It’s Halloween and that, to me, is the time of the horror novel.
And of course, you can’t talk horror novels without some talk of one of the Masters.
So: Stephen King.
I asked this on FB a few weeks ago and it produced some interesting discussion, so I’m bringing it here to the blog because, well, YAY BLOG.
I gotta know: what’s your favorite King novel?
And, more importantly, why?
Bonus question: least favorite King novel (and also, why)?
If I had to pick my favorite — which is a tooth-pulling maneuver, because so many choices — I’d go with the entirety of the Dark Tower series, with a preference toward Wizard and Glass. Least favorite — you know, I don’t know. I tried Gerald’s Game and just couldn’t do it. Cell had a cool idea but the execution didn’t come together for me. But if I had a gun to my head: Dreamcatcher. (Doubly true of the movie, of which I am not a fan.) Still, some of King’s leastmost works are still better than so many, you know?
Wickedjulia says:
Least favorite is easy: Tommyknockers. The only character I liked in that story was the beagle. Favorite one is the hard part, there are so many… I would have to say The Gunslinger. It was just such a precise story.
October 21, 2013 — 12:06 AM
Kathleen S. Allen says:
The Shining and Salem’s Lot. Both are so creepy but in a good way. Least fave was Tommyknockers, not scary and about halfway through I got bored.
October 21, 2013 — 12:08 AM
Ciara says:
My favorite Stephen King novel is The Long Walk. I had already read Carrie and a handful of his short stories, but I couldn’t identify from them why Stephen King was well, Stephen King–why he was such a Big Deal, so to say. But then I read The Long Walk and it all made sense.
I’m in the later end of the Harry Potter generation and the early end of the Hunger Games/dystopia-and-vampires-everywhere generation, so when I finally got around to reading The Hunger Games I was terribly disappointed–even more so once I got to the sequels–particularly because the premise sounded so promising.
Then I read The Long Walk. It was, to me, everything The Hunger Games should have been and more. I couldn’t put it down. There was no flashy action, but that was what made it stand out to me. It was entirely defined by the characters, who were well-rounded and original. It was only after reading The Long Walk that I realized what made Stephen King special: his ability to put interesting, original characters into impossible situations in such a way that the characters’ verisimilitude transferred over to the plot, no matter far-fetched and ludicrous it may seem on the surface.
October 21, 2013 — 12:24 AM
Kitty says:
Favorite: Christine, because I love old cars and believe they have a soul. Least fav maybe Desperation. Good premise as I live in NV and have traveled the loneliest road but good god, WAY too long of a bad story…
October 21, 2013 — 12:26 AM
David Alex Shepherd says:
Salem’s Lot and The Shining both kept me up at night. If I had to choose, I’d go with Salem’s Lot. The final image of the two survivors walking through Salem’s Lot in daylight, knowing that hundreds of vampires are hiding in the town — creepy.
Least favorite, well, I couldn’t get into Cell at all, so I suppose that’s the one I’d pick. I couldn’t get through Firestarter either.
October 21, 2013 — 12:29 AM
Jeff Xilon says:
So my sample size is small. I read the Shining a few years ago and Carrie recently. Last year I listened to the audiobook of 11-22-63. Of the three 11-22-63 is definitely my favorite- – it’s one of my favorite books of the last few years. I’ve even re-read (listened?) to large parts of it.
Why did I like it? Hard to say. The story just grabbed me. I love when writers take a completely ridiculous concept – “How about a diner with a portal to the 50s?” and go with it and make it work. I think King really nails the emotional aspects of the story. I cared about the characters and what happens to them. He also put in his homework and made the setting come alive. It also didn’t hurt that it was an audiobook and the narrator did a great job. 11-22-63 made me a Steven King fan. It was why I decided to go back to the beginning and read Carrie. It’s also why I have It and Doctor Sleep purchased with audible credits (haven’t got to them yet, but I will soon).
I can’t really say I have a least favorite right now. I guess if I had to choose I’d say the Shining, but again – it’s a small sample size. I liked it, but I didn’t love it like I did 11-22-63, nor did I find it as interesting as Carrie. It does have the odds stacked against it though. I read The Shining pre-decision to become a writer, whereas I read the other two after I started writing and I value both of them for some of the things they taught me about writing a great story.
