The Function of Dream Sleep

"'''The Function of Dream Sleep'''" is a [[fantasy fiction|fantasy]] short story by American writer [[Harlan Ellison]], first published in his 1988 anthology ''[[Angry Candy]]''. Ellison stated that it was inspired by an actual dream.<ref name=Angry>[https://books.google.com/books?id=HkPECwAAQBAJ&q=%22actually+had+the+strange+dream%22&pg=PR23 Introduction] to ''[[Angry Candy]]'', by [[Harlan Ellison]], published 1988; "I saw the thread, and one day actually had the strange dream that opens 'The Function of Dream Sleep' and I knew I had to write that story to make some sense of all this misery and loneliness and aching."</ref>

==Plot summary==

While grieving the deaths of several of his close friends, McGrath awakens from sleep to find that he is being bitten by an enormous mouth full of teeth; it then vanishes, leaving him with a profound sensation of loss. In seeking to understand what has happened, he discovers a hidden truth about the world.

==Reception== The story won the 1989 [[Locus Award for Best Novelette]],<ref name=ISFDB>[http://www.sfadb.com/Locus_Awards_Winners_By_Category Locus Award Winners by Category], at the Science Fiction Awards Database; retrieved August 27, 2017</ref> and was a finalist for the 1989 [[Hugo Award for Best Novelette]]<ref name=Hugo>[http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1989-hugo-awards/ 1989 Hugo Awards], at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved August 27, 2017</ref> and the 1988 [[Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction]].<ref name=Horror>[http://horror.org/awards/stokerwinnom.htm#1988 Past Bram Stoker Nominees & Winners] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202142043/http://horror.org/awards/stokerwinnom.htm#1988 |date=2017-02-02 }}, at the Horror Writers Association; retrieved September 21, 2017</ref>

''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' has described it as "Ellison aptly dramatizing his own emotional [[catharsis]]."<ref name=Kirkus>[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/harlan-ellison-4/angry-candy/ ''Angry Candy'', by Harlan Ellison], reviewed at ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]''; published October 19, 1988; retrieved August 27, 2017</ref> [[Gary K. Wolfe]] and Ellen Weil have criticized the story both for the central premise — stating that the mouth (which they call "bizarre" and "surreal") does not represent "McGrath's pain and loss but his refusal or inability to process mature grief" — and for its structure, which they consider to be parallel to "any number of science fiction [[wish-fulfillment]] fantasies involving secret masters", and thus "inappropriate for a tale of suffering".<ref name=Wolfe>[https://books.google.com/books?id=XvaIuzLV41gC&dq=%22function+of+dream+sleep%22+ellison&pg=PA225 ''Harlan Ellison: The Edge of Forever''], by [[Gary K. Wolfe]] and Ellen Weil, published 2002 by [[Ohio State University Press]]</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Function of Dream Sleep, The}} [[Category:Short stories by Harlan Ellison]] [[Category:Locus Award–winning works]]