History Literature / NightmaresAndDreamscapes

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Jerry of "The Fifth Quarter" had every intention of [[spoiler:sparing Keenan's life until he sees that one of the pieces of their map has blood on it, and realizes that he was the one who pulled the trigger on Jerry's friend. He shoots Keenan dead on the spot.]]

** "Dolan's Cadillac" contains a couple of allusions to the works of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe; while the plot itself is a modern version of "The Cask of Amontillado" and Fortunato's interment, some of Robinson's descriptions of his stalking and murder plan, with their excitable em-dashed asides, are stylistically similar to the narration in "The Tell-Tale Heart".

** [[Creator/EdgarAllanPoe For the love of God, Robinson!]]

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Doris comes face-to-face with the Horror of Crouch End and catches a brief glimpse of her husband's face taking form in one of Its tentacles, implying that he was devoured by the Horror and became part of it.]]

* {{Fingore}}: "The Moving Finger" has Howard Mitla try to get rid of a finger living in his bathroom drain by dissolving it with industrial drain cleaner ([[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext it intentionally doesn't make sense in context]]), before cutting it off with an electric hedge trimmer.

* GlamourFailure: In "The Ten O'Clock People" only very light smokers can see the 'bat people' who are [[spoiler:steadily taking over.]] Non-smokers and heavier smokers alike simply see humans where the titular group sees the monsters.

* HumanoidAbomination: The people, or whatever they really were, that Doris and Lonny encounter in Crouch End before things get really bad.

* ItsForABook: In "Dolan's Cadillac", Robinson claims that he's writing a SciFi story and asks someone [[spoiler: how much dirt the characters would have to excavate in order to trap the alien's vehicle]]. The person who gives Robinson this information comments something to the effect of, "It's funny, [[spoiler: the dimensions of that vehicle are almost the size of a Cadillac.]]"
** King himself had to ask his brother how he'd go about [[spoiler: burying a Cadillac]], and got extensive details (even down to how to hotwire a digger). Of course, King had spent years preparing the alibi of being a best-selling writer by this point. He also claimed (in the author's notes) that details of the crime were changed in the story so that it wouldn't actually work, just in case [[AndSomeOtherStuff anyone reading it got ideas]].

* MundaneHorror: In "Crouch End", a family couple drives into an unknown district of London. Initially it appears almost normal, but with some minor unsettling details (a strange newspaper headline, a cat with a mutilated face, three bikers who appear to have rat heads). These are the first indications that they are in a DarkWorld.

** The family's surname from "The House on Maple Street" is [[Creator/RayBradbury Bradbury]].

* [[WickedStepmother Wicked Stepfather]]: A rare male example in "The House on Maple Street", though he's more uncaring and supremely self-centered than outright evil -- either way, he gets [[spoiler:blasted into space when the house/spaceship launches off the street.]]

*** [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E22TheMonstersAreDueOnMapleStreet This wouldn't be the first time that alien events happened to a Maple Street.]]

* WitnessProtection: Robinson's wife had this in "Dolan's Cadillac" before she was set to go to trial to be a witness against Dolan. He finds her anyway and attaches dynamite to her car and kills her.

* RecycledInSpace: "Dolan's Cadillac" is "Literature/TheCaskOfAmontillado" in a construction site.

* DaylightHorror: The climax of "Crouch End" takes place during late evening, but the majority is set just before twilight, with the late afternoon sun illuminating the disturbing horrors of the city.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: a truly badass example from Frank Daggett in "Home Delivery," who knows his heart is about to give out on him. He says goodbye to his nephew, has three men aim their shotguns in his vital areas, and recites the Lord's Prayer (interrupted by fits of profanity as he suffers a heart attack), then has them all pull the trigger at once. Unlike the zombies, who sometimes reanimate even after a headshot, Frank doesn't come back; the text notes he planned to stay dead and he meant it.

** "Umley's Last Case" is a riff on Creator/RaymondChandler's mysteries, with a King-esque supernatural twist/

* MadeOfIron: Averted in "Dolan's Cadillac" -- Robinson collapses and needs surgery for his back soon after spending ages out in the desert [[spoiler: digging a massive hole in the highway.]]

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: While not guaranteed, it is heavily suggested that the protagonist of "Dolan's Cadillac" will get away with having buried Dolan alive. The protagonist admits that it's possible that someday someone will uncover Dolan and realise what he did, but notes that there are plenty of reasons why it likely won't be any day soon; Dolan's car is heavily armoured so withstand the pressure from the heavy traffic passing over it for longer, and will decay more slowly under the dry desert earth, meaning that the cavity it creates won't be revealed for a while. Furthermore, unless an expert happens to see the damage as it occurs, it's likely that any cracks or potholes caused by the presence of the Cadillac will just be put down to natural processes and quickly repaired without major excavation. And even if Dolan is uncovered, his gangland activities mean that there will be plenty more likely suspects for the police to follow than the protagonist. And even ''then'', the sheer amount of (literally) back-breaking labour the protagonist undertook in order to pull off the plan would suggest to investigators that a team of assassins would have to be involved rather than a single man.]]

* {{Determinator}}: The main character of "Dolan's Cadillac" goes from a meek, out of shape schoolteacher to a muscular construction worker and works himself half to death setting up his trap, all to avenge his beloved wife. It costs him too -- he ends up hospitalized with a back injury due to the extertion.

* BeamMeUpScotty:[[invoked]] {{Lampshaded}} in ''The Doctor's Case'', when Holmes declares that "The game's afoot!", proceeded by Watson saying that despite how often Sherlock's quoted as saying it that was the one time he actually did. Ultimately {{Subverted}} as Sherlock ''does'' say "The game is afoot!" in the Conan Doyle story ''The Adventure of the Abbey Grange'', meaning King got it wrong.

* BeamMeUpScotty:[[invoked]] {{Lampshaded}} in ''The Doctor's Case'', when Holmes declares that "The game's afoot!", proceeded by Watson saying that despite how often Sherlock's quoted as saying it that was the one time he actually did. Ultimatley {{Subverted}} as Sherlock ''does'' say "The game is afoot!" in the Conan Doyle story ''The Adventure of the Abbey Grange'', meaning King got it wrong.

* AlienSky: In "Crouch End", Doris Freeman looks up at the sky and sees "crazed stars in lunatic constellations." The sky also begina taking on unnatural shades of blood red and deep purple as nightfall approaches.

* "Crouch End": King's tribute to the works of Creator/HPLovecraft, written in the Cthulhu Mythos genre, involving a young American couple who get lost in a quiet part of London where the boundaries between dimensions are wearing a little thin.

* "The Doctor's Case": King's tribute to the works of Creator/ArthurConanDoyle, using the characters of [[Main/TheWatson Dr Watson]] and Franchise/SherlockHolmes, originally written for a separate Holmes anthology. Holmes and Watson are called upon to investigate the death of an unpopular aristocrat, but an unexpected development will see the two briefly switch places.

* AttackOfTheMonsterAppendage: The protagonist of "The Moving Finger" is confronted and attacked by a bizarre, multijointed finger poking out of the drain in his apartment's bathroom sink. After cutting it off, he starts thinking about the creature to which it must have been attached. Eventually, the police arrive, and something starts lifting the toilet lid. The officer goes to the toilet to investigate, and the story ends.

** In "My Pretty Pony" Clive's big sister Patty gives him vicious "Peter pinches". Well ... [[BrotherSisterIncest some of the pinches are vicious]].