Yes, I think you're right, @mineopoly, that Lewis Carroll perhaps invented the genre of dream-induced stories. Ha ha. Alice in Wonderland was one of the cited examples in the forums I read that some people liked and others didn't. One person said something to the effect of "the ending didn't matter because the entire story was nonsense."

Stories that end with someone waking up from a dream are never going to go away, but as you said it's a cliché and hopefully our community members will feel empowered with knowledge about the downsides when they consider that approach.