Sunday, June 24, 2012

"Don't dream" by Donald Wandrei

Wandrei's "Don't dream" is certainly an interesting experiment in pulp weird fiction. It is a short story without much pretense, and is fun to read.
What would you do if everything you dream of - or think of - becomes true? What if you thought of something that suddenly becomes reality? Most of us would say that it is fantastic, but Wandrei shows how much of a nightmare it actually is (except for having unlimited cash).
In this story the main character carries a sad, meaningless life. He hates his wife ("she nagged when awake and she snored when asleep". How cool is that?) so much that he dreams of her death. And she dies indeed. Is that murder? He just thought of it. Is that an accident? He really wanted her to die.
After his thoughts killed his wife he is arrested for murder, and all sorts of issues come up of which I can't write about without spoiling the story. If you like strange tales, this is definitely worth reading.

"For Donald Wandrei, as always - August Derleth. 1945"

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