Stephen King Horror - Not the Dark Tower series

r3nu4l

So folks, what is your favourite Stephen King book? No point in creating a poll as there are so many books. Please do not refer to the Dark Tower series as that's a whole other angle of his work

For me it was The Stand, I'm a Molecular Medical Biologist so I really loved the whole spread of disease at teh start of the book but then also really loved the whole battle of good versus evil at the end.

The first King work I read was Four Past Midnight (The Langoliers, The Library Policeman etc) and I loved it. I would have been about 13 at the time. After that I couldn't get enough.

Beruthiel

Sorry, can't pick just one...

It
Salem's Lot
Needful Things
The Talisman by Stephen King & Peter Straub

kc66

Needful things was a great book.
Loved many of his short stories too.

Oryx

I loved four past midnight, and most of his early stuff, Carrie, Cujo, the shining etc. I havent read his stuff for a few years, and his later work (after his accident, coincidentally) isnt a patch on his earlier books, imo.

And he doesnt translate well to film. The only ones that work for me are Shawshank and Stand by me, great stories and great films.

r3nu4l

Okay, if nobody else is sticking to one book then I won't either

Loved Needful things, Pet Cemetary, Salems Lot, Christine, IT and Four Past Midnight. I also really liked Insomnia, not because of the story as such but really more because of the concept. I thought it was great.

As for transferring to film badly, I completely agree. Shawshank was great, Carrie wasn't bad but some of the other stuff has been dreadful!

I haven't read any of his recent work at all but recently re-read Cujo. That was a great and terrifying book and typical King, didn't end all rosy and happy for the main characters. Great!

Iago

Some of his stuff has transferred very well

The Shining
Misery
Carrie
Stand by Me
The Green Mile
even Dead Zone wasn't too bad

but there's a long list of bad bad films that I don't even want to go into

As for favourites, in no particular order

The Stand
IT
The Shining
Salems Lot

eachtrannach

I have to go with a Top Three:

Needful Things - definitely up there with the best of the best, best intro ever read by my good self (and I read a lot ...)

It - Read it at leisure, then visit Bangor/Maine and find out that all the eerie things, including the water tower, actually exist ...

Gerald's Game - Yup ... one wonders afterwards "what would happen if" ... dedicated followers of kinky sex be warned!

r3nu4l

Iago wrote:

Some of his stuff has transferred very well

Agree with some of those but I suppose it's whether you read the book first or saw the film. I remember everyone telling me how terrifying the Silence of the Lambs (Thomas Harris) was when they saw it in the cinema. I had just read the book and then when I did see it, I found it boring!

I've never actually read the shining, must do! The local co-op stores are selling old titles (new prints, not second-hand) at £1.99 must see if The Shining is amongst them.

Oryx

Iago wrote:

Some of his stuff has transferred very well

The Shining
Misery
Carrie
Stand by Me
The Green Mile
even Dead Zone wasn't too bad

but there's a long list of bad bad films that I don't even want to go into

As for favourites, in no particular order

The Stand
IT
The Shining
Salems Lot

They wussed out on the film misery, dosent she cut his legs off in the book? But Kathy Bates was chilling. Had forgotten Green Mile, loved that book, but the film didnt do it for me.

Thanks guys for reminding me of all those great books Id forgotten Id even read.:)

Fanny Cradock

i don't see why the dark tower series is exempt from his other work. at points he even introduces characters form previous novels and launches into his well established horror routine. Book 1 was intriguing, yet it all went down hill after then, especially after book 3. Admittedly, I’ve not read anything by him before, but i am now fully convinced of his crapness after reading the self indulgent nonsense included in the latter books in this series. most over-rated author ever.

Iago

Fanny Cradock wrote:

i don't see why the dark tower series is exempt from his other work. at points he even introduces characters form previous novels and launches into his well established horror routine. Book 1 was intriguing, yet it all went down hill after then, especially after book 3. Admittedly, I’ve not read anything by him before, but i am now fully convinced of his crapness after reading the self indulgent nonsense included in the latter books in this series. most over-rated author ever.

