Saturday 25 February 2017

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King - Book Review (What's in a Name 2017 Challenge)

I picked up a copy of The Bazaar of Bad Dreams for a couple of reasons:

1) it would fit nicely as part of my 2017 Reading Challenge - the 'What's in a Name' challenge as set by Charlie over on The Worm Hole (http://wormhole.carnelianvalley.com/w...)
2) I don't read a lot of short stories and I thought that it would be an interesting change from novels
3) I hadn't read any Stephen King for a long time - must have been at least 25 years since I finished 'It' and 'The Shining'. I'm sure I've read more but, in all honesty, whilst I've enjoyed them, I can't say that I've been enthused enough to pick King's books up on a regular basis (or remember them it seems!).

All in all I must say that I enjoyed this collection of stories - some have a horror-theme, some are genuinely moving and others are downright weird (in a good way!). I found myself chuckling regularly at King's black humour that is evident throughout. Whilst there were a couple that maybe didn't draw me in as much (weirdly enough Mile 81, the first story in the collection, was one of these) the vast majority hit the spot more accurately (Summer Thunder and Morality being a couple of good examples.)

Another aspect of the book that I really enjoyed was King's introduction to each story. Each introduction adds a extra dimension to the story as the author allows us a glimpse into his creative process.

Maybe I won't leave it so long before I read another of Mr King's pieces of work ;)


4 stars out of 5

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