Stephen King
 

Seems there's alot of varied opinions about Mr King's work. I for one am a very big fan. Havent read all of his work, but here are my favorites:

1. No contest- The Stand
2. The Shining
3. Cujo
4. It

Chime in with your own or if you dont like reading his stuff, share that also.:)

Never got into his stuff really, due to the fact that I'm a massice pussy and his books wouold probably leave me sleepless for weeks, but I do enjoy his column at the back of Entertainment Weekly. He's surprisingly funny.

The Stand is really something. Over 1000 pages and in my opinion his greatest work! I think it came out in 1978.

I'm not a fan. It seems like he starts off with a good idea and plot but it ends up being dissappointing. For example, I thought the ending to It was cheesy and a big letdown. I do like a couple of his books like Salem's Lot and Carrie.

I know alot of "Serious" literary people think he's a joke from what I understand. Which is fine because it's just an opinion, no big deal.

I don't care what anyone else thinks of his work- I've read everything the man has ever written. I do have other literary interests, but for his genre I think he's tops.

I was a huge fan till about the early 90's. The last one I read that I thought was passable was Hearts In Atlantis. I think at this point I would rather read his stuff that is less horror. After Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight I felt his strength was really in suspense and not the monster and paranormal stuff. The last few I tried to read were pretty painful. So I dropped them and went back and read The Shining, Salem's Lot, Carrie, and even Night Shift. Still riveting work. Kind of like listening to Tusk Stevie after trying to listen to SA. :laugh:

Like golden braid said, he starts off really well - but by the end it has veered off into some really bizarre area that is so far fetched and beyond believable that it just kills it for me - not that his stories are believable to begin with, but they just go over the top I think. But I do like him and for the majority of the books I've read, they are good, but the end always kind of sucks.

Uh, wait a minute, I think I saw one of his books in Target the other day that had something to do with a cell phone. There was a cell phone on the cover and blood all around it and it had "cell phone" in the title. Is this right or did I hallucinate it?! If it is true that he wrote a book about a murderous cell phone :laugh: then I do believe he's tapped of ideas.

That said, I will defend the Dark Tower trilogy until the day I die. Those are some great books.

I like the ones you listed, especially The Shining. I'd probably put that at the top of my list. Have you read The Tommyknockers? WTF. I don't think I even finished reading it. He was just way off on that one. I like Pet Sematary, although the movies weren't that good, from what I remember.

It's actually just called "Cell"...I read it a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. It's not really about a "murderous cell phone," but some weird "pulse" that turns all cell phone users into weird zombies.

Also, I think his "Dark Tower" series (seven books...definitely not just a trilogy!) is PHENOMENAL. Nothing in my mind will ever top that story.

I'm a big King fan even though I haven't read everything of his. I've tried 3 or 4 times to get into the Dark Tower series but it bores me. My favourites are -

1. Carrie. The first book of his I read. Still my favourite. I try to read it once a year, and every time I do I'm so glad when she goes crazy on all those jerks (I guess I'm a little twisted :laugh: ) I loved the movie too...the remake was a bit blah though.

2. Misery. Annie Wilkes is one of my favourite characters from any book. I loved the movie of this too. What Annie does to Paul's feet in the movie and book make me cringe every time I see/read it.

3. Cujo. Again I love the movie too. I think I saw the movie first though and when I read the ending of the book I was totally shocked because of the difference.

4. Dolores Claiborne. Not so much horror but once you get past how Dolores speaks I found it to be highly enjoyable.

5. The Stand. Virtually has to be on any list of his best books. I read it as a teen and always imagined what I'd do in the survivors' situations. Of course I probably would have succumbed to Captain Trips :laugh:

As much as I love these books, I don't think any of them contains the most frightening passages.

'1408' from Everything's Eventual f__ked me up badly! I only barely finished reading that before banishing it from ever being read again. It was the most scary short story of his imo. 'The Man In The Black Suit' from EE (I think that's what it was called) was pretty creepy too. Actually I think I may have to read that book again...then slap myself for being an idiot!

Towards the end of Gerald's Game when the wife sees (or thinks she sees) a man in the room while she's still handcuffed to the bed absolutely frightened the hell out of me too.

As for his movies, I like most of them. I can't think of any I really dislike. I even thought Maximum Overdrive was a bit of fun (albeit extremely mindless).

i am reading "everything's eventual" 14 short stories by him right now~ iit is very good!!!~

Warning- Stephen King Geekness Ahead
 

The thing that always gets me about SK is that some of his work is so great and some of it is, well - not so great.

