Editing Umney's Last Case

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox short story | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| name             = Umney's Last Case
| image            = [[File:Umney's Last Case.jpg|200px]]
| caption          = Cover of the separate publication (1995)
| author           = [[Stephen King]]
| country          = United States 
| language         = English
| genre            = [[Mystery fiction|Mystery]], [[science fiction]] [[short story]]
| published_in     = ''[[Nightmares & Dreamscapes]]''
| publication_type = Collection
| publisher        = [[Viking Press|Viking]]
| media_type       = Print ([[Hardcover]])
| pub_date         = [[1993 in literature|1993]]
| preceded_by      = 
| followed_by      = 
}}

"'''Umney's Last Case'''" is a [[short story]] by American author [[Stephen King]], first published in King's collection ''[[Nightmares & Dreamscapes]]'' (1993). In July 1995, it was published as a separate paperback as part of [[Penguin Press|Penguin]]'s 60th anniversary.<ref>{{cite book|title=Stephen King from A to Z: An Encyclopedia of His Life and Work|last=Beahm|first=George|publisher=[[Andrews McMeel Publishing]]|year=1998|isbn=9780836269147|url=https://archive.org/details/stephenkingfromt00beah|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/stephenkingfromt00beah/page/233 233]}}</ref>

''Umney's Last Case'' is an example of [[metalepsis]] in narratology.<ref>{{cite book|title=Metalepsis in Popular Culture|chapter=Narrative Metalepsis in Detective Fiction|last=Lutas|first=Liviu|editor1-last=Kukkonen|editor1-first=Karin|editor2-last=Klimek|editor2-first=Sonja|publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]]|year=2011|isbn=9783110252804|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V7zE-aJf1iYC&pg=PA52}}</ref>

==Background information==
Prior to the story's original appearance in the ''[[Nightmares & Dreamscapes]]'' collection, [[Viking Press]] made the text available online three weeks prior to the book's publication in September 1993 via OBS (The Online Bookstore) for $5.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://unsworth.unet.brandeis.edu/courses/bestsellers/search.cgi?title=Nightmares+and+Dreamscapes |title=20th-Century American Bestsellers |access-date=2015-04-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230810/http://unsworth.unet.brandeis.edu/courses/bestsellers/search.cgi?title=Nightmares+and+Dreamscapes |archive-date=2016-03-03 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/king/kingtoc.htm |title=Archived copy |website=www.obs-us.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970127145926/http://www.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/king/kingtoc.htm |archive-date=27 January 1997 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Plot summary==
The story begins as a [[Raymond Chandler]] [[pastiche]], and follows a private investigator named Clyde Umney as he goes about what he thinks is just another morning in 1930s [[Los Angeles]]. He soon discovers that his life as he knows it is falling apart. All of his lifelong friends and associates are abruptly departing in one fashion or other, for reasons ranging from winning the lottery to terminal cancer, and many of them express disdain towards Umney in place of farewells.

Umney is brooding alone in his office when he receives his final client: Landry, the crime-fiction author who created him. Having suffered the loss of his wife and child as well as a severe case of [[shingles]], Landry took an overdose of medication and found himself in the world of his creation. He demonstrates that his will is law in this world, and explains to a helpless Umney that he intends to take Umney's place to live a life of eternal adventure and excitement. Umney is cast into oblivion—or so it seems.

Umney finds himself in the year 1994, occupying the vacated body of his creator. Although he realizes/acknowledges that his previous existence was a sham (and falling apart), he also finds himself equally despising the ugly, bland, and generally inadequate nature of the "real" world. He announces that he has begun to practice the craft of writing so that he might return to his fictional home in order to take back his world and his life, and end Landry's.

== Adaptations ==
"Umney's Last Case" was included as the third installment of [[Turner Network Television|TNT]]'s ''[[Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King]]'', starring [[William H. Macy]] in a dual role as both Umney and the author. It originally aired on July 19, 2006.  Macy was nominated for an Emmy for his performance.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/emmy-winners-list/|title=Emmy Winners List|last=Bas|first=Bulent|work=[[CBS News]]|date=2007-07-19|access-date=2013-11-25}}</ref>

Jon Condit of [[DreadCentral]] rated the episode two out of five stars.  Condit said that the episode deviates too highly from King's original story, and the changes only make the story worse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/nightmares-dreamscapes-umneys-last-case-tv|title=Nightmares & Dreamscapes: Umney's Last Case (TV)|last=Condit|first=Jon|work=[[DreadCentral]]|date=2006-07-20|access-date=2013-11-25}}</ref>  Brian Pope of [[DVD Verdict]] rated it a B+ and said that Macy's performance was worthy of an Emmy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/nightmaresdreamscape.php|title=Nightmares And Dreamscapes|last=Pope|first=Brian|work=[[DVD Verdict]]|date=2006-11-14|access-date=2013-11-25|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202234647/http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/nightmaresdreamscape.php|archive-date=2013-12-02}}</ref>  Christopher Noseck of [[DVD Talk]] said that the episode is "not completely satisfying" but is the best of the episodes on that disc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/24816/nightmares-dreamscapes-from-the-stories-of-stephen-king/|title=  Nightmares & Dreamscapes - From the Stories of Stephen King|last=Noseck|first=Christopher|work=[[DVD Talk]]|date=2006-10-24|access-date=2013-11-25}}</ref>  Virginia Heffernan of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it "a gonzo noir special with some postmodern curlicues" that emphasizes class issues common to King's work.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/12/arts/television/12heff.html?_r=0|title=Exploring Darkness and Anxiety in Stephen King's 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes'|last=Heffernan|first=Virginia|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2006-07-12|access-date=2013-11-25}}</ref>

The audiobook of this story is read by crime novelist [[Robert B. Parker]], creator of the detective characters [[Spenser (character)|Spenser]] and [[Jesse Stone (character)|Jesse Stone]].

==See also==
* [[Stephen King short fiction bibliography]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://stephenking.com/works/short/umneys-last-case.html "Umney's Last Case" at StephenKing.com]
* {{ISFDB title|id=40682|short=yes}}

{{Nightmares & Dreamscapes}}
{{Stephen King}}

[[Category:1993 American novels]]
[[Category:Short stories by Stephen King]]
[[Category:Speculative crime and thriller fiction]]
[[Category:1993 short stories]]
[[Category:Mystery short stories]]
[[Category:Metafictional works]]
[[Category:Fiction set in the 1930s]]
[[Category:Works set in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Short stories set in California]]
[[Category:Penguin Books books]]