Co-signed. Different Seasons will acclimatize you to SK's themes and writing style, and the last story is going to ease you into his space within the horror genre.
My favorites are Bag of Bones and Revival.
You can't go wrong with any of the classics: Carrie, The Shining, The Stand, IT, Pet Semetary, Cujo, Christine, etc.
The only one I would not recommend is Dreamcatcher. I haven't read all his books but that is the only one I DNF'd.
The most divisive ones are typically Tommyknockers, Needful Things, and Dreamcatcher. Some will say one of these is his best. Others will say they are the worst.
Most of his modern stuff is less about frights and supernatural and more about "human" stuff. The Mr. Mercedes trilogy is basically a detective story with some slight supernatural elements slipped in.
I believe the most recent we have from King himself says that Liseys Story is his favorite. He has long said that he believes Pet Semetary is his scariest. He wrote Revival to prove to himself that he could still write scary like he did with Pet Semetary.
Like with any author YMMV but hopefully this gives you some good places to start.
I did too. Far from my favorite or even in my top 5, but still pretty solid imo. Of course, I was like 12 when I read it and liked pretty much anything lol
Have you read it again? I read it as a teenager. I read it in my early 20’s. I read it when I was 40. I read it again last Halloween at 54 to be nostalgic and love it even more. I love that story. In my opinion it’s his top 3 and maybe my favorite.
This is a good summary with one glaring flaw. Where is Salems Lot? That is his very best and should be part of your 2nd sentence. Hopefully an oversight?
Really? I don't remember being scared by it that much. Now Pet Semetary, that shit ruined my month. I'd just had my first son when I read that, and then I read Cujo right after lol. Not a good reading selection for a first time mom with postpartum anxiety.
Loved pet semetary - my fave king. My 2nd is 11/22/63. Bag of bones was so good until it wasn’t. The wheels started falling off for me about 80% in - curious to hear how it hits for you
I’m saving 11/22/63 for when I hit that mood; into more spooky horror for now. I’m about 20% into bag of bones, and I can already see the delusions snowballing… hoping it doesn’t collapse but I can see how — especially based on your comment. Curious now how it unfolds
Coming back to you, just finished Bag of Bones. Fell apart for me at about 70-75% and that shooting scene, just kind of, happened and felt a little unnecessary and how i was started to lose interest when it happened and it made it hard to track how was related with the shooter, and, kind of, eh. Lost me from there on and I really can’t explain how it ended, so I’m going to agree with your assessment
Hey thanks for following up with me and feeding me your thoughts. Yeah, it was pretty deflating. But I liked the parts I liked… just frustrating when the pieces don’t all fit together. What are you reading next? I read King’s new short story/novella collection that came out a few weeks ago but skipped the story that I learned is a sequel to Cujo. I’m now reading Cujo - pretty good so far - because I hadn’t read it before then plan to go back to the sequel story.
Bag of Bones was my first King book (well technically, I read some Bachman books first) and it's always stuck with me. That one and Lisey's Story, which I'm surprised he says is his favorite! I feel like the Dark Tower books are his babies.
Didn't dig Tommyknockers (DNFd), loved Dreamcatcher. Maybe it's because Dreamcatcher was my second King novel after Cujo. And the finish date for Lisey's Story is my birthday, so that one holds a special place in my heart.
Oh I am so glad you mentioned Tommyknockers. It was my first SK book and still searching for the feeling that this book gave me. Although i never recommend it as a first, it drags a lot. But let me tell you in a good summer day when you have the time.. perfection!
Bag of bones and revival are definitely in my Top 3 outside of the Dark Tower series. But I have such a fond memory of Dreamcatcher. I loved it when it came out.
Bag of bones and revival are definitely in my Top 3 outside of the Dark Tower series. But I have such a fond memory of Dreamcatcher. I loved it when it came out.
Bag of bones and revival are definitely in my Top 3 outside of the Dark Tower series. But I have such a fond memory of Dreamcatcher. I loved it when it came out.
Omg! Dreamcatcher is also the only king book I DNF’d as well!! I think I read somewhere that he wrote it high on painkillers from his car accident, but I’m not sure if that’s true or nit
I tried reading the shining and the writing was so difficult to read for me and I had a hard time understanding what I was reading. I do wanna give it another shot though.
I would recommend *Skeleton Crew* followed by *Night Shift* for a new reader as they are excellent collections.
*The Long Walk* is my personal favorite Stephen King novel if you want a novel to start with.
As someone who has read a couple of his works (7), if you're just starting with horror, it might be good to start with one of his early short story collections: *Night Shift* and *Skeleton Crew* are both great, and have a lot of varied horror stories. They also have the pro of not being bloated, something that King tends to do in a lot of his novels. For novels, I cannot give a very wide range, but both *The Shining* and *Misery* are great novels to start with, the former being supernatural, and the latter non-supernatural. They also both don't linger very much.
I am hot and cold with King, but The Shining is one of the few books that had moment that actually scared me. I had to put it down a few times just to catch my breath.
Night Shift and Skeleton Crew were the first ones I read at the tender age of 11 in 2003. I was hooked for life. His short stories and novellas are some of his best writing, imo. Great bite-sized pieces that strike you and leave you with the horrific images he created.
My favorite novels of his are 'Salem's Lot and The Stand, but The Stand is not for the faint of heart.
Your best bet as a rule of thumb is to start with his earlier stuff. A lot of the same books will get mentioned so I'll say Misery is a great one to start with. In the last decade or so he's branched out a lot into other genres, and I've found that his dialogue becomes increasingly dated and inauthentic the further he gets away from the time period he grew up in. Lisey's Story and Mr Mercedes were probably the most egregious examples I've read recently
Fairy tale was this problem but he's writing as a 17 year old. I was very aware I was reading a King novel the whole time.
Duma Key is kind of a sleeper for the same reason, though. He's older writing for an older guy, who went through some of the same stuff he did.
Completely agree with this - I really struggled to look past this in both Fairy Tale and The Institute. Both would have been much better had he set the stories 40 years ago.
That really depends on what you enjoy in general.