October 21, 2013 — 12:31 AM
Natalie MaddalenaNatalie says:
IT and Salem’s Lot are the scariest. The Stand is the best. Anything written in the last ten years or so is the worst. Why. Well, clowns and vampires, you know? And The Stand just has so many awesome characters and no really so much “monsters” as “people in a horrible situation”.
October 21, 2013 — 12:34 AM
Tammy Sparks says:
I have to agree with you Chuck: The Dark Tower series is pretty epic and amazing, especially for me, Wolves of the Calla. It’s just so different from anything else he’s written. I also LOVED 11/22/63. I wasn’t sure he could pull off a time travel story but he did. Least fave: also have to agree with Cell. I thought the idea was ridiculous and if you can’t ignore the ridiculous idea, it’s almost impossible to take the writer seriously.
October 21, 2013 — 12:36 AM
Ian Rose says:
IT is far and away my favorite King, and hands down my favorite horror novel overall. Nothing else in my reading history has ever scared me the way that book did. I really liked 11-22-63, but it isn’t really a horror book. Carrie and Salem’s Lot are both great classics of the genre, but neither of them make me think twice when I walk past a sewer grate at night.
October 21, 2013 — 12:36 AM
rob says:
I love Desperation and the Dark Tower Series.
Wizard and Glass almost made me abandon the seriesentirely thougj
October 21, 2013 — 12:38 AM
caitlin says:
Favourite, hands down, like you Chuck – the Dark Tower series -best books EVER! Fave book is the drawing of the three. Least fave? Under the Dome. Tried to read it, got bored, didn’t care if I finished it (so I haven’t)
October 21, 2013 — 12:41 AM
Doreen Queen says:
Least favorite – “It.” I’m sorry – while clowns are definitely freaky, they just don’t scream “horror” for me. Favorite – “The Stand” – 99.9% of the population dies horribly in the first chapter of the book and then it gets really scary. Randall Flagg was definitely the epitome of bad, and “Trashcan Man” – one scary, scary dude obsessed with fire, especially of the nuclear kind.
October 21, 2013 — 12:47 AM
caitlin says:
I have yet to read The Stand. I really should get on that since so many people say it’s great! Thanks for reminding me of it! 🙂
October 21, 2013 — 12:52 AM
S. L. Boots says:
Favorite? Lisey’s Story. Not necessarily a horror novel, but it does possess some of those elements. Why? The emotions–especially the language between husband and wife. And the way he described the world of a writer. I’m a sucker for a well developed relationship in stories and this was King’s best take on relationships (which is saying something, because I think he’s one of the better writer’s in that regard).
Least favorite? Cell. Really great concept. Some great moments, but… it just didn’t have the same impact as his other novels.
October 21, 2013 — 12:52 AM
Rhonda says:
You know, it used to be said that you could tell what kind of Stephen King fan you were dealing with based on which book was your favourite – IT or The Stand. Then he went and did the Dark Tower series and screwed up that whole rating system.
That said, I haven’t read the whole Dark Tower series yet (pretty much the only thing by him I’m still behind on–that and Under the Dome), so my favourite is still IT. Why? Because it captures the full range of human experience in about a 1000 pages. Childhood, death and everything in-between just shimmers to life in those pages. I seldom cry over horror novels–the ending of IT never ceases to make my tears well up.
My least favourite? Not sure. Would have to be one of the throwaways like Cujo or Tommyknockers. So the dog’s crazy, I get that. Why did I have to sit in a car with her for days though? Tommyknockers was just not scary at all though the idea wasn’t all bad.
Anyway, I can’t say he’s ever written anything I out and out hated. He’s too good for that.
October 21, 2013 — 1:08 AM
Laurie Evans says:
Yes! I loved Lisey’s Story…but I have to say, my favorite is The Stand. I never got around to the Dark Tower series (I know, I know! Soon, I swear…). Gerald’s Game was a least favorite of mine, too.
October 21, 2013 — 1:08 AM
Remi Jones says:
The Long Walk. I love the early, almost clumsy voices of great writers. See also Donna Tartt, Joan Didion and Bret Easton Ellis. They seem more intimate maybe? I don’t know.
I’ve always thought Quentin Tarantino should direct the movie of the book.The profanity, the 70s style racism, gang of boys, I don’t know why he doesn’t have it at least on his list.
