# Favorite Stephen King Novel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2009, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330 "2009-10-02T11:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/61 "2009-10-04T11:34:25Z")
I love KIng and I’ve read a lot of his books, but the only one that kept me up night after night was _The Stand_. It is his masterpiece in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/62 "2009-10-04T12:25:36Z")
> [@tarragon918](#): > > Definitely _The Stand_, which I’ve read umpteen times, believe it or not. Every time I re-read one of his books, btw, I pick up some nuance that I missed on previous readings, it seems. I’m so glad that they re-published _Stand_, putting back what had been cut from the first time it was published. Although some of that stuff seemed unnecessary, it was generally good background material, imho. Agreed on all counts. > [@](#): > > I think _It_ is probably my second favorite. It really put me off clowns for a -long- time. LOL I never liked clowns, even before I was aware of Stephen King’s existence. The always kinda creeped me out. But then _after_ I read It. . .:eek: Then, in the movie version, getting Tim freakin’ Curry to play Pennywise. That _voice_. :eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![Capcha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Capcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capcha)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/63 "2009-10-04T16:41:27Z")
Other: the Talisman. oh crap! you said no collaborations… Then it’s a tie between _Rose Madder_ and _The Eyes of the Dragon_. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/64 "2009-10-04T17:18:57Z")
> [@tarragon918](#): > > Definitely _The Stand_, which I’ve read umpteen times, believe it or not. Every time I re-read one of his books, btw, I pick up some nuance that I missed on previous readings, it seems. I’m so glad that they re-published _Stand_, putting back what had been cut from the first time it was published. Although some of that stuff seemed unnecessary, it was generally good background material, imho. > > I think _It_ is probably my second favorite. It really put me off clowns for a -long- time. LOL I think it was in the extended (original?) version of “The Stand” that they put the people who were immune to the superflu but just damned unlucky back in, and that really stuck in my head. Beat the odds and survived the wiping out of the human race, then get killed by some tainted food or whatever. Really, really sucks to be you. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/65 "2009-10-04T22:54:55Z")
I voted for _The Stand_- I don’t mind the ending, it worked for me mostly because of Trashman bringing the nuke to town, it just tied in well enough for me to buy it. But really- there is too much great reading experiences for me to pick one King favorite- so the following have honorable mentions: - Misery\*- for being the first. _It_ for Mike the librarian and especially Ben as a kid. _The Drawing of The Three_ for bringing me back into the Dark Tower series after not getting the first book. _Dolores Claiborne_ for the main character and being a bitch is all you have to hold onto :). _The Shining_ for scaring me the most. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/66 "2009-10-04T23:00:08Z")
_The Gunslinger_ does it for me. I can take or leave the entire DT series as a whole, but I love _The Gunslinger._ ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/67 "2009-10-04T23:14:37Z")
I voted _Salem’s Lot_. That and _The Shining_ are the best of his books for me. I read _Carrie_ when it was first published, didn’t much care for it. Then came _Salem’s Lot_ and I was hooked, followed by the equally brilliant _Shining_. I was a little disappointed by _The Stand_, I found it bloated and formulaic in parts. It was downhill all the way for me with King after that: possessed cars, rabid dogs, incendiary kids, etc. Oh, they were well-written, I just found the plotting predictable and boring. And worst of all, I didn’t find them scary, as I had with the two I loved. Peter Straub meanwhile was writing Ghost Story, Floating Dragon, The Throat, etc, books that scared the shit out of me and were even more masterfully written than King’s. Don’t get me wrong, I still like King, but I think it’s in his short stories that he shines now. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/68 "2009-10-05T01:38:46Z")
The Stand has to be (?) considered his masterwork, doesn’t it? Even so, I liked Cell better. Too bad _“The Mist”_ was a short story… ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/69 "2009-10-05T01:41:02Z")
I voted for _Cujo_. I read it when I was 11. My _babysitter_ gave it to me. When I got divorced when I was 28, I read it again. All alone in the house. It still creeped me out. The best part? Cujo doesn’t turn into a spider and there’s no big explosions or trips into another world. It \*could \*happen. I still remember my babysitter’s name. Nena. If you’re out there, thank you for scaring the shit out of a little boy. And for being my first older girl crush. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/70 "2009-10-05T02:46:10Z")
\*\*The Stand \*\*in a landslide. I am not surprised. One of the great epic novels of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/71 "2009-10-05T04:26:36Z")
I voted _The Stand_ but _The Green Mile_ is a very very close second. My all out favorite King story is _The Long Walk_. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/72 "2009-10-05T05:04:26Z")
I’m curious about what would come in second. Is _The Stand_ perhaps the second choice of a sufficient number of the folks who picked something else as their first that it would make a solid showing? Hmm, would be a hard choice for me, the second slot… probably _Misery_ or _Carrie_, wtih _Pet Sematary_ and _The Stand_ also close contenders. I like _Carrie_ better than most folks, it seems. I read it in Junior High back in '74 or so when it was his only published book, and liked it a lot and hoped that he would write some more books (!). ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/73 "2009-10-05T05:17:52Z")
