Twelve Residents Dreaming

Twelve Residents Dreaming is the seventh book in The Bedlam Bible series. You do not need to read the others to enjoy this one but I definitely recommend you do.

I have said this before and I will continue to say this, I don’t want to know what is in William Pauley III’s mind. The ideas he comes up with are sick, gory, insane, scary, beautiful, basically any adjective you want to choose can work and I love every second of it. Then when you have all of these thoughts narrated by Connor Brannigan, you simply get perfection.

This was a longer book than the other entries in the series but it was filled with 12 short stories. Each story was intriguing, some were better than others but even the ones I liked the least, I still loved.

Pauley has a talent for world-building and character design like no other. He builds a scene and multiple characters in such a short time. He develops and flushes out characters in a 30-minute short story better than some authors do in a 12-hour novel. Every time he does this I am amazed all over again. In this story he didn’t just do this once or twice, he did it every time.

The Bedlam Bible is a terrific series for fans of horror and anyone who can appreciate fantastic writing. Make sure you check out Twelve Residents Dreaming.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of Twelve Residents Dreaming by William Pauley III.

First of all, I was so hyped to see the rest of the Bedlam Bible on NetGalley. I read and reviewed The Ballad of Old Joe Booth a couple of months ago and I loved it, weird, wonderful, unique.

Twelve Residents Dreaming was more of the same weird and wonderful on a f'ed up level that had me pulling all sorts of faces. I loved it.

Also, I will put this on every Bedlam Bible audiobook review: THE NARRATOR IS NEXT LEVEL. I thought there were multiple narrators, and to realise it was just one guy- Connor Brannigan- had me saying slay honestly. His narration was so bloody good, and I can't wait to listen to him narrate the rest of the series.

I'm reading the Bedlam Bible all out of order, and I'm not sure if that matters or not, but I am loving the worlds created by WPIII. What a unique and creative writer with an wonderfully messed up perspective.

<i>“I’m swollen and electric. Life is good.”</i>

First off, I dig the Willem Dafoe in Lighthouse dude on the cover. That’s right. I nailed it. Thats Willem for f’n sure.

Maybe.

I am a huge fan of WPIII’s Bedlam Bible series. The mythos and stories of the Eighth Block Tower are some of the best around and I will miss them since TRD is the final installment. It was a mighty fine ride though. Mighty fine, indeed.

12 skulls. 12 stories. And more than a few of our old friends and plenty of the Eighth Block madness to go around. A fitting conclusion to a fantastic series.

4.5 Stars rounded up to 5 based on the salt in the hallways and the radiation oozing from Connor Brannigan's kick ass narration…and the Bedlam Bible series on the whole. So damn good.

I can’t believe this is the last book of the Bedlam Bible series. Twelve Residents Dreaming is made up of 12 stories that Anacoy Marlin experiences when he finds 12 skulls. As he puts his fingers in the eye sockets of each one he can see something that person experienced. He found them in the 8th Block Tower by floating there on a raft in the ocean. Say what?! How did the stowed get there? Where did everybody go? Read the book and find out. I have thoroughly enjoyed these [Psychedelic Stories]. This may be the last book of the Bedlam Bible but it’s not the end of the crazy wild worlds created by William Pauley III. Hallelujah!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Doom Fiction Audio for the audiobook. The narrator Connor Brannigan is top notch again. My views are my own and voluntarily given.

We made it to the end, the Eighth Block Tower series concludes here with twelve stories. I loved this series so much. It served as a sort of lorebook epic as a whole, and as some of Pauley’s best. I immediately began a re read of the series but more than that, I believe I’ll be re reading all of Pauley’s work very soon. As always, my favorite thing is how rewarding it is returning to WPIII stories, they connect on an INSANE level while also standing alone as individual tales. You could read the final book first if you wanted!

I received the audiobook version of this story via NetGalley, so thank you for that

- Connor Brannigan did a great job narrating as always -

This story was really great. Well written and not too short or too long.

it’s hard for me to decide if this one or “Holus Bolus” was my favorite from the series.

I particularly enjoyed the chapters “The Burden of Lunar Ticking” and “Cyber Solaris”

I do feel like I’m left with many questions about the series.