October 21, 2013 — 1:08 AM
Remi Jones says:
I forgot to add my least favorite. I don’t really have a least favorite. I found The Green Mile a little overly sentimental but still loved it. I hated that it was serialized because I don’t have patience.
October 21, 2013 — 1:13 AM
Patrick Regan says:
IT. I love IT so much. I think a lot of it had to do with the time I read it in my life, it really spoke to me. I was leaving behind childhood and moving towards adulthood, and the understanding that this was a sad thing, but an okay and inevitable thing? Really got to me.
Plus Pennywise is just fuckin’ terrifying.
October 21, 2013 — 1:19 AM
OzFenric says:
Seems like I’m a bit of an outlier here. Tommyknockers is right up with my favourites. Not the absolute pinnacle, however; that would probably be Needful Things, followed closely by Misery. The less supernatural the antagonist, the more effective, I feel, even though I do loves me some Pet Sematary.
Least favourite? I never got into From a Buick 8 (Christine redux), and I struggled to finish The Dead Zone. (Admittedly, I was about ten at the time.)
October 21, 2013 — 1:20 AM
Kirstie says:
This is a bit weird for me since I’ve read waaaaaay more of his short stories than his actual novels (and kinda cool since he’s had nearly as many short stories turned into movies as novels (or you know a fudge of a lot more than most other authors can boast). If I’m allowed to pick a short story collection instead of novel I’ve gotta say Nightmares and Dreamscapes holds a special place in both heart and memory. way too many cool stories. If forced to go with a novel it’s hard not to have fond memories of Carrie – the first horror book I ever read – but I really enjoyed Needful Things and Salem’s Lot. Least favorite (as everyone has already belabored) is going to be damn hard, but I guess Tommyknockers, it kept getting boring(probably because I just didn’t really dig any of the characters) so I kept putting it down.
Also I clearly need to kick my ass in gear and read the Dark Tower series.
October 21, 2013 — 1:33 AM
Gehayi says:
Favorite: This one is tough, as I like so many of his works, but ultimately it comes down to a three-way tie.
Carrie remains an old favorite because of its use of fake documents to tell the story and its multiple viewpoints, both of which were very new to me when I was eleven, and because it was the first book I ever read that acknowledged that girls can be bullies.
Dolores Claiborne is a favorite because Dolores sounds eerily like my mother (who was also a tough New Englander) and because the story is so painfully plausible. (Well, until the end. Seriously? No consequences for telling several police officers that she’d committed premeditated murder? I wanted her to get away with it–her husband Joe was a terrible person–but there was no explanation about why she did.)
The third is Needful Things. I have a weakness for stories about creepy little towns like Castle Rock, as well as for themes like confusing desires with necessity, the insidious power of emotional manipulation, and outsmarting the Devil. And the epilogue ties right into the novella “The Library Policeman.” Which means that it’s going to start all over again…with characters that we already know. That packs a punch.
Least favorite: The Gunslinger. There’s a scene in that one where Roland points his gun up at a woman’s vagina and shoots her. While I read the rest of The Dark Tower to see what the fuss was about–and there were some clever bits–I could never see Roland as a good guy after that; the act was simply too repellant.While I was willing to accept that Walter was a bad guy, that didn’t mean that Roland was virtuous or trustworthy. (In fact, when he let Jake fall and die again, he proved to me that he was neither.)
I was interested in the side characters for a while, though, as a disabled woman, I hated how Susannah’s disability was treated; whether she had a wheelchair or not, she never had any trouble balancing on Eddie’s back or thigh-walking on the ground, and she never suffered any pain as the result of inadequate transportation or treatment, either. And let’s not get into the issue of her rape and impregnation by a demon being a freaking plot point. Finally, the ending was frustrating–practically everyone was dead EXCEPT for the lead that I loathed, and the quest failed.
So…yeah. The Gunslinger in particular and The Dark Tower overall. I know that the series is supposed to be his magnum opus, but I did not like it.
October 21, 2013 — 1:45 AM
Cole says:
I miss the days of being unemployed and getting through most of King’s oevre in just a few months… “The Stand” was one of my favourites and, while long, it does need to be read in as few sittings as possible for full impact. “Insomnia” also stuck with me for a LONG time after reading it.