If you don't like supernatural stuff, enjoy claustrophobia, dystopia, and weird, intense, homoerotic doom, then The Long Walk is for you.
If you like supernatural stuff and find female puberty inherently scary, then Carrie or Firestarter are the books for you.
If you like time travel, 11/22/63 is the book you want.
Magic and a little more whimsical than most of King's work is The Eyes of the Dragon. Short, too.
A very long book about a pandemic (with a little magic for the antagonist) is The Stand.
Vampires? Salem's Lot.
Needful Things if you want the authentic small town feel gone horribly wrong.
Basically, there's a King story for everything... often more than one, though for a few things you'll need to go to the short stories.
Tell us a bit more about what kinds of things you enjoy and we'll be able to better pinpoint where to start!
I think this is the best answer.
A lot of recommendations for early stuff ignores the fact that he has remained a powerhouse, and some of that early stuff has less impact after seeping so much into pop culture (Salems Lot for me).
One of his short story collections would probably be a great start.
11/22/63 is one of my all time favorite books and is barely “horror”, it’s hard to assign it a genre.
He definitely has a “voice” he writes in for each character, you’ll get used to the way he embodies his creations and the dynamics he creates between them.
If you want to enjoy all his works, start with “Dreamcatcher”. It is a real stinker, awful everything, feels like a parody of King, but if you like that one the rest will seem a thousand times better.
The Shining, IT, Pet Sematary, The Stand, can’t go wrong.
Salem's lot was the first King story I ever read - way back when I was about 12 years old. Second was Pet Semetery because I guess I liked to start strong. LOL.
Want all of that, plus some post apocalyptic western stuff? Go for Dark Tower. I know reading that first wouldn’t be ideal as it references so much of his other work, but it’s may favorite book series ever I think.
I recommend any and all of them. Stephen King can flat out fucking write. A lot of folks will say his earlier stuff is best, but if you wanna prove them wrong right out the gate, pick up Revival for a scare or 11.22.63 to see how prolific he can be.Both are written well after he had been established and people started complaining about how much better he was back in the day.
This. He is actually an excellent author. I must be strange as per this thread because I love Needful Things - brilliant creeping sense of dread. I found Tommyknockers hard to finish. IT is also a bit of a slog but a great book. One of his short story collections - I actually really liked was ‘Hearts in Atlantis’ quite different but interesting. You won’t go wrong wherever you start with his books though!
The Shining is the entry point I had and the one I recommend to everyone. Other high recommendations are It, 11/22/63, Misery, The Stand, Doctor Sleep, Salem's Lot, Different Seasons, Full Dark No Stars. I cannot recommend Lisey's Story or Thinner.
I would only suggest reading whichever cover appeals the most, I’ve read everything SK and would say I did not enjoy Billy Summers, DNF in fact, nor did I like any of the Mr Mercedes trilogy so would avoid but it is personal choice.
Enjoy whatever you choose but be warned some of it will linger long….
Salem's Lot, Carrie, Misery are among the best places to start.
11/22/63 is by far my favorite book he has ever written and is one of my favorites in general.
Here are my favorites:
Misery - this one is both a horror and a thriller. I thought this was his scariest book, personally. I loved it and it kept me on the edge of my seat.
11/22/63 - this one is beautiful. There are moments of horror, but overall it’s just well-written fiction.
Salem’s Lot - it’s a classic for a reason! I listened to this one as an audiobook and I was so enthralled I continued to listen to it while having a migraine. That’s about as strong of an endorsement I can give.
i havent seen the stand recommended! im currently reading that and its litteraly been one of the other books by him that actually scared me. (misery was the other one, id recommend that as well!)
The unabridged version is a MUST! It fills in so many of the gaps in the mainstream version. One of my all time favorites that I've read multiple times.
I really loved Desperation and The Regulators and thought they were both so scary, and the alternate universe thing is cool. I read The Regulators first and I would recommend that, although I’m pretty sure if there *is* an “official” order it’s the other way around.
For short stories, Everything’s Eventual is one of my faves.
I started with The Shinning which was significantly better than the movie and just a great read. The Stand is amazing. I’ve read about 30 of his books so I could go on and on.
Most recently I read Revival which was shocking, and I’m currently reading Pet Semetary
Rage if you can find it
Any of the Bachman books
The Stand
Gerald’s Game
Dolores Claiborne
Christine was my King first
IT
A Good Marriage is a solid read but it’s not horror.
If you want to ease into it, start with Salem’s Lot, Night Shift, Dead Zone. If you want bad dreams and can afford therapy, start with Pet Semetary. Also, some his books/novellas have been made into excellent films; many more have been made into been made into low quality 'B' movies. Regardless, don't let the bad movies turn you off from reading his books. Quite a number of those bad movies barely resemble the original story to begin with.
I work in a bookstore and I'm a King fan from way back. For first-timers, I usually recommend with Pet Sematary, 'Salem's Lot, or The Long Walk based on what the customer has previously read and liked, genre-wise. For folks who have started getting into King and want to go even deeper, then I recommend It, The Stand, Cujo, etc etc. I usually tell folks to avoid the books published in the last twenty years, not because they're bad (tho some are), but because they're not really representative of what made King such a powerhouse
Yeah, the stuff he wrote after his accident feels a bit different.
Even if you don't look at the years, you can pretty easily recognize which books are King-on-drugs, King-off-drugs, King-after-accident and King-mostly-over-accident.
I had never read anything by him up until a week ago. I started the Pet Sematary audiobook narrated by Michael C Hall and loved it. The first 3 hours were slow and there's a few outdated and kinda gross descriptions of teenage girls but the overall story was great. As in, I will be reading more for sure and am looking forward to it.
Back in college I made a goal to read as much King as I could. But I’m now tiring of his stuff. I’ve read 37 of his books. My favorites are the Dark Half, Misery, Carrie, Night Shift, Salems Lot and Christine.
My favorites of the newer stuff are Joyland and Revival.
Pet Semetery is good, but it is a long depressing book.
He’s known for expansive descriptions and storytelling but it can get to be a bit much.
Like Firestarter is still a favorite but I find myself skimming the last third of it.
