Editorials
“Nightmares & Dreamscapes” – Revisiting TNT’s Stephen King Horror Event Series from 2006
Whether measured by quality, quantity, or any other conceivable metric, Stephen King is virtually unparalleled in the literary world. When it comes to translating his work to the screen, on the other hand, the results are uneven to say the least. With multiple films and TV series based on his writing being produced each year – to the point where his books are optioned before they’re even published – it’s no surprise that some adaptations slip through the cracks.
Following the success of their 2004 Salem’s Lot miniseries, TNT returned to the world of King with Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King. Filmed in Melbourne, Australia, the eight-episode anthology series aired as a four-week event – two episodes each Wednesday night – in the summer of 2006 before hitting DVD in time for Halloween that year. As with any anthology, the installments are hit or miss, but the unpredictability is part of the fun. Several name actors and notable filmmakers were involved, including some King alumni.
Five of Nightmares & Dreamscapes‘ episodes – “Crouch End,” “Umney’s Last Case,” “The End of the Whole Mess,” “The Fifth Quarter,” and “You Know They Got a Hell of a Band” – are based on stories from King’s 1993 short story collection of the same name, while “Battleground” comes from 1978’s Night Shift and “The Road Virus Heads North” and “Autopsy Room Four” are in 2002’s Everything’s Eventual.
Presented without any dialogue, “Battleground” is an intrepid choice to kick off the series – but it’s also the strongest of the eight episodes. Like a darker take on Small Soldiers, a hitman (William Hurt, A History of Violence) finds himself being attacked by little green army men toys and their weapons of war after killing a renowned toy manufacturer. Hurt’s wordless, solo performance carries the episode, with the ever-present score by Jeff Beal (House of Cards, Monk) helping to shoulder some of the weight.
The special effects are surprisingly strong for a network TV show at the time, but that should come as no surprise upon the realization that it’s directed by Brian Henson (The Muppet Christmas Carol), who harnesses the powers of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Writer Richard Christian Matheson (Three O’Clock High) sneaks in a nod to another famous killer toy: the Zuni fetish doll from 1975’s Trilogy of Terror, penned by his father, the great Richard Matheson. The episode earned Emmy awards for Outstanding Music Composition and Outstanding Special Visual Effects.
“Crouch End” is King’s tribute to H.P. Lovecraft, but director Mark Haber (Alien Cargo) and writer Kim LeMasters prove unable to render the cosmic dread on screen. Honeymooning in London, newlyweds Doris (Claire Forlani, Mallrats) and Lonnie (Eion Bailey, Band of Brothers) find themselves lost in Crouch End, a notorious area built on a place of ritual sacrifice that now serves as a portal to another dimension. It’s the only episode that goes full-bore into horror, but it’s a painfully generic genre outing even if you overlook the unflattering aesthetic and cheesy CGI.
One of King’s many stories about authors, “Umney’s Last Case” is a love letter to Raymond Chandler’s pulpy detective stories. It’s about a hard-boiled gumshoe circa 1938 whose world is upended when the author of his life reveals himself. William H. Macy (Fargo) plays both roles, earning himself an Emmy nomination for the dual performance. Director Rob Bowman (Reign of Fire) and writer April Smith embrace the Chandler pastiche, with King’s clever twist on the material subverting the tropes.
In “The End of the Whole Mess,” Howard Fornoy (Ron Livingston, The Conjuring) recounts the unbelievable story of his genius younger brother, Bobby (Henry Thomas, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), whose discovery achieves world peace before yielding dire consequences. Director Mikael Salomon (who helmed the aforementioned Salem’s Lot miniseries) successfully builds intrigue and emotion, save for the questionable choice to turn September 11th into a plot catalyst.
Instead of journal entries like in the original story, fearless King adaptor Lawrence D. Cohen (who also tackled Carrie (1976 and 2013), It (1990), and The Tommyknockers) turns Howard into a filmmaker documenting the story. It’s a smart approach for the visual medium, though it’s ultimately underutilized – the copious flashbacks are just that, rather than footage shot by Howard – and the impact of King’s written ending is missed.
“The Road Virus Heads North” is yet another story about a writer. King uses aging horror author Richard Kinnell (Tom Berenger, Platoon) as a conduit for his grievances about life in the spotlight before getting to the meat of the story. After purchasing a menacing painting at a yard sale, Kinnell soon discovers that it changes each time he looks at it, reappears when he tries to destroy it, and kills anyone that gets in its way. Director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (Battlestar Galactica) and writer Peter Filardi (The Craft, Flatliners) deliver an interesting, if familiar, setup that lacks a satisfying conclusion.
“The Fifth Quarter” plays like one of the many Tarantino-esque crime thrillers produced in the wake of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, which isn’t a bad thing. Jeremy Sisto (Wrong Turn) stars as a newly released convict whose dying friend tells him about a map that reveals the location of $3.5 million. Despite a desire to stay straight for his wife (Samantha Mathis, Broken Arrow) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Road), he goes on a dangerous quest for the money. Bowman directs again, this time from a script by Alan Sharp (Rob Roy), crafting an engaging tale of crime and greed.
Perhaps the most compelling episode of Nightmares & Dreamscapes, “Autopsy Room Four” draws inspiration from Louis Pollock’s 1947 short story “Breakdown.” The plot concerns a man (Richard Thomas, who starred as the adult version of Bill in 1990’s It) who has been pronounced dead but is still conscious as he’s brought into the morgue for his autopsy. Trapped inside his own mind, he’s completely immobile but able to think – and feel. Thomas narrates the character’s inner monologue, piecing together the events leading up to his presumed death. Salomon directs from a script by Smith, embracing a dark sense of humor without sacrificing tension.