I chose _The Tommyknockers_, just cuz everyone bags it. _The Stand_ is ruled out due to unaccepatble levels of Religious Crap ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/74 "2009-10-05T12:48:43Z")
Misery would be my second. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/75 "2009-10-05T12:53:58Z")
I haven’t voted because I’ve never read a Stephen King Novel. A friend at work recommended IT. I pretty much decided I’ll start reading Stephen King. Where should I start? The Stand? IT? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/76 "2009-10-05T13:01:31Z")
Seriously, I would read them in published order for the most part. Carrie is the first. I think his early stuff is widely regarded as his best. Or, if you’re going to read just one…see the poll results. Apparently people love The Stand! I would definitely not recommend starting with It. It’s huge, silly in some parts, and it has one scene near the end which might possibly cause you to hurl it across the room. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/77 "2009-10-05T13:20:39Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Agreed. Q. to the masses: are they as abrupt a departure from his other stuff as I (generally having not read most of the rest of his oevure) think they are? Well - yes and no. When you look at King’s bibliography, everything’s a departure from everything else, because it’s so broad. When you pick up \*The Gunslinger \*and read it over a weekend, you might think it’s a fair departure. But then on Wednesday, you’ll pick up _The Drawing of the Three_, and tear through it, finding familiar faces, parallel storylines, and a very familiar Stephen King writing the story you’ve been wanting him to for years and years. Then it’s off you go on your quest… ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/78 "2009-10-05T14:11:52Z")
Oh man, this thread couldn’t have come with better timing. I’ve been sick in bed the last couple days, and what better time to re-read a bunch of the old scaries? I’m going to have to revise my first post. I remembered loving \*The Eyes of the Dragon \*primarily because it’s the first modern fantasy-esque book I ever read (I’d read _King Arthur, Gilgamesh_, etc, but probably would never have touched contemporary fantasy books with a ten-foot pole otherwise), and also because though the writing wasn’t very good, exactly, it was the first book I read of King’s that made me connect the dots that there was some kind of connecting, underlying universe running throughout the books. I’d noticed that certain elements cropped up here and there, but it was really _The Eyes of the Dragon_ that dragged me in to the whole “King-iverse”, and especially the _Dark Tower_ series. Re-reading it now though, it’s much harder to excuse the sloppy writing and some of the mysteries that I kept waiting to have answered through the DT series were never resolved, and so what seemed grand and magical then now seems like cheesy plot holes. The old scaries hold up really well. _Pet Cemetery_ scared the pants off me then and does now, and hoo-boy,\* Misery\*. Now I can’t decide whether to tackle\* Needful Things\* next or\* It\*. I read both as a teenager probably fifteen times. _Needful Things_ for no good reason whatsoever than prurient titillation, and _It_ because… well, like I said, I’m going to have to revise my first post, because really I think\* It\* and _The Shining_ were the two biggies for me back then. _The Stand_, well, I surely don’t disagree with any of the assessments. I love it as a post-apocalyptic epic and I guess I love the first two-thirds enough to forgive the atrocious ending. I was thoroughly disgusted with the ending the first time I read it–I was in fifth grade at a Catholic school and used it for a book report. My mom got a phone call from the teacher about whether or not I was allowed to read such things :D. Really though, the man’s skill with a novella is what does it for me. _The Bachman Books_ and _Different Seasons_, that is. I kinda like to pretend that _Four Past Midnight_ never happened. ETA: are there any of his books that anyone is purposely avoiding? There are a few of the newer ones I haven’t gotten around to and am not in a particular hurry to do so, but there are two that I have tried repeatedly to read and never been able to get through: _Firestarter_ and \*The Tommyknockers. \* I started both several times as a kid and never could get into either one. I ended up ditching them not-very-far in every time, which is pretty rare for me. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/79 "2009-10-05T15:15:04Z")
I voted for _The Stand_, because it was the first full length novel of his that I read. The first was the collection with _The Mi_st. Can you imagine? The very first King story I ever read was the Mist! 😉 I was hooked for life. I am currently re-reading It, but I think it’s third to _Dolores Claiborne_. _Misery_ is 4th maybe. Or _The Drawing of The Three_. **NajaNivea** - I’ve read them all at least once, but _Tommyknockers_ is my least favorite. I’ve only read it the one time. I put up with the bad stuff to get the good stuff! There is a lot of good stuff. \*Duma Key \*was pretty good, for “current” works. I’m still trying to get through his latest collection of short stories. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330/80 "2009-10-05T15:38:34Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > I voted for The Stand, because it was the first full length novel of his that I read. The first was the collection with The Mist. Can you imagine? The very first King story I ever read was the Mist! I was hooked for life. Same here. I grew up on _Skeleton Key_ and _Night Shift_, and didn’t pick up one of his novels until my teens. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-stephen-king-novel/512330.md?page=5)