Sunday, February 1, 2009

February 1 - "Harvey's Dream"

Sundays with Uncle Stevie
“Harvey’s Dream”
by Stephen King
Just After Sunset (2008)

* * * (Good) Realistic

Harvey is surprised to find that his wife Janet did not hear him wake screaming from a nightmare early in morning. As he recounts this terror, Janet becomes all the more apprehensive as aspects of the dream have already begun to unfold around them.

Ah, the dread of dreams – nightmares. In what is essentially the recollection of a dream, King manages to capture the tension and terror that so shook this man, Harvey. It’s been said before, but it’s King’s ability to create complete – and believable – characters, even in a tale of only 10 pages, that adds corporeality to the underlying and intangible horror, supernatural, and/or suspenseful elements of his work. My only problem with this story is that it remains a bit too grounded, not quite reaching the levels of some of his more powerful – and enjoyable – tales.

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