Stephen King

[Jacob]

The Shining is a wonderful place to start. Or The Stand.

The Stand is a beast of a book, took me about a month to finish.

How old were you- six?

Ha, I was Ten.

[Newoctoberissue]

In my opinion there are two books from King which are ideal starting points for the novice- The Shining is not only a classic tale of the supernatural, it also taps into some very primal fears like isolation and the fear of the unknown- essentially a haunted house story which has some very creepy psychological aces up its sleeve, the tale of Danny Torrance and his family coming to live in The Overlook, Colorado certainly is in my top 3 Best King Books and is a great place to start sampling the delights of King.

Also, his debut novel- Carrie, is another excellent book which is written in classic King style. A bullied and tormented schoolgirl with a strange gift unleashes hell on her town. These two books are a great start but if they dont sound like your cup of tea, then there are plenty of other books which i recommend to start off with:

IT
Geralds Game
Christine
Misery
Dolores Claiborne

Good luck!

these two books were actually my first two books i read by him. there is also the choice of starting the dark tower series which seems to be growing very popular among my friends lately. I also suggest the long walk. I really enjoyed that one and think it would be a perfect read for someone about to pop their stephen king cherry.

[Asanat]

I fell in love with this author from my first book of his "The dead zone." I was just amazed and couldn't believe it. I couldn't belive that somebody can write like this. My favorite book is "Misery". The best. I love him so much that I even write in his style. Well... close.

[Kdor11]

My fave Stephen King novel is 'In The Eyes of The Dragon'. It's not the typical King novel but I really like the way its written, as well as the content. I've read it a few times actually!

[Ceebee62]

One of the scariest books I've ever read was Pet Sematary. I can still remember . . . it was late at night and I just finished reading it and I remember literally running back to my bedroom and jumping into bed. This caused my husband to jump up and ask what the heck was going on. Didn't help that we had a black cat at the time! Still gives me a chill!

[BookBuddy]

I have a question about this author. I liked some of the movies based on his books, but I have never ever read any (yes, shame on me ). If I was to read his book, which one should I pick up as a first one and why?

I read many of KIng's books and these are my top 3: rose madder
It
Needful things

[Mel Carriere]

The three greatest Stephen King creations are Salem's Lot, The Stand, and the Dark Tower series. I disagree on the Tommyknockers; I thought it was very entertaining. The worst one he wrote was "The Eye of the Dragon." This was the only one I almost had to put down. Insomnia was also a clunker. All of his books about children such as "It," are immensely entertaining, but his one book about old farts, which was Insomnia, left me flat. His short story collections are also great reads.

[Gannon]

My fave Stephen King novel is 'In The Eyes of The Dragon'. It's not the typical King novel but I really like the way its written, as well as the content. I've read it a few times actually!

I also love "The Eye of the Dragon" and have read it a couple of times. It is very different to King's normal syle and is aimed at a younger audience.

-- Sat Oct 01, 2011 2:58 pm --

The three greatest Stephen King creations are Salem's Lot, The Stand, and the Dark Tower series. I disagree on the Tommyknockers; I thought it was very entertaining. The worst one he wrote was "The Eye of the Dragon." This was the only one I almost had to put down. Insomnia was also a clunker. All of his books about children such as "It," are immensely entertaining, but his one book about old farts, which was Insomnia, left me flat. His short story collections are also great reads.

Hi there Mel Carriere. I would say King's worst novel by along way is "The Tommyknockers". King admits that while writing this book he was at the height of his cocaine and drinking problems. I always finish a book when I start it, but with Tommyknockers it was a real challenge to finish it. I agree with you about The Stand, an amazing book.

-- Sat Oct 01, 2011 4:39 pm --

My fave Stephen King novel is 'In The Eyes of The Dragon'. It's not the typical King novel but I really like the way its written, as well as the content. I've read it a few times actually!

I also love "The Eye of the Dragon" and have read it a couple of times. It is very different to King's normal syle and is aimed at a younger audience.

-- Sat Oct 01, 2011 2:58 pm --

The three greatest Stephen King creations are Salem's Lot, The Stand, and the Dark Tower series. I disagree on the Tommyknockers; I thought it was very entertaining. The worst one he wrote was "The Eye of the Dragon." This was the only one I almost had to put down. Insomnia was also a clunker. All of his books about children such as "It," are immensely entertaining, but his one book about old farts, which was Insomnia, left me flat. His short story collections are also great reads.

