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Jul 15, 2011

Susan rated it:

Ever read a story out loud to a friend -- knowing it's not the kind of story they'd read on their own?

I do that all the time (even snippets of novels to give them a taste). I read "Crouch End" out loud to one of my sisters, in a weird Scotts/English accent that I tend to use when reading Lovecraftian horror. She accused me of robbing her of sleep for a week. That's the sign of a good story.

I've read several of these out loud to friends and family and I love t More...

5 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2009

Raelene rated it:

I was afraid to go to the bathroom after reading this book.

4 comments like (11 people liked it)

Oct 08, 2008

Mrs. rated it:

This is one King book that I will have to replace when it finally collapses in tatters from overuse.

The thing I love about this book is that in most of the short stories, there is no reason for the events to occur- they just DO. And what a frightening concept that is. There is no reason that a man looks down his sink to see a finger sticking out, a finger that continues to grow in size and soon attacks him. There is no reason for dead rock and roll legends to congregate in a town in More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 06, 2008

Melynda rated it:

this is where the little pop-ups next to those stars really feel misleading.

do i like that i still sometimes fear the toilet? not especially. but i have to recognize the mad skills of a writer who was able to do that to me.

there are a few stories here that really messed me up. the worst by far was The Moving Finger. we don't know why there's a moving finger, a multi-jointed, aggressive, waggling finger complete with scratchy, scrapey nail coming out of the sink (in my m More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jun 17, 2011

Melissa rated it:

Easily my favourite of the King short story collections I've read so far. I ate up about ninety per cent of it, (sorry but My pretty pony and Head down didn't really appeal). This is the collection in which King proves his versatility - with the exception of Popsy and Night Flier, no two stories are alike. My particular favourites were The end of the whole mess (moving, funny and clever); Suffer the little children (stories about inexplicably evil children are always scary, but King has enfus More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 23, 2011

Mike rated it:

King is an incredibly good story teller, reading his stories is so vivid that when I think back to reading them it's like remembering a movie I watched in the theater. Several of the stories in this book are nothing short of excellent. King is an excellent judge of human nature, and he can sum up a complex behavior pattern in a single sentence that is so "right on the money" it's astounding, more than once I've read a single sentence he used to describe a particular way a character had More...

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May 02, 2011

Amanda rated it:

I would give this collection of short stories an A+, just because of the baseball essay, "Head Down." That essay is an amazing testament to true grit. I would have thought it was fiction, but because it's not, it's even more powerful. King manages to capture that palpable, electric feeling that happens at nail-biter games. The other stories are not bad at all. There are a few true gems, like "Dolan's Cadillac," "Chattery Teeth," "Homy Delivery," and " More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 18, 2011

Anthony rated it:

As with any short story collection, whether single-author or multiple, there were some hits and some misses for me in this, Stephen King's third short story collection. I listened to all of these on cd during my various trips around the country throughout the summer, with the last batch keeping me company on my one business trip in November. With 24 stories (one hidden in the end-notes) and an introduction, there's a lot to read through (or listen through) and there is bound to be something fo More...

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Feb 09, 2011

Grant rated it:

What a ride! I read this collection when it first appeared, and have come back to it from time to time. Some thoughts (minor spoiler alert):

As a smoker, the exact kind King describes in "The Ten O'Clock People" (one who's cut down his consumption to about ten a day, give or take), I keep expecting to see the bats any day now.

Are you claustrophobic? Squeamish about the thought of being buried alive? Who isn't? That's why I can almost feel sorry for the tit More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 05, 2010

Hydra M. rated it:

Most of my close friends already know I’m not a big fan of Stephen King’s work. He tends to go on a bit to long with his back story and things of the like for my taste, but this collection of short stories--short of course being a relative term when used along side the name Stephen King--reminded me of why so many fans of horror practically worship the man. Most of the tales in this heavy volume aren’t just good. They are captivating.

