There are 20 stories in Stephen King's The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. In the first of two episodes dedicated to the 2015 collection, Losers Dan Caffrey, Jenn Adams, Michael Roffman, and Dan Pfleegor rank all 20 tales, starting at the bottom. These aren't necessarily their least favorite. They're just ranked as such. Stay tuned next week for the concluding coverage with the top 10.

Constant Listeners, yes, we originally planned to drop our Bazaar of Bad Dreams coverage this week. However, given Sai King’s renewed interest in Hearts in Suspension, we opted to unlock our coverage of the collection from The Stephen King Archives.

For those not in the know, The Stephen King Archives is our Patreon exclusive imprint in which your Losers search the vault of Stephen King material – dusting off unpublished short stories, long-forgotten interviews, coffee-stained manuscripts, and alternate versions of your favorite tales.

This particular entry was recorded in December 2021 - in conjunction with our Hearts in Atlantis coverage - - and sees us discussing Hearts in Suspension in full.

Published in 2016 and edited by King's longtime mentor Jim Bishop, the book features an original essay by King entitled "Five to One, One in Five", four installments of "King's Garbage Truck", a reprint of King's novella "Hearts in Atlantis", 12 essays by fellow students and friends from King's college days, and a gallery of period-specific photographs and documents.

We time travel back to UMO and talk about it all. 

Today we're unlocking our very first episode of CrichtonCast, our Michael Crichton spinoff podcast exclusive to The Barrens. In this installment, host Randall Colburn is joined by Losers Dan Caffrey and Justin Gerber to discuss The Andromeda Strain, the crunchy, science-forward supernatural virus story that propelled Crichton, then a Harvard Medical graduate in his mid-20s, into literary stardom. 

Together they weigh in on Crichton's early life, the book's origins, its clever use of verisimilitude, intellectual distrust, the charms of Robert Wise's ultra-faithful 1971 adaptation, and the ways in which it dovetails with King's own pandemic tale, The Stand. 

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In this deep dive into the second season of Audience Network's Mr. Mercedes, Randall Colburn, Justin Gerber, and Dan Pfleegor gather to discuss why the series jumped ahead to End of Watch over Finders Keepers. They also wrestle with its efforts to find drama in holding patterns and touch on the season’s shocking ending, a wild deviation from the source material. 

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Losers Michael Roffman, Dan Caffrey, Justin Gerber, and Dan Pfleegor head to Hollywood King again to discuss the latest developments in King's Dominion, specifically on The Long Walk, The Monkey, The Institute, and forthcoming projects by King such as Always Holly. They also sort through some tweets, which ranges from greatest film scores to King's 1999 accident to more.

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Here's a clip from our latest Patreon-exclusive episode that sees your Losers gushing about their favorite, all-time Stephen King crushes. Want to hear the full track? Become a member of The Barrens (Patreon) by visiting www.patreon.com/thebarrens. You'll unlock hundreds hours of exclusive content that includes even more episodes of The Stephen King Archives, our Dark Tower Detour series, dozens of Ka-mmentary tracks for your favorite King flicks, all of our Lobstrosities episodes clawing through those silly King sequels, in addition to spinoffs like The Soul's Midnight, Talkin' Hawkins, and CrichtonCast. Not to mention, dozens upon dozens of locked episodes and one-offs, including a 24-7 Discord community featuring Constant Listeners just like you!

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After taking a quick (and bleak) detour with the macabre Revival, Stephen King returned to the characters he introduced in 2014’s Mr. Mercedes with 2015’s Finders Keepers. The second in a trilogy of novels about aging detective Bill Hodges, Finders Keepers follows a young boy whose discovery of a trunk filled with cash (and moleskin notebooks) puts him in the crosshairs of a psychopathic bookworm. 

In this episode of The Losers’ Club, hosts Randall Colburn, Jenn Adams, Rachel Reeves, and Ashley Casseday slip on their pocket protectors and duct-taped specs to discuss King’s return to the obsessed fan archetype. Along the way, they touch on parasocial fandom, rare book dealers, butts, and whether the story even needs Hodges and co.

Today, we’re unlocking our debut episode of the Dark Tower Detour, our Patreon-exclusive series that studies the minutiae of Roland Deschain’s epic quest. Hosted by Dan Pfleegor and Dan Caffrey, this exclusive series covers a range of topics that interest those who remember the face of their father. No character is too small. No detail too obscure. 

This kickoff episode -- recorded in September 2021 -- sees the Dans joined by Kingslingers co-hosts Scott Daly and Matt Freeman. Together, this blessed ka-tet bring its expertise to the ill-fated Battle of Jericho Hill, a tragic bloodbath mentioned in passing across several installments of the series.

If you recall, the event was finally explored in full during a five-issue Marvel comic book run that ran from December 2009 to April 2010. Using that as a stepping stone, your heroes will examine the minds behind these comics, break down the belligerents on either side of the battle, and discuss the canonical significance of the Horn of Eld in this world and others.

If you like this episode, you can find more installments of the Dark Tower Detour, including our latest episode that studies the similarities between The Dark Tower and The Lord of the Rings, by joining The Barrens: patreon.com/thebarrens, In addition to the Detour, we have close to a thousand hours of content waiting to be unpacked. Not to mention a whole Discord community of Constant Readers just like you. 

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In 2014, Stephen King took a turn toward the macabre with Revival. A sprawling opus about the intersection between faith and science, the novel has since become a favorite amongst Constant Readers, who all consider it to be one of his modern masterpieces with an ending that haunts you forever. Today, the Losers step up and prepare to be healed by Minister Charles Jacobs as they discuss the unnerving novel. Together, they weigh in on the themes, how they relate to King's own beliefs in god and the afterlife, and whether or not this is the most harrowing ending King has put to paper.

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The Losers once again find themselves in Hell where they're surrounded by the most scorching Stephen King hot takes they've read to date. Yes, we're back with another installment of Firestarters. For context, this feature sees the Club sift through hot takes submitted by their patrons -- Constant Readers just like you! Each one is classified as mild, medium, or hot, and, let's just say, you're gonna need some milk as this episode rolls on. Want to submit a hot take next time around? Become a member of The Barrens at patreon.com/thebarrens

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