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The Bazaar of Bad Dreams cover art

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Stephen King,Dylan Baker,Brooke Bloom,Kathleen Chalfant,Hope Davis,Santino Fontana,Peter Friedman
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Summary

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

The number one best-selling writer has dazzled listeners 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 work: '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 listener as well as to those fascinated by the autobiographical insights in his celebrated nonfiction title On Writing. 'I made them especially for you,' says King. 'Feel free to examine them, but please be carefuly. The best of them have teeth.'

  • '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

©2015 Stephen King (P)2015 Simon & Schuster Audio

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What listeners say about The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

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Not just for horror/fantasy readers

I have read a fair bit of Stephen King, but always prefer his more "mainstream" work; away from fantasy and horror. I also particularly enjoy his short stories; a form of which he is a master. I think this is some of his best stuff for a while, although much of it is not recent output.

Clearly there is a lot of supernatural in this collection, but by no means in all, and his gift for great story-telling and characterisation shines through much more than is the norm with most of his work. I really enjoyed these stories. OK, the baseball one left me completely cold because I had no idea what was going on, but apart from that, they are great tales, very well told.

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14 people found this helpful

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The best collection he's produced

The best collection since Nightmares and Dreamscapes. Brilliantly read, with additional introduction by the Author. Highly recommended-- for King fans and short story fans alike. Definitely a regular listen. Excellent.

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13 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Monsters are real and ghosts are real too

they live inside us and sometimes they win.”
― Stephen King

A collection of twenty stories, and a and explanation of their genesis by the master, most of them have been published earlier in a variety of publication, so this saves you the time and some money of finding this stories in anthologies or ebook singles. most of them are inspired by the style of other writers or in the style of a writer Mr King will explain this and other reasons at the start of every story. These are all short stories and there is certainly no novelas, which is where Stephen King excels, but there is plenty of variety from horror to humor and some mixed flavoured ones. I found this collection to have an edge bitterness and nihilism that is usually or not so prevalent on other of his books. The americana and the sweet remembrances of childhood are not present in this volume.
A good read with a little bit for every taste, some interesting stylistic exercises and plenty of dread to go around.


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13 people found this helpful

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A new entry in my personal top 5

I'm averse to horror films and novels as a rule. The world can be a nasty enough place as it is, without injecting any other reasons to lose sleep! However, I had heard that Steven King is a great storyteller so I decided to give this a try, and I'm so very glad I did. For me, he tends to write fantasy rather than horror, just not the "sword and sorcery" kind. Good and innocence have a way of winning out over evil, and I love a happy ending, but none of it is trite. The use of different a different narrator for each story is very effective and the performances have, so far, been uniformly excellent (I'm about halfway through). Lastly, and importantly for me, he treats faith, God and religion with respect. I'm a Christian and shy away from the glorification of "the dark side" which is why, I guess, I have left King unread until now, but I am absolutely delighted by my "discovery" of this superstar author and am now going to be spending my credits on one of his offerings every month. It's going to take a very long time to get them all, but i think I'm going to love every minute.

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Faulty ending

Would you listen to The Bazaar of Bad Dreams again? Why?

The book itself is a brilliant King masterpiece. A wonderful collection of short stories. It is slightly marred by Audible who clip the ending. Almost before the narrator has finished what I hope and is the last sentence of the last story you get thank you for listening to Audible. Not the usual Audible polish.

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10 people found this helpful

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Well read work

A varied and enjoyable collection. Well read stories, well cast narrators. Some gems in here.

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9 people found this helpful

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The Bazaar Of Bad Dreams review

If you could sum up The Bazaar of Bad Dreams in three words, what would they be?

Scary,
Gripping,
Entertaining

What other book might you compare The Bazaar of Bad Dreams to, and why?

Skeleton crew, Because I think its similar

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

A great atmosphere

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I found the book scary

Any additional comments?

The narrator is very easy to listen to.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A few gems but not many

I'm a big Steven King fan but this is not his best work. A couple of good stories but not many.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Please don't crop!

Beautifully read pieces of work from the masterful Stephen King: voices well chosen to match - and illustrate - the stories. The one thing which really jarred? A beautifully heartbreaking story - The Sound of Thunder - didn't even get a few second's grace at the end of the tale before the Audible voice announced it was the end of the book. It really ruined the story. Please grant the listener a few more seconds to process the whole story before they come to the end of the audiobook!!

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8 people found this helpful

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His greatest short story collection in a long time

His greatest short story collection in a long time. The intorduction from the author at the begining of every story brings added depth to each tale. Highly recommended.

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