I gave up on King after Insomnia - it took me almost 3 months to get through it.
His best in my opinion:
Quitters, Inc.
The Monkey - genuinely scary
The Raft
Jerusalem’s Lot
'Salem’s Lot
On Writing should be called On Cliched Advice.
Is that one where a car gets stuck in a snowstorm?
Absolutely agree with you! Along with Cell and The Dome, it’s proof that not all late period King output is of mediocre quality.
By the by - anyone besides me get choked up every time they read the baseball painting story-within-a-story in The Library Policeman?
Well yes, that part was peculiar. I was thinking more of the big cosmic spider battle - if he were shooting for something as horrific as possible, I think he went a long way toward achieving that in a concrete form.
- The Stand
- Christine
- Under the Dome
- The Dead Zone
- Needful Things
Honorable mention: The Talisman
Nope. That’s the one written in the same style as Dracula (the novel): a series of letters and diary entries written back in the 1850s. The main character hears things walking and running behind the walls - things that are far too big to be rats. He also finds a desecrated church.
- Christine
- From a Buick 8
- The Stand
- The Shining
- The Tommyknockers.
Novels:
Misery
The Stand
It (except the very end)
The Long Walk
The Shining
Short Stories:
Survivor Type (my favourite!)
Graveyard Shift
The Raft
Battleground
The Ledge
[spoiler]
I thought the spider worked well on paper, but horribly on TV. Remember the Spider was an amalgamation of the fears of all the kids: it could have been anything - a mass murderer, the principal of their school, whatever. It became a spider because one of the kids suggested it and the others latched on to it.
On TV, however, this subtle distinction was completely lost, if not completely ignored.
Same thing with The Stand. The “hand of God” that I envisioned in my mind’s eye was nothing more than Flagg’s ball of lightning breaking up into multiple strands that looked somewhat like a hand. On TV however… sigh… they made it into an actual hand. :rolleyes: X 1,000.[/spoiler]
Thank you for articulating one of the (many) elements of The Stand that keep drawing me back.
Going by the books/stories I’ve read multiple times, here is my list of 5:
- The Stand. I’ve read it more often than any other book on my bookshelf. Last spring, I was at loose ends and took it out to read just my favorite parts, and ended up reading from page 1 to the end.
- It.
- Firestarter
-
On Writing. I have an autographed copy with a personal message to me!
But I like it regardless of that connection. - “Head Down”, a short story in Nightmares and Dreamscapes. It’s a nonfiction account of his son’s Little League season, featuring memorable characters, drama, humor, and impeccable storytelling. Anyone else a fan?
I like Salem’s Lot, but it scared me so much I’m reluctant to read it again. The Shining wasn’t nearly scary enough. Hated The Tommyknockers. Slogged through **Under the Dome **and will do so again – its appeal is akin to what Mr. Excellent described above, a devolving society. Misery is great, but there are scenes that are just too oogy for me to enjoy.
- The Long Walk
- Rage
- The Shining
- Misery
- Pet Sematary
I’m kind of surprised how much of his stuff I have read and how little I’ve loved…
Even cheating, this is hard…
- The Dark Tower series
- Bachman books, particularly for Rage, but also Long Walk
- Insomnia
- It
- Different Seasons, particularly for The Body and Shawshank
Runners ups: Misery, Needful Things, Under the Dome, Tommyknockers
Yes, King’s nonfiction is worth reading. On Writing giveshis memoirs, a damn good course on writing, and his account of being hit by a van and surviving.
Danse Macabre, a run down of horro media, is fine, but not dated.
Faithful is an account of the 2004 Red Sox, who won the World Series
The Stand (appreciated the “director’s cut” version, though I wish he hadn’t brought the story forward in time to the then-present when it was republished)
The Talisman
The Dark Tower (whole thing, though it only really got going with the second book)
Different Seasons
Insomnia
Others I have really liked:
The Long Walk
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
Eyes of the Dragon
Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut
er, and probably others, but I had to get rid of a lot of my library when I moved to Scotland, so I don’t have them on the shelf to remind me which ones are my favourites anymore, heh.
I agree, though I’d never thought of it in that way before.
I also love Survivor Type and Word Processor of the Gods and The Ledge and probably any number of short stories that have slipped my mind. I should see if I can pick up any of his stuff at the library here.
Bag of Bones scared me absolutely spitless. I don’t think any of his stuff scared me more than that. The abuse aspect of it was probably a big part of that, but otherwise even just the ghost story really creeped me out. Probably didn’t help that I was reading it alone at night in a dark house out in the country.
Misery
Bag of Bones
The Stand
It
The Shining
Honorable Mention to:
The Wizard and the Glass
On Writing
Pet Semetery
The Eyes of the Dragon
The Stand
The Dark Tower (books 1 & 2 ONLY)
The Shining
**Night Shift **
If I had room for a couple more I would add **It **(except for that weird ending) and Skeleton Crew.