Book review: The Bazaar Of Bad Dreams

THESE 20 tales once again demonstrate Stephen King’s range; alongside the horror which made his name are suspense, realist slices of small-town life, a Western, and even a couple of narrative poems.

Inevitably, certain themes from his past work recur — temptation and addiction, Maine, boyhood adventures, even killer cars.

But this is only really a problem when they recur within the collection; one story about a human yet unageing harbinger of death, or demises mysteriously foretold in writing, would probably be ample for any given book.

King has always been a prolific writer more than a consistent one. In that respect, a couple of these stories could surely have done with another go-over.

Still, highlights including a heartbreaking vignette of two men and a dog at the end of the world, and the eerie account of a very unusual Kindle, remind us why King has been so successful for so long.

The Bazaar Of Bad Dreams

Stephen King

Hodder & Stoughton, £20; ebook, £8.49

Review: Alex Sarll