This fares better than much of Stephen King made-for-TV adaptations, though the episodes are hit or miss: BATTLEGROUND 8/10 - easily the best episode AND an homage to the greatest made-for-TV horror ever, "Trilogy of Terror." There's even a cameo by our friend the Zuni Doll! It goes the "no dialogue" route, and William Hurt pulls it off well. The FX are ace. Loved this one. Unfortunately, it's mostly downhill from here.CROUCH'S END 5/10 - this is pretty awful and Claire Forlani has got to be the worst working "name" actress, but there's something eerie in it's Lovecraft-ness that I appreciated for a bit.THE ROAD VIRUS HEADS NORTH 4/10 - Meh. It's good to see Tom Berenger and Marsha Mason working again. I guess.UMNEY'S LAST CASE 7/10 - It has a neat noir-ish feel, mostly created by the inimitable character acting of William H. Macy.THE END OF THE WHOLE MESS 6/10 - eh, this didn't translate too well, but it's watchable.THE FIFTH QUARTER 7/10 - This one's sort of a heist story with great performances (Sisto, Samantha Mathis) and a surprising homoerotic subplot. Good stuff here.AUTOPSY ROOM FOUR 4/10 - another King adaptation ruined by Richard Thomas! YOU KNOW THEY GOT A HELL OF A BAND 4/10 - I remember reading this as a youngster and finding it REALLY eerie. What's not to be scared of by evil dead rocknroll icons? Well, how about really lame evil dead rocknroll icon impersonators? This does not translate well to film.

1.] "The End of the Whole Mess" - Very well done. Spot on adaptation of a neat little story. Livingston's performance is perfect - heartfelt and desperate. Henry Thomas was good too. 2.] "Battleground" - When I first read this story (about 15 years ago) I thought it would make a great TV movie - not a feature film - but at the time, I didn't think the SFX of the day could pull it off. This was a pretty good effort though, and I loved the lack of dialog. Hurt is not too bad either. 3.] "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" - Not bad adaptation. This was a good short story, one I always try to read when I pick up Nightmares & Dreamscapes. 4.] "Umney's Last Case" - Not bad story, Macy's performance pulled it off. I always wondered why the chose to adapt this one though, especially over some of Kings other classics. 5.] "Autopsy Room Four" - Again, great story, but the adaptation leaves a lot to be desired, and only because of the hokey performances, especially from Richard Thomas and Greta Scacchi. 6.] "The Fifth Quarter" - Good performance from Sisto, but again, why do this story over something like "Grandma" or "The Jaunte". 7.] "The Road Virus Heads North" - The only thing they got right was the painting. Everything else, including Berringer's performance, was cheesy. 8.] "Crouch End" - This was a good story, but the adaptation did not capture the creepy feel King brought out in the narrative. The performances were OK, and it started off on the right foot, but things quickly went south after they started wandering around the empty streets. I think director Mark Haber, just couldn't put his finger on what the point of that story was.

I have to say that I loved this miniseries. I had read about TNT doing something on it last year and came into it with great anticipation. I actually went out and bought all the books so I could read the stories prior to viewing. The books are great so I advise anyone who hasn't read them to do so and there only about six dollars each. Now onto the stories, I actually liked just about every story on screen better than on paper simply because of the fantastic acting and music. Also my favorite to read and watch was The End of the Whole Mess. If your someone who likes horror movies but thinks that the same stories are told over and over this should be a nice change. I highly recommend this to all horror and Stephen King fans because your in for a ride and the stories are very faithful to the books.

I have enjoyed all of the episodes I have seen with perhaps the exception of Crouch End, which lost me after about ten minutes. End of The Whole Mess was brilliant -- the direction and the writing were so, so good. Battleground has exquisite acting and I especially liked Road Virus Heads North --I found it mesmerizing, contemplative, and unsettling. It resonated with me far longer than the others I think because it is most like a real nightmare -- the really vivid kind that stays with you. The antagonist is unknown, not immediately indentifiable and unrelenting. I found it subtle and intelligent in its understanding of what is truly scary.