Customer Reviews

A Nightmare on Elm Street #5: The Dream Dealers

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a huge fan of Elm Street from the old days I was really looking forward to reading this book, and I can tell you that I was NOT disappointed. It's awesome and a fantastic read. One I couldn't put down until the end...

I personally thought the author had a definate handle on Kruger. This book would make an fantastic sequel if ever made into a movie...

I am really disappointed at the negative reviews and comments this book is getting by a few people here on Amazon.....(I notice all their other reviews are negative too)

Because it really IS a great book and one that any fan would be happy to read.

Cheers
Wandaful

Introducing the Trancebox! It can record memories or dreams, and play them back for your total entertainment. Now you too can experience skydiving or bull riding while in the safety of your own home!

Alex Carmack and his girlfriend Trisha work for Macrocosm Research, whose new project is to exhume memories from the brains of dead people; culling their dreams so to speak. Alex also moonlights for Mnemonic Designs, creators of software for Saxon Systems, who manufacture the new Tranceboxes. Alex and younger brother Devon love to play with the new "recordings", and are especially interested in the nightmare tapes of several youngsters from Springwood who not only died of murder, but also had small tumors at the base of their brains. Alex is so impressed with these culled dreams, each with a strange burned man in a green-and-red sweater, that he knows his discovery will make Mnemonic Designs, and himself, very rich and famous.

With each use of the dreams extracted from the six dead teens, Freddy grows stronger, coming back into solid focus. Friend and co-worker Patrick is first to die, succumbing to the revitalized Freddy; revitalized by Alex and Devon's multitude of friends and co-workers actively using the box. Freddy doesn't need the Trancebox anymore, he's free again. With the wide range of characters available, there's plenty of dream-fodder for Freddy to play with, and this time Freddy plans to use them to create a world-wide banquet of dreamers through Saxon's Trancebox.

This is my first Nightmare On Elm Street book. To be frank, I picked it up because I'm a rabid fan of author Jeffrey Thomas. I wasn't disappointed. Thomas really fleshes out Freddy, bringing him to terrifying life. The unique concept of "dream-spreading" through technology allows Freddy to infect and conquer more souls than ever before. The dream environments are inspired; a castle surrounded by a sea of crucifixion, an endless boiler room, a convenience store, a hospital, a Colosseum with a skeletal audience, and other distorted dreamscapes. The dreams of the characters are wicked and competently depicted. I love the tumored brain oozing out of the skull, eyes attached and aware, and fingerbones growing from the brain to use for walking, like spider legs. Add in a subplot of someone else in Springwood being a killer (you'll be surprised) and you've got extra tension in an already tightly woven tale. Thomas's work with Krueger is a melding of frightening proportions, a not-to-be-missed Freddy experience.

Memory devices have been used in movies before, such as 'Strange Days' and 'Brainstorm', but to use one in a Freddy environment is nothing less than inspired genius. I hope that Black Flame brings Jeffrey Thomas back for another excursion into Freddy's nightmare world. Worth a purchase but out of print, so you'll have to pick it up used. Enjoy!

This book was a lot better than I anticipated. The whole idea of the TranceBox was awesome! It has some good dream kills which is always a plus in the NOES world. You can tell the author has a decent amount of knowledge about the NOES series.

This book sure beats the hell out of Dreamspawn, which I believe is the weakest book out of the entire Black Flame series.

Having read a lot of Jeffrey Thomas's distinct, surreal, hypnotically dark fiction in the past, I was eager to see how he would handle an iconic horror character such as Freddy K--I was not disappointed. The TranceBox device worked well with the established horror villian, adding a fresh twist. I found the scenes with Freddy breaking free very scary, especially the death scene with 'tough chick" Autumn. Contrary to naysayers, I found the teens dialogue and characteriazation on target(I've worked with teenagers, trust me).

Another great work by author Jeffrey Thomas, and a great addition to the Nightmare on Elmstreet family. Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. I totally enjoyed the story and the character development. The Trancebox was a unique and delightful invention of this writer's mind, and put a nice swing on the Freddy storyline. I can definately see a movie coming out based on this story. Give yourself a treat and read it.

I was greatly disappointed with this book. Not only was the ending of the novel predictable, but the characters were down right dull. I really wished that the dream sequences had included a few from the actual movies. Now I realize the backlash this can cause, and I know the books aren't written just for the fans of the movies, but without giving too much of the plot away, it would've been nice to see some dreams from the movie characters. There have been only two books from Black Flame in this series I have enjoyed "Suffer the Children" and "Perchance to Dream" (which I only enjoyed partly because charcters were offed that shouldn't have been), and it was because the authors understood the charcter and story material and wrote really good novels. I can't understand how these mediocre novels keep reaching the shelves. Hopefully if there is another book it will be better.

Reading this book, I didn't expect much, given that every book Black Flame has put out for Freddy and for Jason has pretty much been awful. However, I decided to give this one a chance, with a fresh set of characters, and an interesting new idea with the Trancebox dream machine.

However, soon after starting this book, I found that the dream kills, while unique, were very repetitive, with several characters dreaming the same dream over and over and over. It got really boring toward the middle of the book, and there was next to no suspense surrounding Freddy. It was all centered around the Trancebox, which is a rip-off of The Riddler's dream machine from "Batman Forever". Don't believe me? Go watch the movie once.

In the end, I was glad some of the characters met their demise. Most of them were annoying, and none were even the slightest bit interesting. The author had no grasp on the character of Freddy Krueger. He was portrayed too much as a comedian instead of the dementedly sick slasher he truly is. In fact, aside from Wes Craven, I don't think any director or author has ever really been able to get that right.

The bottom line here is, avoid this book at all costs. Just like every other Freddy book, I found it dull, boring and definitely not worth the money I wasted on it. I'd give it a zero rating, but Amazon.com says I have to at least give it a 1, so that's what I'm stuck with.