# Ranking All 64 Of Stephen King's Books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 12, 2014, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923 "2014-04-12T06:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/21 "2014-04-12T17:01:05Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > I would have ranked Eyes of the Dragon near the top. I love that book! > The Dark Half would be near the bottom for me. I didn’t like it at all, felt like King was being lazy. > I kind of liked the Tommyknockers and don’t get most of the hate for it. It came out shortly after I’d been introduced to Steve via Skeleton Crew and Night Shift, and I liked this crazy story about a drunkard losing his mind and his best friend being turned into an alien. I am aware that most people hate it but it’s special to me because it was one of my first King novels. I haven’t read it since but it’s pretty vivid. I also liked _Tommyknockers_- I liked the female character. The trip to the vet when all the animals went nuts and the boy who made his brother disappear stand out to me. I did like _On Writing_ but I don’t think it belonged on that list, especially not so high on it. Apples to Oranges. And although I’m not an Under The Dome hater, it should have been in the bottom 20. But the list did get #1 right and I thought the ending was just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/22 "2014-04-12T17:02:08Z")
I’m surprised they even included his non-fiction. It should be his novels we are evaluating. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/23 "2014-04-12T17:26:12Z")
Without arguing that its among his worst, there’s no way “Rose Madder” is a worse book than “Dreamcatcher.” The latter is disgusting, verbose, rambling, and falls back on that ol’ SK chestnut, _the retaaaahded kid saves the day_. I thought the part where Rose enters the labyrinth to outwit the Minotaur was actually kind of gripping (even if I couldn’t figure out why it was happening), and I can’t say that about any part of Dreamcatchers. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/24 "2014-04-12T18:12:39Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Having only clicked through the first 3 slides, I will say that I don’t believe Black House or Song Of Susannah belong anywhere near the bottom of the list, particularly Black House. _Black House_ is actually pretty good, but it has two things working against it: (1) It takes a long time to get going. You have to read through pages and pages of scene-setting before the plot starts moving. (2) It was billed as a sequel to _The Talisman_, but it doesn’t have a whole lot in common with that book. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/25 "2014-04-12T18:23:57Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > I don’t get the hate for Cell and Insomnia. They are in my top five of Kings stuff. And I didn’t love IT as much as everyone else either. The Bachman Books are split here, but weirdly there’s no Road Work. In any case, I disagree with a lot of it, except for The Stand. It’s that good. _Roadwork_ is listed as #20. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/26 "2014-04-12T19:35:17Z")
Out the the books I’ve read (most of them up to Needful Things and a few of his later ones), I didn’t notice anything that seemed obviously overrated to me with the possible exception of The Dark Half (which is not nearly as good as Thinner or The Long Walk or The Running Man, to name a few). Like **Apocalypso** , I thought The Tommyknockers was entertaining enough; I liked it better than Needful Things, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/27 "2014-04-12T23:17:03Z")
Also, I don’t remember where _Different Seasons_ ranked, but it contains the novella _The Body_, which is one of King’s finest works. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/28 "2014-04-12T23:22:19Z")
Different Seasons also has Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption. As for Black House, I enjoyed it from the beginning. The bird’s eye view/fly through keyholes description of the landscabe was awesome, in my opinion. (I state for the record that Peter Straub co-wrote that one, and it’s not always obvious who wrote which parts. At other times, yeah, it’s obvious.) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/29 "2014-04-12T23:28:43Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Having only clicked through the first 3 slides, I will say that I don’t believe Black House or Song Of Susannah belong anywhere near the bottom of the list, particularly Black House. Song of Susannah should be about 900th on that list. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/30 "2014-04-13T00:03:32Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Also, I don’t remember where _Different Seasons_ ranked #5. The short story and novella collections are, in general, ranked too low, IMO - Different Seasons and Full Dark No Stars are the only ones I would have a problem moving upward significantly, and FDNS that’s mostly because I haven’t read it. Few of his [del]bloated[/del]full-length novels can match the quality of his short fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/31 "2014-04-13T01:09:31Z")
