The Bazaar of Bad Dreams Audiobook By Stephen King cover art

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

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The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

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

Named to the American Library Association’s Reference & User Services (RUSA) Listen List!

Other narrators include: Cotter Smith, Will Patton, Edward Herrmann, Holter Graham, Frederick Weller, Mare Winningham, Craig Wasson, Thomas Sadoski, and Tim Sample.

A master storyteller at his best - the O. Henry Prize winner Stephen King delivers a generous collection of stories, several of them brand new, featuring revelatory autobiographical comments on when, why, and how he came to write (or rewrite) each story.

Since his first collection, Nightshift, published 35 years ago, Stephen King has dazzled listeners with his genius as a writer of short fiction. In this new collection he assembles, for the first time, recent stories that have never been published in a book. He introduces each with a passage about its origins or his motivations for writing it.

There are thrilling connections between stories, including themes of morality, the afterlife, guilt, and what we would do differently if we could see into the future or correct the mistakes of the past. "Afterlife" is about a man who died of colon cancer and keeps reliving the same life, repeating his mistakes over and over again. Several stories feature characters at the end of life, revisiting their crimes and misdemeanors. Other stories address what happens when someone discovers he has supernatural powers: the columnist who kills people by writing their obituaries in "Obits"; the old judge in "The Dune", who, as a boy, canoed to a deserted island and saw written in the sand the names of people who then died in freak accidents. In "Morality", King looks at how a marriage and two lives fall apart after the wife and husband enter into what seems, at first, a devil's pact they can win.

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

Please note: The audio edition of The Bazaar of Bad Dreams now includes an additional story: "Cookie Jar", narrated by Santino Fontana. Listeners who purchased this title prior to October 2016 can re-download the audio to get the new story.©2015 Stephen King. All rights reserved. (P)2015 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Crime Thrillers Fiction Psychological Short Stories Supernatural Suspense Thriller Marriage Paranormal Scary Exciting

Critic reviews

"Each narrator is a perfect fit for the stories he or she reads - it's rare to find such a collection with no misses, but it's not unusual for King. Narrating the stories' introductions himself, King makes the listener feel like his confidant every time. Cotter Smith steals the show, masterfully performing several pieces, including the poem 'The Bone Church,' the best performance of the collection." ( AudioFile)

Featured Article: 35+ Quotes About Books That Truly Speak to Bibliophiles


Novels, memoirs, short stories, essay compilations, and more continue to shape who we are and how we view the world, no matter what format—physical book, ebook, or audiobook—we use to absorb and enjoy them. Books are pathways into different worlds and different lives, and one can never be truly bored with a good book. Celebrate your literary love with these quotes about books that will inspire you to dive into your next story.

What listeners say about The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

Highly rated for:

Versatile Storytelling Imaginative Tales Excellent Narrators Engaging Variety Skilled World-building
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  • Overall
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Thumbs Up From A "Constant Reader" of King


Mr. King addresses his constant readers with personal notes prior to each story in this new anthology. There is a lot of new material, but also some previously published stories that he has revised. He makes no apologies for the revision of old stories, and explains that what he writes is never finished until he dies.

Through the years, I would watch for, but never received, a lot about this author from the inside looking out. As years have gone by, he has gradually opened up more and addresses the important marks on the timeline of his life, and how those affect his writing. He kind of "unfolds" himself, which fits him, doesn't it.

Enjoyed every minute of this anthology, but most of all, really liked that he reached out to his "constant readers" with a much more personal focus. There was some real lateral momentum going on there.

I had been disappointed lately in the narrators chosen for the past few short story singles of King's on Audible, and felt the author/narrator match was totally whack. No disappointments here. Narration was a direct hit.

Mr. King mentions in one of his pre-story narrative essays, that he is now 69. That gave me a queasy feeling in my stomach. I can't imagine not having Stephen King new release dates to look forward to. Stay healthy, Mr. King.

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23 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Captivating Storytelling

What a wonderful display of range and skill... King is an absolute master of the medium... There are stories for all here - the traditionally creepy King tales accompanied by many that show what a diversely capable storyteller he is... Sad, depressing, the uncomfortably real, the everyday dark and creepy, the horrifyingly fantastic, and so much more, and all w/ the trademark black humor... Niches and genres for everyone...Many of the stories had me thinking back on past loved reads and their authors, like rediscovering old friends... The narration was overall very good, although a couple of stories were negatively impacted by poor voices, but not enough to skip the story... I usually read collections slowly, coming back for a story everyday or so, but read this one through w/ only a couple of interludes... Spend the credit and enjoy

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18 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great book great performances

I already knew some of the stories but I enjoyed them nevertheless, and yes, some of them have teeth. One regret only: the last story is devastatingly sad.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyable

Overall it was enjoyable to listen to. A couple of the stories I wasn't interested in and felt as if they didn't need to be written. Most of the stories were excellent 👌

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Something about a short story

You have to love a nice story that doesn't take long to listen to but draws you in to a new world for a few minutes.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great book and Great reading!

love that each of the short stories had its own narrator. and as always great writing by the mastor

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Good book

I enjoyed several of the stories in this book. Kindve a nice break from Kings other books.

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

Amazing, as always!

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

I would. There are so many different stories, and you put on a different skin each time.

What did you like best about this story?

The stories were varied and wonderful. Some I liked better than others, but that is what is great about short stories.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

The best part of the narration was Stephen King talking about his creative process before each story begins. It was incredibly inspirational, and interesting.

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

A King collection with a host of amazing narrators

Stephen King knows how to write a short story. They always have a satisfying amount of punch at the end. In this collection some are scary, some are funny, others are both, but all have great characters.
The voice talent in this collection is brimming with a slew of familiar voices from other King audio books. Including my personal favorite, Will Patton.
Definitely worth the price of admission to the Bazaar

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyable as always

Where does The Bazaar of Bad Dreams rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

80%

What did you like best about this story?

Variety

Which scene was your favorite?

Drunken fireworks

Any additional comments?

I was at first thinking King is getting older and his characters are all older. I didn't like this trend. But he pulled it off by the end.

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