I know I’m super late to the party, but I just read my first Stephen King novel (Thinner) and absolutely devoured it.
I loved it, so I’m reading Pet Semetary and while it started a bit slow, it’s got its hooks in me now. I’ve already got 4 more books lined up for when I’m done.
I don’t even know why I didn’t start sooner because I love horror, I used to read Goosebumps books as a kid constantly and I love films like The Shining and The Green Mile.
I’m working my way through the more well-known ones (IT, Cujo, Green Mile, Different Seasons etc) but can anyone recommend some deeper cuts that I might also enjoy? I’ve seen on a few rankings that Thinner is usually relatively low and I loved it so I’m looking forward to exploring his back catalogue!
You must log in or register to comment.
I have been through just about everything I could find before around 2010 and a few of his newer ones and in my opinion I would just read everything.
Of course his supposed Opus are the dark tower books (which is what originally drew me in) and there are a fair few other books based around that world and gives nods to each other, some bigger than others.
Ones that I enjoyed a lot personally though (dark tower aside) are Talisman, Black House, Desperation, Needful Things, Cell, Under the Dome and definitely 11/22/63.
My least favourites were probably Cujo and Misery but people seem to rate them so that is more personal I think.
Thanks! I definitely will check out the Dark Tower series eventually. I’m quite curious about 11/22/63 too so I might do that one next.
I went into every book blind, if I had read about 11/22 prior I probably wouldn’t have ever bothered giving it a go but as it is it is one that I have enjoyed a lot and come back to a few times. I hope you enjoy your journey, I’m jealous I can’t go back through King again with no knowledge :D
Dark Tower series is actually what put me off him. Individually as separate books? Fantastic reads.
Together as a single universe? Messy, egotistic, and derivative.I wish he stopped the gunslinger series past the first book. Just my opinion, though
I had the same reaction. I read most of his books, loved the first gunslinger book. Didn’t mind the second one. When I reached the end of the third, I realized I was done and haven’t read anything by him since. He’s actually put out a couple since then that I’ll probably read one of these days, but it’s hard to go back.
He’s written some of my favourite books. I’m a big fan of the Dark Tower Books, a brilliant book series and complete which is a big plus. Under the dome is also a great read, shame about the TV series. Haven’t read any of his most well known works though!
I tried, but was unable, to find a video clip of Jon Lovitz portraying Stephen King on SNL. Good stuff.
I feel people either love or hate Stephen King. I was the same as you, absolutely loved his work from the get go and devoured everything I could.
Personal favorites: IT 11-22-63 - not horror based mostly but cool concept. Dark tower books - these are his holy grail, everything connects to them. The stand - I just love the feel of this book, it just feels right.
Seriously try the dark tower books. I’ve reread them multiple times and it’s such a great experience.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about 11-22-63 and The Stand. I’ve got 11-22-63 already so I think I’ll start that one after Pet Semetary.
11-22-63 I found enthralling, but it is about American history in the 60s so if that’s not your jam then be forewarned. It does a good job of showing the good and bad parts of the time though, so even as a non-American I found it very interesting.
Also, for more recent King books I quite enjoyed The Outsider and The Institute as well. The Outsider is more classic horror, and the Institute deals more with supernatural powers in regular people. Just to add more to your list.
Happy reading!
I started a publication-order read through (skipping any Dark Tower entries and saving them for the end) a while ago, and i have made it half-way through Four Past Midnight (1990), so I will limit my recommendations to his earlier works.
I love all his short story/novella collections, but if i had to pick one to recommend it would probably be Different Seasons, though Skeleton Crew is up there as well.
For the novels, a few of my less well-known or less commonly recommended favorites (in publication order, since i’m looking at my e-reader history) are The Dead Zone (especially poignant in the current state of politics), Roadwork (very compelling story of a guy’s refusal to come to terms with a changing world), Christine (the premis sounds dumb, but he really pulled it off), The Eyes of the Dragon (his foray into fantasy), and The Tommyknockers (this along with Cujo were written deep in his cocaine days and it shows, but i couldn’t put it down and some of my favorite King moments are in this book).
Any of his well-known ones are fantastic too (a general rule to follow is: if they’ve made a movie, especially if it was a bad movie, it’s gonna be a good read), but I’m gonna shout out The Shinning in particular. The book is very different than the movie; not plot-wise per se, but the character development is so much deeper and more multi-dimensional. If you’ve seen the movie but haven’t read the book, you don’t really know The Shinning. No shade against the movie being thrown here, I love them both but for very different reasons.
In the interest of stopping before I list his whole bibliography, I’ll end by saying you can safely add any of the Bachmann books to your list, especially since you liked Thinner.
I saw a summary of Christine and thought “there is no way in hell that’s going to be one I read” but now… maybe…
It really is a quintessential example of “you can’t judge a book by it’s cover”
I much prefer his shorter works to the big bloated novels he wrote mid-career which have a tendency to waffle on.
Personal highlights for me: Carrie, The Shining, Night Shift, Different Seasons, Revival, the Hodges trilogy,
Love seeing all of the recommendations in this thread! My husband has read almost all of them, he’s got about 20 books left (most of which are the Dark Tower books) and his top 5 favorites are 11/22/63, Needful Things, Duma Key, Gerald’s Game, and Joyland. His 5 least favorites so far are Dreamcatcher, The Eyes of the Dragon, Hearts in Atlantis, Sleeping Beauties, and Insomnia.
I myself have read The Outsider and and The Institute and immensely enjoyed both. I just finished Song of Susannah, book #6 of the Dark Tower series today, and I can’t wait to finish it. It really is an incredible story/saga/epic. I plan on reading much more King but I plan on staying away from the darker stuff, as I’m a lot softer/sensitive since I’ve had a child lol.
He’s fantastic at keeping readers’ attention with his books. I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, but when I do I don’t mind picking up one of his books to read.
Steven King, at his best, is the greatest American novelist of his generation. His character building is unsurpassed and he can definitely turn a phrase. On the other hand, a lot of his books would have benefited from more aggressive editing and he doesn’t always stick his landings. That being said, he’s been a fixture in my library for decades.
I’m glad to see others recommend 11/22/63, which IMHO is the best “modern” King novel (and maybe his best ever). For less well known books, I read Duma Key recently and liked it a lot. I know it’s been mentioned before, The Talsiman is one of my all-time favorite books.
He’s written some of my favourite books. I’m a big fan of the Dark Tower Books, a brilliant book series and complete which is a big plus. Under the dome is also a great read, shame about the TV series. Haven’t read any of his most well known works though!
I tried to read multiple of his books, but could not continue. I don’t like his writing or his choice of topics.
I didn’t like the movie IT, neither did I have much liking for The Shining.
Only thing that came from Stephen King that I liked is the TV/Web miniseries 11/22/63. I really enjoyed it.
I haven’t read Stephen King in probably two decades so this might no longer apply. Family members are BIG fans and I started every one I read expecting to love them. But it turned out how much I liked them was inversely related to the death count. The higher the percentage of characters who died, the less I cared. There’s a novella where they’re trying to get to Hartford CT (I think it was Hartford, anywhere somewhere around there which is the last place you’d think of as being salvation), I liked that one.
Yes, I realise I am not the norm in this but you did say everyone ;)
deleted by creator
Thinner is one of my favourites by him!
The normal favourites are IT, The Stand, The Shining etc. But my absolute favourite of the ones I have read is Salem’s Lot.
