Nightmares And Dreamscapes
by Stephen King (Viking)
by Carolyn Gaines
I know, I know. A book review on Stephen King – why? Well, I figured that pretty much most of his recent stuff has been marginal, as best (remember Needful Things? UGH!) so I thought I’d give the low-down and let you decide then if it’s worth $30.
Yes, here are another 750+ pages of what I’ve come to think of as Auto-Pilot writing from the “Master of Horror.” Nightmares is a mostly typical collection of short stories that, if you are a die-hard King fan, will satisfy your thirst for new material. If, however, you’re picking it up because you are thinking you might like to get into King, this is not the best choice, try Misery or Pet Sematary.
For the most part, these stories are done in the well-worn Stephen King fashion you know, the basic plot; main character comes face to face or mind to mind or face to mind with what usually is one of his own Bogeyman. That is, some greater evil manifests itself in physical form that the main character not only recognizes, but identifies with. The main character, then, is temporarily defeated by this evil only to come back and basically kick some supernatural ass and live happily ever after. This 70% of Nightmares won’t disappoint if you absolutely love Stephen King, his style, and his ramblings. It won’t, however, scare your socks off (IT), compel you to read faster and faster until you finally finish, (Misery), or get you so deeply involved with the characters that you care what happens to them (The Stand).
The other 30% of Nightmares is where King really starts to cook. Here is where he offers everything from murderous, man-eating teeth to Bat People, to houses taking off like rockets. There’s also something else kind of refreshing: King writing from a female point of view. He’s done it before in Tommyknockers, which I thought was refreshing but very foreign to him – and it showed. He attempts this female perspective two or three times in his latest, and it’s definitely more polished and entertaining. Not so much like a man trapped in a woman’s body.
As usual with King, Nightmares and Dreamscapes is for the most part predictable, with a few curves thrown in for fun. It’s good, easy reading, perfect for bedtime or just killing a couple hours during the afternoon. Lucky for you, I spent 30 bucks on it – take my advice, though and borrow it from a friend or wait for paperback.
