Discussion 21: Umney's Last Case

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DocPain

Active Member
Aug 6, 2006
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203
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Can'-Ka No Rey
Tonight's disussion is Umney's Last Case. I'm not sure what the word is for a story like this. It's not meta-fiction but something along those lines. Anyway, what did you think?

This story was an episode of the TNT Nightmare's & Dreamscapes show. William Macy was memorable in it.

One of my favorite stories. I remember driving in my Ford Taurus listening to this on cassette a very long time ago. I was a young Private Detective out on my first big job; a Parental Kidnapping / missing persons job.

It definitely fit the mood of the time for me.
 

Marty Coslaw

Low-BDNF Gork
May 19, 2018
177
720
37
DC
...always thought this was just a "test shot" for The Dark Half and then realized "DUH", TDH was released before this story....still liked it though, and it's a device King has used more than once.....
Reminded me a lot of the Twilight Zone episode "A World of His Own." That and Word Processor of the Gods, but having not read Tommyknockers, I wondered if the green light he fell into was connected at all to that story? I loved this one. It reminded me of Bachman's cynicism, with an ending that I think surpasses Word Processor. What a powerhouse for an unreleased story to add to the collection! In that sense, it might be my favorite, and also just because it feels like such a complete story, whereas some of my other favorites were missing tiny pieces here and there. Looks like The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet was published in '84. Anybody have any idea when Umney was written? The ending of Umney does include one instance of the (what I thought was a) unique metaphor.