The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

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What to expect

The short story OBITS won the 2016 Edgar for best short story.

Featuring introductions to each story, read by Stephen King.

A thrilling collection of stories - some brand new, some published in magazines, all entirely brilliant and assembled in one book for the first time - with a wonderful bonus: in addition to his introduction to the whole collection, King gives readers a fascinating introduction to each story with autobiographical comments on their origins and motivation...

The No. 1 bestselling writer has dazzled readers with his genius as a writer of novellas and short story fiction since his first collection NIGHT SHIFT was published. He describes the nature of the form in his introduction to the book: 'There's something to be said for a shorter, more intense experience. It can be invigorating, sometimes even shocking, like...a beautiful curio for sale laid out on a cheap blanket at a street bazaar.'

In THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS there is a curio for every reader - a man who keeps reliving the same life, repeating the same mistakes over and over again, a columnist who kills people by writing their obituaries, a poignant tale about the end of the human race and a firework competition between neighbours which reaches an explosive climax. There are also intriguing connections between the stories; themes of morality, guilt, the afterlife and what we would do differently if we could see into the future or correct the mistakes of the past.

Effervescent yet poignant, juxtaposing the everyday against the unexpected, these stories comprise one of King's finest gifts to his constant reader as well as to those fascinated by the autobiographical insights in his celebrated non-fiction title ON WRITING.

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS

Introduction read by Stephen King
Mile 81 read by Thomas Sadoksi
Premium Harmony read by Will Patton
Batman and Robin Have an Altercation read by Santino Fontana
The Dune read by Edward Herrmann
Bad Little Kid read by Dylan Baker
A Death read by Cotter Smith
The Bone Church read by Cotter Smith
Morality read by Mare Winningham
Afterlife read by Dylan Baker
Ur read by Holter Graham
Herman Wouk Is Still Alive read by Brooke Bloom and Kathleen Chalfant
Under the Weather read by Peter Friedman
Blockade Billy read by Craig Wasson
Mister Yummy read by Peter Friedman
Tommy read by Stephen King
The Little Green God of Agony read by Hope Davis
Cookie Jar read by Santino Fontana
That Bus Is Another World read by Fred Weller
Obits read by Fred Weller
Drunken Fireworks read by Tim Sample
Summer Thunder read by Will Patton

(P)2015 Simon & Schuster

Critics Review

  • He seduces you with an intimate author’s note introducing each tale, then proceeds to chill you to the bone. Do not read before bed

    Daily Mail

  • The Bazaar of Bad Dreams is the title it more than lives up to, but just as interesting as the stories themselves are their prefaces, in which he reveals what inspired each one. Who besides King would conjure a flesh-eating station wagon from a drive to see his college sweetheart?

    Observer

  • This collection of short works… reveals King’s mastery of the novella

    Guardian

  • A tense inventory of stories… King manages to portray a remarkable depth of character within the swiftness of a short story and manoeuvres a vast range of plots…There are treasures to be found in The Bazaar of Bad Dreams and those who love King… will find much to savour

    Independent

  • King is a laureate of small towns; his ear for dialogue is unerring … He is also one of those rare authors who can write well about childhood. Most potently, King can sketch a full-blooded character in just a few pen strokes. This gift comes to the fore in his short stories, where every syllable counts

    Sunday Telegraph

  • A more versatile writer than you might imagine

    Sunday Times

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