August 2011's SK Flavor of the Month - Nightmares and Dreamscapes

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August 2011's SK Flavor of the Month - Nightmares and Dreamscapes

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1jseger9000
Ago 1, 2011, 10:15 am

Hey everyone. Is it hot enough for you?

The weather ought to make this a good time to read Dolan's Cadillac (which if memory serves involved some hard work in hot weather).

I've really been looking forward to Nightmares and Dreamscapes. I forget what happened, but my last attempt, I only got about half way through. I was in the middle of moving from one end of California to the other. I remember reading The Moving Finger and Sneakers on a friend's parent's couch. I think those are the last two stories I read.

2jseger9000
Modificato: Ago 1, 2011, 10:24 am

I have a neat picture of the Scarecrow from the first hardcover edition that I was gonna use as a group image, but LT is being wonky about uploading pictures right now.

edit: Nevermind. It worked. I don't know why it took five minutes, but whatever...

3Bookmarque
Ago 3, 2011, 10:26 am

Because I couldn't decide what to read in July at one point, I started this and have some notes on some stories that I took as I read -

Dolan's C - such sympathy King evokes for the hero. In only a few words I want Dolan dead, too.

N.F. - hm...the guy wears two different watches. oopsie.

Suffer - nice twist on the mean teacher thing. Just when you think you know where he's going, it changes.

Popsy - Night Flyer as grandpa? What is it with the capes?

It Grows on You - Crepuscular is used wrong...that doesn't happen often.

Moving F - oh how "Weird Tales". super campy.

Sneakers - no metal band on earth would EVER call themselves The Dead Beats. And usually there are two clavicles per person, not one. I think he meant to say sternum.

Hell of a Band - oh yes, that peculiar little town again. I read the Bradbury story mentioned in this right after and it was a nice double feature.

Home D - Zombies before they were fashionable. Read this one in an illustrated King collection and that was pretty cool.

Rainys gets another story mention, this time The Lottery which I did not read right after.

4jseger9000
Ago 4, 2011, 12:24 am

#3 - have you been flipping to the Notes section at the end of the book? I love reading his commentary on the stories right after I finish them. I'd like the comments right after the story, but I can see that wouldn't be appreciated by most.

I haven't kept notes on the stories (though I should), but since I'm not as far along as you, here's what I remember:

Dolan's Cadillac: I agree. You want Dolan dead right away. A nicely done Poe-esque story. I kept thinking it would pair nicely with Night Shift's The Ledge.

This story was turned in to a film (starring Christian Slater? I'm guessing he didn't shave his head for the part). Should be in the mail. I'll report back on how it is.

The End of the Whole Mess: I loved this story. Especially the details of their childhood. Wish it were longer a longer story. For people who think Stephen King is overly wordy, try this one. He destroyed the world and chronicled two lives in about twenty pages.

Stuffing the volcano was a little silly maybe, but he was good enough at his hand-waving that I accepted it.

This one was adapted as part of the Nightmares and Dreamscapes miniseries. I don't remember much about the adaptation though.

Suffer the Little Children: In the notes section at the end, he compares this to old Ray Bradbury stories. I really need to read some of those.

I appreciated the little fake-out he did right at the beginning. I thought it was going to be something along the lines of the Library Policeman, but it took those ideas and stood them on their head.

5jseger9000
Modificato: Ago 4, 2011, 2:13 pm

I’ve read a bit further:

The Night Flier: The last time I read this story, I didn’t care for it much. Reading it now, I can’t see why I had a bad opinion of it. It was a blast this time through. Such a silly idea really, but it worked. And the comparison of Dees and The Night Flier both being parasites wasn’t too heavy handed.

This one was made in to a surprisingly good movie, with Miguel Ferrer pitch perfect as Dees.

Popsy: This was a nasty little story, wasn’t it? I did like the way he created a whole sinister underworld in a few pages. I wanted to see the Turk get his comeuppance.

And like #3 said, why does King like the Bela Lugosi evening wear vampire in evening wear so much?

I’m about halfway through It Grows on you now. The cows have just died.

It’s nice visiting the Rock one last time.

6jseger9000
Modificato: Ago 5, 2011, 11:54 am

I finished It Grows On You. I liked the storytelling; the writing, characterization and atmosphere. But I didn't much care for the story. Anyone else?

I liked Chattery Teeth more this time than I did the first time I read it. Such a silly idea. I loved their little protective growl at the end.

Did anybody see this story's adaptation in Quicksilver Highway? How was it?

Dedication: I had no problem with the story, but reading the notes at the end, King seemed to feel a little defensive about it. I don't think he really had anything to worry about though.

7LJZ
Ago 8, 2011, 7:06 pm

I plan on reading Nightmares& Dreamscapes soon. After Under the Dome, Thinner, Rage, Skeleton Crew, Night Shift, and Different Seasons. I'm just doing this because ive heard from multiple people that Night shift, Skeleton Crew, and Different Seasons were all better than N&D. is this really true?

