuclear holocaust… the last lines of the story are some of the most emotionally powerful sentences Mr. King has ever committed to paper — they will leave readers weepy, uplifted and satisfied…With THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS, Stephen King has achieved something rare: a short story collection with no weak spots. From a woman confronted with the limits of empathy and the reality of pain, to a man who sees the names of the doomed written in sand, the pieces play off of one another to create a cohesive reading experience filled with optimism, sadness and a search for answers to life’s unanswerable questions. While these stories may conjure up a few nightmares, they also will delight, inspire and, most importantly, entertain readers willing to make the journey."
The Tampa Bay Times Collette Bancroft
[King]has always had a wicked (in more ways than one) sense of humor, too, and it'soften on display along with the scary stuff in his new short story collection, THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS…One of the bonuses of Bazaar is that each story is preceded by a note from the author about its genesis… If you're looking for King's paranormal horror side, though, Bazaar has plenty to satisfy you…And if you want King in full funny tall-tale mode, head for Drunken Fireworks.It's the hilarious story of how its narrator, a Maine native named Alden who lives with his mother in a modest cabin on the ‘town side’ of Abenaki Lake,gets into an ever-escalating Fourth of July arms race with a rich guy on the other shore who's rumored to be ‘connected,’ if you know what I mean. One lesson: Never buy a firework called Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind.
The Los Angeles Times David Ulin
There are a lot of good stories in this collection: moving,disturbing and in between. ‘Summer Thunder’ imagines a post-apocalyptic world of startling beauty…In ‘Morality,’ a marriage goes south when a wife falls prey to the imprecations of her employer — not sexual, but ethical. The idea is that we are all complicit, fundamentally, in what happens to us, that the stain of sin is a collective one…When King gives himself a little room to move,the effects are not only unnerving but also deeply human, a series of riffs on love and loss.
USA Today Brian Truitt
Outstanding…King’s usual homespun style and storytelling swerves are fully evident, yet what’s really neat about Bad Dreams is the scribe’s introductions to each piece. Like little throwbacks to his 2000 manual/memoir On Writing,King tosses out bits of trivia and inspiration for each of his short form treats. A series of 150-mile drives in college led to Mile 81 and the most homicidal car since Christine. And a double whammy of trips to Applebee’s plus observing a road-rage incident in real time sparked his impressive imagination to create Batman and Robin Have an Altercation,an excellent piece pitting a father-and-son dynamic duo against Alzheimer’s and a strapping Texan. Short stories have a famous place in the King oeuvre, with the likes of The Body and RitaHayworth and Shawshank Redemption finding second lives on the big screen as Stand By Me and Shawshank Redemption. So it’s interesting to read how King likens himself to a midnight street vendor with these mini-tales and confesses they have given him ‘a soul-deep fear thatI will be unable to bridge the gap between a great idea and the realization ofthat idea’s potential.’ Like all the greats, though, his ability to grip thereader’s mind, body and soul with his prose makes it all look easy.
The Associated Press Rob Merrill
[A] meaty collection with interesting insights into the creative process of a writer who caused many sleepless nights. Well worth keeping on your bedside table for those evenings when, as King puts it:‘... sleep is slow to come and you wonder why the closet door is open, when you know perfectly well that you shut it.’"
People
Shortbut sweet…horror abounds in these collected tales…King confidently inhabitsvaried realms, from the American frontier, where a tale of justice plays out,to a Florida island with deathly secrets. He prefaces each story with anexplanation of its genesis, providing a fascinating glimpse into the mind ofremarkable writer.
The Seattle Times Doug Knoop
King’s constant readers will devour this new collection — the author is in rare form, not only talking to the reader directly in each introduction, but in making his characters fully human. Their hopes and their dreams are all on display. King says himself in the opening pages, ‘Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth.’ Indeed.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Cathy Jakicic
[King]serves up a potent mix of stories that land in and around the horror genre. Not surprisingly, most are classic King page-turners, but the choicest finds in this bazaar are the stories behind the stories or, more correctly, in front of them. King introduces each story with an explanation about the motivation for writing it. You don't need to be a writer — or a King fan — to find these fascinating.Anyone who's ever wondered about the creative process will find the author's path to each story revelatory…Each story is compelling in its own way,though I'm guessing each reader will have favorites and it's doubtful that any two lists will be the same.
The Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The best stories in THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS are the ones that read like they meant something to King... A Death, which bears the easy, plaintive prose of Kent Haruf, follows a sheriff preparing to go through with the hanging of a man who may have been falsely convicted of murder. Obits channels the snark and cynicism of contemporary culture as its hero, a writer of celebrity death notices for a Gawker-like website, discovers he can kill people by writing their obituaries while they’re still alive. Summer Thunder, the touching post-apocalyptic story that concludes the book, ends on a note of lovely melancholy. Death may be inevitable, King says. But to fret about it or dwell on it is a waste of time when life, even at its most difficult, can bear so many rewards.