I was really shocked Rage was ranked so low. I think it’s the best of the Bachman books except maybe for Thinner and thought Roadwork was horrible which was ranked #20. Admittedly, I haven’t read them since junior high. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/32 "2014-04-13T01:13:29Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Salem’s Lot should be a contender for number one. It’s by far the best and scariest vampire book ever written. It was in the top ten so it was pretty clearly a contender. I was really shocked that _Firestarter_ wasn’t ranked much higher. Of his books from that time period, it’s one of the few that had a really, really good ending. ---
**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:** [April 13, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/33 "2014-04-13T01:19:15Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > #5. > > The short story and novella collections are, in general, ranked too low, IMO - Different Seasons and Full Dark No Stars are the only ones I would have a problem moving upward significantly, and FDNS that’s mostly because I haven’t read it. Few of his [del]bloated[/del]full-length novels can match the quality of his short fiction. I love his full-length novels (I’m a fast reader and I burn through short ones too quickly), but he truly does shine in his short stories. “Longer than you think, Dad! Longer than you think!” ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/34 "2014-04-13T01:33:50Z")
I haven’t read much of King, sadly, but I have read The Long Walk, and if all of those books that ranked better than The Long Walk really are better, then that’s pretty amazing, since to me, that story is one of the finest ever told. I loved it to death. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/35 "2014-04-13T03:01:37Z")
My Top 5 would have to be: [ol] [li]_ **’Salem’s Lot** _[/li][li]_ **The Shining** _[/li][li]_ **The Stand** _[/li][li]_ **The Bachman Books** _[/li][li]_ **The Dark Half** _[/li][/ol] The remainder are in a broad range from mediocre to terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/36 "2014-04-13T04:14:19Z")
I greatly enjoyed Tommyknockers. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/37 "2014-04-13T05:17:02Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > #5. > > The short story and novella collections are, in general, ranked too low, IMO - Different Seasons and Full Dark No Stars are the only ones I would have a problem moving upward significantly, and FDNS that’s mostly because I haven’t read it. Few of his [del]bloated[/del]full-length novels can match the quality of his short fiction. I would tend to agree. I love SK’s work, I really do, but he really shines when he does a short story ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/38 "2014-04-13T11:51:18Z")
I wish they would have ranked _The Stand_ and _The Stand: Uncut_ separately. Because the former should be #1, and the latter, at most, #4 or so. The stuff he put back in was cut for good reason. > [@drewtwo99](#): > > I loved it to death. Garrity, is that you?? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/39 "2014-04-14T01:09:55Z")
Not reading the rest of the thread right now, because: Lisey’s Story isn’t below Rose Madder, Dolores Claiborne, The Gunslinger, . . . _The Talisman?_ Someone has their priorities seriously out of whack here. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923/40 "2014-04-14T16:34:20Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. Insomnia: Unless you are familiar with King’s epic Dark Tower series, entire swaths of this gargantuan novel are unreadable. Though the sections dealing with the elderly protagonist and his lady love have a poignance to them, they are undercut by heavy-handed subplots about spousal abuse and the pro-choice/pro-life debate. OK, I have one question: Did the person read the same novel I did, or is there some other Stephen King who wrote some other _Insomnia_? I read this book in high school, so it’s far from fresh in my mind, but here’s what I do remember: It’s far from gargantuan. I read it over the course of a few weeks at most, and more probably a few days. _It_ is gargantuan, and this is no _It_. It isn’t that closely tied to the Dark Tower mythos. I enjoyed it and followed the plot and everything, and I’ve never read a single Dark Tower book. The abortion stuff isn’t that heavy-handed. OK, maybe my memory for this is fading a bit, but I was fairly political in high school and I went at one of the times when abortion issues were at a peak. I’m pretty sure I would have noticed it if it were laid on as thick as this review makes it seem. So, am I off the rails or is the reviewer? For reference: _Insomnia_ is about old people fighting little supernatural people with scissors who cut off a thread on your head to make you die, and of course on the special protagonists can see them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranking-all-64-of-stephen-kings-books/685923.md?page=3)