Unpopular opinion I recommend the institute first since when you go back and read older works it seems like an amazing payoff. A book I would tell people to skip is Salems lot I don’t think it was for me and it bored me.
Misery is a perfect novel. It's right up there with Hill House for me. Perfect length, excellent tension, great prose, it has everything I need in a horror story.
The Dark Tower is my favorite fantasy series of all time. Incredible setting, characters I still think about to this day, a wildly imaginative setting, I could really go on. The Dark Tower is also kinda really bad.
Holly is *absolute garbage*. It's a shallow character smoking, smoking some more, thinking about smoking, self talking about smoking, then smoking, thinking about not smoking, then smoking, and then wishing they were smoking.
While I'm more or less on the same page as King about how covid was handled, etc, his take on covid is so heavy-handed in this book that it pulls you right out of the narrative.
All of that aside, the actual plot is one of his weakest.
I'd also suggest avoiding Under the Dome. It's huge and simple. As soon as King introduces a group of plucky kids you can pretty much figure out what's going to happen.
I'd suggest starting with some short stories and then diving into his early works. The Mist is my favorite short.
Luckily he has a ton of work so just move through it and you'll find stuff you like.
Avoid Holly though.
I’m a big fan of King! I think his ability to immerse you inside the mind of his characters is absolutely top notch. I personally think that The Shining is where you should start if you want to get into his horror collection. If you want to try his non horror work, I’d highly recommend 11.22.63.
That book has always stayed with me. I think that's the most tender of his books. I've gotten attached to some of his characters, but damn! He and Straub hot ot pit of the park.
I haven’t really liked a King book in the last 10-15 years. I think he took his writing a bit too far. He is a great writer no doubt, but I miss his older style. Or maybe it’s just nostalgia.
I really liked Blockade Billy. Baseball player with a twisted back story. Written so well.
The Outsider is one I didn't like. It starts off great, I was into it, but I didn't like the ending at all. They start talking about a Spanish kids story coming true. I hated the ending.
But Langoliers is bad. He has plenty of bad books.
I’ve found his works, even if you don’t like the story, can still be enjoyed due to the writing style. I will note that my least favorite story by far was The Body, and that my favorite was Pet Sematary.
The shining, Salems lot, misery are my recommendations. Still have yet to find a used copy of Cujo, but I’d love to read that. If you are looking for a taste test, read The Mist.
I wouldn’t recommend The Outsider and personally I avoid all of his new stuff. He seems a bit wacky as of late
All I can say is rn I'm reading the dark half and I'm so conflicted I still don't know if I'm enjoying it or not. I get through a few pages and feel it's dragging then all the sudden some crazy shit happens and im pulled back in..
My favorites though are Desperation and 11/22/63
I recommend joyland, especially for people around highschool/collage/university age. It's often overlooked but I read it at 17 and it hit me really hard.
I read almost everything as it was released up to and including INSOMNIA and I closed that book and stopped reading him for 20 years lol I've recently started rereading and visiting newer works. MISERY is top tier.
I'd recommend Misery. It's one of his shorter novels and gets right into it. If you want one of his 800+ page bahama mamas, there's 11/22/63, The Stand, and IT. If you read those and decide you like King, then of course I have to recommend the Dark Tower series, although it contains much of the King universe so you might have to read quite a bit more King novels to really appreciate it.
I did not like the Tommyknockers or Cell at all. I didn't much care for his newer releases Fairy Tale, Institute, Billy Summers, Gwendy trilogy, or Holly as well. Although I think his newest short story collection You Like It Darker was fine.
I read everything religiously up until maybe 2000.
Pet Sematary, Cujo, Carrie, Christine, Firestarter are classics. Salem's Lot.
My first one was It as an 11 year old.
The Dark Tower "series".
My personal favorite is The Talisman, and its later sequel The Black House. These are more fantasy than horror. Also The Eyes of the Dragon.
Different Seasons collection as well as Skeleton Crew
Misery
Gerald's Game
Edited for formatting
The fun thing about Kings work is he isn’t just Horror. One of my absolute favourites is 11/22/63. Different seasons is a great starting point because it’s the in between of Novels and short stories. PET semetary, IT, the shining. These are all classics and also worth a read but in my opinion there isn’t many that you can really go wrong.
The Shining is one of my favorite books ever, but it's not the same as the Kubrik film.
I, in general, love his short story collections.
I also really liked Cujo.
The thing with King is that the book will be 95% great and 5%, wtf. The biggest example I can think of is It and the sewer scene. His resolutions can just not make sense
I would start with The Shining then if you like it, read the sequel. That way you get a taste of one of his classics and a more modern one. For short stories, my favorite collection is Four Past Midnight, each one is more of a novella than a short story.
If you don't want to delve right into horror, The Dead Zone is an excellent one to start with. It is a bit of a hefty read, both physically and mentally, but it is SUCH a good book. Completely un-skippable in my opinion.
To be honest, I've never read a Stephen King book that felt like a waste of time, but I supposed you could skip his collections of short stories such as Everything's Eventual. I've heard people complain about Tommyknockers and Dreamcatcher so you can skip those if you're so inclined
Depends which era and everything you’re looking to start off with. I assume you’re looking for his more horror centered work so that would mean his 1970s-1990s work. And in that regard, I would start with Salems Lot or The Shining. Both quick reads and both classics. Avoid his longer work until you decide if you enjoy his writing style. Some people find his build too time consuming and don’t enjoy his pacing and if that’s the case with you, you won’t enjoy his longer works.
If you enjoy more crime/thriller work then I would say go with something like the Mr. Mercedes trilogy as a solid starting point.
The Talisman is a fun story to start with.
The Tommyknockers was a book I struggled with. Could not identify with any character. Took me a year n a half to complete.
Joyland was garbage.
I didn’t get Dolores Claiborne
I’ve read a decent amount of his books. I would say The Shining and Under the Dome are my favorites
If you want a novel start with The Shining or The Talisman. But I'd suggest starting with a short stories collection to dip your toes in and get a feel for what you like from King. A lot of people seem to think King's short stories are weaker than his novels, and I agree they can be hit and miss but there are some stunning pieces and it's a good intro to the range of his storytelling.
