Bracket #7: Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993)

[mae]

Nightmares & Dreamscapes, 1993

Please vote for Nightmares & Dreamscapes using the following scale:

• 5
• 4.5
• 4
• 3.5
• 3
• 2.5
• 2
• 1
• 0
• Never read

If you haven't read this book yet, please vote Never Read. Feel free to discuss your votes in this thread.

[divemaster]

I'm not going to vote yet. I read this collection when it first came out and recall that I wasn't overly impressed. Over the years I've read some of the stories again, but I'd like to re-read the others before making my final vote.

[Iwritecode]

3.5

One of his better short-story collections. Only a couple of stories in it that I didn’t like that much.

[stroppygoblin]

probably my least favourite collection. Some good, some indifferent. Plus I just replaced my 1st/1st as the cover was ripped. (doesn't affect the score, but I needed to vent)

[Jean]

Dolan's Cadillac 2
The End of the Whole Mess 3
Suffer the Little Children 5
The Night Flier 3
Popsy 5
It Grows on You 2
Chattery Teeth 3
Dedication 1
The Moving Finger 4
Sneakers 5
You Know They Got a Hell of a Band 4
Home Delivery 2
Rainy Season 4
My Pretty Pony 1
Sorry, Right Number 1
The Ten O'Clock People 4
Crouch End 5
The House on Maple Street 3
The Fifth Quarter 1
The Doctor's Case 4
Umney's Last Case 5
Head Down 1
Brooklyn August 1
The Beggar and the Diamond 1

total 2.9

it doesn't sound right, because in addition to having some stories I found incredibly boring (like Dedication) or just pathetic (The Beggar and the Diamond) it also has some of my favorites. I'll grade it 3.5

[Andrew Campbell]

4. I find that I go back to this collection more often than Skeleton Crew, but not quite as often a Night Shift. There are some home runs here, for me -- especially, Night Flier, Sorry Right Number, Crouch End, and Umney's Last Case.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Dolan's Cadillac 3
The End of the Whole Mess 4
Suffer the Little Children 5
The Night Flier 3
Popsy 4
It Grows on You 2
Chattery Teeth 3
Dedication 2
The Moving Finger 4
Sneakers 4
You Know They Got a Hell of a Band 4
Home Delivery 2
Rainy Season 5
My Pretty Pony 0
Sorry, Right Number 1
The Ten O'Clock People 4
Crouch End 4
The House on Maple Street 3
The Fifth Quarter 2
The Doctor's Case 3
Umney's Last Case 4
Head Down 1
Brooklyn August 1
The Beggar and the Diamond 1

[Jean]

our ratings coincide remarkably, Browning's

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

They usually do.

I knew that we were in agreement about STLC, Popsy and Rainy Season among the best. It seems that we are in roughly agreement on the worst as well. Why My Pretty Pony was selected for individual publication as an uber-expensive special edition is absultely beyond my understanding.

[Jean]

I didn't give it a zero because I never give zeros to individual stories in a collection: it fucks up the calculation of the average, and I am too lazy to do the subtraction etc

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

It is difficult for me to give this collection a rating. Though it has many forgetable (at best) stories, it also has my favorite King story. (Suffer the Little Children) Even so, I couldnt give it better than a 3. There are a lot of duds in this collection.

[divemaster]

I'm not going to vote yet. I read this collection when it first came out and recall that I wasn't overly impressed. Over the years I've read some of the stories again, but I'd like to re-read the others before making my final vote.

Since the poll closes tomorrow morning, I went ahead and voted. I've re-read 12 of the 24 stories this week. From those 12, only one (Crouch End) rated 4 stars on my 1 to 4 scale. A bunch of 3's and a few 2's. One 1. I'll post my final story-specific rating list at whatever point I finish my re-read. But I have enough to go on to assign an overall vote of "3." It is the weakest of King's collections, IMO. But still enjoyable enough. A 3 rating to me means "pretty good" but nothing to write home about.

[JulesH]

Some really good (You Know They Got a Hell of a Band, Crouch End, Umney's Last Case), some positively awful (My Pretty Pony, The Begger and the Diamond) and the rest mediocre to good. A disappointing 3.

[mae]

Well, Beggar doesn't really count, it's like a hidden bonus track on a CD.

[mae]

The poll has closed. Nightmares & Dreamscapes has earned a FAS (final average score) of 3.547619048 or 70.95%. It received a rating of 3.5 with 9 votes.

[divemaster]

Since the poll closes tomorrow morning, I went ahead and voted. I've re-read 12 of the 24 stories this week. From those 12, only one (Crouch End) rated 4 stars on my 1 to 4 scale. A bunch of 3's and a few 2's. One 1. I'll post my final story-specific rating list at whatever point I finish my re-read. But I have enough to go on to assign an overall vote of "3." It is the weakest of King's collections, IMO. But still enjoyable enough. A 3 rating to me means "pretty good" but nothing to write home about.

Way late, but just for the record, below are my story-specific ratings, on a 1-4 scale:

Dolan's Cadillac 3
End of the Whole Mess, The 3
Suffer the Little Children 3
Night Flier, The 3
Popsy 3
It Grows On You 1
Chattery Teeth 3
Dedication 2
Moving Finger, The 3
Sneakers 2
You Know They Got a Hell of a Band 3
Home Delivery 2
Rainy Season 3
My Pretty Pony 3
Sorry, Right Number 2
Ten O'Clock People, The 2
Crouch End 4
House on Maple Street, The 4
Fifth Quarter, The 3
Doctor's Case, The 3
Umney's Last Case 2
Head Down 4
Brooklyn August 1
Beggar and the Diamond, The 1

My overall vote of 3 (on the poll's 5-point scale) was right in the ballpark.