Stephen King

[Scott]

The Shining
Pet Sematary
Night Shift

I'm a huge fan. Read almost all his works but those would have to be my favorite 3. Never read any of the Gunslinger or Dark Tower series.

"People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them that I have the heart of a small boy -- and I keep it in a jar on my desk." - Stephen King

I didn't realize Stephen King wrote Pet Cemetery. I never read that book, but I saw the movie (assuming the movie was based on the book). Is the book similar in story to the movie?

I want to read a non-horror book by Stephen King, because I am interested to see the difference. What name did he use to write non-horror books?

[Lyn]

Non-horror by S. King that I recommend...

- On Writing
- The Green Mile (series)
- The Shawshank Redemption

Regarding Pet Sematary, yes, he wrote it. The movie doesn't even begin to do justice to the book. Put it this way, when I first read the book, several times it scared me so bad that I literally had to put the book down. But that was a long time ago and way before the movie so the readers had no idea what to expect.

The end is especially terrifying.

[Scott]

I'll probably try to pick up On Writing, because I saw the movie-versions of the other two. I prefer to read the book before I see the movie, so I don't already know the whole story.

[Lyn]

On Writing is neat, even if you're not a writer. It's biographical too. He writes of his personal battle with drugs and alcohol and the accident that almost took his life. It was nice to get that up close and personal with him and learn about how he dealt with it, the tips he offers and the support he's always received from his loving wife, Tabitha. I've been reading his novels since I was a teenager and I'm 39 now.

[tngwstlnd]

I like Stephen King, I have quite a few of his books, but I always find his subject matter much more interesting than the way it's written, and wtih the majority of his books I've HATED the ending to them. He seems to always be at a loss as to how to end them and ends up killing everyone or, even worse, making everyone live despite extremely unlikely circumstances. Oh well.

[calikim]

I'd have to go with "The Stand".
I've read just about everything Mr.King has wrote.
Although I haven't been able to get into The Dark Tower series.
I thought the way he wrote The Regulators written as Richard Bachman
and Desperation written as Stephen King was interesting. Same characters in different roles and situations. trippy man.
I recently read "Blaze" . I thought it a decent story.

[LondonKingFan]

Really predictable, but I love It and The Stand - someone once told me they thought King wrote kids better than anyone else, and these two (along with The Body in Different Seasons) are the best evidence for that.

I can see why the Dark Tower is divisive, but I think it's wonderful. I started reading it when I was a teenager and grew up with it - not sure how it would read if I started it fresh now, but as a kid, waiting for the next book to come out, it was glorious.

Recently I liked Cell, thought it was fun old-fashioned witty violent King, and kind of liked Lisey's Story - though I don't think it was as good as it seems the author did. Have been reading what's out there about Duma Key, the next one - sounds good.

I saw on another site that King's official UK website is running a competition for Duma Key - haven't had a look at it yet but it's at www.stephenking.co.uk if anyone wants to see it.

Cheers

lkf

[complimentarymatters]

You have to be slightly amazed at Stephen King's creativity. He has come up with so many different things to be scared of! A lot of his creations are out of this world.

[loicbarcelona]

Any King Readers out there? What is your favorite King book/series? Mine is the Dark Tower Series.

Mine too! But I also loved The Long Walk and Hearts in Atlantis

[Tracey Neal]

I LOVE Stephen King!! I met him a couple years back Great guy! I have pretty much all his books... my personal favorites are..
(Novels)-

'Salem's Lot
The Shining
Misery
The Green Mile
Christine
Cujo
Carrie
It
The Dark Half


(Novels under pen name Richard Bachman)-

Bachman Books, collection of the following stories:
Rage
The Long Walk
Roadwork
The Running Man


Also Blaze written as Bachman


(Short fiction
collections)-

Different Seasons- collection by Stephen King containing the following stories:

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (subtitled: Hope Springs Eternal)
Apt Pupil (subtitled: Summer of Corruption)
The Body (subtitled: Fall From Innocence) ..also adapted into the film "Stand by Me"
The Breathing Method (subtitled: A Winter's Tale)


Hearts in Atlantis-it consists of five novellas

Four Past Midnight- is a collection of four

(e-books)- Riding the Bullet

(Screenplays)-

Creepshow, Cat's Eye, Silver Bullet, Pet Sematary, Sleepwalkers


(Teleplays)-

Sorry, Right Number, Golden Years, The Stand, The Shining, Storm of the Century, Rose Red

[Pappy]

Calikim, the Regulators/Desperation thing is far less trippy when you read the Dark Tower series. Speaking of, I had read quite a few Stephen King books but was never a fan of any series so I never gave the Dark Tower a shot but people who don't like SK was saying you just have to read it so I read the Gunslinger, didn't understand it and walked away knowing less than I did before I read it BUT with the second and third book in the series everything starts making sense and a geat story comes out of it. I highly recommend reading it.

As for non horror, I'd recommend Bag of Bones. It has some spooky elements, but at its core is something a little more nice and it's just a good book. It's not like he was trying to scare you or anything, just to tell you a good story.

[Eric]

Even though King is the only famous person from my state, Maine, I haven't really read much from him. I'm not a fan of the horror genre. I really respect him for all that he does for the state, though. He's donated a lot of money to public libraries, art & music programs at local schools, universities, etc.

[austinjo]

love the books...they just need to get the movies right! Except the shining, very good.

[Abagayle]

Bag of Bones and The Stand are brilliant. 'Salem's Lot was so attractive, I had it finished in a bit over one day, it reads very well. I think Stephen King is cast aside too often as a Dean Koontz kind of author, where I see a lot of reading between the lines to be done in all his books. He's really talented. I also enjoy a quote from the into of 'Salem's Lot : Only library books speak with such wordless eloquence of the power good stories hold over us; how good stories abide, unchanged and mutely wise, while we poor humans grow older and slower. - Stephen King

[lovethesuspense]

The Stand is one of my favorite books. Classic Good vs. Evil. Very well written and the depth of the characters kept my attention throughout the lengthy novel.