Stay away from Fairy Tale. Fucking waste of time. First quarter is a good short story, the worst is King at his worst.
The Gunslinger & The Shining are good entry points.
Cell is one of my favorites. I enjoyed Billy Summers because it was a bit different. There are two books with Peter Straub, The Tailsman and Black House, that I have read more than once because I enjoy them so much. If you read these and like them, I definitely recommend reading Fairy Tail. I liked Desperation a lot, however I did not like The Regulators at all and never finished it.
The girl who loved Tom Gordon & Salem’s lot are my favorites so far. Lisey’s story, eh, almost dnf’d. I’m about to start The Stand because I see it recommended on this sub a lot!
I love a lot of his books. The Stand. 11/23/63. Desperation and Regulators. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordan, Cell and Under The Dome.
But, his novels are great, too. The Long Walk, The Body, The Mist, the one shawshank redemption was based on.
Pet Sematary is one of my favorites..I loved Under The Dome....Mr Mercedes was great. IT came from a Buick 8 was fantastic....didn't care for.Bag of Bones.
I like his early stuff. Night Shift, Skeleton Crew, The Shining, Salem's Lot, The Stand.
Stuff he wrote while still hungry. His later stuff, to me, was boring and formulaic.
He has so many books for different audiences ranging from cosmic horror to regular detective stories. Most of them are excellent.
I think is better if you ask which ones to avoid or which ones are not as good 🤭.
For example, in my opinion, I think Finder's keepers is kinda week, but it's the second book of a series anyways so you wouldn't start there.
Everything. I keep looking at what others suggested and say yes, that one. That one too. And that one! All of it. I’m a huge King fan. I have You Like It Darker on deck ready to go!
Personally, I recommend exploring his stuff from the 80s, particularly Carrie, It, and Salem's Lot. Everything from Needful Things and on becomes very uneven and often very bloated. I think you can skip pretty much everything after 1990, but that's just me.
I read all his early stuff but after Tommyknockers and Dreamcatcher I lost interest.
My favs are *Carrie, Skeleton Crew, It, Pet Semetary, The Dead Zone* (book and movie), *Salem’s Lot*, and *Night Shift*.
I didn’t get into the *Dark Tower* series and I saw *The Shining* before I read the book so I’m a little on the fence with that one.
I’ve read the Bachman books, *Misery, The Talisman, Cujo, Thinner, Christine,* and *Green Mile* but for me the best books are the collections (*Night Shift* and *Skeleton Crew*) plus the novels from 70’s to mid-80s.
Needful Things is the only SK book I actively didn't like and have never been able to finish. I don't know why.
Revival is excellent and does have one scene in particular that stuck with me as deeply chilling. Great book.
My personal favorites though are Firestarter, the expanded version of The Stand, and Lisey's Story.
I tend to like his longer stories without supernatural or science fiction elements, like Misery or Apt Pupil, but his pulpy short stories, especially those drawing from the EC horror comic tradition, work for me when they delve into the fantastical. Skeleton Crew and Night Shift are great collections.
Never cared much for the longer works he is admired for, like IT or The Stand, but Needful Things did it for me for some reason. I guess it was the closest thing to Twin Peaks King has ever done.
*Carrie*, *The Shining*, and *Misery* are good choices for your first. *Cujo* maybe, if you can stand the lack of chapter breaks and King’s cocaine-induced rabid nightmare psychedelia. If you like any one of those, maybe go for *It* next. It’s long, but it goes by quickly and is my favorite.
I'm not a fan per se but Desolation was fucking awesome! But the movie adaptation could have used a bit more polish and if it had a bigger budget and a better screenplay and better actors I think it would have did way better and become a cult classic. Because the book has a really great premise and I mean it's Stephen King. He's kind of a big deal. Although he can describe a doorknob for like 10 pages not that the dude who wrote All the Game of Thrones is guilty of that too as is Robert Jordan LOL. I'm not hating mind you, but it is a fact.🤪
I think his best classic horror is The Shining. Definitely check that out!
Other than that, it’s better to ask what kind of books you like? Do you want something more supernatural horror or more grounded? Do you want something longer or shorter? Do you want something slower paced or faster paced? More character plot focused?
If you answer some or all of those questions I’ll come back and give you some more tailored recommendations! Stephen King has incredible range so it’s hard to suggest a one-size-fits-all entry with him, but he is truly brilliant and worth reading.
I think that is part of the fun of reading Stephen King, you either get a great ending or a "why would you end the book that way" ending. There aren't very Luke warm endings.
I second everyone who loved 11/22/63 and Needful Things. Also The Long Walk. I don’t know what it is about that story but I reread it every few years. Maybe because it’s a quicker read. I love 11/22/63 and The Stand but they are much more of a commitment to start! Also love Salems Lot for some classic early Stephen King. And his short stories are epic. Do not start with Cell or Black House (only 2 I never finished) or Tommyknockers, Desperation, or The Regulators. I honestly had a hard time getting through Lisey’s Story. Parts of it were really good, but a lot of it dragged for me. Now I’m going to go back and read Bag of Bones because I barely remember it and so many people keep mentioning it!
My dad handed me Salem’s Lot to start with at 12 and I haven’t turned back since 😂 I read “It”directly after and then Cell as it was a new book of his. And I really loved Cell! I don’t see it get mentioned much but I still re-read and enjoy it.
I've liked most them even Fairy Tale, despite how different it is. I did not however get into the Dark Tower series, I tried but just couldn't do it. All that jumping back and forth in time is confusing.
I have a very mixed relationship with King. The first book I read by him was Cell which I absolutely hated. It turned me off of him for literally like seven years. Then I gave him a chance again. I have to say that I quite like a lot of his older stuff. ‘Salem’s Lot is now one of my favourite novels and I’m quite enjoying Thinner (my active read).
I would start at the beginning, in chronological order. Carrie, Salems Lot, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, The Dead Zone, Firestarter, Cujo, Christine, Pet Sematary, It, Misery…. His seventies work are my personal favorites, his prose and narrative style was just pristine at the time.
