Dark Visions

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Title Night Visions 5
Author Stephen King,
Dan Simmons,
George R. R. Martin
Country Flag of United States USA
Language English
Genre(s) Horror, science fiction
Publisher Orion Publishing
Released August 10, 1989
Media type Print (Hardcover)
ISBN ISBN 978-0575045859

Dark Visions is a compilation book, with three stories by Stephen King, three by Dan Simmons, and one by George R. R. Martin. The book has also been issued under the name of Dark Love, The Skin Trade, and Night Visions 5, which also contain the same seven stories. Two of the short stories by Stephen King - Sneakers and Dedication - are also contained in the anthology Nightmares & Dreamscapes.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Stephen King

  • The Reploids: Edward Paladin shows up in place of Johnny Carson on the Carson show, but all is not what it seems. A subsequent investigation by detective Richard Cheyney finds strange items in his possession, hinting that he may not be from our reality. His passes for the studio are the wrong color, and he has a bright blue dollar bill with a picture of James Madison on it.
  • Sneakers: John keeps seeing these old sneakers in the same toilet stall every time he enters it. As time passes flies are build up around the sneakers, but no one else seems to know what is going on or to notice the sneakers. But he is certain that there is a ghost in that stall!
  • Dedication: This tells the story of a black house maid working in a hotel and an eccentric alcoholic writer who is a frequent guest there. The maid consumes some of the writer's semen which was left on his sheets as part of a possible black magic spell, in the hope that it will pass talent and ability along to her son.

[edit] Dan Simmons

  • Metastasis:Hideous parasites infect the world, but only one man can see them.
  • Vanna Fucci Is Alive and Well and Living in Hell:The godless truth behind Brother Freddy's Hallelujah Breakfast Club.
  • Iverson's Pits: There are some Civil War horrors you never dreamed of.

[edit] George R. R. Martin

  • The Skin Trade: This savage mini-epic of mankind's animal urges gives new meaning to the word "hair-raising."
Spoilers end here.