Stephen King’s ‘Nightmares & Dreamscapes’: 8 Terrifying Tales & the Stars Who Brought Them to Life
It’s not often that more than a dozen household-name actors come together for one project — even less often when that project is a television series. But when the network is TNT, and the work is based on the short stories of Stephen King, anything is possible.
In July of 2006, Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King ran for four weeks and boasted an all-star roster of actors that including Tom Berenger, William Hurt, Kim Delaney, Richard Thomas, among others, each who star in one of the collection’s eight hour-long episodes. With the look and feel of feature films, the stories of Nightmares offered the suspense, drama, and chills that fans of the iconic horror author have come to expect.
Among those signing on for scares and overcoming their nerves are William H. Macy, Marsha Mason, Ron Livingston, Claire Forlani, and Steven Weber, who shared their journeys through Nightmares & Dreamscapes and break down each episode.
“Battleground”
Turner Network Television. A Time Warner Company./Credit: Erik Heinila
“Bill Hurt is the only guy in it,” William H. Macy explains. “I think it’s got five lines in it, and the rest is just him battling these toy soldiers.” He’s got the gist right: The only actor in this episode, William Hurt, plays a hitman who must face the deadly consequences of murdering a toy company CEO.
“Crouch End”
Turner Network Television. A Time Warner Company./Credit: Erik Heinila
“I think out of all of them,” Forlani says, “it’s the most quintessential Stephen King [in] style.” Costarring Eion Bailey, it’s the story of a couple honeymooning in London who, on their way to meet a friend for dinner, find themselves lost in a strange neighborhood that leads them to an alternate dimension. In Forlani’s words, “And then things get sort of scary and weird.”
“Umney’s Last Case”
Turner Network Television. A Time Warner Company./Credit: Frank Ockenfels.
Which of the three characters he plays in this installment did William H. Macy enjoy the most? “I liked Clyde [Umney],” he says of the fast-talking detective. “It’s a bit more of a challenge because Clyde is sort of cartoonish; he’s a character, and character-y, and the writing is a little more arch and theatrical.” When Clyde’s world begins to go a little wacky, he discovers that he is merely a character in the books of author Sam Landry — also played by Macy. Desperate to escape his real life, Landry decides to write himself into his book, but realizes too late that once he’s in that fictional world, he can’t write himself out.
“The End of the Whole Mess”
Turner Network Television, A Time Warner Company./Credit:Andrew Eccles
“[In] every Stephen King story, he kind of starts with a fear that we all kind of have, and then beats the fire,” Ron Livingston theorizes. “I think this one is the fear of our own power, the fear of our own power to screw things up.” What Livingston and Henry Thomas are screwing up is the whole world, when an experiment to save it goes horribly wrong.
“The Road Virus Heads North”
Turner Network Television. A Time Warner Company. /Credit: Erik Heinila
Directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (Taken), Road Virus stars Tom Berenger as an author who purchases a sinister painting that begins to change before his eyes. Costar Marsha Mason explains, “He goes through this kind of crazed, paranoid state, and this painting takes on a life of its own and becomes more and more diabolical and frightening.” As the story goes, King based Road Virus on a painting in his own home.
“The Fifth Quarter”
Turner Network Television. A Time Warner Company./Credit: Frank Ockenfels
Samantha Mathis and Jeremy Sisto star in this story of a just-released ex-con who risks everything to get revenge on the men behind a friend’s murder and find the hiding spot for the multimillion-dollar loot from a robbery.
“Autopsy Room Four”
Turner Network Television. A Time Warner Company./Credit: Erik Heinila
Starring Richard Thomas and Greta Scacchi, Autopsy is a worst-case-scenario story about Howard Cottrell, a businessman paralyzed by a snakebite during a golf game. Showing no signs of life, Cottrell ends up, as Macy tells it, “on an autopsy table, and he’s alive, but he can’t communicate with people!”
“You Know They Got a Hell of a Band”
Turner Network Television, A Time Warner Company./Credit: Andrew Eccles
“They were looking for some amiable, empty-headed guy who’s easily corrupted by the memory of old AM radio rock ‘n’ roll from the ’60s, and who can’t handle a map at all. So naturally, they chose me.” Steven Weber is tongue-in-cheek about his starring role in this episode about a married couple (Kim Delaney plays his skeptical wife) who take a wrong turn and end up in a small, creepy town where rock ‘n’ roll really never dies.
How to Watch Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King
Nightmares & Dreamscapes is currently unavailable to stream or watch anywhere except user-posted episodes on YouTube (links are attached to episode titles), but you can buy it on DVD.
Sarah Schoolcraft wrote this, originally published in the July 2006 issue of Channel Guide Magazine, now called StayTuned.
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