LOL, if you are basing this on just The Dark Tower series, then you might just want to pick up some of his earlier books and see whether you re-consider. The Dark Tower was a big jump from his comfort zone, and from his traditional form of writing. The change between the earlier books and later books also happened during and after his accident, and as has been stated earlier his later work wasn't half as good as his earlier stuff.

Read The Stand , IT, The Shining and then come back and tell me you think he's overrated and I might consider entering a debate into your reasoning then.

r3nu4l

Iago wrote:

The Dark Tower was a big jump from his comfort zone, and from his traditional form of writing.

This is pretty much why I decided to exclude them, it means that people will pretty much focus on his earlier works which is what I'm more interested in.

I realise that in the Dark Tower he introduces and weaves characters and plots from other books into the series but it seems to me that this is either an ingenious way to intertwine his works or a desperate attempt to lend some credibility to the series. Either way I'm not really that interested in the sereis, liked the first book but didn't read any more of them.

Feel free to start a Dark Tower thread in the finest boards tradition of getting thread ideas from other threads

Beruthiel

Fanny Cradock wrote:

i don't see why the dark tower series is exempt from his other work. at points he even introduces characters form previous novels and launches into his well established horror routine. Book 1 was intriguing, yet it all went down hill after then, especially after book 3. Admittedly, I’ve not read anything by him before, but i am now fully convinced of his crapness after reading the self indulgent nonsense included in the latter books in this series. most over-rated author ever.

I could never get into the Dark Tower series, they did nothing for me.
However, I have read every one of his earlier books up to Dolores Claiborne, all excellent reads which I couldn't put down. His later works don't hold my interest compared to his older stuff.

r3nu4l

I think a lot of long-time King fans will agree that his work has suffered but I wonder if this is a combination of his transition to a new project type, outside his comfort zone and the fact that he's been writing a long, long time and the genre in which he writes is limited to some extent?

It must be extremely hard to remain 'fresh' when you've been writing as long as he has.

Oobie

I love all his early stuff but I also really enjoyed some of the crappy movie versions, particularly Pet Semetary and Salems Lot but I think that's because I saw them when I was really young and they scared the hell out of me.

I also loved most of the good movies too.

Macker

I'm reading IT now and really enjoying it ,I also loved Derperation although it was probably 100 pages too long

oscarBravo

I'm almost finished re-reading The Stand (the uncut edition) for what must be the fourth time. Excellent stuff.

Dades

IT followed by The Stand for me.

I read everything he wrote for years.

Tried to get into The Dark Tower recently (not literally) - found it tough.

Beëlzebooze

I read the shining about 20 years ago, I was working night shift in a warehouse, all on my toddle. It was a 'special' experience, the story creeped me out, and the eariness was amplified by the noises in the warehouse.......

I also quite enjoyed 'Cell' recenly, alsthough it does come off like a combination of 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'The Stand'.

Dreamcatcher, Hearts in Atlantis, Black House and some of the other ones start off great, but just fade into some kind of weirdness that I can't really get my head around.

I also stopped watching movies made based on his stories after that utter drivel 'Cats Eyes'.

_blank_

I love Stephen King.

My first book was Salem's Lot and it scared the bejesus out of me, and is still one of my favourite books by him.

I don't have an absolute favourite, but The Stand is definitely in my top five books ever read. I just finished Rose Madder and really liked it.

King is an excellent short story writer too, and I loved some of the stories in Everything's Eventual and Night Shift (I am The Doorway is a particular favourite of mine).

I wasn't too pushed on Cell, but I don't find his later work to be anything as poor as others in this thread are suggesting in general. For example, Dreamcatcher is one of my favourite King books, and I think they made an unholy mess of the film adaptation. Hearts in Atlantis is brilliant, as is the film starring Anthony Hopkins, even though it tells only one of the stories from the book.