Hi there Mel Carriere. I would say King's worst novel by a long way is "The Tommyknockers". King admits that while writing this book he was at the height of his cocaine and drinking problems. I always finish a book when I start it, but with Tommyknockers it was a real challenge to finish it. I agree with you about The Stand, an amazing book.

@StepenKingMan
I don't know if you know or are even interested but "Firsts -The Book Collector's Magazine" has a two issue special on Stephen King. It starts in the October edition Vol21, Num8. I have the October edition and the whole mag is virtually devoted to Stephen King. It is very interesting and covers all of his work. There is so much that the November issue is also devoted to Stephen King. Don't know if this interests you, but I thought I would let you know.

-- Sat Oct 01, 2011 4:41 pm --

My fave Stephen King novel is 'In The Eyes of The Dragon'. It's not the typical King novel but I really like the way its written, as well as the content. I've read it a few times actually!

I also love "The Eyes of the Dragon" and have read it a couple of times. It is very different to King's normal syle and is aimed at a younger audience.

-- Sat Oct 01, 2011 2:58 pm --

The three greatest Stephen King creations are Salem's Lot, The Stand, and the Dark Tower series. I disagree on the Tommyknockers; I thought it was very entertaining. The worst one he wrote was "The Eye of the Dragon." This was the only one I almost had to put down. Insomnia was also a clunker. All of his books about children such as "It," are immensely entertaining, but his one book about old farts, which was Insomnia, left me flat. His short story collections are also great reads.

Hi there Mel Carriere. I would say King's worst novel by along way is "The Tommyknockers". King admits that while writing this book he was at the height of his cocaine and drinking problems. I always finish a book when I start it, but with Tommyknockers it was a real challenge to finish it. I agree with you about The Stand, an amazing book.

-- Sat Oct 01, 2011 4:39 pm --

My fave Stephen King novel is 'In The Eyes of The Dragon'. It's not the typical King novel but I really like the way its written, as well as the content. I've read it a few times actually!

I also love "The Eye of the Dragon" and have read it a couple of times. It is very different to King's normal syle and is aimed at a younger audience.

-- Sat Oct 01, 2011 2:58 pm --

The three greatest Stephen King creations are Salem's Lot, The Stand, and the Dark Tower series. I disagree on the Tommyknockers; I thought it was very entertaining. The worst one he wrote was "The Eye of the Dragon." This was the only one I almost had to put down. Insomnia was also a clunker. All of his books about children such as "It," are immensely entertaining, but his one book about old farts, which was Insomnia, left me flat. His short story collections are also great reads.

Hi there Mel Carriere. I would say King's worst novel by a long way is "The Tommyknockers". King admits that while writing this book he was at the height of his cocaine and drinking problems. I always finish a book when I start it, but with Tommyknockers it was a real challenge to finish it. I agree with you about The Stand, an amazing book.

@StepenKingMan
I don't know if you know or are even interested but "Firsts -The Book Collector's Magazine" has a two issue special on Stephen King. It starts in the October edition Vol21, Num8. I have the October edition and the whole mag is virtually devoted to Stephen King. It is very interesting and covers all of his work. There is so much that the November issue is also devoted to Stephen King. Don't know if this interests you, but I thought I would let you know.

-- Sat Oct 01, 2011 4:46 pm --

I am sorry to everyone for the repeats, I have no idea how they happened.

[Mel Carriere]

I don't know what was wrong with The Tommyknockers. I thought the concept was fascinating, and I thought the part where Jesus on the Christ portrait was wacking his sheep into submission was hilarious. I have to disagree with you on this one.

[StephenKingman]

^ Thanks for the advice Gannon i will look out for that and yes, i agree that Tommyknockers was his worst novel, that and Bag of Bones, complete tripe and not a patch on his talent.

[Jacob]

I actually just started reading his Night Shift series, currently - I'm up to his third novel, and to be perfectly honest. I found Skeleton Crew a bit better then Night Shift.

[Francine]

hello
Thanks for provide me information about this topic because this will help me

[Mel Carriere]

King's latest release, Full Dark No Stars was a worthwhile read as well. The Old Man has still got it.

[StephenKingman]

King's latest release, Full Dark No Stars was a worthwhile read as well. The Old Man has still got it.

I liked 3 of the 4 stories but the one about the guy doing a deal with the devil for a longer life was badly executed in my view, very clunky and without suspense. The story had a lot of potential but King dropped the ball on the delivery

[thedarkavenger]

Personally I love Salem's Lot, I have never seen the movie version but I read the book when I was a teenager and found it terrifying, also Misery is a great psychological thriller.
My top five would be : Salem's Lot , Carrie, Misery, Cujo and Pet Cemetary.