Least favourite was “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon”… I mean, wtf.
October 21, 2013 — 1:54 AM
Nicole R says:
My favorite SK book is Desperation hands down.
October 21, 2013 — 1:55 AM
Indru says:
I didn’t read all his books, but out of what I’ve read my favorites are two, tied for the first place: IT and The Stand. Because everything about them was great!
My least favorite is Misery, because it is very boring, has only two characters, and everything revolves around a mad woman who mutilates her favorite author. WTF? Plus, all the action is stretched to a maximum, you can tell only so much about a man that becomes hostage of a mad woman, gets his legs cut off and then escapes at some point. The end. Also, too predictable.
I also disliked The Gunslinger, the only Dark Tower book I’ve read. I simply don’t think it’s such a great book, and it looks like he’s struggling to tell a story but for some reason it doesn’t come out as great as it’s advertised. The western part is weak, the fantastic part is too vague to catch the attention of the reader, and the main character is too plain. And too many flashbacks or so, I couldn’t get a hold of the action, it’s split in too many pieces and the order fucks up your mind.
That sums it up, I guess.
October 21, 2013 — 2:28 AM
boydstun215 says:
More of a novella, I guess, but I really like The Mist. There’s a certain genius required to create a story that fools you temporarily into thinking that you’re reading one kind of story, when really you’re reading something quite different. This is what Stephen King does so brilliantly in The Mist, a thematic slight-of-hand, if you will. You think you’re reading a story about an invasion of giant, mutated insects and alien creatures in a small town when really you’re reading a story about human nature, about what happens to people when their backs are against the wall and are, in order to survive, forced to go into survival mode.
The interesting premise in this story is that human nature is a paradox, part animal instinct and part logic, part savage and part civilized being. No big revelation here; this is an ancient theme in storytelling, but it’s a theme that, contextually, never gets old for two reasons: first, we continuously, in our never-ending quest to become more civilized, forget about this paradox and in doing so unwittingly become less human; second, this paradox gives us the much-needed opportunity to contemplate our relationships to social problems and institutions. In the case of The Mist, we are presented with race and class conflict, the capability of organized religion (a favorite target of King’s) to turn people into dangerous, narrow-minded psychopaths, the disregard for community, law and order, bravery, and even common courtesy. And what worse place for these things to come into conflict than a supermarket, a treasure trove of resources, and thus a powder-keg of contention.
At any rate, this story displays what King does so when in novels like Salem’s Lot, Cell, Misery, Carrie, or even The Dark Tower series. In the end, these stories really don’t have much to do about monsters, which are merely devices to deliver the real goods of the story: the moral. He entertains us by temporarily letting loose some of these freaks in his imaginative menagerie, but ultimately offers a number of very profound moral lessons that become more relevant and accessible, I think, because they don’t feel like moral lessons. They just feel like great storytelling.
October 21, 2013 — 2:30 AM
David Glynn says:
My enthusiasm for Cujo notwithstanding, what you said. The Mist is one of the best, if not the best, horror novella ever written.
October 21, 2013 — 4:47 AM
Mozette says:
Oh, sweet Je-zuz, Chuck! Ya makin’ me pick just one!!!!
Ya killin’ me, I tell ya….
There’s Salem’s Lot… greatest vampire read ever! I loved it to the very end…. must read it again. The movie sucked big time.
Then, there’s Christine – my first SK read I owned at the tender age of 16 – and believe me, that damned car scared the crap outa me… I didn’t want to turn out my light at night.
I loved Night Shift – great book… my favourite story from that was ‘The Bogeyman’… well, okay, laugh if you want, but I still can’t sleep with any wardrobe doors open – not even an inch.
‘Dream Catcher’ bored me to tears… I didn’t understand what he was going on about… but then I think it was a dude book. ‘The Stand’ and ‘The Dead Zone’ have been all-time favourites of mine for years…
Now…. my least favourite ones… ‘Cell’. Like you said, great idea, but really badly executed.
‘Needful Things’ was just, well, boring as hell… I loved the cover, but was all I loved about it.
There you go, the books I love and hate…
And I’m currently reading The Dark Tower Series… great books… book 3 ‘The Wastelands’ is a little slow in my opinion towards the end – or is that just me?
