The Bazaar of Bad Dreams – Short Story Reviews part 2

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King

“…Magnificent, eerie, utterly compelling, these stories comprise one of King’s finest gifts to his constant reader—“I made them especially for you,” says King. “Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth.”

Read part one here. And here is part two of the short story reviews.

Ur
A horror story about a Kindle from a mysterious source. (60 pages)

When I started to read this story, I got swept into this amazing alternative world where a Kindle exists that have an alternative world. They got the same writers but they would have written different stories. I was so charmed about the idea that I get to read stories by my favorite authors, stories that don’t exist in this world. I was so jealous. But then I remembered that it’s Stephen King and this dread spread inside my head. I have to say that I was a little bit disappointed in how this story ended cos it was quite different than how it began and I don’t think it was half as good as how it began. But I still gave it a 7/10, just for putting that idea of an alternative literary universe to fantasize about.

Story rating: 7/10

Herman Wouk Is Still Alive
The horror about witnessing a car accident. (20 pages)

This was somehow a short teaser of how usually Stephen’s stories go. First it’s filled with ‘mundane’ things that seem unrelated to each other, and then the gruesome portion hits.

Story rating: 7/10

Under the Weather
A husband, who takes care of his sick wife, has a serious case of denial. (15 pages)

One of those who creeps up on you, hints left here and there and some might get what was happening sooner or later. And the ending was spectacular, in a horrific way. Hope it would have gone on longer.

Story rating: 8/10

Blockade Billy
A story about a baseball legend with a dark secret. (40 pages)

This was a bit hard to get through cos I know nothing about baseball, especially not about the slang. So I guess this was interesting if you know baseball. Otherwise, the ending would be quite underwhelming and not really worth it.

Story rating: 5/10

Mister Yummy
A haunting story about old men in a nursing home, reminiscing about their past. (18 pages)

This is quite a subtle story, and I think in the end it was quite beautiful in a haunting way even though I wasn’t sure it was what Mr King was aiming for. I guess the end doesn’t need to be scary at all.

Story rating: 7/10

Tommy
A short story about the death of a friend. (6 pages)

This was extremely short but I quite like it. Unusually romantic too, the idea of it all. It is about hippies and how those who died young never ‘sold out’.

Story rating: 8/10

The Little Green God of Agony
What if pain is not just pain but a demon that creates and feeds on it inside us? A little green god of agony? (24 pages)

Almost sounds cute, a little green god of agony but this story is not exactly cute. It is actually quite nasty. It actually started out as quite compelling, a sort of ‘is it true or not’ till the end, in a spectacular King fashion, it lost me a bit. Cos the ending part was such a stark contrast to the first part of the story.

Story rating: 6/10

Cookie Jar
It’s about a mysterious cookie jar that always stays full. (23 pages)

I love stories of Stephen King that create something that would stir my imagination endlessly, it delights me very much. Just like that story about Kindle that’s the doorway to another dimension where authors would have written different stories, I love that idea. And in this one, ‘Cookie Jar’, it’s a similar concept with an ending that I really like, kinda open ended. And just like the Kindle, I would love to have this cookie jar. I would open a cookie shop and make a fortune. XD

Story rating: 9/10

That Bus Is Another World
Short and sweet and it was weirdly chilling just because I sometimes do the same thing – look into buses while I am passing them in another vehicle and imagine whole lives for the people I very briefly focus my attention on. But what if what you witnessed wasn’t anything pleasant but horrific? (9 pages)

If this thing that happened in the story happens to me, I’m not sure I could ever get it out of my mind. It would haunt me for all eternity. But this little story didn’t only focus on the horror, but on the way our lead chose to react and his reaction is somehow way scarier to me – the willful ignorance.

Story rating: 9/10

Obits
A story very reminiscent to one of the best manga ‘Death Note’, just scarier because there wasn’t a rulebook involved. (38 pages)

This story felt very well built, didn’t feel like a short story at all. The characters were written well too. It does sound like a terrible power to bare, holding life and death on the tip of your fingers, can you stop? But I thought it was a little naive in many ways thinking power like that wouldn’t have any consequences.

