Misery. Was gonna put the Shining, but I realized the Shining did not scare me but Misery totally did. Maybe because Misery is just about a batshit insane lady (something possibly “real”) and the Shining has that weird supernatural type stuff that doesn’t scare me.
I’ve just reread The Stand and as a cover-to-cover novel it’s my favorite SK read, although there are sections of other books (and short stories) that I enjoy.
And while I’m a fan of the first three DT books I can’t believe how truly awful the series became in the end, which has colored my views of the earlier books.
The Dead Zone. King is a good story teller but a mediocre writer. He also benefits from a firm hand from his editor. I read the uncut version of The Stand, which was about 40% longer and 50% badder.
I couldn’t finish From a Buick 8, and forced myself thru one of the Dark Tower things, which was almost as bad. He published a short story in a recent issue of Esquire (don’t look at me like that, I found it at the gym) that was also crap.
Maybe the traffic accident took something out of him that he needed, but King is a spent force AFAICT.
Regards,
Shodan
I’ve been on a Stephen King re-reading kick lately, and one book that stands out for me of his earlier work is “Pet Sematary.” You just want to scream throughout the whole book, “NOOOOOOOO! DON’T DO IT!” but of course he does. Again and again. SK often had trouble with endings, but “Pet Sematary” had a “kick you in the head then give you a couple more shots to the ribs while you’re lying there” ending. It wasn’t my favourite (“The Stand” still has that place in my heart), but it is an awesome story.
I was also tempted to vote for “Duma Key.” I just loved that story. Reading it was just a treat.
This was me, and a vote for Rage, as well to round out the top three.
I am always curious that so many people loved the Stand. I loved Captain Trips, but when God took a ‘hand’, it just ruined the whole book.
Not to say I haven’t read it twenty or thirty times, though.
I’ve read a ton of his short stories, but not many of his novels. The first one I read was Firestarter, for a book report in 6th grade. It freaked me the hell out, and it was clear to me at the time that I was too young to be reading it. Actually, it wasn’t so much the gore that was upsetting, although my stomach still churns a little every time I have to reach into a garbage disposal. It was more the stuff about sex, mind control, insanity, torture, and so on. There were many points at which I thought, “Whoa - I was not ready to know that people think/feel/do that.” But read it I did, and it made such an indelible impression that I have to count it as my favorite.
The Waste Lands. Not interested in his Horror/Thriller books.
AHunter3 did a pretty good job of laying out why I voted for The Shining. It’s tight and solid throughout, with a good start, middle and ending. Also it was my first SK novel, back when I was but a lad, so it has some minor sentimental value.
I’d probably regard It and The Stand as the closest competitors, but both are marred by weak endings.
One thing SK at his best does very well is laying background. It is probably the best example of this - the chapters on Derry history written from the POV of the child protagonist turned town librarian are, I think, probably the high point of any of his books. They infuse the whole story with an atmosphere of foreboding that really enhances the whole.
Similarly the best chapters of The Stand are the establishing chapters. Of course The Shining also does this extremely well and has the benefit of a more cohesive structure and complete story.
But in regards to my preferences it is probably worth pointing out that my favorite part of the Lord of the Rings were the appendices ;).
I hate choosing “other”, so I picked Misery. Otherwise I would have gone with Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three.
It was a tough call between Misery and The Stand for me. While I think The Stand is a superb epic, Misery has that intimate, isolated hell that I tend to love so much.
I don’t really understand the intense love for The Stand. I certainly don’t hate it, but there’s this initial “disease that wiped out the world” story that works great, but then the next-tier story of a huge confrontation between good and evil. Randall Flagg versus Mother Abigail. Fantastic setup, suspense building, then…umm…uh…hmm gee where was I going with this? …hmm gotta tie up this storyline somehow… OK Abigail wanders around in the desert and more or less wanders out of the plot… the plot wanders around in the desert and more or less wanders out of the book… hey let’s finish this off by having the nuke go sentient and make Las Vegas go boom! Hey wha…?? And at end of book let’s have everything get back on track and head back towards how things were BEFORE, with nothing resolved and no more known than was known before. Bleah. Whatever. Hey, it’s Stephen King so it’s full of memorable characters and great passages and the “world gets sick and dies” part is really well done. But his BEST??
As for The Long Walk, yes, one of his (and Richard Bachman’s) best works ever, but I don’t consider it a novel. I’ve said it before, but I’m a bigger fan of his short fiction. He’s written some awesome novels, but you can tell short fiction is his sandbox.
Some of my other favorite short stories from him:
The Jaunt
Survivor Type
Dolan’s Cadillac
The Langoliers
Battleground
The End of the Whole Mess
I Am the Doorway
N.
Word Processor of the Gods
The Mist
My favorite SK book is On Writing, but since the OP asked about novels, I chose The Shining, rather than Other.
Excellent book. Especially notable for how it switches gears after his accident. Very moving, yet, not a work of fiction.
Contrasted to the last half of the Dark Tower series, where:
He writes himself into the story. I can’t remember, but doesn’t he work in the driver who hit him, and all that in, as well? It was one of the worst moves he’s ever made in any of his novels. Like a big poop-stain across an otherwise excellent, epic series.
Well…you’re not wrong. The thing is the first two thirds of the book are really good - I was riveted by it. Then it all goes to crap ( or at least peters out weakly ). I would never vote for it as his best book, but I think you could make a reasonable argument that it contains one of his best two thirds of a book.
And I have to admit that for me, sometimes the parts can exceed the whole. Really strong passages/sections can sometimes lift a weak book over an overall more solid one that nonetheless doesn’t hit the same heights ( or lows ).
Wait, where’s that book he wrote chronicling the 2004 Red Sox World Championship season? 
Absent that, I voted for The Stand, although I considered The Shining.
Oh yeah, I call that the only one I don’t own, or wish to.
I really think you may be on to something there, but out of love for the stuff he used to write, I will always be ready to give him another chance.
I agree Stephen King’s endings tend to suck, except in The Long Walk, and I also thought Thinner and Pet Sematary had great endings.
His books are good, but his short stories are fantastic. The Jaunt is one of the creepiest freakin’ things I’ve ever read, ditto 1408, and That Thing, You Can Only Say What It Is In French. The latter two I think are among his finest work.
What about Survivor Type?
Lady fingers. They taste just like Lady Fingers.
Or Gray Matter:
I hope it’s Henry that comes back. I surely do.
I picked The Shining because my actual favorite, The Talisman written with Peter Straub, isn’t on the list. Bag of Bones is my favorite of those written in the past 15 years, though.
In retrospect, I should have made The Dark Tower series a choice apart from the other Others. Oh well.
Someone should do a poll for King’s short stories. It’s hard to pick one favorite, but I can probably narrow it down to Strawberry Spring, Battleground, Shawshank, and Apt Pupil. As for the scariest, probably The Jaunt or The Man in the Black Suit. I have yet to read his latest book of short stories.
Is everyone looking forward to Under the Dome?? It’ll be his longest novel, not counting the expanded edition of The Stand.