October 21, 2013 — 2:39 AM
Delfina Hallett says:
Although The Talisman (cowritten with the writer Peter Straub) is not necessarily categorized as “horror” it is by far my favorite book. I read it when I was twelve, which coincidently was the same age as the main character. It really helped me escape the problems I was having at home at that time. My least favorite King book is the Tommyknockers. I just can’t get in to the whole alien thing.
October 21, 2013 — 3:02 AM
Whoa, Molly! says:
It’s hard for me to decide between The Stand and IT. I read The Stand at thirteen, it was my first King and just adored it – even though the ending kind of irks me a little. It’s one of those books that shaped me and helped mould my tastes. It also made me want to be a writer.
I only read IT about two years ago – the whole scary clown thing put me off, but it wasn’t that at all. Not at all. There is so much to that story. King has this way of capturing the essence of being a kid that no one else does.
I’m also partial to The Talisman, every year or so I read it and light out for the territories for a while…
Oh, and The Dead Zone!
I have to stop now.
October 21, 2013 — 3:10 AM
Fi Phillips says:
I’m torn between ‘It’ and ‘Black House’. Both terrified me and kept me turning the pages. I think a lot of the scare-factor was down to the use of child characters.
October 21, 2013 — 3:22 AM
ericathrone says:
I feel like I’m under qualified to respond to this because I’ve only read one Stephen King novel. It was ‘Salem’s Lot.’ I loved it and I’ve read it many times over. I’ve also enjoyed a variety of vampire stories (except for ‘Twilight,’ which rhymes with terrible), but Salem’s Lot is in a league of its own. It’s very much about the town and its people, and the gradual rise of terror among its residents, but less about vampire killing and, thankfully, doesn’t have any vampire romance.
But I’ve yet to get around to reading any of his other books, despite that I have some of them right here with me. If I read any of his other novels in the near future, it will probably be ‘Just After Sunset,’ his short fiction collection. I love short fiction and I’ve already gone so far as to buy a copy. I’ve also been meaning to read ‘The Shining’ and I have a copy of that as well, but I don’t know when I’ll get around to it. The same goes for ‘The Dead Zone.’ I also borrowed one from my sister called ‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon,’ but I can’t see myself reading it anytime soon; it’s at the bottom of my stack of to-read books. I feel like I should be reading more Stephen King, though, as I am a horror writer, but at the same time I like to read very widely so it takes me awhile to get back to circle back to a particular genre after I’ve moved on from it.
I’ve read more of his son’s books, actually. Joe Hill is one of my favourite authors. I love his short fiction, and both ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ and ‘Horns’ are favourite reads. I’m also a fan of his comic book series, ‘Locke & Key.’ I’m likely to read his latest novel, ‘N0S4A2,’ before I read any more Stephen King.
So I guess don’t even have a least favourite Stephen King book yet. Hence why I’m under qualified to even answer this. Unless film adaptions count at all?
I really enjoyed the film adaption of ‘Dreamcatcher.” I felt it easy to connect to Damian Lewis as Jonesy, and I liked the camaraderie between the boys. I’ve also seen ‘The Langoliers’ and ‘Rose Red,’ the latter being a favourite TV mini-series of mine. Of course I’ve seen the Jack Nicholson-starring film adaption of ‘The Shining,’ but I’m well aware its quite different from the book., and the classic 1976 film adaption of ‘Carrie.’ I’ve seen quite a few films written by him or based on his books. What can I say? I love movies almost as much as I love books!
If I had to say any of those was my least favourite, it has to be ‘Pet Sematary,’ mainly because it was one of the first horror movies I ever watched when I was kid, and it still gives me nightmares. The skateboard kid. I’m probably going to have nightmares about him tonight.
October 21, 2013 — 3:29 AM
E.Maree says:
CARRIE is my favourite, since it was my first.
WIZARD AND GLASS is the only King book I’ve stopped reading, and the reason I haven’t finished The Dark Tower. I just got so *bored* during the Blaine the Train scenes.
October 21, 2013 — 4:10 AM
David Glynn says:
CUJO! CUJO! CUJO!
October 21, 2013 — 4:41 AM
Paul B says:
Ah man, a favourite? Just one?
