The evolution of Black Flame’s New Line Cinema “House of Horror” novels continues to amaze me. While some of the early books may have not been as well-received (if I’m not mistaken, BOOKGASM may have panned an early JASON X novel), it seems that with each new book, they get more and more experimental, toying with all the myths and conventions of the respective characters, adding new caveats and doing away with old contrivances. No other book in the New Line series represents this constant growth more than the latest, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: THE DREAM DEALERS.

Jeffrey Thomas adds so many “why didn’t I think of that” moments, you kind of wish that this was made into a movie ASAP – it’s certainly better and more inventive than THE DREAM CHILD and FREDDY’S DEAD, that’s for sure. I mean, why haven’t people thought about adding dream-recording video-game systems or memory mind-wipes into the Freddy Krueger equation before?

When reading DREAM DEALERS, it becomes embarrassingly obvious that so much time and talent has been wasted in the ELM STREET film series – after all, how many times can Freddy come into your dreams and chase you around until it becomes tedious? And that’s the beauty of these original New Line novels: They’re not encumbered by a screenplay, special-effects limitations or a pre-set budget. You can do whatever you want, practically regardless of what’s come before. DREAM DEALERS agrees with this in spades.

The plot is brilliant in its simplicity: A video-game-type company has created a new device called the Trancebox that records the memories and dreams of the recently departed and puts them on a disc so that – with some pads and a “halo” on your head – you, too, can experience what those before you did. The only trouble is that the last few were murder victims from Springwood, all dead under mysterious circumstances.

Of course, we all know it’s the Springwood Slasher himself, Freddy, who, in a refreshing turn, does away with the badly written one-liners (at one point, he even acknowledges that it reached a point of lameness). So now that Freddy’s in their dreams again, he goes on a new killing spree, culminating in an ending so brilliant that, when you think about it, is truly the only real way to get rid of Freddy. How many times can you rebury his bones or stab him with his own glove?

Stoker Award nominee Thomas has written a great read, one that, while using familiar characters, works so well on its own that would be an incredible way to bring the franchise back to life if it ever hit the silver screen. The Freddy of DREAM DEALERS is the old-school Freddy, where he was a dark force of evil (as opposed to the charred Rip Taylor who surfed) living in a bizarre, surreal dream world. For most of the book, Freddy’s arms are that of a preying mantis. Who wouldn’t love to see that?

But what Thomas really hit on the head is that the Trancebox — in this age of iPods and Wiis — is kind of a logical entertainment extension. And while the beta-testers are in Springwood, there is the ultimate chance to spread the Freddy virus to the world as one of the characters uploads a bootleg of the Freddy dream to her Internet site, making it available for free download. And you thought DRMs were scary!

If you ever needed a reason to get started with these books, THE DREAM DEALERS is it. The only question now is will Black Flame be able to top it? –Louis Fowler

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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: PERCHANCE TO DREAM by Natasha Rhodes