# What is Stephen King's best novel? \[POLL\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183 "2014-12-26T01:44:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/41 "2014-12-28T03:35:08Z")
A lot of great books, a lot of good books with terrible endings. There are some, like\*\* The Gunslinger\*\* and **The Shining** , that are well crafted, and others, like **The Stand** , that blow you away with the depth and breadth of his vision. But Whenever I am in the doldrums, looking for something to read, I always go back to **IT**. Something about it just grabs me from page one, and even though I tell myself I will just skim it, I end up reading every damn word, and it gets me like it did the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/42 "2014-12-28T03:57:06Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > I adore his epics like The Stand and his Dark Tower novels (especially The Drawing of the Three). But I’ve always had an inexplicable soft spot for The Long Walk. Masterful storytelling in a compact novella. You influenced my vote. I think _It_ was his scariest novel, but _The Long Walk_ is my favorite. One of the handful of times King nailed an ending. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/43 "2014-12-28T04:15:54Z")
Needful Things, followed very closely (almost a tie), by The Stand. And it seems to be vastly hated by many (especially on these boards), but I liked The Tommyknockers. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/44 "2014-12-28T04:26:09Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > You bought the book because the show sucked? > It’s not his worst (cough _Dreamcatcher_ cough), but I wouldn’t recommend it either. Disclaimer: I’ve read every SK book, most of them three and four times. I think most of them are good. A few are great, most are good, and only a few I found boring/dull/uninteresting/crappy/whathaveyou. _Dreamcatcher_ I liked a large amount. If you asked me what books I thought were crap, I’d have to say _Bag of Bones_ (just couldn’t get into it that much, although it wasn’t horrible) and _From a Buick 8_, which WAS horrible. Boring, listless, uninteresting story. Uninteresting characters. Uninteresting everything. Sorry, SK, but you already did this tale with _Christine_, and it was a hell of a lot better. _Under the Dome_, however, was one of the ones I really liked. I think it’s one of his greatest recent ones. Lately his recent ones (I’m defining “recent” here to be: Books that have come out in the last ten years or so) have been good, but much more bland than usual.\* Bag of Bones, From a Buick 8, Lisey’s Story\* (which wasn’t bad, but a bit more tame/bland than his usual), _Duma Key_ (again, not bad and I liked it overall, but…put me to sleep a few times). But _Under the Dome_? Rocked. I have not started the show yet, though, so they may have screwed it up and it may, indeed, suck. But meh, I’m just one opinion in many. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/45 "2014-12-28T06:30:47Z")
> [@Stonebow](#): > > A lot of great books, a lot of good books with terrible endings. There are some, like\*\* The Gunslinger\*\* and **The Shining** , that are well crafted, and others, like **The Stand** , that blow you away with the depth and breadth of his vision. But Whenever I am in the doldrums, looking for something to read, I always go back to **IT**. Something about it just grabs me from page one, and even though I tell myself I will just skim it, I end up reading every damn word, and it gets me like it did the first time. _It_-related spoilers below. _It_ is the most recent Stephen King book I read, and it scared the pants off of me. I’m used to King creeping me out a bit, but there were some scenes in that novel straight out of nightmares, like when the clown is talking to the Ben in the library? Although, the bit at the end, with the pre-teen gang bang solidifying the magic of friendship, is the single biggest WTF moment I have ever had while reading a book. I have _no_ idea what King was thinking there. Of course, it’s the banality of human evil that King always kills with. Some bullies throwing a gay kid off a bridge in the middle of Maine. A woman with an abusive father growing up to marry an abusive man. _It_ is horror in every dimension. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2014, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/46 "2014-12-28T08:13:19Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > \ > As a whole novel, I think _The Shining_ is probably his most consistently strong work. I recently re-read “The Shining,” and it is a very, very good book. I can see Stephen King being upset at Kubrick taking most of the alcoholism out of it; it is a crucial plot point in the book (and a personal issue with Stephen). > [@chiroptera](#): > > \ > I went with _The Stand_ but there were several close contenders. I’m not seeing any love for _Duma Key_ so far, but I enjoyed that book a lot. I really like “Duma Key” - I considered voting for it as my favourite. His newer stuff is so different from his earlier stuff that it almost seems like a different writer, and I am a big fan of his newer stuff. That said, I just finished “Mr. Mercedes,” and I found it somewhat lacking, like he was trying something that didn’t quite gel. I think he was trying to write a hardboiled detective novel, and it didn’t quite feel authentic. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/47 "2014-12-28T17:31:33Z")
I am the only vote for The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I absolutely love that book. A quick, tight read, horrifying in that it is so possible, with the ‘what-if’ supernatural factor tossed in. It let my mind wander to all sorts of dark places. My second choice is Gerald’s Game. Totally creeped me the hell out. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/48 "2014-12-28T18:58:21Z")
Apparently, I am one of two votes for The Talisman. I really liked it, once you get past the first twenty pages. If you have never tried it, give it a go, but you gotta get through the first twenty or so. They are important but sloooooow moving. Under the Dome was great, until the end. I did not enjoy the end of that one at all. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/49 "2014-12-28T18:58:44Z")
I think King is best when he was good at writing characters. The plot could take wrong turns and the end could suck but I would still love the books because of his character development. That has been lacking in the more recent books I’ve read. Which is why I have missed quite a few of them. I never missed any earlier books. That is why I voted for The Stand. In less than a page I knew I would follow Stu anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/50 "2014-12-28T19:32:57Z")
