Stephen King "Nightmares & Dreamscapes" Slipcased Signed First Edition, First Printing w/COA

Personally signed by Stephen King directly onto the title page

FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING. Signed first edition, a rare intersection of two collectibles: first printing and direct author signature.

New York, The Viking Press 1993. Stephen King "Nightmares & Dreamscapes". Personally signed by Stephen King directly onto the title page. First Edition, First Printing. The most collectible state. Hardcover book with dust-jacket. Not price-clipped. This book contains all the First Edition, First Printing issue points, including $27.50 on the dust jacket, "First published in 1993 by Viking Penguin", and the full number line on the copyright page "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2". Includes custom matching slipcase. Archival acid-free Mylar sleeve on the dust-jacket. Bookseller issued COA. A signed first edition of this title is not commonly available.

Cultural and Literary Importance of the Book: Nightmares and Dreamscapes is a well-regarded short story collection from King, including stories that span horror, suspense, and even some fantasy. Its broad content and popularity make it appealing to a wide audience.

"Nightmares & Dreamscapes"

The classic short story collection from #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King!

A wrong turn on a lonely road lands a wayward couple in Rock and Roll Heaven, Oregon, where there’s no escaping the free nightly concert….A novelty toy becomes an unexpected and terrifying instrument of self-defense….An ex-con pieces together a map to unearth a stolen million dollars—but at what price?...A private investigator in Depression-era Los Angeles is finding his life unraveling as he discovers the shocking truth of who he really is….A third-grade teacher is willing to dig deep in order to exact revenge for his murdered wife.... These are just some of the haunting scenarios to be found in this classic collection—spellbinding tales from the darkest places and the unparalleled imagination of fiction’s master storyteller.

Many people who write about horror literature maintain that mood is its most important element. Stephen King disagrees: "My deeply held conviction is that story must be paramount.... All other considerations are secondary--theme, mood, even characterization and language."

These fine stories, each written in what King calls "a burst of faith, happiness, and optimism," prove his point. The theme, mood, characters, and language vary, but throughout, a sense of story reigns supreme. Nightmares & Dreamscapes contains 20 short tales--including several never before published--plus one teleplay, one poem, and one nonfiction piece about kids and baseball that appeared in the New Yorker. The subjects include vampires, zombies, an evil toy, man-eating frogs, the burial of a Cadillac, a disembodied finger, and a wicked stepfather.

The style ranges from King's well-honed horror to a Ray Bradbury-like fantasy voice to an ambitious pastiche of Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald. And like a compact disc with a bonus track, the book ends with a charming little tale not listed in the table of contents--a parable called "The Beggar and the Diamond."

List of Stories

1 Dolan's Cadillac, Castle Rock, February—June 1985
2 The End of the Whole Mess, October 1986 issue of Omni
3 Suffer the Little Children, February 1972 issue of Cavalier
4 The Night Flier , Prime Evil (1988)
5 Popsy, Masques II (1987)
6 It Grows on You, Fall 1973 issue of Marshroots
7 Chattery Teeth , Fall 1992 issue of Cemetery Dance
8 Dedication, Night Visions 5 (1988)
9 The Moving Finger, December 1990 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
10 Sneakers , Night Visions 5 (1988)
11 You Know They Got a Hell of a Band, Shock Rock (1992)
12 Home Delivery, Book of the Dead (1989)
13 Rainy Season Spring, 1989 issue of Midnight Graffiti
14 My Pretty Pony, My Pretty Pony limited edition coffee table book (1989)
15 Sorry, Right Number, Previously unpublished
16 The Ten O'Clock People, Previously unpublished
17 Crouch End, New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos (1980)
18 The House on Maple Street, Previously unpublished
19 The Fifth Quarter, April 1972 issue of Cavalier
20 The Doctor's Case, The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1987)
21 Umney's Last Case, Previously unpublished
22 Head Down, April 16, 1990 issue of The New Yorker
23 Brooklyn August, Io #10, 1971
24 The Beggar and the Diamond, Previously unpublished

King dedicated this collection of stories to Thomas Williams, a writing instructor who taught for many years at the University of New Hampshire. Since the book's publication, King has singled out Williams' 1974 National Book Award-winning novel The Hair of Harold Roux as a favorite of his, and one he returns to "again and again."

The dedication reads:

In memory of
THOMAS WILLIAMS,
1926–1990:
poet, novelist, and
great American storyteller.

Stephen King

Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them suspense, crime, science-fiction, fantasy, and mystery. Though known primarily for his novels, he has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in collections.

His debut, Carrie (1974), established him in horror. Different Seasons (1982), a collection of four novellas, was his first major departure from the genre. Among the films adapted from King's fiction are Carrie (1976), The Shining (1980), The Dead Zone and Christine (both 1983), Stand by Me (1986), Misery (1990), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Dolores Claiborne (1995), The Green Mile (1999), The Mist (2007), and It (2017). He has published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman and has co-written works with other authors, notably his friend Peter Straub and sons Joe Hill and Owen King. He has also written nonfiction, notably Danse Macabre (1981) and On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000).

Among other awards, King has won the O. Henry Award for "The Man in the Black Suit" (1994) and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller for 11/22/63 (2011). He has also won honors for his overall contributions to literature, including the 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2007 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the 2014 National Medal of Arts. Joyce Carol Oates called King "a brilliantly rooted, psychologically 'realistic' writer for whom the American scene has been a continuous source of inspiration, and American popular culture a vast cornucopia of possibilities."