A deep dark dive into the broken psyche and lives of some of the inhabitants of The Eighth Tower. Audio books are fun. I’m listening. I think I chose to listen. I did chose to listen. Why did I think listening to this audio book would be a good idea? Will I survive the experience, the horror? Well I suppose …. because I’ve enjoyed listening to all the previous books in the series. Oh no, I’ve just realised The Eighth Tower has its hooks in me!! Don’t worry for me, I’ve reached the end for now, and mouth is stretched in a smile. What about you now? Will you listen too? Thank you to Doom Fiction and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

An amazing collection of horror stories to cozy up with this Halloween season! Gory, deep, and altogether creepy, this book was amazing from start to finish and the voice acting was to die for.

Every time I see a new book from William Pauley III I need to read/listen to it, even more if the person reading it is Connor Brannigan, this man is pure gold, he does female voices, male voices, whatever the story need, he does it, and in a manner that you’d think he is working with several people. But do not let me ramble and let me go straight to business, I already had way more than a couple of stories and books that I absolutely loved, written by William Pauley III, and is not because people live happily for ever (that seldom happen), but because the stories are so unexpected and some times smack in the face funny, yeah even the stories that usually I wouldn't like, this author does something that make them weird but addicting, like those spicy potato chips that the first you taste you think “yuck who invented this” and when you notice you finished the packet and desperately need another one hahah, I just want more, really I do love this author! Only one of the stories I knew from before, “killing teddy”, but since this all takes place on the 8th block tower, some details in the story will bring us back to previous stories, so I advice read /listen to all because it is worthwhile. Some stories bring a bit of sense of what is happening with our first narrator, but that is for me to know and for you to discover it.

I usually don’t give spoilers but there's a thing that made me guess and at the same time really laugh out loud, in one of the stories, a person calls 911 to call for help, but when the attendant understands from where the person is calling, the 911 blocks this person number, is it still a spoiler when I do not mention the name of the story, if it was a man or a woman? hahah but this part was incredible funny, and that goes to the second part why I so recommend this audiobook, like I said before Connor Brannigan is amazing, he brings another life to this priceless stories, I really recommend for you all to grab a copy of the audiobook, because if the story is already 5 stars with him it goes into twilight zone of how good it is.

Thank you NetGalley and Doom Fiction Audio for the free AAC and this is my honest opinion.

William Pauley III has delivered a great ending to the Bedlam Bible series with this collection of stories from the Block 8 residents. I was so engrossed in the residents stories that I completely forgot how the shipwrecked man was learning the stories. William's brain comes up with some really creepy, interesting, and cool stories and I can't wait to read his next project.

Connor Brannigan once again brings the stories to life with his amazing narration. I could listen to Connor tell stories for the rest of my life. I love the tone of his voice and the creep factor he brings to the reading.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

As always, Connor Brannigan nails the narration for this seventh installment of The Bedlam Bible! All his voices fit the characters and he makes it feel like a full cast is narrating! I love everything William Pauley lll puts out, but especially the books in this series, they really speak to my demented little heart! If you love horror and absolute mayhem and madness, you NEED to read these books!!!

This is my first experience with this series, thanks to NetGalley. What an imagination! The several different stories with the unique narration made for a kind of fever dream. I just started listening to audible books this year, and I recommend this author and narrator because it was a great combination. The stories are different, each of them about a different person, and the narration is appropriately creepy.

This book actually made me a little sad because it’s the final book in the Bedlam Bible series, which will forever be one of my favorite series of all times. But alas I knew I would have to read it still, and I’m so glad that I did. This story was pure madness and a perfect end to the series. Pauley is a genius and I can’t wait to see what series he comes up with next.

I listened to this audiobook while on vacation in South Carolina. It was a pleasant mid-70's to 80 degrees (F), and this book fueled my long walks on the Hilton Head beach. As always, Pauley's work is macabre, inventive, bizarre, and just all-out fun. I can't believe that this is the last book in the series. I only recently found this series (and this author), and having to say goodbye feels like a bad breakup. Don't do this to us, Pauley! We need more! For a brief synopsis of each book, please see the below.

The First Life of Anikoy Marlon: A man wakes up on a life raft in the middle of the ocean with a corpse. The corpse's skin is etched with a journal of sorts (I think it's the Bedlam Bible), which the man reads. The man has no recollection as to how he arrived on the rowboat. When he finds a platform in the middle of the ocean, he leaps without thinking and gets knocked out. When he comes to, he is in the 8th block tower. The following stories are from residents of the 8th block tower seen in Anikon's mind's eye when he sticks his finger inside the eye socket of their skulls.