Great:
It
The Stand
The Talisman (with Peter Straub)
All of his short stories, but Skeleton Crew is probably the best
Hearts in Atlantis
The Shining
Carrie
'salem's Lot
I'm sure I'm forgetting some

Not so Great:
Tommyknockers
Dream Catcher
The Langoliers

I was never a big fan of The Dark Tower series. I have them and have read them, but just never got into it much. For the most part, I think his movies are awful, with the exception of The Green Mile, Carrie, and The Shining. I've never thought his books were represented well on the big screen. I've not read Cell yet, but I hope to before grad school starts.

Oh god, no kidding! So creepy!

Signed,
Constant Reader (only SK geeks will get that)
:o :lol:

holy **** you guys are talking about the book i am readig right now, tho i haven't got to that story yet, shall go on... now i am scared~

I've actually never read a word the man's written, but my mom almost didn't name me Carrie because of the book and movie!

I think he should've just titled this one, "Lame" :laugh: :p


Oh yeah, I forgot he wrote more to follow the original trilogy. The first three books were phenomenal, I haven't read the others.

Did you know that a mojor part of the Stand took place in Nebraska. Thats where the old black lade lived. I believe the name of the town was Hemingford.

Misery is one of his creepiest books, only because I could actually imagine that happening. Clowns in a sewer? Not so much...

Kathy Bates won best actress for her role in the movie I believe.

I'm hit & miss with trying to read his books. If it's really long, I usually don't bother. :laugh: And I stick with older stuff:

Carrie
Christine
Misery
Cujo

Those are the few that stand out in my mind right now.
My sister in law & mother in law read the Dark Tower series.

Kathy Bates really made that come alive on the big screen. Speaking of Kathy Bates, I also remember really liking Deloris Claiborne--the movie not the book (never read the book).


Stephen King's creepiest book imo is Gerald's Game. I just about had a heart attack while reading that book! That's another plot that could happen in real life :shuddders:.

In case anyone's interested:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/0....ap/index.html

I haven't read very many of King's books, but "The Shining" is my favorite.

no i didn't, i know 1 of the stories from "everything's eventual" takes place like 50 miles from me~

Okay, I'm bumping this back up for... no reason at all. :laugh: Anyone read Needful Things or Gerald's Game? I read them both about a month ago. Both were pretty unfulfilling. I finished them just for the sake of getting them finished... I think I kept hoping some astounding plot turn would take place and make the story great.

Needful Things had an interesting premise, but I noticed at the end that it was written between 1988 and 1991, which meant he was still on drugs for most of the book. That explains a lot. It had its moments, but mostly, I was skimming and only half reading certain pages. Overall = pretty ****ty.

Gerald's Game was a little bit better. It only took me about a day or two to get through. Slightly more riveting... but damn, what happened to his penchant for developing strong characters? That's what bugged me about NT and this one. The characters were so one dimensional. Boring.

I've only read Pet Cemetary and some of the stories in Nightmares and Dreamscapes. I liked what I read but generally I don't do the horror genre.

I do read his column in Entertainment Weekly -and I usually enjoy that! :p

Pet Sematary was good! I found myself re-reading it while my bird was sick... which was not good, because I ended up freaking myself and worrying unnecessarily. :p
You should watch the movie; it's bloody hilarious. Almost none of his books transfer well to screen, except for The Shining and Misery. Oh, and The Green Mile. I need to see that again.

I did see the movie - right after I read the book :laugh: I did not like it.

Speaking of Steven King books made into movies - I remember watching Sleepwalkers when I was young...and even then thought it was the dumbest movie ever.

I think he's hit or miss. I enjoyed The Shining and the Bachman Books collection, but he's a little long-winded for my tastes. I abandoned The Stand after about 200 pages because I just could NOT get into it.

But I also wanted to mention his non-fiction book On Writing, which I thought was very good. He is very funny and there are lots of funny little anecdotes throughout the book, but it also has some of the most concise advice on writing I've come across.

Yes lately some of his work has been unreadable in my opinion.

Ok you all. I haven't read any of King's work, but I want to try one of his books. I want one that isn't freakishly long and yet would probably scare the crap out of me...... Anyone got a title that would fit that description??? IT would be greatly appreciated...:nod:

Much Love,
Ethan

If you want a book that will scare the crap out of you, you should read Ghost house by Clare McNally

I have read everything he's written (except for Cell and the new one Lisey's something-or-other) and some of them are so much better than others. I really enjoyed The Talisman (which he co-wrote with Peter Straub). Some of them are just awful (Dreamscapes) but I'm a loyal fan, what can I say? :shrug:

Ethan, if you don't want to read a long one- get one of his short story collections. Night Shift is a good one. Those stories are pretty creepy and short.
(And whoever mentioned his non fiction work- Danse Macabre is correct- it's a great read)

Well, I could be interested in reading that. Horror books/films with plots that could happen in real life appeal more to me. Just a question: is it too long? Do you think it could be easily read in english by a non-native-speaker?:o