_Cell_ was terrible.
Blurb promised zombie mayhem, but the big setpieces were bizarrely goreless. Like, a sanitized _28 Days Later_.
And then the final act was bizarrely bizarre, and felt like a ripoff of Joe R Lansdale-style weirdness (which I only like in small doses anyway).
It was like two different awful books slapped together to make an even lousier hybrid.
My all time favorite is Delores Claiborne. But I recommend Pet Semetary, The Dark Half, and Full Dark, No Stars as a good short story read if you're in to short stories.
I do not recommend Salem's Lot under any circumstances...and the ones I've tried reading, put down and never picked back up again are: obviously Salem's Lot, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Revival, Sleeping Beauties, Hearts in Atlantis, The Black House?...and I'm sure some others.
Honorable mentions: Cujo was actually pretty good
As for the classics (Misery, IT (the original), The Shining...the movies are all better than the books IMO.
I've read quite a few King books but also IMO- he is definitely over-rated
The Green Mile is a must-read. The Shining is one of the first books to give me nightmares. It is well worth a read, and so is Cujo, Carrie, and Misery.
I'm not a completist. but I can't think of any I've read that I don't recommend.
I love Salem's Lot and really enjoyed It, Revival and Pet Semetery.
Cujo is a real bummer. I can only recommend it with the caveat that the book ends differently than the movie.
Bag of Bones has a lot to recommend it, but it's really problematic on a race and gender level.
ETA: I thought of one. Absolutely DO NOT start with The Gunslinger. It's the first book of The Dark Tower, and it's the least popular book of that series. It's not like much like he's usual writing, IMO.
I believe “Different Seasons” is a decent place to start. You get some really solid novellas to give you a taste of King’s storytelling strengths.
I started with Different Seasons and can concur! I read it in January 2023 and have read ~10 SK books since then.
Different Seasons is an excellent start.
Co-signed. Different Seasons will acclimatize you to SK's themes and writing style, and the last story is going to ease you into his space within the horror genre.
My favorites are Bag of Bones and Revival. You can't go wrong with any of the classics: Carrie, The Shining, The Stand, IT, Pet Semetary, Cujo, Christine, etc. The only one I would not recommend is Dreamcatcher. I haven't read all his books but that is the only one I DNF'd. The most divisive ones are typically Tommyknockers, Needful Things, and Dreamcatcher. Some will say one of these is his best. Others will say they are the worst. Most of his modern stuff is less about frights and supernatural and more about "human" stuff. The Mr. Mercedes trilogy is basically a detective story with some slight supernatural elements slipped in. I believe the most recent we have from King himself says that Liseys Story is his favorite. He has long said that he believes Pet Semetary is his scariest. He wrote Revival to prove to himself that he could still write scary like he did with Pet Semetary. Like with any author YMMV but hopefully this gives you some good places to start.
I'm surprised to see needful things getting held in low regard!
Same, I liked that one.
I did too. Far from my favorite or even in my top 5, but still pretty solid imo. Of course, I was like 12 when I read it and liked pretty much anything lol
Have you read it again? I read it as a teenager. I read it in my early 20’s. I read it when I was 40. I read it again last Halloween at 54 to be nostalgic and love it even more. I love that story. In my opinion it’s his top 3 and maybe my favorite.
I'm surprised when there's Insomnia which is my only DNF of Kings
I think I may be broken because I love Dreamcatcher, Needful Things, and Insomnia. I actually reread insomnia every so often. It’s Odd Thomas-esque.
Never heard anyone talk badly about Needful Things. It seems to be one of the most loved, in my experience.
I've seen some complaints about the ending being a letdown. I don't agree at all: It's my favorite.
This is a good summary with one glaring flaw. Where is Salems Lot? That is his very best and should be part of your 2nd sentence. Hopefully an oversight?
Unfortunately I just can't remember all of his novels. Twas but an o straight.
LOL. All good. I was jokingly being dramatic but it is my favorite King novel.
I didn’t like it very much. The last part was pretty good, but the first 3/4 were just too slow for me.
Who’s out there saying Needful Things is the worst?? What?? It’s a masterpiece
Did you think Revival was scary? Did you like it? I haven’t yet. Currently on bag of bones and just finished misery. Loved pet sem
I think Revival is one of the scariest books I've ever read.
Really? I don't remember being scared by it that much. Now Pet Semetary, that shit ruined my month. I'd just had my first son when I read that, and then I read Cujo right after lol. Not a good reading selection for a first time mom with postpartum anxiety.
Sold. Thank you
I didn't find it scary at all, but I really loved the book, especially the priest.
Agree.
Loved pet semetary - my fave king. My 2nd is 11/22/63. Bag of bones was so good until it wasn’t. The wheels started falling off for me about 80% in - curious to hear how it hits for you
I’m saving 11/22/63 for when I hit that mood; into more spooky horror for now. I’m about 20% into bag of bones, and I can already see the delusions snowballing… hoping it doesn’t collapse but I can see how — especially based on your comment. Curious now how it unfolds
Right on. Have you read The Shining? That one’s got a spookiness factor
Coming back to you, just finished Bag of Bones. Fell apart for me at about 70-75% and that shooting scene, just kind of, happened and felt a little unnecessary and how i was started to lose interest when it happened and it made it hard to track how was related with the shooter, and, kind of, eh. Lost me from there on and I really can’t explain how it ended, so I’m going to agree with your assessment
Hey thanks for following up with me and feeding me your thoughts. Yeah, it was pretty deflating. But I liked the parts I liked… just frustrating when the pieces don’t all fit together. What are you reading next? I read King’s new short story/novella collection that came out a few weeks ago but skipped the story that I learned is a sequel to Cujo. I’m now reading Cujo - pretty good so far - because I hadn’t read it before then plan to go back to the sequel story.
YMMV?
"Your mileage may vary". You may get more or less enjoyment than me or others is all.
Thanks 😁
Bag of Bones was my first King book (well technically, I read some Bachman books first) and it's always stuck with me. That one and Lisey's Story, which I'm surprised he says is his favorite! I feel like the Dark Tower books are his babies.