Okay – IT. That’s it. It’s just my number one book ever, by anyone. More than anything, I love the characters, I love their friendship and I love Derry. And of course, I love Pennywise. He just freaked me out so bad, even when I was reading it at 23. I still get a shiver when I see a reference to him in any of the other King works…
Honourable mentions to The Shining, 11/22/63, and The Dead Zone, all of which were incredible.
The worst? Geralds Game was long, with 45 pages of description about her getting a glass of water. And unfortunately I could just not get into Under the Dome. Not at all. Also, and I’m so sad to have to say this, Dr Sleep was so, so lame. Not only was it not scary, but some parts of it read like a bad Soap Opera, with pat on the back banter and twists where I could almost hear the DUN DUN DUN after the reveal. Such a shame.
October 21, 2013 — 5:18 AM
Dave Mason says:
Favorite: Salem’s Lot & The Stand & The Talisman. Least: Geralds’s Game & Delores Claiborne.
October 21, 2013 — 5:45 AM
Victor says:
Salem’s Lot. That damn Glick fingernail scratching on the window – still sends it up my spine. I read it in high school with headphones on blaring KISS. To this day the song “I was made for loving you” is pure Salem spook.
October 21, 2013 — 5:53 AM
Alex Edwards says:
My current favorite is the last one I read – his recent sequel to The Shining ‘Doctor Sleep’. It is a different beast to its predecessor and has one or two issues with putting the characters personal demons above the actual evil threat he is meant to face. But there is something infinitely creepy about a tribe of vampires that look like retired old couples in RVs.
October 21, 2013 — 5:53 AM
Michael J Sullivan says:
The Stand is still my favorite – and in my top 5 favorite books of all time. I didn’t like the deus ex machina ending, but the characters were amazing – and I still remember them decades after the first read.
October 21, 2013 — 6:03 AM
Jessica says:
Wizard and the Glass was my least favourite of the Dark Tower series. It would have been really interesting as a prequel, but it irritated me that they’d sit down half-way through their adventure and spend several hundred pages discussing backstory.
I haven’t read many Stephen King books other than that series. I read Joyland and found it a bit dull; it seemed to take a long time for anything to happen. So I’d go with Song of Susannah as my favourite and Joyland as my least.
October 21, 2013 — 6:26 AM
Peter says:
Favorite is The Stand, followed by The Dark Tower.
Least favorite is Gerald’s Game, which i sped-read because I had the silly notion that I should finish every book I started.
October 21, 2013 — 6:38 AM
Andrea Stanet says:
Tough choice! I’ve read most of his novels, and I love many of them. SK is one of the reasons I started writing. Anyway, I can narrow down to 2 favorites: IT and Drawing of the Three from The Dark Tower series. (I love the whole series, but that is my favorite of the 7).
Least favorite is definitely Tommyknockers – just so dumb. I still wonder what the hell he was thinking with that one.
October 21, 2013 — 6:46 AM
Benjamin Adams says:
I really really loved Hearts in Atlantis. Very different from his other work with some fantastic writing and storytelling.
October 21, 2013 — 6:47 AM
mark matthews says:
I was going to pick the Long Walk as well. Cujo, is the one I go back to as my reference for horror novels: our inner fears expressed in a tangible horrific situation. The alienation of the mother/wife is personified by being stuck in a pinto with a dead battery, her son near death, boiling alive in the car, with nobody to help her. A family dog, who is supposed to show loyalty and unconditional love, like her husband, is on the attack.
As a marathoner, I love the Long Walk.
October 21, 2013 — 7:15 AM
Kerry Ann says:
By far, IT scared the crap out of me more than any other book ever. Maybe because I read it when I was 13 (what the fuck were my parents thinking?). Maybe because I was a kid and it got into kids’ imaginations and I had an overactive imagination already. I stayed away from storm drains for years. My dad played a horrible trick on me (imagine a loose shower drain and a bunch of balloons). I was afraid IT would come in through my pool drain and become a shark (my greatest fear) and couldn’t swim by myself until I was an adult, even though I knew this was completely irrational.
Also loved many of the stories in Skeleton Crew. The Mist also terrified me to no end. A few of other stories in there were horrifying memorable: The Raft (which I read aloud in 10th grade English–went over like a lead balloon with that teacher), Survivor Type. I consider those pure horror.
