Whether you love him or hate him, there is no denying that modern horror would be a completely different place without the help of Stephen King. An inspiration to thousands of aspiring horror writers, good luck finding a paperback without some mention of King. With over 60 published works he shows no interest in retirement and continues to delight and push the boundaries of horror every single year. My personal hero, I would not be the same person without his influence.
I haven't updated it in awhile but this is a rough list I made ranking my favorites while I read them Stephen King Books - Rate Your Music
I really need to read more King (and I say this as someone who is in the 15-20 books read of his, iirc).
I haven't read any of Joe Hill's stuff yet, but The Fireman sounds really cool. As far as King books, I'd like to finish The Dark Tower this year. I've only read the first two so far.
Crazy excited to see where End of Watch goes considering the end of Finders Keepers. I'm so glad he's taking that direction with the trilogy. Just feels like a "I'm stephen King, fuck you I do what I want" sort of thing
King is by far my all time favorite author and The Shining is hands down my favorite novel. One of my other favorites of his is Duma Key, which I almost never hear anyone talk about. Anyone else on here ever read that gem yet?
Did you like Mr. Mercedes or Finders Keepers better? Finders had more of a thrilling plot line with typical King elements I thought.
Probably Finders Keepers, but they are honestly so close in quality (but really different in story) that I find it hard to compare. Loved them both. As I mentioned, I'm really excited by where Finders' Keepers left off. And I love Duma Key. It was one of the last books from King that I read when I was going through his bibliography. The last 100 pages or so were mindblowing.
Definitely agreed. He has a ton of books like that (Bag of Bones, The Dead Zone, Just After Sunset) that are brilliant and seem to fly under the radar to even some of his biggest fans. Though, when you have published over 65 books, it makes sense that some of them slip through the cracks and don't get the amount of notice they all deserve.
Yeah it helps when there are adaptations. Lisey's Story and Rose Madder fly under a lot of radars and they definitely should not.
I was just going to make this, @Vivatoto. Currently watching It for my first time. I still need to read the book. I'm planning to continue to read more fiction this year and am excited to get back into my King reading.
Yeah when Night Channels mentioned the thread I had to add my shock that you hadn't made it yet, haha. How are you feeling about It? It does a lot of things wrong, especially the ending, but its a pretty great adaptation imo
I know you're trying to finish The Dark Tower, but you really need to check out N0S4A2 by Joe Hill. It's fantastic.
It's been far to long since I've read some King and I'm looking to get back into a rotation of his books. Which one should I read next - It, The Green Mile, Pet Sematary, Needful Things, Insomnia, The Dead Zone? @Vivatoto I've read: •Carrie •'Salem's Lot •The Shining •The Stand •The Long Walk •Cujo •The Eyes of the Dragon •Misery •Dolores Claiborne •Bag of Bones •The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon •Dreamcatcher •Duma Key •Under the Dome •11/22/63 •Joyland •Doctor Sleep •Mr. Mercedes •Revival •On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft •The Gunslinger •The Drawing of the Three •The Waste Lands •Wizard and Glass •Wolves of the Calla •Song of Susannah •The Dark Tower •The Wind Through the Keyhole •Rage •The Long Walk •Thinner
Pet Sematary is probably the most "vintage King" of those choices though, and I'd suggest jumping into that one after It. It was his first true attempt at writing a "literary" novel while also having a great plot.
I'm almost finished with book 6 of the dark tower. What a ride it's been. After I finish 7 I want to start a Dark Tower thread and get some discussion going.
Almost 300 pages into It currently and it's crazy how good it is. I feel like every King book I read becomes my new favorite of his haha