I voted for _It_. I don’t understand why everyone is all “Oh, the ending is all WTF” - it worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/51 "2014-12-28T21:11:01Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I voted for _It_. I don’t understand why everyone is all “Oh, the ending is all WTF” - it worked for me. **It** spoilers… I should clarify my beef isn’t with the ending, but with a bunch of ten year old boys running a train on a ten year old girl, which is not exactly the end but shortly before it. I don’t even object to it from a decency standpoint, it’s not really obscene or offensive as written. It has a Friendship is Magic vibe, but instead of exchanging secret decoder rings they all exchange bodily fluids. I object to it because it makes no sense whatsoever for any of the characters. I’m used to King pulling weird things out of his ass for the sake of plot resolution but that one took the cake. The actual ending of the novel I had no problem with, and I still think it’s one of his best books. PapSett, **Gerald’s Game** is a personal favorite of mine. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/52 "2014-12-28T21:17:07Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > I am the only vote for The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I absolutely love that book. A quick, tight read, horrifying in that it is so possible, with the ‘what-if’ supernatural factor tossed in. It let my mind wander to all sorts of dark places.\ That was an okay read, I agree. I loved the way there were so many cases where she just missed being found/finding her way/getting out of the woods, whatever, then she just took the wrong turn, and that was it. It is a scary thing, how easily you go from having a nice walk in the woods to “Oh my God, I could seriously die out here!” > [@Poysyn](#): > > Apparently, I am one of two votes for The Talisman. I really liked it, once you get past the first twenty pages. If you have never tried it, give it a go, but you gotta get through the first twenty or so. They are important but sloooooow moving. \ I could only vote for one. I loved “The Talisman,” too - now, _that_ book would make a seriously good movie series! > [@Loach](#): > > I think King is best when he was good at writing characters. The plot could take wrong turns and the end could suck but I would still love the books because of his character development. That has been lacking in the more recent books I’ve read. Which is why I have missed quite a few of them. I never missed any earlier books. That is why I voted for The Stand. In less than a page I knew I would follow Stu anywhere. Very well put. He draws you into his world and makes you want to hang out with the people he puts in it. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/53 "2014-12-28T22:37:03Z")
I was torn between _The Shining_ and _The Dead Zone_, and finally plumped for TDZ. I haven’t read much of his later stuff, finding The Dark Tower series unreadable and _It_ and some others just too preposterous. He can’t decide if he is a good bad writer or a bad good one, if that makes any sense. Lately, meaning since his accident, he is mostly the latter. Too bad. Maybe, someday, I will try something else and see if it has recovered. Or not. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/54 "2014-12-29T08:10:43Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I should clarify my beef isn’t with the ending, but with a bunch of ten year old boys running a train on a ten year old girl, which is not exactly the end but shortly before it. That is the bit I don’t have any problem with, in context. There’s nothing remotely salacious or sexual about the way it’s written (hell, the first time I read it, I didn’t even notice that that was what happened), it is a case of the FiM trope to me. ---
**Author:** ![QuarkChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c5a1d2/32.png) [@QuarkChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuarkChild)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/55 "2014-12-31T04:38:10Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Needful Things, followed very closely (almost a tie), by The Stand. > > And it seems to be vastly hated by many (especially on these boards), but I liked The Tommyknockers. I’m the only person who’s voted for the Tommyknockers so far as my favorite. That book never fails to scare the crap out of me. I have the French translation as well as the original (to help me practice my French). The best part is where they enter the vessel and find the remains of the aliens–and realization dawns that the aliens crashed the vessel because they were fighting each other. cmyk, what do you like about the ending to the Long Walk? I thought the ending was predictable… The protagonist won the walking contest…well duh, how else could it possibly have been written? I just googled the ending to see if I was forgetting anything important, and according to a previous SDMB thread on the subject, he either went insane at the end or was running towards Death. OK, I guess that’s more nuanced than what I remembered. ---
**Author:** ![montag01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@montag01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/montag01)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/56 "2014-12-31T04:48:05Z")
_'salem’s Lot_ is my vote. His most literary novel in a lot of ways, fairly tight with its plot, and good development with both major and minor characters. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/57 "2014-12-31T11:02:03Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That is the bit I don’t have any problem with, in context. There’s nothing remotely salacious or sexual about the way it’s written (hell, the first time I read it, I didn’t even notice that that was what happened), it is a case of the FiM trope to me. It certainly didn’t bug me as being obscene, but as said because it made no damn sense from a character standpoint. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/58 "2014-12-31T14:27:35Z")
Gard from the _Tommyknockers_ is one of my favorite King characters. “Caramba, you asshole!” The book took awhile to grow on me but it eventually did. One reason I don’t re-read it too often is because certain scenes always make me cry. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/59 "2014-12-31T15:10:01Z")
I haven’t read much of King, but what I have read I have enjoyed (I should try more honestly). My vote was for **Dreamcatcher** only because I thought it was a good story with good characters (even if the movie was butchered). It made me sad to think someone hated it, but it made me happy to hear the someone else hated **From a Buick 8** because God help me I tried to get into that book and just couldn’t I have yet to read **The Stand** , and I’ve always had and inkling to read **Dark Tower**. Maybe I will now… ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183/60 "2014-12-31T15:15:23Z")
> [@QuarkChild](#): > > cmyk, what do you like about the ending to the Long Walk? I thought the ending was predictable… He won, but his victory was meaningless. Perfect horror. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-stephen-kings-best-novel-poll/708183.md?page=4)