Sweet Dreams
William W. Johnstone
Zebra, 1985
ISBN: 0-8217-1553-4
There’s times in a reader's life that you have to pause and consider just what the hell you are reading and why. If you read 80s pulp paperback horror, this thought MIGHT pop in your head more often than say if you were reading Dostoevsky or Vonnegut. If you’re reading a William W. Johnstone horror novel the phrase “why am I reading this?” will crop up often, say every couple of pages. And since you think this you ask yourself, “why don’t I stop?” Then you just just keep reading because surely that the worst is over. The worst is never over in a William W. Johnstone novel until you are at the ads in the back for other books from the publisher. It’s a near-constant barrage of terrible things designed to...I dunno maybe scare you? At least it's designed to disgust you. But more on that in a minute.
William W. Johnstone was a writer who could really fill a book up with words. Before he wrote paperback originals he was in the Army, worked at a carnival (which pops up in his fiction) and as a deputy sheriff before turning to radio. Somewhere before the 80s he decided to write books and boy, did he ever write some books. He became a prolific pulp writer, outside of horror he churned out Men’s Adventure fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction and westerns. So. Many. Westerns. In fact you can probably still go to your local big box store and find some new novels of his on the shelves. It doesn’t even matter that he died in 2004, there’s a new one seemingly every week with his name on the cover. He’s still that popular.
With the publication of Paperbacks from Hell, his old 80s horror stuff got a real shot in the arm. Mostly based on the glorious Zebra covers put on them. Skeletons, scary kids, teddy bears with skeletons inside, cat-babies, skeletons with babies, etc. etc. All with a stark black background so you fully knew that it was indeed METAL. He did these horror books while still writing in the other genres which is just a staggering output. He is (was?) his own publishing empire who wrote unabashedly in whatever sold paperbacks. But what of the books themselves?
Sweet Dreams came out straight in the middle of the 80s, Johnstone had tackled this type of material many times before. Especially considering sometimes Sweet Dreams is credited as being book 9 (BOOK 9! Jeez) in his Devil Series, which starts with The Devil’s Kiss. I don’t know if it is technically a part of the series, Johnstone’s website counts it as a stand-alone. I think the confusion lies in the fact that Johnstone kinda rewrites the same book a lot, just with slight changes. A small town U.S.A that is full of fairly terrible people suddenly finds themselves trapped with a supernatural force cast upon them. A small band of normies try to figure it out while the evil forces turn everyone else into the worst. Then lots of super gross stuff happens.
In this one it starts with ghost lights, satanic ghost lights. So I guess they were red or something. Then an Indigenous burial ground archeological dig that stirs up a Manitou. Then said Manitou stirs up a lot of trouble. There’s possessions, haunted houses, time travel, ghost dogs, a possessed teacher who seduces and kills dudes by skinning them, a wall of people's flesh, and the ULTIMATE deus ex machina. Seriously, this is a kitchen sink book, Johnstone throws everything at the wall and sees what sticks. Several things don’t stick since they never amount to much when Johnstone seemingly forgot about those plot threads. Like I said, he was writing a lot, probably hard to keep everything straight.
Now, I’d think I’d love all this stuff. Like you cram six books worth of monster mayhem into one fat tome. I’ll usually dig it...but the problem is Johnstone’s main interest in his horror work is to write about sexual assault. The most twisted and nasty assault that really derails the books. I skip them because of their nastiness, so it feels like I skipped a ton in the novel. These scenes really take all the fun out of an otherwise really goofy book like this. If it happened once or twice it might be okay but the sheer number really break the book. I don’t know what the horror audience wanted in 1985 if that was what they wanted, but I don’t really want in 2024.
So, every now and then I try a William W. Johnstone novel, thinking that maybe this one will be better. So far, no. Not really. Between the awesome covers and the wild premises they always just seem like they will be AMAZING, but sadly like a deceptive VHS cover at a video store with a lame movie inside, they disappoint you.
Roy Nugen is an award-winning writer, producer, property master, plus actor. He comes from a family of musicians, engineers, wildcatters, cops, lion tamers, and carpet salesmen. Evil Dead II changed his life and he once partied with Lloyd Kaufman.
He has written 15 short films including Bag Full of Trouble, Potboiler, Handle With Care, Death in Lavender, Hole in the Ground, and the feature film Arrive Alive, many of which have played across the country. He has been the property master on 17 short films and 2 feature films.
Roy is also a prolific book reviewer and collector of vintage pulp paperback books. You can read his reviews on his blog Bloody, Spicy Books and multiple magazines including Paperback Fanatic, Hot Lead and Sleazy Reader. He has also written afterwards for novels and for various websites. He lives in the only city that once arrested L. Ron Hubbard with his wife and cats.