Heirs of the Abyss: Rita had always had weird, terrifying dreams of 8th block. Rita's mom (who had an unexplored connection to 8th block) always said that "dreams won't eat you except in 8th block, where they eat you alive." Rita is not an 8th block resident at the beginning of the story but lives in a neighborhood nearby. She starts to date someone living in the 8th block. When she enters in the building for the first time, she is relieved to discover that it doesn't live up to her nightmares. Until she moves in with Tony.

Trapdoor: A serial killer stalks the residents of 8th block. He's taken 9 so far, including Kimmy, a friend of the story's protagonist. Everyone knows the face of the man in the 8th block, but he has yet to be captured. In an effort to find her friend, the protagonist finds the killer on a dating app and decides to go on a date with him. Despite her preparation ahead of time, she falls under the killer's supernatural spell and finds herself trapped, just like the others.

Killing Teddy: I have read and reviewed this story before as part of another one of Pauley's anthologies. You can see the review by clicking here.

Bad Blood: The protagonist is a nurse at a hospital. She volunteers for the Chance Program, which is a program providing healthcare aid to lower-income patients. One such patient is a woman named Ellie, who is a resident of the 8th block tower. Ellie is under the delusion that she has "bad blood," and that if she transfuses it with someone else's blood, she will get better. It freaks out the nurse, and she is relieved to get out alive. Against her better judgment, she goes back to care for Ellie with dire consequences. This story is probably my favorite so far. It had the right creepiness factor. I wanted more of this story. While there was enough details about the nurse to start to get invested, it left me wanting more...more details about the relationships the nurse had with her family and her girlfriend, and I wanted to have more creepy interactions with Ellie.

The Plant People: The protagonist's brother is missing, and their mother is taking it hard. The mother is one of those senior citizens who have been complaining that they are going to die soon (for the past few decades). The mother lives on the top floor of the 8th block tower, and the protagonist notices that plants are starting to grow through the floor of the apartment. Put a pin in that, we will come back to it in a second. Although the protagonist hasn't seen her brother in a while, since they are estranged due to his drinking, she agrees, at the mother's urging to check on the brother. Oddly, the brother is not at his apartment, and what is more odd, is that he hasn't been living there for years. Where is the brother, and what are these pervasive flowers that keep pushing their way up into the mother's apartment? Another favorite of mine in this anthology. It was creepy as hell and with an unexpected twisted ending.

The Burden of Lunar Ticking: Grandpa Grimace is not well, which is why his daughter lets him live with her and her kids. The protagonist is one of the children. When Grandpa first tells the protagonist that he can astro project, the protagonist just thinks it's his crazy Grandpa telling tall tales again (like how the moon ticks because it's fake). But soon certain events make it hold not to believe.

Cyber Solaris: There's a room in the 8th block tower that holds cages full of starving people. It's a prison. And there's one prisoner, prisoner 11 (a.k.a. Rover), for which a strange sound plays. Cyber Solaris is an app on a phone that allows you to time travel. One of the other prisoners has this device on his person, and he offers it to Rover for a pack of cigarettes. Rover accepts it with strange consequences. I didn't see the twist at the end coming and it was awesome.

Black Friday: The parents of the protagonist are addicted to clearance sales, and bought depression on sale for Black Friday, and gave it to the protagonist's Aunt Nora. They gave the protagonist anorexia. This is a weird, short story that was really fun.

The Sinking Sanctuary: I was a little confused about what was happening in this story. It had to do with Old Joe Booth, the Bedlam Bible, and weird hallucinations. The astronaut from The Astronaut's Dream Book also made an appearance.

A Mist of Light: Mr. Crum is on the 2nd day of his new job's orientation. Even though he's 50 years old, he has no idea what he wants to do with his life, except collect rocks, but that doesn't pay the bills.

The Eden Room: A decade ago, tumors sprouted from Waylon Peterhearst's forehead, and everyone calls them horns (like devil's horns). One night Tom Stripper, a "dispatcher," knocks on Waylon's door, claiming that Waylon is dead. Tom is there to "dispatch" him into the next life. It is yet to be seen whether to Heaven or Hell. The path to the next life is filled with traps created by the bad deeds Waylon did during his lifetime. This was a fun story and an interesting premise.