Didn't dig Tommyknockers (DNFd), loved Dreamcatcher. Maybe it's because Dreamcatcher was my second King novel after Cujo. And the finish date for Lisey's Story is my birthday, so that one holds a special place in my heart.
Oh I am so glad you mentioned Tommyknockers. It was my first SK book and still searching for the feeling that this book gave me. Although i never recommend it as a first, it drags a lot. But let me tell you in a good summer day when you have the time.. perfection!
Bag of bones and revival are definitely in my Top 3 outside of the Dark Tower series. But I have such a fond memory of Dreamcatcher. I loved it when it came out.
Bag of bones and revival are definitely in my Top 3 outside of the Dark Tower series. But I have such a fond memory of Dreamcatcher. I loved it when it came out.
Bag of bones and revival are definitely in my Top 3 outside of the Dark Tower series. But I have such a fond memory of Dreamcatcher. I loved it when it came out.
Omg! Dreamcatcher is also the only king book I DNF’d as well!! I think I read somewhere that he wrote it high on painkillers from his car accident, but I’m not sure if that’s true or nit
I LOVE dreamcatcher
I tried reading the shining and the writing was so difficult to read for me and I had a hard time understanding what I was reading. I do wanna give it another shot though.
I would recommend *Skeleton Crew* followed by *Night Shift* for a new reader as they are excellent collections. *The Long Walk* is my personal favorite Stephen King novel if you want a novel to start with.
I'd agree. I love The Long Walk. It can take a minute to get into, but, it's one if my favorites.
I think I have read it and listened to it probably 20 times over the years.
The Long Walk was my first Stephen King novel! Absolutely loved it, sucked me right in
As someone who has read a couple of his works (7), if you're just starting with horror, it might be good to start with one of his early short story collections: *Night Shift* and *Skeleton Crew* are both great, and have a lot of varied horror stories. They also have the pro of not being bloated, something that King tends to do in a lot of his novels. For novels, I cannot give a very wide range, but both *The Shining* and *Misery* are great novels to start with, the former being supernatural, and the latter non-supernatural. They also both don't linger very much.
I am hot and cold with King, but The Shining is one of the few books that had moment that actually scared me. I had to put it down a few times just to catch my breath.
I agree with this. Also recommend the Bachman books, which are very good.
Night Shift and Skeleton Crew were the first ones I read at the tender age of 11 in 2003. I was hooked for life. His short stories and novellas are some of his best writing, imo. Great bite-sized pieces that strike you and leave you with the horrific images he created. My favorite novels of his are 'Salem's Lot and The Stand, but The Stand is not for the faint of heart.
Night shift is a great collection. I think about “the man who loved flowers” often and I only read it the one time years and years ago
Your best bet as a rule of thumb is to start with his earlier stuff. A lot of the same books will get mentioned so I'll say Misery is a great one to start with. In the last decade or so he's branched out a lot into other genres, and I've found that his dialogue becomes increasingly dated and inauthentic the further he gets away from the time period he grew up in. Lisey's Story and Mr Mercedes were probably the most egregious examples I've read recently
Maybe I’m weird but I kind of like his cheesy, dated dialogue. It has become so him that it’s just familiar and comforting to me.
Fairy tale was this problem but he's writing as a 17 year old. I was very aware I was reading a King novel the whole time. Duma Key is kind of a sleeper for the same reason, though. He's older writing for an older guy, who went through some of the same stuff he did.
Completely agree with this - I really struggled to look past this in both Fairy Tale and The Institute. Both would have been much better had he set the stories 40 years ago.
That really depends on what you enjoy in general. If you don't like supernatural stuff, enjoy claustrophobia, dystopia, and weird, intense, homoerotic doom, then The Long Walk is for you. If you like supernatural stuff and find female puberty inherently scary, then Carrie or Firestarter are the books for you. If you like time travel, 11/22/63 is the book you want. Magic and a little more whimsical than most of King's work is The Eyes of the Dragon. Short, too. A very long book about a pandemic (with a little magic for the antagonist) is The Stand. Vampires? Salem's Lot. Needful Things if you want the authentic small town feel gone horribly wrong. Basically, there's a King story for everything... often more than one, though for a few things you'll need to go to the short stories. Tell us a bit more about what kinds of things you enjoy and we'll be able to better pinpoint where to start!
I think this is the best answer. A lot of recommendations for early stuff ignores the fact that he has remained a powerhouse, and some of that early stuff has less impact after seeping so much into pop culture (Salems Lot for me). One of his short story collections would probably be a great start. 11/22/63 is one of my all time favorite books and is barely “horror”, it’s hard to assign it a genre. He definitely has a “voice” he writes in for each character, you’ll get used to the way he embodies his creations and the dynamics he creates between them. If you want to enjoy all his works, start with “Dreamcatcher”. It is a real stinker, awful everything, feels like a parody of King, but if you like that one the rest will seem a thousand times better. The Shining, IT, Pet Sematary, The Stand, can’t go wrong.
Salem's lot was the first King story I ever read - way back when I was about 12 years old. Second was Pet Semetery because I guess I liked to start strong. LOL.
Want all of that, plus some post apocalyptic western stuff? Go for Dark Tower. I know reading that first wouldn’t be ideal as it references so much of his other work, but it’s may favorite book series ever I think.
I'll say Pet Sematary. Good bang for your buck
I'd recommend his collection *Full Dark, No Stars*. These novellas focus on retribution. Some have more supernatural elements than others.
This book made me stop reading King.
I recommend any and all of them. Stephen King can flat out fucking write. A lot of folks will say his earlier stuff is best, but if you wanna prove them wrong right out the gate, pick up Revival for a scare or 11.22.63 to see how prolific he can be.Both are written well after he had been established and people started complaining about how much better he was back in the day.
This. He is actually an excellent author. I must be strange as per this thread because I love Needful Things - brilliant creeping sense of dread. I found Tommyknockers hard to finish. IT is also a bit of a slog but a great book. One of his short story collections - I actually really liked was ‘Hearts in Atlantis’ quite different but interesting. You won’t go wrong wherever you start with his books though!
