May 11, 2026 · 2 hr 9 min · 31 segments
We talk about the 2015 short story collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. Support this show on Patreon! Send things to the PO Box! Follow Ranged Touch on Bluesky Buy books from our Bookshop.org…
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Well, I, I don't know how you feel, Cameron.
I think that this is better than Just After Sunset, uh, which I think was my least favorite, uh, Stephen King short story collection.
It's not the best.
Uh, I do think it's, it's got some interesting things going on, but, well, I'll, I'll save it for, for later.
What was your overall impression?
I think this book's pretty good.
Yeah.
I don't think it is a...
I don't think it should be called The Bazaar of Bad Dreams.
No.
I, I think it should be called, like, Steve D- Steve Does the Literature.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
You know? He, he do the literature in different voices.
Mm-hmm.
Yep, it's, it's, uh, literary Steve doing a bunch of riffs on various things, and some of the...
Uh, there are a couple stories here that I think are quite good.
Uh, but I think my, like, general assessment of the, the volume is that they're...
Rather, the thing, my, my critique that recurs most strongly with most of the stories is I feel like they needed a, a, a cleaner snap to them, right? They, they, they feel like they're a little...
Th- there's some interesting setup, but the landing-
Mm-hmm
... point is never quite where I want it to be or it's never quite as zippy as I want it to be.
Yeah, I t- I think a lot of these are Steve, hmm, working, working a thing out.
Mm-hmm.
You're watching him do the math problem on the page.
Well, I, I don't know how you feel, Cameron.
I think that this is better than Just After Sunset, uh, which I think was my least favorite, uh, Stephen King short story collection.
It's not the best.
Uh, I do think it's, it's got some interesting things going on, but, well, I'll, I'll save it for, for later.
What was your overall impression?
I think this book's pretty good.
Yeah.
I don't think it is a...
I don't think it should be called The Bazaar of Bad Dreams.
No.
I, I think it should be called, like, Steve D- Steve Does the Literature.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
You know? He, he do the literature in different voices.
Mm-hmm.
Yep, it's, it's, uh, literary Steve doing a bunch of riffs on various things, and some of the...
Uh, there are a couple stories here that I think are quite good.
Uh, but I think my, like, general assessment of the, the volume is that they're...
Rather, the thing, my, my critique that recurs most strongly with most of the stories is I feel like they needed a, a, a cleaner snap to them, right? They, they, they feel like they're a little...
Th- there's some interesting setup, but the landing-
Mm-hmm
... point is never quite where I want it to be or it's never quite as zippy as I want it to be.
Yeah, I t- I think a lot of these are Steve, hmm, working, working a thing out.
Mm-hmm.
You're watching him do the math problem on the page.
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