The Dream Dealers

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!

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.

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.