No two stories were quite the same, though element More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 04, 2009

Randy rated it:

Drawn to engaging stories, Different Seasons was my first Stephen King exposure, a collection of four novellas, three made into movies - The Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, and Stand By Me. It wasn't till I went back to college for a Master's in Liberal Arts degree when King resurface as a required read for a course in Gothic fiction - Salem's Lot, Pet Sematary, and The Shining - novels strongly laden with the macabre, but with powerful themes and credible characterizations.
Ten years late More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 19, 2011

Pam rated it:

I liked about half of the stories. There were a few that I couldn't get into at all. At the end King made a comment that I thought was interesting about critics thinking he could not be very good because he is popular with the masses. I think that is true for all types of art. The most played and popular music I find crappy. The mass produced pictures that you see on your friends walls ( note: not any of my friends of course) are considered popular but not really very interesting. So that tak More...

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Sep 14, 2011

Sarah rated it:

In my opinion, Nightmares and Dreamscapes is one of King's most varied collections. It contains everything from the gore-streaked (Home Delivery, The Moving Finger), to the quiet and thoughtful (It Grows on You, My Pretty Pony), a sci-fi tale (The House on Maple Street), and a couple of Bachman/Stark efforts (The Fifth Quarter, My Pretty Pony again). There's also a tele-play script (Sorry, Right Number), a piece of sports journalism (Head Down), a poem (Brooklyn August), and a couple of pastiche More...

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Sep 01, 2011

Felicia rated it:

I didn't mean to rate this yet. Browsing on the nook can be challenging. That being said, I am about half way through and am so far disappointed. I have been working my way through King's short stories, and this collection seems to be the most bizare. I can't suspend my disbelief long enough to be chilled by many of these tales. Killer toads raining from the sky? Killer chattering teeth? All the dead rockers choosing to spend eternity in some Pleasantville-esque town? A giant finger comi More...

1 comment like

Aug 22, 2011

Thomas rated it:

This is my fourth time to read this book and since Im new on goodreads I decided what the heck and would review it. this is classic great Stephen King. There are twenty stories in the book and some are long and some really short. A good mix of stories and although I didn’t like every single one, I liked the majory, which is important for a short story collection. Everyone who likes short storis would enjoy this book and of course king has a special way he tells each story. The ten oclock peo More...

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Jan 19, 2008

Doublejack rated it:

I'd forgotten what an amazing writer King really is. He's just so prolific, and he's a true craftsman. There were some terrific stories in this collection, along with a few that were just too over the top and a couple of clunkers. But overall, I was surprised at how quickly and enthusiastically I tore through this thick volume.

Well done, Mr. King. Well done.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2012

Patrick rated it:

Beach reading for Phuket. A random agglomeration of stories King wrote for magazines over the years, collected together for the purpose of topping off his swimming pool full of money. In the end, tastes like a meal prepared by a master chef using only condiments from a bachelor's derelict refridgerator. A far cry from the dark delights of Night Shift or even the squirmy body horror of Skeleton Crew. Bought this collection on the Kindle for "The Night Flier," the sharpest story in the p More...

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Jul 01, 2011

William rated it:

The title is a tad bit misleading as there are very few nightmares and hardly any dreamscapes. I bought the book thinking that, perhaps, the stories would be aimed at more psychological/dream-like horrors, but instead you get a very random collection of short stories that make the title simply something to grab the eye.

King has his fair share of horror in here but there is also some metaphysical stuff, a straight up caper-esque story, a Sherlock Holmes mystery, and, to make nightmare More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 18, 2011

Stacey rated it:

Stephen King talks a lot. I swear I only got through this one on sheer stubbornness. 14176 locations, what does that translate to in pages? 8000? Now I remember why I never used to read anthologies in tree book. Why do authors (or publishing houses, who knows which,) insist on putting so many short stories in a single volume, that you could easily use the tome to reinforce your home's retaining wall?

I have at least two more of these bricks on the bookcase (one by Lewis Shiner that c More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 08, 2011

Daisy rated it:

I must say that this book took me longer to read than I had expected it. Overall I did like the stories in this very thick book.Some stories were awesome! & yet some could have been left out. There were 2 or 3 that I felt were unfinished. Some I didn't understand, and some left me thinking if it was necessary to write so many words to get to THAT conclusion. This book really shows King's talent in story telling and his diversity as a writer. He really is a genius as a writer!