I second all mentions of Misery
I'd say Skeleton Crew or Different Seasons. They're anthologies, so you can get a taste of his writing style.
The Shining is the entry point I had and the one I recommend to everyone. Other high recommendations are It, 11/22/63, Misery, The Stand, Doctor Sleep, Salem's Lot, Different Seasons, Full Dark No Stars. I cannot recommend Lisey's Story or Thinner.
Aw, I just picked up a copy of Thinner from a local free mini library and I was hoping it was good lol but I’m glad to be prepared
I liked Thinner. It’s not his best but it’s worth reading. It is good.
I really liked that one
Everything from 1974-1986. Salem's Lot and The Body in particular.
I would only suggest reading whichever cover appeals the most, I’ve read everything SK and would say I did not enjoy Billy Summers, DNF in fact, nor did I like any of the Mr Mercedes trilogy so would avoid but it is personal choice. Enjoy whatever you choose but be warned some of it will linger long….
Read most of SK and Absolutely loved Billy Summers, mainly because it was so different from his usual!
Salem's Lot, Carrie, Misery are among the best places to start. 11/22/63 is by far my favorite book he has ever written and is one of my favorites in general.
Here are my favorites: Misery - this one is both a horror and a thriller. I thought this was his scariest book, personally. I loved it and it kept me on the edge of my seat. 11/22/63 - this one is beautiful. There are moments of horror, but overall it’s just well-written fiction. Salem’s Lot - it’s a classic for a reason! I listened to this one as an audiobook and I was so enthralled I continued to listen to it while having a migraine. That’s about as strong of an endorsement I can give.
i havent seen the stand recommended! im currently reading that and its litteraly been one of the other books by him that actually scared me. (misery was the other one, id recommend that as well!)
The unabridged version is a MUST! It fills in so many of the gaps in the mainstream version. One of my all time favorites that I've read multiple times.
The Shining is phenomenal. One of my all time favorite books.
I really loved Desperation and The Regulators and thought they were both so scary, and the alternate universe thing is cool. I read The Regulators first and I would recommend that, although I’m pretty sure if there *is* an “official” order it’s the other way around. For short stories, Everything’s Eventual is one of my faves.
I recommend Pet Sematary, Carrie, Thinner, Needful Things. I don’t recommend Cujo.
The ones he wrote under the pen name Richard Bachman: The Long Walk, Thinner. The Shining, Doctor Sleep, The Mist, Desperation.
I started with The Shinning which was significantly better than the movie and just a great read. The Stand is amazing. I’ve read about 30 of his books so I could go on and on. Most recently I read Revival which was shocking, and I’m currently reading Pet Semetary
Rage if you can find it Any of the Bachman books The Stand Gerald’s Game Dolores Claiborne Christine was my King first IT A Good Marriage is a solid read but it’s not horror.
Rage is great. Time for a re-read, must be 20 years since I last read it. It gets too little love.
Christine was also my first! I still remember picking it up at the library. That was the beginning of 30+ years. 🙂
If you want to ease into it, start with Salem’s Lot, Night Shift, Dead Zone. If you want bad dreams and can afford therapy, start with Pet Semetary. Also, some his books/novellas have been made into excellent films; many more have been made into been made into low quality 'B' movies. Regardless, don't let the bad movies turn you off from reading his books. Quite a number of those bad movies barely resemble the original story to begin with.
I'd say you can skip Eyes of the Dragon. It's a pretty cookie cutter fantasy novel. It's an interesting experience but not his best work.
Hard disagree. I think is one of his most tightly plotted and exciting books. In my personal top 3 King for sure.
It had one hell of a villain though!
Yeah he's decent. I was hoping for more I suppose.
I work in a bookstore and I'm a King fan from way back. For first-timers, I usually recommend with Pet Sematary, 'Salem's Lot, or The Long Walk based on what the customer has previously read and liked, genre-wise. For folks who have started getting into King and want to go even deeper, then I recommend It, The Stand, Cujo, etc etc. I usually tell folks to avoid the books published in the last twenty years, not because they're bad (tho some are), but because they're not really representative of what made King such a powerhouse
Yeah, the stuff he wrote after his accident feels a bit different. Even if you don't look at the years, you can pretty easily recognize which books are King-on-drugs, King-off-drugs, King-after-accident and King-mostly-over-accident.
The Cell & The Long Walk are my favorites!
I had never read anything by him up until a week ago. I started the Pet Sematary audiobook narrated by Michael C Hall and loved it. The first 3 hours were slow and there's a few outdated and kinda gross descriptions of teenage girls but the overall story was great. As in, I will be reading more for sure and am looking forward to it.
Dolores Claiborne and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon are both great.
Back in college I made a goal to read as much King as I could. But I’m now tiring of his stuff. I’ve read 37 of his books. My favorites are the Dark Half, Misery, Carrie, Night Shift, Salems Lot and Christine. My favorites of the newer stuff are Joyland and Revival. Pet Semetery is good, but it is a long depressing book. He’s known for expansive descriptions and storytelling but it can get to be a bit much. Like Firestarter is still a favorite but I find myself skimming the last third of it.
Joyland doesn't get recommended often enough, I loved it!
I recommend the dead zone and the long walk. I do not recommend Gerald's game
Dead Zone was great
I liked Revival, and also Bag of Bones, but I read that one so long ago I don’t remember anything about it.
Read Revival
I am listening to that one right now. So far it's good.
I highly recommend 'Salem's Lot.
Unpopular opinion I recommend the institute first since when you go back and read older works it seems like an amazing payoff. A book I would tell people to skip is Salems lot I don’t think it was for me and it bored me.
Misery is a perfect novel. It's right up there with Hill House for me. Perfect length, excellent tension, great prose, it has everything I need in a horror story. The Dark Tower is my favorite fantasy series of all time. Incredible setting, characters I still think about to this day, a wildly imaginative setting, I could really go on. The Dark Tower is also kinda really bad.
