Nightmares and Dreamscapes is a collection of twenty-four short stories, first published in September of 1993, though many of the individual stories were published earlier, at least one as early as 1971. I first read it in 2010, and I was surprised to find I'd forgotten a number of excellent stories from this volume.
I remembered a few - Dolan's Cadillac, Chattery Teeth, Popsy, Dedication, and Sorry Right Number all stuck with me. I did manage to totally forgot about Stephen King's take on Sherlock Holmes, and about The Moving Finger, which is spectacularly creepy.
In 1993 Stephen King was forty-six. By this point he was over his severe addiction phase and in the process of managing it. His eldest daughter was twenty-three while his youngest son, Owen, was sixteen. The collection includes an essay on twelve-year-old Owen's experience with little league, something which isn't really a thing in Britain. We play rounders. I actually don't know the rules of baseball, which really affected my enjoyment of the essay. I did enjoy reading about the coach, who pointed out that having been part of a team with kids from different walks of life, in a situation where all that matters is what you do, is something that stays with you. That was lovely.
I also liked learning that, like Stephen King himself, Owen King was over six feet tall as a teenager. I don't know many people, other than myself, who reach their full growth before their teens. I'm only 5'6, but that was pretty big for a twelve-year-old.
I've now finished 36 books out of 93, which puts me 39% of the way through this project. It's only taken me three years so far.
- 15/6/13
Carrie - 1974 - June 15th 2013
'Salem's Lot - 1975 - June 30th 2013
The Shining - 1977 - July 28th 2013
Rage - 1977 - July 31st 2013
Night Shift - 1978 - August 28th 2013
The Stand - 1978 - March 20th 2014
The Long Walk - 1979 - March 23rd 2014
The Dead Zone - 1979 - June 2014
Firestarter - 1980 - August 16th 2014
- 15/6/13 to 17/8/14 - 9
Roadwork - 1981 - 23rd August 2014
Danse Macabre - 1981 - 7th September 2014
- BONUS: Small World (Tabitha King) - 10th September 2014
Cujo - 1981 - 20th September 2014
The Running Man - 1982- 22nd September 2014
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - 1982 - 30th September 2014
Creepshow - 1982 - 1st October 2014
Different Seasons - 1982 - 24th October 2014
- 17/8/14 to 25/10/14 - 8 (17)
Christine - 1983
Pet Sematary - 1983
Cycle of the Werewolf - 1983
The Talisman - 1984
Thinner - 1984
- 25/10/14/14 to 14/07/2015 - 5 (22)
Skeleton Crew - 1985
It - 1986
The Eyes of the Dragon - 1987
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three - 1987
Misery - 1987
- 14/7/15 to 18/10/2015 - 5 (27)
The Tommyknockers - 1987
Nightmares in the Sky - 1988
The Dark Half - 1989
- 18/10/2015 to 22/12/2015 - 3 (30)
Four Past Midnight - 1990
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands - 1991
Needful Things - 1991
Gerald's Game - 1992
Dolores Claiborne - 1992
Nightmares and Dreamscapes - 1993
- 22/12/2015 to 24/4/2016 - 6 (36)
Insomnia - 1994
Rose Madder - 1995
The Green Mile - 1996
Desperation - 1996
The Regulators - 1996
Six Stories - 1997
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass - 1997
Dark Tower: Little Sisters of Eluria (Legend) - 1998
Bag of Bones - 1998
Storm of the Century - 1998
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - 1999
The New Lieutenant's Rap - 1999
Hearts in Atlantis - 1999
Blood and Smoke - 1999
"Riding the Bullet" - 2000
On Writing - 2000
Secret Windows - 2000
The Plant - 2000
Dreamcatcher - 2001
Black House (with Peter Straub) -2001
Everything's Eventual - 2002
From a Buick 8 - 2002
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla - 2003
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah - 2004
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower - 2004
Faithful - 2004
- BONUS: 20th Century Ghosts (Joe Hill) - Jan 2005
- BONUS: Josie and Jack (Kelly Braffet) - Feb 2005
- BONUS: We're All in This Together (Owen King) - 2005
The Colorado Kid - 2005
Cell - 2006
Lisey's Story - 2006
Blaze - 2007
Duma Key - 2008
Just After Sunset - 2008
Stephen King Goes to the Movies - 2009
Ur - 2009
Under the Dome - 2009
Blockade Billy - 2010
Full Dark, No Stars - 2010
Mile 81 - 2011
11/22/63 - 2011
American Vampire (with Scott Snyder) - 2011
"Throttle" (with Joe Hill) - 2012
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole - 2012
A Face in the Crowd (with Stewart O'Nan) - 2012
"In the Tall Grass" (with Joe Hill) - 2012
"GUNS" - 2013
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County - 2013
Joyland - 2013
The Dark Man: An Illustrated Poem - 2013
Doctor Sleep - 2013
Mr. Mercedes - 2014
Revival - November 2014
Finders Keepers - 2015
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams - 2015
End of Watch - 2016
After Insomnia I'll be reading Rose Madder, my favourite of Stephen King's work. I have the audiobook, which is an amazing performance. I also have The Green Mile as an audiobook and as a Kindle book, because I forgot about one of them when I bought the other. I normally avoid doing that, but now that I have at least I can experiment with Amazon's whispersync feature. Then another three I've not read before, after which I can finally get on with The Tower series.
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