I was ha More...

1 comment like

Oct 25, 2011

Emma rated it:

This book was strange, creepy, fun, unique, and awesome! It is a collection of short stories with topics rangin from monsters, to space ships, to raining toads! Every page i turned i found something new and interesting. One of my favorite stories was "The End of the Whole Mess" Which is the story about a boys brother who thinks he has found a cure to hatred and war, the key to world peace. At the end of this story i was crying my eyes out, and it was brilliantly written. Another story, More...

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Jun 10, 2010

Bobby rated it:

In King's earlier collections, the wildness of his imagination makes up for the rawness of his technique. Here, the Master couldn't be more assured and on top of his game. King is unafraid to re-visit standard plot fare, and in the always interesting author's notes he talks about this aspect of writing as being like a musician playing the blues and using the same three chords. It's not the notes but the passion with which notes are played that makes the difference. The same can certainly be said More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 04, 2011

Angela rated it:

Having previously read King's "Just After Sunset" collection and loving each and every story in it, I was somewhat disappointed by "Nightmares". There were a couple of stories that were really good, of course, but there were just about as many that I would finish reading and find myself feeling as though I had just wasted my time. It seemed to me that the second half of the book was, for the most part, better than the first half (although I did skip his nonfiction piece about More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 28, 2009

Trudi rated it:

Stephen King is my comfort read when I'm feeling stressed or just need to relax. I love this collection and am looking forward to delving into it once more.

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 15, 2011

Sunday rated it:

Every morning, Stephen King wakes up, has a Pop Tart, and then spends the next 14 hours writing down Ideas. I think he has approx. 10,000 good ideas every minute, and thus can fuel some writing "here and there" to create this gigantic body of Good Idea work.

"Nightmares and Dreamscapes" feels like the B-Sides of his body of work, just some skimmin off the top of the whip cream, really. There are 23 (?) righteous stories in a Grand Canyon wide range of More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2011

Joi rated it:

I love horror and no one does horror as well as Stephen King. To me its not the type of book that i would sit down and read in one or two sittings. Because its an anthology I read over the span of a few months in between what ever else I was reading. Each story is completely different. because of King skilled writing the characters are brought to life untainted by the writers voice. Some of my favorites were Suffer the Little Children,Sneakers,Rainy Season,Crouch End, and 10 O'Clock People. I More...

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Nov 17, 2010

Ryan rated it:

I picked up this audiobook quickly at the library and decided to try it after seeing that a bunch of celebrities narrated each one - including Whoopi Goldberg, Lisa Simpson (the voice), Rob Lowe, Kathy Bates, and Tim Curry.

Stories ranged from a moving, alive finger sticking out of a bathroom sink drain that torments a husband, long-dead rock and roll legends that inhabit a rural town in Oregon, a mafia boss getting buried in his Cadillac for revenge from the perspective of the burier, More...

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Jan 31, 2012

Fairul rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Aug 06, 2011

Quintin added it

I am not going to say much about this book other than expressing my opinion that I like his Novels a lot more than his short stories. (I found the second last story, Head Down, the worst read from this book and some of the other stories also do not carry the same 'flare' that the novels do.

Quite a few of these turns out to be some in depth reading with disappointment waiting for you when you complete a story... I found myself wondering "I had to read all of THAT just for THIS???!" More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 10, 2011

Dan rated it:

Pretty good stories but not great. Some of the stories are very tedious. Reading the notes at the end was cool. I like the idea of getting in the mind of the writer.

Some of my favorites were Rainy Season, Dolan's Cadillac, The Night Flier (although it was very difficult to get into), Chattery Teeth, Sneakers, Home Delivery, Rainy Season, Sorry Right Number, The Ten O'Clock People, The House on Maple Street (one of the best ones in my opinion, google that in "images"), The Fi More...

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