“You Know They Got a Hell of a Band” features a classic setup that brings to mind The Twilight Zone (which is name-checked in the episode) and King’s own Children of the Corn. A husband (Steven Weber, who boldly assumed the role of Jack Torrance in 1997’s The Shining miniseries) and wife (Kim Delaney, NYPD Blue) on a road trip find themselves in a seemingly idyllic small town that harbors a secret: it’s inhabited by dead musicians. From Janis Joplin and Elvis Presley to Buddy Holly and Jimi Hendrix, the impersonations are fun, but writer-director Mike Robe (Return to Lonesome Dove) is unable to elevate the ordeal beyond the one-note gimmick.
Each episode of Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King runs about 45 minutes sans commercials, which proves to be a good length; it affords enough time to develop characters and establish stakes without having to pad the runtime. The show is not available to stream or purchase digitally – a lack of access that does no favors to its reputation – but the DVD set remains readily available for around $10. It may not be essential King, but I’d encourage any constant reader of his work to give Nightmares & Dreamscapes a shot.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Kraus took the literary world by storm back in 2023 with the release of his hit novel Whalefall. A terrifying yet intimate survival thriller with mythological undertones, the book was almost immediately bombarded with offers from movie studios wanting to adapt its claustrophobic imagery to the big screen.
Fast forward to June of 2026, and we finally got our first glimpse at Brian Duffield’s long-awaited adaptation of Whalefall, starring Austin Abrams as our unfortunate lead who gets swallowed alive by a sperm whale. While this two-and-a-half-minute teaser only covers the beginning of the story, it’s already been making waves online (and in-person at select 4DX promotional screenings) as one of the most stressful cinematic experiences of the year.
In fact, my own wife had to cover her eyes and exclaim, “You’re definitely not dragging me to watch this one” when we saw the whale’s jaws begin to close in on Abrams, with this incident alone already leaving me convinced that this will likely be one of the biggest genre hits of the year. With that in mind, I’d like to invite you to take a closer look at the teaser in order to break down interesting details and get a better idea of what’s in store for genre fans when the movie finally comes out this October.
Of course, as usual, don’t forget to comment below if you noticed something we didn’t!
Now, without further ado, here are five things we learned from the Whalefall trailer!
5. Austin Abrams Performed Many of His Own Stunts
Much like in his previous film, No One Will Save You, Duffield insisted that this visceral experience should be grounded by our main character’s believable reactions, regardless of the plot’s effects-heavy setup. That’s why the camera always makes sure to linger on Abrams through his diving mask, so we know that it’s really him going through this ordeal alongside the audience.
While plenty of CGI was used in order to bring this larger-than-life story to the big screen without killing our leading man, Abrams apparently insisted on performing many of his underwater stunts himself (several of which are visible in the trailer) – much to the chagrin of a worried Duffield and the flick’s stunt coordinator, Shauna Duggins.
4. The Film Seamlessly Transitions Between the California Coast and Underwater Sets
Duffield obviously wasn’t about to drag his crew out to the middle of the ocean and shoot inside a real sperm whale, but it’s reassuring to see the filmmaker blend on-location footage with the underwater tank segments and the literal belly of the whale set.
There may be plenty of CGI stitching these elements together, but the trailer shows us that only the truly impossible shots are completely digital, meaning that the filmmakers didn’t take the easy way out when it came to adapting this unique story.
3. The Whale is Only Part of the Story
Book adaptations tend to leave out inner monologues and the occasional flashback in order to streamline the narrative (which is one reason why it’s so difficult to translate Stephen King novels to the big screen), but a claustrophobic parable like Kraus’ Whalefall would get a bit dull after a while if the whole thing was entirely set within the creature’s stomach.
That’s why it’s such a relief that the trailer hints at how Duffield will also be adapting many of the book’s introspective moments chronicling our protagonist’s harsh upbringing under his troubled father. Not only do these inclusions give the audience some much-appreciated breathing room, but they also give Josh Brolin a chance to shine as a truly complicated character.
2. The Movie is Keeping the Book’s Scientific Accuracy…
While Kraus’ novel was inspired by a viral video of kayakers nearly being swallowed by a humpback whale, the writer ended up consulting with marine biologists about exactly what kind of situation might lead to a whale actually eating a human being alive.
The answer was surprisingly specific, as cetaceans are almost universally known to be friendly towards humans. However, even a gentle giant can make mistakes, and as we see in the trailer, Abrams’ unpleasant fate is more of an accident than anything else – with the massive sperm whale only trapping the poor diver in the first (and thankfully acid-free) chamber of its stomach due to a mix-up involving a giant squid.
Fortunately for the film’s special effects artists, they can now reference the first-ever footage of a real-life sperm whale chowing down on one such squid, as this freaky recording was released late last year.
1. …With a Catch!
Duffield may be doing his best to recreate the grounded (or is it submerged?) thrills of Kraus’ novel, but there are limits to what can be depicted onscreen while still guaranteeing an entertaining movie. That’s why it’s no surprise that Whalefall will take advantage of certain cinematic parlor tricks as the director tests the limits of both physics and biology so we can actually watch his movie.
For starters, the innards of the whale itself have been greatly exaggerated so there’s enough space to make out the action, and in the spirit of movies like Neil Marshall’s The Descent, there also seems to be plenty of non-diegetic lighting meant to show us what’s going on even if Abram’s character wouldn’t necessarily be able to see anything.
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