Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream
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''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream'' is a novella by
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
, first published in 2024 as part of King's collection '' You Like It Darker''.


Plot summary

Danny Coughlin is a high school custodian in Manitou,
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
. He has a vivid dream in which he walks behind a derelict
Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Independ ...
gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...
to find a mongrel dog gnawing on a hand projecting from the ground. While at his job at Wilder High School, Coughlin uses clues from his dream to locate the gas station on the Internet. That Saturday, Coughlin drives to Gunnel in the far north of Kansas, where he finds the gas station, dog, and hand, exactly as in his dream. Coughlin covers the hand with a trash can to protect it from the dog, then purchases a prepaid cell phone, which he uses to anonymously report the body to the Kansas Highway Patrol. The body is discovered by police, who identify it as Yvonne Wicker, a young woman who was raped and murdered. The following Friday, Coughlin is visited by the arithmomaniac veteran inspector Franklin Jalbert and his younger colleague Ella Davis of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, who have traced his call. Jalbert and Davis disbelieve Coughlin's explanation, suspecting him of the murder. They take a cheek swab from Coughlin to compare his
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
with that found on the corpse (though this is a bluff as there was no DNA found on the corpse), and execute
search warrant A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize Police, law enforcement officers to conduct a Search and seizure, search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to Confiscation, confiscate an ...
s on his truck and trailer. The search of Coughlin's truck finds no evidence of Wicker's body having been in the truck. On Saturday, Coughlin attends a police interview, accompanied by his lawyer, Edgar Ball. During the interview, Davis unsuccessfully bluffs that Wicker's fingerprints were found in Coughlin's truck. Coughlin surrenders his phone to the police to enable them to track his movements over the prior weeks; Ball realizes that the police do not know exactly when Wicker was killed. After Jalbert and Davis again urge Coughlin to admit his guilt, he urges them to find the real killer. Jalbert remains convinced that Coughlin is the murderer, while Davis begins to harbor doubts. On Tuesday, Coughlin is named as the murder suspect in the ''Plains Truth'', a
free newspaper Free newspapers are distributed Gratis versus libre, free of charge, often in central places in cities and towns, on public transport, with other newspapers, or separately door-to-door. The revenues of such newspapers are based on advertising. T ...
. On Wednesday, he is fired from his job at Wilder High School. On Thursday, he is confronted by Jalbert while shopping in an IGA. On Friday, a brick with a threatening note is thrown at Coughlin's trailer. On Sunday, Coughlin's neighbor Bill Dumfries advises him that the other residents of the trailer park want Coughlin to leave; he resolves to move to
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
near his brother. As Jalbert grows frustrated, his arithmomania becomes more severe; he visits Coughlin during his final day of work at Wilder High School where he taunts Danny with a newspaper article of Wicker's bereaved family, plants drugs in his truck, then arranges for a Kansas Highway Patrol officer to stop and search Coughlin's vehicle. Coughlin however grows suspicious when he finds out that Jalbert had parked near his vehicle behind the school. Coughlin finds the drugs under the driver's seat of his truck and removes them before they can be found. He then gives the drugs to Davis and urges her to find out who leaked his name to the ''Plains Truth''. Davis interviews Peter Andersson, editor of the ''Plains Truth'', who plays her a recording of the anonymous tip-off he received. The voice is disguised using a
vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''vo''ice and en''coder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder wa ...
, but Davis recognises Jalbert when he impulsively utters the word "fifteen" during the call. Confronting Jalbert about planting the drugs and tipping-off the newspaper, Davis urges him to step back from the case and retire; Jalbert initially refuses, but eventually announces he will retire. After more newspapers identify Coughlin as a suspect, he is shot in the abdomen by Wicker's brother Albert. While hospitalized, Coughlin is visited by Davis, who tells him that a
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
named Andrew Iverson has confessed to the murder. Jalbert, unwilling to accept Coughlin could be innocent, rationalizes that Coughlin and Iverson were accomplices, and resolves to kill Coughlin himself. Jalbert distracts the police by calling in an anonymous bomb threat at the high school and drives to the hospital. Coughlin has a premonitory dream in which Jalbert attacks the hospital, firing shots at the nurses station before shooting Coughlin. He phones Davis, who intercepts Jalbert outside the hospital; the former partners hold one another at gunpoint. After a nurse attempts to restrain Jalbert, he disables her, but then shoots himself. Davis apologizes to Coughlin and asks him if he knows why he had the dreams. Coughlin replies that he does not know, and that "belief is hard".


Publication

King was inspired to write ''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream'' after thinking "what would happen if a man had a single
psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...
flash ..that showed him where a body was buried ..would they think he was the killer?" The character of Jalbert was inspired by, and named after, the fanatical police inspector
Javert Javert (), no first name given in the source novel, is a fictional character and a main antagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables.'' He was presumably born in 1780 and died on June 7, 1832. First a prison guard, and then a police i ...
from the 1862
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
novel ''
Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...
''. ''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream'' was published in May 2024 as part of King's collection ''You Like It Darker''. It is the longest story in the collection.


Reception

Reviewing ''You Like It Darker'' for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', Gabino Iglesias described ''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream'' as "the crown jewel of the collection". Mike Finn described ''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream'' as "a powerful novella. Not a pleasant read but a compelling one ..grindingly oppressive and totally believable." Similarly, Amanda Mullen (writing for ''
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers. ...
'') described the story as a "a frustrating and intense read". Jenn Adams (writing for
Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...
) compared ''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream'' to King's 2018 work '' The Outsider''. Adams described the story, as "unfold nglike a confounding episode of ''
Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...
'', eschewing supernatural scares for 'ripped from the headlines' horror", adding "King hints at racial and gender-based discrimination, but stops short of fully examining the larger implications of this disturbing premise". '' SFX'' described ''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream'' as "a tightly written, fascinating character study that also raises questions about fate. Matthew Jackson (writing for '' Paste'') described ''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream'' as "an ambitious balance between paranoia and wonder" and "an attempt to marry the supernatural with the very real threat of false accusations", noting that "while it doesn't work as well as The Outsider''">' The Outsider'' the scope of it, and the depths of tension into which King dives, make it memorable". Writing for ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'', Brandon Truitt noted the story as an example of "King's recent noir
detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
/ procedural era". Writing for ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'', Sassan Niasseri suggested "the class of ''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream'' is evident in the superfluity of its paranormal starting point. The question of whether Coughlin can prove his innocence becomes much more interesting than the question of why he even has these dreams that allow him to predict murders. His dreams are a McGuffin. You don't have to explain every miracle, and the final sentence 'There's nothing to say' couldn't be better." Similarly, J. Madison Davis (writing for ''
World Literature Today ''World Literature Today'' (''WLT'') is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The magazine's stated goal is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book ...
'') suggested "the most interesting element of his story is that the dream which provokes it all is never really understood or explained. We are spared the predictably unconvincing explanation."


Adaptations

''SFX'' suggested that ''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream'' "will (almost inevitably) make a great
miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...
", while Amanda Mullen described the story as "the ideal pick for a TV adaptation". In February 2025, '' The Post'' reported that New Zealand director James Ashcroft had been personally selected by King to direct a film adaptation of ''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream''.


See also

* Stephen King short fiction bibliography


References


External links


''Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream'' at StephenKing.com
* {{You Like It Darker 2020s novellas American crime novels American speculative fiction novellas Noir fiction Novels about dreams Novellas by Stephen King Novels set in Kansas