8jseger9000
Ago 9, 2011, 1:23 am

#7 - Night shift, Skeleton Crew, and Different Seasons were all better than N&D. is this really true?

Yeah, I think that is pretty fair. Don't get the impression that Nightmares and Dreamscapes isn't worth your time. It is. But Skeleton Crew has The Mist and Different Seasons has some of King's very best. Night Shift is probably on par with Nightmares and Dreamscapes I think.

9Bookmarque
Ago 9, 2011, 7:51 am

I've read a few more stories yesterday.

I know he's got a soft spot for My Pretty Pony, but it was a dud for me. It was the first time, too. I kept expecting some amazing insight or hairy twist, but it fell flat. Blah.

Sorry, Right Number is SOOO Twilight Zone that I loved it on that level. Because it was a teleplay the connection was obvious, but even without it that slightly cheesy, delicious irony and impossible double-back would go there anyway.

So far I like the collection, but Skeleton Crew will always be my favorite of his short story anthologies. Night Shift shows it was written by a young writer and SC has more heft and explores ideas that aren't so obviously the product of a juvenile imagination. Not to say that Mr. King really grows up, he doesn't, but his writing does a bit.

10Bookmarque
Ago 12, 2011, 10:03 am

The Ten O'Clock People reminded my intensely of They Live with Rowdy Roddie Piper delivering one of the best lines in movie history. The set-up was obvious and so I cringed while waiting for the hammer to fall. I'm not sure I bought into the whole riding the rails thing at the end, but Mr. King sometimes can't help employing an overly romantic device.

Crouch End was an homage to Lovecraft I suppose. Not having read much Lovecraft I don't know how well it succeeds. On its own though it's a decent tale of the unknown known if you know what I mean. The folks that live there understand, but seem to be amused by the folly of those who get trapped and can't get out.

The House on Maple Street I liked for its ability to make Daddy Lew into a bogeyman without trying very hard. The band of siblings against him, trying to save their mother. Very romantic. Again he doesn't explain anything about the whys and wherefores of the house transformation, it just is.

The Fifth Quarter didn't do much for me. Probably because I just came off a Chandler binge.

The Doctor's Case was a decent Holmes pastiche.

11jseger9000
Ago 13, 2011, 2:47 am

You've gone ahead of me. I've read:

The Moving Finger: This is just my sort of horror story. I love stories about unexplained intruding on people's lives. And the image of a finger poking out of a drain is just so surreal and unforgettable.

If anyone remembers the old anthology series Monsters (will that ever make it to DVD?), this story was adapted as an episode.

I liked Sneakers at first. But the end seemed to wrap things up a little too neatly. It reminded me of old fashioned ghost stories, where the supernatural had to have some sort of explanation.

You Know they Got a Hell of a Band I just didn't like. I remember not liking the adaptation for the TV series and the actual story wasn't much better. I just couldn't find the concept to horrible and I get there were a number of people that would love living in that peculiar little town.

Home Delivery was fun. It was nice to see King writing a zombie story, even if he didn't quite stick to Romero's rules.

I'm in the middle of Rainy Season and I love it.

12jseger9000
Ago 17, 2011, 1:44 pm

#9 - I agree with you on My Pretty Pony. I can see it meant a lot to him, but it didn't do much for me. Not a bad story at all. But nothing memorable either. The writing also felt a little too self-consciously literary to me. Not that it was badly done, but it drew attention to itself.

The Ten O’clock People really made me want to watch They Live again. I did like the secret society of smokers.

Where I work they built a little gazebo for the smokers. Unofficially it is called the Butt Hut and if you want to know the gossip, that's where you go. The different pay grades congregate there in a way they don't anywhere else.

I liked Sorry, Right Number and (not having seen that Tales From the Darkside) the end completely surprised me.

I bought all of the seasons on DVD. I just haven't worked my way through to that one yet.

I'm reading Crouch End now and am SOOO thankful he didn't write it in pseudo-Lovecraft (though he did a better job of that than most in Jerusalem's Lot). I find Lovecraft's writing tiresome after a while. And the imitators usually telescope the worst aspects of it.

I'd like to hear from a UK reader on how King did on his English. The story feels English to me, as an American. But I wonder if I lived in the UK if it would feel like yet another American saying "Jolly good and all that rot".

This story was adapted for the Nightmares and Dreamscapes miniseries and I remember not being too impressed. Reading the original story now, it really seems like some film-maker missed a golden opportunity.

13Bookmarque
Ago 17, 2011, 2:45 pm

You can stream They Live from Netflix!!!! Score! I'm SO watching that today.

Ahem. sorry. (squeal!)

OK.

Back to discussion. I'm stuck in Umney's Last Case because I just came off a Chandler binge including re-reading for the 12th time, The Little Sister, which figures largely in this story. But it's not working for me. Umney isn't Marlowe and isn't pretending to be, but it's so close that I am uncomfortable reading it. I want Marlowe, not Umney. I should just suck it up and read it.

14jseger9000
Ago 19, 2011, 9:24 am

I love Chandler, but I don't think I've read The Little Sister yet. I remember they adapted Umney's Last Case as part of the Nightmares and Dreamscapes miniseries and I remember the gist of the story. I liked it, but then I hadn't just finished reading the real deal either.