Story rating: 9/10

Drunken Fireworks
This wasn’t exactly a horror story, just big egos fighting over who got bigger and louder fireworks and of course it ends in bad ‘accidents’. (29 pages)

I find it peculiar to be reading this so close to New Year’s Eve when there are lots of drunk people with fireworks. Always find that thought more than terrifying. I do like the nonchalant but extremely violent ending.

Story rating: 7/10

Summer Thunder
The last story of the book, of course it’s about the end of the world. (16 pages)

I find it almost ironic that this is the last story I read in the last hour of 2020 as I rush to finish the 50th book this year. It’s about the end of the world and it was depressing but still somehow a little romantic. Also with a very fitting fuck you to the universe. I agree, Mr King, fuck the universe and fuck 2020.

Story rating: 8/10

***
Summary

There were ups and downs and mostly ups. This collection of 21 stories was full of bizarre things, fascinating things. This is my first Stephen King short story collection, and I would like to definitely read all the rest now.

My Goodreads rating for the book as a whole: 4 stars out of 5

Goals of 2020 – Fails

Once again, here are my goals I set for 2020 but this time I’m here to write about the goals I didn’t achieve.

Walk 2020 kilometers
On a regular day, I walk around 4000-6000 steps daily just by walking to work, staying relatively active in the office (like getting water or coffee from the kitchen or walking to my collegues’ rooms instead of emailing/calling them). So that alone would be already 2-4 km every work day doing the bare minimum. And plus through March-October, I usually walk and bike a lot going to meet friends and events. So the initial 2020 kilometers (averaging 5.5 km daily), it was a very easy goal to achieve in my eyes. But what do ya know, the pandemic hit and we were told to work from home since March. Suddenly my daily steps count dropped from thousands to mere hundreds. I tried to make up for it in the summer by going to explore the city by myself or to museums and such, but there weren’t events to walk/bike to and fro, and I didn’t meet my friends f2f either. So the closer the end of the year seemed to loom, the less likely I was to get my 2K+ kilometers done. I had been tracking though, and it seems like I might make it to 1600 kilometers. I know it’s not ideal, but I’m still proud that I made it that far. To make it up to myself (and my body), I shall do a 420 km challenge next summer.

Debt paying at least 2020 €
I know I know, I was supposed to have a no-shopping thing until July. I had been getting rid of stuff I don’t use this whole year and thinking real hard before buying anything new. And I can proudly say that I only bought one or two items that I don’t need. I became a lot more picky about buying things and I was very reluctant to buy cheap things that wouldn’t last. So instead, I went into investment mode. On every item, I would do a lot of research and get only the best quality that I can afford. And that’s not exactly an inexpensive new habit.

Lose 2020 grams of weight permanently
Lol, I can’t be the only one who gained some rona weight, right? Well, I’m glad that it’s not all fat but some muscle too. It’s funny though, this year I gained so much weight that I almost reached the highest weight I had ever been about 6 years ago, but the difference on my body is huge. Six years ago, I felt miserable physically. I was weak and everything hurt all the time. This time around, even with the same number on the scale, the weight is more evenly distributed on my body, my shoulders wider, my frame more muscular. I know it’s a cliche, but my body seems to carry the weight with more dignity now. And most importantly, instead of feeling like losing it would be nearly impossible like I did six years ago, now I’m not even worried about the weight gain cos I know I can lose it. Not easily, but I am absolutely positive that I can do it.

Meeting new people and doing new things
What can I say, I didn’t meet new friends this year or got to do many new things or visit new restaurants but I feel like I needed the prolonged me-time with myself. I could be more proactive with trying new things but just like everyone else, I just ended up being at home most of the time, reading, watching movies and TV and trying not to go insane. I feel like my extrovert had been in overdrive for a long while and she needs to take a backseat this year. I do feel more calm and mellow now. Not saying I’m ready to get back to socializing as much as I did, but slowly I would like to get back. Maybe in spring. 😛

Goals of 2020 – Achievements

I just checked my goals I set for 2020 last December, you know, when I still had hopes for the future. XD Oh how naive I was… So here I shall go though those goals that I actually achieved or am about to in a few days.