My God, I'm just looking at the Stephen King Wikipedia entry,so I can remember what books I read, there are still a lot of books for me to read. I always enjoy his storytelling, and sometimes even find myself dreaming about his characters.:eek:

The Dark Tower is an excellent epic.

eachtrannach

Just noticed that one of my favorite SK-books of all time was niot mentioned yet, not even by myself ... "Danse Macabre" ... okay, it is non-fiction, but well worth reading!

Lust4Life

My favorites...

Christine - This was the very first Stephen King book I ever read, and it gave me terrible nightmares! (I was quite young at the time).

Needful Things - I loved all of the twists and turns in the story! Very well crafted!

Misery - The book was wonderful and original. And I adore Cathy Bates in the movie! She is so perfect for the role!

Of course, I love them all - except - The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I just could not force myself to finish that one because it didn't capture me right away like his others do.

He went through a phase where many of the stories were all cookie-cutter type. Where you knew how it was going to go before you read the first few chapters - Desperation / Rose Madder.

Also, on every foggy day, I still think of The Mist.

He has such a wonderful writing style. I really enjoy his more than most other writers of this genre.

L4L

BossArky

The King books I remember having read are Salems Lot and Christine. They remind me of someones weekly English school essay. I don't mean that they were bad, ...just written in clear, simple language.

Maybe I should read some of the other titles mentioned in this post.

Lust4Life

Posted by BossArky:
.just written in clear, simple language.

I think that is why I like his works so much. He does not try to get overly fancy in his writing. He challenges himself regarding plot instead of flourish. And I believe that is what makes it so easy to become absorbed into the stories. His casual style lets your imagination accept the story more easily.

L4L

beans

I think The Shining is my favourite of his novels. I love the way it explores demons within, Jack's alcoholism... in fact, given SK's own issues with substance abuse, this makes the book his most autobiographical for me, and that makes it all the scarier. Other than that, the setting and subsequent movie adaptation all come together to put it over the likes of IT or perhaps Salems Lot which are vying for second.

Short story-wise, of what I've read, The Last Rung On The Ladder gives me goosebumps even thinking about it now. It's so good

Eoin

I'm quite surprised no one has mentioned The Dark Half; I thought that was a cracker of a book. I liked most of his short novels, though I am losing track of what stories were in what collections. I really liked the Tommyknockers, though I know a lot of people hated that one.

theCzar

Haven't read a huge number, went through a phase when I was 16 or so of wanting to read loads, but the ones I did weren't great really, was just taking what was on the Library shelf.

Rose Madder was a bit pants, The Shinning was very cool. I liked Thinner as well. I read three or four others, but don't know what they were but occasionally I see a film and its very familiar!

dabbler2004

For me it's two:
It
The Stand-complete and uncut edition.



am currently reading Cell, it's ok but doesn't have the hold of those mentioned above

TerrorFirmer

Skeleton Crew...

Survivor Type, The Mist, Beachworld....my favourite three stories ever, all from within that book.

Oh, and for the record, I thought Cell was excellent - a real and long awaited return to form for SK. In my opinion of course.

petes

The Black House - Stephen King and Peter Straub.

monkeyfudge

eoin_s wrote:

I'm quite surprised no one has mentioned The Dark Half; I thought that was a cracker of a book. I liked most of his short novels, though I am losing track of what stories were in what collections. I really liked the Tommyknockers, though I know a lot of people hated that one.

Tommyknockers and Dark Half would be favourites of mine as well. Altough the movies they made from them were pretty terrible... I actually kept thinking about the Dark Half when I was watching that Secret Window film.

I enjoyed Four Past Midnight too... especially the Langoliers, which I thought was a great idea. (Horrible film based on that one too.)

There was a point where they were making the films almost as fast as he was writing the books, that seems to have stopped. Dreamcatcher would have been one of the last films, wouldn't it?

They did do a Shining TV movie that was supposed to be closer to the book than the Kubrick film.