I've read Crouch End which is my pick for the best story in the book (so far).

I also liked The House on Maple Street a lot. I already knew where the story was going, since they reproduced the Chris Van Allsberg picture that inspired it.

But seeing how it gets there was fun.

15Bookmarque
Ago 19, 2011, 9:38 am

You simply must read The Little Sister. It's terrific. I haven't read some of the novels, but of the ones I have read, I love it the best.

Am still stuck in Umney, which now I say that sounds like a town not a person. Maybe I'll finish it today, but the story went from bad to worse for me with the insertion of the author and all that.

16Bookmarque
Ago 23, 2011, 8:09 am

OK, I finished it and while Umney's Last Case has an ending that I like (open, ambiguous) I was so bugged while reading it that I think it fell flat. I didn't bother reading either the poem or the sports story since I'm not into sports and loathe baseball in particular.

Overall the collection is worth reading, but you can tell it's later. He experiments more and the stories are uneven and the overall result is less disturbing than reading either earlier collection (SC and NS).

17oldstick
Ago 24, 2011, 10:33 am

Half way through. I enjoyed You know They Got a Hell of a Band, although I'm sure I've read it before. Rainy Season and The Ten O'clock People were OK. I'll come back when I've read the lot.

18jseger9000
Modificato: Ago 25, 2011, 8:37 am

I just finished. As I was reading it, I was thinking, what other current writer could get away with a seven hundred page short story collection? Not many.

#17 - Oh! You are coming up on Crouch End. That was my favorite story in the book. (But then, I also liked Rainy Season and disliked You Know They Got a Hell of a Band.)

#16 - I didn't bother reading either the poem or the sports story...

Did you read The Beggar and the Diamond (after the Notes section)? Not ground shaking, but it was a nice little parable.

I personally grooved on Umney's Last Case. I enjoyed The Doctor's Case more than I was expecting to. In general I'm not a fan of stories using characters a different author created and have never had any interest in picking up one of those Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'-type books. But it was fun to see King purposely try to write in a style so different from his own

Overall the collection is worth reading, but... the overall result is less disturbing than reading either earlier collection.

Yeah, I kinda said the same thing in my review, but it took me much longer to get there. What can I say?

19Bookmarque
Ago 25, 2011, 7:39 am

I think if I hadn't come off a Chandler binge, Umney would have bothered me less. Ditto with Holmes, I read a bunch earlier this year.

Yeah, I read the parable, but stuff like that bugs me anyway so I didn't much like it. "god" teaching through humiliating suffering and torture never gives me the message that the writer wants. It only shores up my idea that any god that acts thus is an asshole.

Going to read your review now. I haven't actually written one.

20jseger9000
Ago 25, 2011, 8:39 am

#19 - "god" teaching through humiliating suffering and torture never gives me the message that the writer wants.

I agree. I was just wondering if you knew it was even there. Odd the way it's hidden at the very end.. Almost like one last little bit of treasure.

21Bookmarque
Ago 25, 2011, 8:54 am

gotcha. it was in a weird place.

22oldstick
Set 1, 2011, 4:54 am

Right, of the 24 seven stayed with me,Dolan's Cadillac,Chattery Teeth, Rainy Season, You know they got a Hell of a Band, The Ten O'Clock People, Crouch End and Umney's Last Case. There seems to be a recurring theme of women knowing better than their husbands but keeping quiet for the sake of harmony-which proves to result in the complete opposite.
Strange that I should read Paul O'Grady's second volume of his autobiography next and find he lived for a while in Crouch End.
I think 'Dolan' and 'the Band' will last in my memory because they were so strong visually and character-wise. Time will tell.

23cal8769
Ott 2, 2011, 7:45 pm

I'm finally reading NaD and loving it. I agree with so any of the above comments. I don' t know what I like nmost, the notes at the end of the book or the comments here!
I just started Tthe Moving Finger. I hope I like it as much as all of you did.

24LibraryLover23
Dic 30, 2011, 12:39 pm

I just finished this a day or two ago. My favorites were: "Dolan's Cadillac," "The House on Maple Street" and "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band." The first two because of the revenge aspects and the bad guys getting their comeuppance, and the last because I love when he takes something with a positive connotation (rock & roll heaven) and turns it on its head. Sort of like with the library in "The Library Policeman."

25cal8769
Feb 2, 2012, 8:57 am

I really enjoyed this book. I think that Skeleton Crew was an overall better collection but some of these stories wowed me. I agree with most of you, I loved 'Dolan's Cadillac', 'The House on Maple Street', and 'Umney's Last Case.' I enjoyed 'Heads Down' a lot. It reminded me of my kids' little league days. Oops, I mean youth baseball. Williamsport Little League Association actually were going to sue our small town organization for using the term little league but anywho. We live up the alley from the youth baseball field and the lights at night illuminate my backyard. It's a pleasant memory to hear the cheers and the excitement. King described it to a T.