Bangor Daily News John Holyoke
King fans are in for another in a long line of treats…THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS provides a tasty sampler that, like his other short story collections, showcases the master’s array of talents.
The Providence Journal Andy Smith
King has not lost his ability to keep readers turning the pages late into the night, nor his knack of grounding the supernatural within the most mundane details of American life…this collection of 20 pieces displays a surprisingly wide range…Some of the high points find King in familiar territory…But there are equally successful stories that do not rely on the supernatural…Aptly, the book closes with ‘Summer Thunder,’ an end-of-the-world story, this time caused by our old friend nuclear war. It's a quiet tale, just two friends and a dog out in the country waiting for the radiation to kick in, but there's a particularly moving finish.
The Fort Worth Star Telegram Preston Jones
BAD DREAMS packs plenty of bite into the 20 stories found here… a welcome dose of horror from the modern master. A large helping, too: Dreams weighs in at 495 pages, every one of which whips by as you plunge into one jolting tale after another… in the space of just a few pages, King can leave your nerves thoroughly jangled. As always, King conjures nightmares you don’t necessarily want to wake up from.
The Portland Press Herald Michael Berry
Stephen King taps economic uncertainty and his own deep well of creativity to create 20 unsettling stories…It may be seven more years before King delivers another collection such as this one. Depending on how ordinary people continue to fare in the face of harsh reality, his topics of concern may shift in the meantime, as may those of his audience. Readers can be thankful, however, that he’s still out there pitching stories with all the craft and guile he can muster.
The Boston Globe Ethan Gilsdorf
In the more harrowing tales of THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS, [it’s] the quotidian particulars of 21st century life — Walmart, DUI convictions, road rage, the stony realism of Maine’s rural poor — that haunt us…THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS, of course, wouldn’t feel like real Stephen King to some without a closing story from the apocalypse. In the grimly gorgeous‘Summer Thunder,’ another high point in the collection, a man,his stray dog, Gandalf, and a neighbor wait out radiation poisoning at the end of the world. The final line is killer.
Library Journal
★ 10/01/2015
This collection begins with an introduction by King on why he writes short stories. To the reader's delight, he also provides a backstory for each tale, enticing the reader with a memory or scenario that prompted that particular selection's birth. Some of the pieces have been previously published. Some have been polished and revised—"Ur" was originally written as a "Kindle Single" for Amazon. Veering from the short story format, King published "Tommy" as a poem in Playboy in 2010. For baseball fans, watch out for the unexpected ending in "Blockade Billy." With "The Little Green God of Agony," King hints at how his life experience shapes his works. VERDICT The stories collected here are riveting and sometimes haunting, as is the author's style. Surprise endings abound. King is in a class all by himself. Be prepared to read voraciously. [See Prepub Alert, 6/1/15.]—Susan Carr, Edwardsville P.L., IL
NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
King returns with another fantastically dark collection of mostly new short stories—delivered by an all-star group of narrators. The group includes some reprints (such as “Ur") but mostly new stories, and even two poems. Each narrator is a perfect fit for the stories he or she reads—it’s rare to find such a collection with no misses, but it’s not unusual for King. Narrating the stories’ introductions himself, King makes the listener feel like his confidant every time. Cotter Smith steals the show, masterfully performing several pieces, including the poem “The Bone Church,” the best performance of the collection. Smith’s craggy, emphatic projection and morose pauses capture the essence of the poem and tingle the spine. L.E. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2015-08-17
A gathering of short stories by an ascended master of the form. Best known for mega-bestselling horror yarns, King (Finders Keepers, 2015, etc.) has been writing short stories for a very long time, moving among genres and honing his craft. This gathering of 20 stories, about half previously published and half new, speaks to King's considerable abilities as a writer of genre fiction who manages to expand and improve the genre as he works; certainly no one has invested ordinary reality and ordinary objects with as much creepiness as King, mostly things that move (cars, kid's scooters, Ferris wheels). Some stories would not have been out of place in the pulp magazines of the 1940s and '50s, with allowances for modern references ("Somewhere far off, a helicopter beats at the sky over the Gulf. The DEA looking for drug runners, the Judge supposes"). Pulpy though some stories are, the published pieces have noble pedigrees, having appeared in places such as Granta and The New Yorker. Many inhabit the same literary universe as Raymond Carver, whom King even name-checks in an extraordinarily clever tale of the multiple realities hidden in a simple Kindle device: "What else is there by Raymond Carver in the worlds of Ur? Is there one—or a dozen, or a thousand—where he quit smoking, lived to be 70, and wrote another half a dozen books?" Like Carver, King often populates his stories with blue-collar people who drink too much, worry about money, and mistrust everything and everyone: "Every time you see bright stuff, somebody turns on the rain machine. The bright stuff is never colorfast." Best of all, lifting the curtain, King prefaces the stories with notes about how they came about ("This one had to be told, because I knew exactly what kind of language I wanted to use"). Those notes alone make this a must for aspiring writers. Readers seeking a tale well told will take pleasure in King's sometimes-scary, sometimes merely gloomy pages.
