Best Stephen King books...

pavb2

Misery & Apt Pupil

py2006

The man himself talking about Under the Dome. Really makes you want to read it, he's fascinating to listen to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEUj_klOhd4

Necro

I love King, everything he writes I gobble up unmercilessly. It's tough though to select a favorite from his massive collection...

Joint favorites: The Stand, Different Seasons, 11/22/63, Salem's Lot, Needful Things, Under The Dome
Follow that up with IT, Pet Sematary, Desperation....I could go on for hours.

--Kaiser--

Has anyone read the original, non-extended version? Because I read the extended version and my abiding thought was 'this is waayy too long and drawn out'. I don't have a problem with long books as long as they have the content to justify it

D-FENS

ibarelycare wrote: »

I always enjoy his short stories/novellas. There was one story, Fair Extension, in Full Dark, No Stars, that really stuck with me for ages after reading it. It was so unsettling!

I found all the stories in Full Dark, No Stars unsettling, it was the first book by King in years to really do that for me.
The husband character in A Good Marriage and the “hiding” sequence in Big Driver had me sh*tting myself! Not literally!:)
But would agree his short stories are usually spot on

D-FENS

py2006 wrote: »

Must read Under the Dome before this comes out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJPDwIvR004

I've read that this tv show will play out differently so it may not spoil the book for you.
And for the record, King had the idea for the dome before Matt Groening & co!

py2006

D-FENS wrote: »

I've read that this tv show will play out differently so it may not spoil the book for you.
And for the record, King had the idea for the dome before Matt Groening & co!

Yep, he started it in the 70's and shelved it for a bit.

Honey-ec

D-FENS wrote: »

I found all the stories in Full Dark, No Stars unsettling, it was the first book by King in years to really do that for me.
The husband character in A Good Marriage and the “hiding” sequence in Big Driver had me sh*tting myself! Not literally!:)
But would agree his short stories are usually spot on

I also found FD,NS very unsettling. For a man who has been accused of pedestalising his female characters, it felt like reading toned-down Richard Laymon at times.

Courtesy Flush

D-FENS wrote: »

I found all the stories in Full Dark, No Stars unsettling, it was the first book by King in years to really do that for me.
The husband character in A Good Marriage and the “hiding” sequence in Big Driver had me sh*tting myself! Not literally!:)
But would agree his short stories are usually spot on

Do you mean 'unsettling' in a good way?, like the old King books that could scare the bejaysus out of ya. Im thinking Pet Semetary and the Shining as examples

D-FENS

Courtesy Flush wrote: »

Do you mean 'unsettling' in a good way?, like the old King books that could scare the bejaysus out of ya. Im thinking Pet Semetary and the Shining as examples

I know what you mean, his earlier work like Salem's Lot caused me many a restless night, but no, not quite the same as the stories I mentioned don't have a supernatural theme. Both actually have serial killers as the antagonists, so the scares for me were nearly worst as they could really happen (nothing terribly far fetched either).
The other two stories (or novellas more acurately) do have a supernatural theme and are still really good, just not as frightening for me.

Courtesy Flush

D-FENS wrote: »

I know what you mean, his earlier work like Salem's Lot caused me many a restless night, but no, not quite the same as the stories I mentioned don't have a supernatural theme. Both actually have serial killers as the antagonists, so the scares for me were nearly worst as they could really happen (nothing terribly far fetched either).
The other two stories (or novellas more acurately) do have a supernatural theme and are still really good, just not as frightening for me.

Ok cool, I must read Full Dark No Stars
I was also scared by Salems Lot. I had read the story "Jerusalems Lot' as a short story which was told as a series of letters in Night Shift, I really liked that story

Ipso

Courtesy Flush wrote: »

Ok cool, I must read Full Dark No Stars
I was also scared by Salems Lot. I had read the short story "Jerusalems Lot' as a short story which was told as a series of letters in Night Shift, I really liked that story

One For the Road was also a good story.

D-FENS

We also have this to look forward to

Doctor Sleep is an upcoming novel by Stephen King, a sequel to King's novel The Shining (1977), set to be published in September 2013.

Won't put the plot synopsis from wiki on here in case it gives people more than they want to know, but doesn't appear to be a direct sequel in that there is no Overlook hotel and it focuses on Jack Torrance's son Danny (But then again, anyone who has read the Shining will know why!)

Courtesy Flush

Anyone read Duma Key ?
Ive heard its quite good , was going to pick up a copy

nc6000

Courtesy Flush wrote: »

Anyone read Duma Key ?
Ive heard its quite good , was going to pick up a copy

Meh. Couldn't finish it.

DMcL1971

I've always been fond of his claustrophobic stories. Where all the action happens with one character or in one place. It's amazing what he can do without having to create a whole world.

Cujo: Two people stuck in a car.
1408: One guy in a hotel room
Gerald's Game: One woman handcuffed to a bed.