Life is Beautiful in Spite of Everything: The protagonist, a resident of the 8th block tower, finds a camera. He is bitter and resentful about the other residents.

If you're a fan of William Pauley III's work like I am, then you already know what to expect with this book. His writing is tight, rich with wild ideas, and always entertaining. In Twelve Resisdents Dreaming were treated to all of this in 12 fantastic short stories. It's bittersweet to come to the end of a series that's so weird and wonderful, but I still have two more of these books to read! Once again, Conner Brannigan's narration is as phenomenal as always.

Weird and wonderful, another to get your mind racing and keep you listening.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I got the audiobook through NetGalley

After reading Holus Bolus By this author I had to continue the series this is book 7, and just like book 6 this was a great listen-to with a great story that jas me glued for more and more but with the characters in this story I connected with more as the stories went on about them. The one thing I like about this series the most is you do not know where it's taking you & you get swept up in each part.

I plan to buy the whole series and will defo watch this author for more of his novels.

Twelve residents dreaming by William Pauley III is my first ever book by the author. The narration by Connor Brannigan is amazing and thoroughly enjoyable experience.

It starts with the first life of Anacoy Marlin and ends with the second Life of Anacoy Marlin. Anacoy Marlin is stranded in the middle of the sea on a log and strange enough he reaches the 8th block apartment in the middle of nowhere. There are total twelve short stories told by twelve residents in the of skulls (of course they are dead). Every Story is bizarre and absurd. Just when you think that it won't get even more absurd than the current story, Pauley proves it wrong. Some stories are just amazing while few are confusing. But this is one of the most entertaining book I have read. If you can enjoy some peculiar stuff it is highly recommended.

Thank you Netgalley and William Pauley III and Doom fiction audio for this amazing ARC in exchange of an honest review which I enjoyed very much.

Twelve Residents Dreaming by William Pauley III is a dynamic anthology that fits nicely into the Bedlam Bible series. As a lover of short stories and anthologies, I enjoyed this collection very much. I devoured this book in one day/one sitting. Phenomenal character development (especially for short stories where the landscape is minimum. Great stories with vivid, cinematic flourishes) and the sequencing of the stories was golden.

I received a review copy of this book from the author/publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This series has quickly became one of my favorites. One minute into the story and I was hooked, what a first line. Interrupt me at your own peril, I needed to see how this ended!

5 stars

I think this one is my favorite of the 7.

The author wraps up a lot and things begin to gel. Don’t worry the insanity & utter mayhem still weave throughout the story!!

I love how the narration pulls the characters together! Great voice acting!

This series has a slight feel of Cline’s 14 but much more madness!

A collection of short stories consisting of the memories of some of the residents of Eighth Block Tower. This story will have you pondering life, death, sanity, and everything in between. As usual, Pauley’s writing is absolutely beautiful and consists of so many different layers hidden underneath the cover of “weird”. Discovering these books was truly one of the biggest highlights of my year. Or maybe that’s just the radiation talking…

Full of sinister characters and macabre plots, this is well worth your time.
It reels you in and feasts on your fears.
Brilliantly narrated in its audiobook form and cleverly written, this is a must for horror fans.

Another random book by Pauley III and another book that I absolutely loved. I really liked that there were short stories in this one but based on one topic, the residents of 8th block. My favourite was Black Friday.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this book.

WOW! What a great series! Creepy, wild, and wonderful all wrapped into one. Such a good book!!

Oof this audiobook made me uncomfy! It was great at giving me the surreal, am-I-still-having-a-nightmare feeling I get sometimes while I’m still half asleep. Great, unnerving writing!

This was a fantastic ending to this series. It was creepy and atmospheric and incredibly well written. The author created the worst place anyone would ever want to live in this series and seeing all the characters be tied together in this final book was great. I would read anything written by this author. The narrator did a fantastic job voicing multiple people and really conveyed all the emotions each character was feeling.
Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow. What a weird rollercoaster of stories. Adobe creepy, some just disturbing, others actually poignant and sad. A great listen. The narrator does a decent range of voices, although his female voices aren't his strong point. As a producer, I might have gotten a female voice actress to read the ones that had a female lead.

Overall, though, very enjoyable. There are definitely a couple that had my head shaking in slight awe and disbelief.

Thanks to Netgalley, William Pauley III and Doom Fiction Audio for allowing me to listen to this great work. All opinions are my own.