Dream curse question

[kuanyin]

I just love how Julia was so blase about explaining it to Willie. Oh yes, it is a dream curse, we've all been having it. As though, it was quite commonplace. Is the dream curse concept an original idea? It is one of the few themes which I am not familiar with from other sources.

[Philippe Cordier]

I believe Midnite spoke about a similar curse (not exactly a dream curse, but one that carried from one person to another) in an old b/w movie -- l hope I have this right -- "Curse of the Demon."  I saw the movie for the first time on AMC not long ago -- was intrigued when I read a synopsis of it because of a personal interest in (Nordic) runes, which this curse made use of.  It was based on a story called "Casting the Runes," I think.  I didn't think of the DS dream curse when I was watching it, but there are similarities.

[Luciaphile]

While I was in Portland, I picked up a compilation of Benson's ghost stories (thanks to the thread that mentioned them earlier) and got to read "The Room in the Tower" which Rainey rightly attributed as having similarities to the dream curse.  Great story.

Luciaphil

[Raineypark]

Luciaphil, I'm so glad you managed to find "The Collected Ghost Stories".....and that you enjoyed "The Room in the Tower".

Personally, I found "The Thing in the Hall" the creepiest of the bunch.  Hmmmmm, I just might go re-read it now....

Raineypark

[ProfStokes]

Is the dream curse concept an original idea? It is one of the few themes which I am not familiar with from other sources.

According to the DS Almanac's list of literary sources for DS, the inspiration for the Dream Curse is a 1968 story called "The Dream Deceivers."  I've never read it, I've never heard of it, and since the author is unknown I'm afraid I can't tell you much more.  Maybe somebody else (one of our librarians, perhaps) will be able to provide more information.

ProfStokes

[Bette]

According to the DS Almanac's list of literary sources for DS, the inspiration for the Dream Curse is a 1968 story called "The Dream Deceivers."  I've never read it, I've never heard of it, and since the author is unknown I'm afraid I can't tell you much more.  Maybe somebody else (one of our librarians, perhaps) will be able to provide more information.

Okay, I had to take up that challenge. I have searched every source that we have at LAPL (short story index back to 1949, in house extensive short story index, card catalog, even the Internet) and can find no short story with that title. I did find a 1985 documentary film by that title but nothing else. Also, if the story was written in 1968, it had to be very new when the dream curse aired on DS. Didn't the writers of DS mostly take from stuff that would have been in public domain? Much as I admire KLS, I do have to say that she has been known to get her facts wrong    so maybe this information is not entirely correct? Luciaphil, you're good at this, maybe you can find a short story called "Dream Deceivers." 

Bette 

[Luciaphile]

Okay, I had to take up that challenge. I have searched every source that we have at LAPL (short story index back to 1949, in house extensive short story index, card catalog, even the Internet) and can find no short story with that title. I did find a 1985 documentary film by that title but nothing else. Also, if the story was written in 1968, it had to be very new when the dream curse aired on DS. Didn't the writers of DS mostly take from stuff that would have been in public domain? Much as I admire KLS, I do have to say that she has been known to get her facts wrong   so maybe this information is not entirely correct? Luciaphil, you're good at this, maybe you can find a short story called "Dream Deceivers."  

Thank you, Bette, but I'm not having much better luck than you are.  Nothing in WorldCat.  Nothing in the Short Story indexes we have via the public library here.  Can't find it via a Google search (although lots of hits for the film you mentioned.  And nothing in any of the pertinent databases at my school (and God knows, we have a lot of databases).

Do we know that it's a short story for certain?

I don't know that they would have worried too much about copyright violation for a literary work--I know the soaps today still do flagrant ripoffs of stories (AW even ripped off Damon Runyon, who would still have been under copyright protection) and I have yet to see any credit given to the original sources.

Wondering if this is a story that would have been published in a pulp magazine, which would explain why we can't find it now . . .

Luciaphil

[ProfStokes]

Do we know that it's a short story for certain?

No, we don't.  :-/ I assumed that it was, but on the list, ("Shadows Sources") everything is italicized--both things that I know to be short stories (e.g. "The Pit and the Pendulum") and titles that are definitely novels. (e.g. Rebecca.)  I thought that it would be less likely to have a novel whose author was unknown than a short story, so I referred to it as a story.

I commend you, Bette and Luciaphil, on your research!

ProfStokes

[Raineypark]

If the Almanac states that the author of "Dream Deceivers" was unkown, was it possible that it was a story that someone sent to Dan Curtis unsolicited?  

But then, once it was used, surely that person would have shown up demanding compensation.  That would have been the case WHEREVER it came from, wouldn't it....so how on earth can they credit a story, and then say they don't know who wrote it?  Hmmmmmmmm.......

Raineypark

[jennifer]

hey good work trying to find the source to all of you
(I love our librarians here in town Lovely very helpful
people) but whatever it is from sorry they copied it
one of my least favorite things from the show!

jennifer

[jennifer]

Luciaphil, I'm so glad you managed to find "The Collected Ghost Stories".....and that you enjoyed "The Room in the Tower".

Personally, I found "The Thing in the Hall" the creepiest of the bunch.  Hmmmmm, I just might go re-read it now....

Raineypark

Now you two have me interested will have to look for those myself!

jennifer