Drink at least 2020 glasses of water
That one I already achieved in the midst of November. I created a pretty solid system of staying hydrated. As I love drinking ice cold water, I keep six glass bottles of water in my fridge, two glasses per bottle so I have exactly 3 liters of water in my fridge ready to go every day. Sometimes I drink less, sometimes more, but I find drinking a lot quite easy now. It has definitely became a habit of mine to always have a glass or bottle of water next to me, wherever I go.

Purge 20 things/places/spots/rooms from the apartment
I definitely purge more than 20 things from my apartment. You can read all about it on my post April Challenge Summary – Daily Purging.

Take at least 20 Me-Days for myself
As the situation is pretty much the same for us all, every day was pretty much a Me-day since March. 😀 I’ve had pretty chill me-days before the pandemic hit. I am planning for a more active self-care ritual for next year, I shall write about it more when I decided on it.

Being active at least 2020 minutes per month
Believe it or not, I actually did this, when you look at the bigger picture. Like on some months, I was very inactive, but on months like in the summer when I was super active, I more than cover the lazy months. So I declare this goal also achieved.

Reading 50 books
And with all the abundance of free time, for the first time in my life I managed to achieve my goal of reading 50 books in one year. I can’t believe it. And because I’ve been to so many fictional places in my head and through books, this year felt so very long (not necessarily in a bad way).

Watching 150+ movies
Watching 150 movies per year has been a stable goal of mine for many years, and as expected, I surpassed that goal quite easily. As of today, I’ve seen 179 movies but there are still days left of 2020 so let’s see what the final number is in a few days.

I’m very proud of my achievements this year, despite everything. There are definitely more fails but they weren’t from lack of trying. Stay tuned for those on the next post.

December Challenge – Wrapping Up the Year 2020

The Outsider – Audibook Review

The Outsider by Stephen King
Audiobook narrated by Will Patton

“An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad. As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.“

I know, I’m definitely King-heavy this month and I finished out super strong too. When I thought that ‘The Institute’ was peak King, he hits me with ‘The Outsider’, a horrific tale that is the very definition of a page-turner. Well, it was an audiobook. I might have mentioned before that I’m quite picky with narrator voices. Most of the time, they do a fine job. Sometimes, they do such a great job that they elevate a story even further. Will Patton, the narrator of ‘The Outsider’ is one example. He has a super deep voice, and he has utter control of his voice. At time, it’s loud and bellowing, sometimes it’s just above a whisper. It creates different atmospheres almost like a soundtrack. There was one scene about choking and Patton sounded like he was being choked while reading those paragrams, the sounds of him trying to get air while still reading clearly, it sent chills down my spine.

The story itself, it was one of the most exciting thrillers I’ve ever read right from the beginning. It’s really not a whodunnit type of a story, we know who did it right away. Or do we? When strong evidence are presented arguing the exact opposite, who can we believe? What can we believe? It simply didn’t make sense. It can’t be. It was impossible.

In a very Stephen King fashion, all the numerous characters were given their own time to shine, all their stories fleshed out and full of fascinating details. I found myself being very fond of out lead, the detective named Ralph. I also really liked Holly Gibney, the private investigator involved in the case. I’m delighted to find out that she has appeared before in the Bill Hodges trilogy. Actually, I recommended that trilogy first cos there’s some spoilers in ‘The Outsider’ about Holly’s past. I didn’t mind the spoilers that much, I’m just happy I’m getting more Holly soon.

Sometimes, King’s grand endings are a little hit and miss. Cos the build-up is always very strong, but sometimes there is too much expectations of any endings to be satisfactory. This time around, I think the build-up and ending satisfaction ratio is just right, so ‘The Outsider’ more than deserves the five stars. This was a great way to wrap up Horror October! Happy Halloween!

My Audible ratings: 5 stars out of 5 on story, performance and overall