Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams [collection]

by Philip K. Dick

Other authors: Travis Beacham (Introduction), Michael Dinner (Introduction), Kalen Egan (Introduction), David Farr (Introduction), Matthew Graham (Introduction) — 6 more, Tony Grisoni (Introduction), Jessica Mecklenburg (Introduction), Ronald D. Moore (Introduction), Dee Rees (Introduction), Travis Sentell (Introduction), Jack Thorne (Introduction)

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Though perhaps most famous as a novelist, Philip K. Dick wrote more than one hundred short stories over the course of his career, each as mind-bending and genre-defining as his longer works. Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams collects ten of the best. In "Autofac," Dick shows us one of the earliest examples (and warnings) in science fiction of self-replicating machines. "Exhibit Piece" and "The Commuter" feature Dick exploring one of his favorite themes: the shifting nature of reality and whether it is even possible to perceive the world as it truly exists. And "The Hanging Stranger" provides a thrilling, dark political allegory as relevant today as it was when Dickwrote it at the height of the Cold War. Strange, funny, and powerful, the stories in this collection highlight a master at work, encapsulating his boundless imagination and deep understanding of the human condition.… (more)

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I didn’t love all these stories but The Father-Thing, The Hanging Stranger, Sales Pitch, and Foster, You’re Dead were exceptional. Very, very good. (

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beentsy | Aug 12, 2023 |

Overall solid collection of sci-fi short stories, all originally published in the 1950s. Despite the age, I thought that several of the stories were quite relevant to the 2020s. Some stories I enjoyed more than others, but that is common in a short story collection. My favorites were "The Hanging Stranger" and "The Father-Thing" - both were very exciting. It's been a while since I've read PKD, & this makes me want to read more. (

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brp6kk | Jun 28, 2022 |

A brilliant collection of short stories, timeless and thought provoking. Written so long ago but still relevant. Looking forward to watching the TV series. (

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Elizabeth_Foster | Dec 24, 2019 |

This collection of short stories takes me back to the days of Twilight Zone and the years before I had heard of Philip K. Dick. I would have enjoyed reading these stories back then, but some of the shock value of his twisted endings has dissipated because these ideas have been copied so often. And they do not really represent the PKD that I love. It takes a longer format for him to drag you outside of reality and keep you there. Reading this collection after becoming a PKD fan, is looking into his worlds from a totally different perspective. I see traces of his humor, shadows of his psychological angst, wisps of Bradbury’s nostalgic descriptions of a world that is long gone. It felt like examining the youthful photograph of a friend you have grown old with. I wonder what they will do to these stories in the TV series. (

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drardavis | Mar 14, 2018 |

This compilation of Philip K. Dick's short stories, all written in the early to mid-1950s in the midst of the Cold War. Each story includes a foreword by an individual involved in the story's translation to film for the Twilight Zone series, Electric Dreams.

The anthology begins strong with the short story, "Exhibit Piece," about a museum curator who bends the time-space continuum to live in the world of one of his exhibits on 1950s America. Another early story, "The Hanging Stranger", was reminiscent of Jack Finney's Body Snatchers.

Although I loved the earlier short stories, I found much of the remainder to be plodders; I was only reading words to finish the story hoping that the next one would be better than the latter only to be disappointed. I am interested in seeing how these stories are translated for a contemporary audience. (

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John_Warner | Feb 17, 2018 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Philip K. Dick	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Beacham, Travis	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Dinner, Michael	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Egan, Kalen	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Farr, David	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Graham, Matthew	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Grisoni, Tony	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Mecklenburg, Jessica	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Moore, Ronald D.	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Rees, Dee	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Sentell, Travis	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Thorne, Jack	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Berkrot, Peter	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Cummings, Jeff	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Daniels, Luke	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Eby, Tanya	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Gálla, Nóra	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Lawlor, Patrick	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Mata, Manuel	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Mohr, Thomas	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Murillo, Eduardo G.	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Pék, Zoltán	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Pintér, Károly	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Timmermann, Klaus	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Totth, Benedek	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Wasel, Ulrike	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Wohl, Bela	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams [collection]

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2017-09-14

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▾Book descriptions

Though perhaps most famous as a novelist, Philip K. Dick wrote more than one hundred short stories over the course of his career, each as mind-bending and genre-defining as his longer works. Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams collects ten of the best. In "Autofac," Dick shows us one of the earliest examples (and warnings) in science fiction of self-replicating machines. "Exhibit Piece" and "The Commuter" feature Dick exploring one of his favorite themes: the shifting nature of reality and whether it is even possible to perceive the world as it truly exists. And "The Hanging Stranger" provides a thrilling, dark political allegory as relevant today as it was when Dickwrote it at the height of the Cold War. Strange, funny, and powerful, the stories in this collection highlight a master at work, encapsulating his boundless imagination and deep understanding of the human condition.

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