# What are Stephen King's five best books/stories? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286 "2010-09-10T13:52:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/41 "2010-09-11T03:50:50Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/42 "2010-09-11T03:55:50Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > Jerusalem’s Lot Is that one where a car gets stuck in a snowstorm? ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/43 "2010-09-11T04:06:41Z")
> [@smaje1](#): > > For real, if you haven’t read Bag of Bones, check it out! Absolutely agree with you! Along with **Cell** and **The Dome** , it’s proof that not all late period King output is of mediocre quality. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/44 "2010-09-11T04:22:31Z")
By the by - anyone besides me get choked up every time they read the baseball painting story-within-a-story in **The Library Policeman**? ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/45 "2010-09-11T11:45:12Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > [QUOTE=jordanr2] > People say a lot that the ending of _It_ is weak, but I don’t see how that is - I can’t think of any more impressive way he could have finished that story. Perhaps not requiring our young heroes to pull a sex train with an adolescent girl to save themselves; alternately, not requiring her to do that [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/46 "2010-09-11T12:43:33Z")
1. The Stand 2. Christine 3. Under the Dome 4. The Dead Zone 5. Needful Things Honorable mention: The Talisman ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/47 "2010-09-11T14:16:54Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > > [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > > > Jerusalem’s Lot > > Is that one where a car gets stuck in a snowstorm? 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. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/48 "2010-09-11T15:34:15Z")
1. Christine 2. From a Buick 8 3. The Stand 4. The Shining 5. The Tommyknockers. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/49 "2010-09-11T16:40:53Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > > [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > > > Jerusalem’s Lot > > Is that one where a car gets stuck in a snowstorm? **A Dodgy Dude** is correct. You’re thinking of this: [One for the Road (short story) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_for_the_Road_%28short_story%29) ---
**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:** [September 11, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/50 "2010-09-11T18:59:46Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/51 "2010-09-12T03:37:29Z")
> [@jordanr2](#): > > 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. [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] ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/52 "2010-09-12T22:25:50Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I also quite liked Salem’s Lot and The Stand - both do really neat jobs of showing the “in-between” time, when societies are _starting_ to fail but still just … barely … tottering along. There are plenty of “outbreak” novels in which disaster is averted in the nick of time, and plenty of post-apocalypse novels - but King does a better job of showing a _developing_ apocalypse than anyone. 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: 1. **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. 2. **It.** 3. **Firestarter** 4. **On Writing**. I have an autographed copy with a personal message to me! 🆒 But I like it regardless of that connection. 5. “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. ---
**Author:** ![judikium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@judikium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/judikium)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/53 "2010-09-13T02:18:57Z")
1. The Long Walk 2. Rage 3. The Shining 4. Misery 5. Pet Sematary I’m kind of surprised how much of his stuff I have read and how little I’ve loved… ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/54 "2010-09-13T05:56:53Z")
Even cheating, this is hard… 1. The Dark Tower series 2. Bachman books, particularly for Rage, but also Long Walk 3. Insomnia 4. It 5. Different Seasons, particularly for The Body and Shawshank Runners ups: Misery, Needful Things, Under the Dome, Tommyknockers ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/55 "2010-09-13T13:23:59Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/56 "2010-10-06T01:02:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/57 "2010-10-06T01:11:05Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > It is perhaps unfortunate that King became so popular so quickly that he could override the judgment of his editors. His early books, which were subject to editing, are better reads than his later, bloated ones. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/58 "2010-10-06T01:16:08Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > > [@smaje1](#): > > > > For real, if you haven’t read Bag of Bones, check it out! > > Absolutely agree with you! Along with **Cell** and **The Dome** , it’s proof that not all late period King output is of mediocre quality. 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. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/59 "2010-10-06T01:54:07Z")
Misery Bag of Bones The Stand It The Shining Honorable Mention to: The Wizard and the Glass On Writing Pet Semetery ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286/60 "2010-10-06T04:02:55Z")
**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**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-stephen-kings-five-best-books-stories/553286.md?page=2)