As for well written classic King: THE STAND and THE SHINING. Those are the two I am forcing my husband to read. (He had a neglected childhood and has somehow never read ANY King. The horror.) I hadn’t read any King for years, but I just finished DR SLEEP last night. Not scary, disturbing, yes. Fucking brilliant.
Since no one can hurl stones at me online, I’ll admit I never got into the Dark Tower series. {Ouch, stop pinging me with pebbles, ouch!}
October 21, 2013 — 7:22 AM
Johann Thorsson says:
Favorites: Misery, mostly because it is tighter and tenser than most of his books which, let’s face it, tend to be a little bloated. And the Dark Tower series, especially the early books.
Least favorite: Tommyknockers, like so many other good folks here.
October 21, 2013 — 7:31 AM
Kyra Dune says:
Favorite: Firestarter. This is not, in my opinion, one of his best books, but it remains my favorite. Mostly because I love stories about people with powers, but also because it was the book that turned me into a King fan. I had already read Carrie, Christine, and Cujo, and loved all three, but there was something about Firestarter that really hooked me.
Least Favorite: Children of the Corn. I don’t know why, but I just didn’t like this one. I also wasn’t crazy about Salem’s Lot or Cycle of the Werewolf, because I’ve never been much into werewolves and vampires.
October 21, 2013 — 7:48 AM
jkflickinger says:
I started thinking about all Kings works and felt like I was in an blog version of Sophie’s Choice. To pick a fav, out of all that I love…there’s not enough bourbon in the world to make that easy! “Carrie” introduced me to King, “Salem’s Lot” scared the bejeezus out of me, “Cujo” made me nervous around large dogs for the rest of my life and don’t get me started on Misery… but I guess if I was at gun point, The Stand was the one that made me over the moon about King. I was living in New York City when I read it and I had nightmares about the tunnel escape for years afterwards… walking over all those bodies in the dark…Christ that was horrific! I’ve been terrified of tunnels ever since. “Dolores Clairbourne”…how can you not love that one and 11/22/63 was brilliantly done and played to so many of life’s “what-ifs”. My least fav , I guess would be “Tommyknockers”. Just ’cause.
You’re a very devious man for making me pick, Chuck!
October 21, 2013 — 7:57 AM
Laura Quirola says:
I see a lot of people disliking Tommyknockers. I don’t know… I read that book when I was ten years old, which, by itself, is probably an oversight on my parents’ part, but it creeped me out all right. Years later I stumbled across it again, in movie form, and only then realized the travesty that was Tommyknockers.
Meh.
My favorite book (OMG THIS IS HARD, WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME DO THIS?!), apart from the Dark Tower series (because I absolutely cannot pick one out of the seven) is probably IT. I’ve read it so many times and I’m still haunted sometimes by a smiling razor blade smile, cutting itself to bloody strips. That image will always be with me as a metaphor for what horror is.
October 21, 2013 — 8:13 AM
benjaminryant says:
Dark Tower series. I’d say The Wastelands or DT7 if I had to choose. Favorite non DT novel would be between The Long Walk, Doctor Sleep (I said it) or Hearts in Atlantis.
October 21, 2013 — 8:14 AM
curiouskermit says:
My favourite: the Shining. Least favourite: Insomnia. He abandoned horror completely in that one and just went for gross, which became boring very quickly. I don’t think I ever finished it.
October 21, 2013 — 8:31 AM
michellebark190M says:
There are so many I haven’t read, including The Stand and The Dark Tower series but I loved The Green Mile. I also really like his short stories and novellas. My favourites among those are The Man in the Black Suit and Fair Extension. But…I loved Lisey’s Story and Duma Key. I just finished Joyland and really liked that one too. And okay, this has nothing to do with horror but his book On Writing is the BEST book on writing ever.
October 21, 2013 — 8:34 AM
Alexis says:
I’m stunned – STUNNED at how few people are choosing The Shining. It’s the clear winner hands down – terrifying, gripping, stunning, fully fleshed out characters, believable world building, and unlike many of King’s novels, it sticks the landing.
October 21, 2013 — 8:49 AM
terribleminds says:
Well, to be clear — it’s not a contest. 🙂
But it’s early, and I suspect THE SHINING will get a lot more love before the day is through.
— c.
October 21, 2013 — 8:58 AM