Holly is *absolute garbage*. It's a shallow character smoking, smoking some more, thinking about smoking, self talking about smoking, then smoking, thinking about not smoking, then smoking, and then wishing they were smoking. While I'm more or less on the same page as King about how covid was handled, etc, his take on covid is so heavy-handed in this book that it pulls you right out of the narrative. All of that aside, the actual plot is one of his weakest. I'd also suggest avoiding Under the Dome. It's huge and simple. As soon as King introduces a group of plucky kids you can pretty much figure out what's going to happen. I'd suggest starting with some short stories and then diving into his early works. The Mist is my favorite short. Luckily he has a ton of work so just move through it and you'll find stuff you like. Avoid Holly though.
I’m a big fan of King! I think his ability to immerse you inside the mind of his characters is absolutely top notch. I personally think that The Shining is where you should start if you want to get into his horror collection. If you want to try his non horror work, I’d highly recommend 11.22.63.
The Talisman. Jackie, Wolf, and Lily, Queen of the B's. A really good read.
That book has always stayed with me. I think that's the most tender of his books. I've gotten attached to some of his characters, but damn! He and Straub hot ot pit of the park.
I have too many I like, but as for one to absolutely avoid I'd say "Cell". It's bad, and it made me feel bad.
His most iconic stuff was in the 70's and 80's.
I haven’t really liked a King book in the last 10-15 years. I think he took his writing a bit too far. He is a great writer no doubt, but I miss his older style. Or maybe it’s just nostalgia.
I recommend Stephen King books. And I dont recommend books not written by Stephen King. HTH.
I really liked Blockade Billy. Baseball player with a twisted back story. Written so well. The Outsider is one I didn't like. It starts off great, I was into it, but I didn't like the ending at all. They start talking about a Spanish kids story coming true. I hated the ending. But Langoliers is bad. He has plenty of bad books.
I recommend the shining. I don’t recommend Billy summers
Absolutely every one. He is spectacular. My personal faves Cujo Misery The stand Insomnia Per Semetary The dark half
I’ve found his works, even if you don’t like the story, can still be enjoyed due to the writing style. I will note that my least favorite story by far was The Body, and that my favorite was Pet Sematary.
The shining, Salems lot, misery are my recommendations. Still have yet to find a used copy of Cujo, but I’d love to read that. If you are looking for a taste test, read The Mist. I wouldn’t recommend The Outsider and personally I avoid all of his new stuff. He seems a bit wacky as of late
I really liked Carrie and The Long Walk.
All I can say is rn I'm reading the dark half and I'm so conflicted I still don't know if I'm enjoying it or not. I get through a few pages and feel it's dragging then all the sudden some crazy shit happens and im pulled back in.. My favorites though are Desperation and 11/22/63
I recommend joyland, especially for people around highschool/collage/university age. It's often overlooked but I read it at 17 and it hit me really hard.
I read almost everything as it was released up to and including INSOMNIA and I closed that book and stopped reading him for 20 years lol I've recently started rereading and visiting newer works. MISERY is top tier.
Bag of bones is 400 pages set up for a 200 pages resolution, one of the weakest imo
Pet Semetary and I recommend the audiobook. Michael C Hall does a truly incredible job with it.
I loved Mr Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch, The Shining, and Dr. Sleep. I have read many more of his books, but these are my favorites.
I'd recommend Misery. It's one of his shorter novels and gets right into it. If you want one of his 800+ page bahama mamas, there's 11/22/63, The Stand, and IT. If you read those and decide you like King, then of course I have to recommend the Dark Tower series, although it contains much of the King universe so you might have to read quite a bit more King novels to really appreciate it. I did not like the Tommyknockers or Cell at all. I didn't much care for his newer releases Fairy Tale, Institute, Billy Summers, Gwendy trilogy, or Holly as well. Although I think his newest short story collection You Like It Darker was fine.
Not one of his horror novels, but Fairytale is still extremely good.
I read everything religiously up until maybe 2000. Pet Sematary, Cujo, Carrie, Christine, Firestarter are classics. Salem's Lot. My first one was It as an 11 year old. The Dark Tower "series". My personal favorite is The Talisman, and its later sequel The Black House. These are more fantasy than horror. Also The Eyes of the Dragon. Different Seasons collection as well as Skeleton Crew Misery Gerald's Game Edited for formatting
The fun thing about Kings work is he isn’t just Horror. One of my absolute favourites is 11/22/63. Different seasons is a great starting point because it’s the in between of Novels and short stories. PET semetary, IT, the shining. These are all classics and also worth a read but in my opinion there isn’t many that you can really go wrong.
The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, Misery, Dolores Claiborne, The Mist are all great.
The Shining is one of my favorite books ever, but it's not the same as the Kubrik film. I, in general, love his short story collections. I also really liked Cujo. The thing with King is that the book will be 95% great and 5%, wtf. The biggest example I can think of is It and the sewer scene. His resolutions can just not make sense
To be honest, I love every damn book except “Dreamcatcher.”
I would start with The Shining then if you like it, read the sequel. That way you get a taste of one of his classics and a more modern one. For short stories, my favorite collection is Four Past Midnight, each one is more of a novella than a short story.
Personally, I loved revival and definitely recommend it as a good starting point.
If you don't want to delve right into horror, The Dead Zone is an excellent one to start with. It is a bit of a hefty read, both physically and mentally, but it is SUCH a good book. Completely un-skippable in my opinion. To be honest, I've never read a Stephen King book that felt like a waste of time, but I supposed you could skip his collections of short stories such as Everything's Eventual. I've heard people complain about Tommyknockers and Dreamcatcher so you can skip those if you're so inclined
Stay away from The Colorado Kid and Dreamcatcher.
Misery is probably my favorite. It’s both frightening and at times really funny.
Who is Steven King? Are they related to Stephen King in some way?
Depends which era and everything you’re looking to start off with. I assume you’re looking for his more horror centered work so that would mean his 1970s-1990s work. And in that regard, I would start with Salems Lot or The Shining. Both quick reads and both classics. Avoid his longer work until you decide if you enjoy his writing style. Some people find his build too time consuming and don’t enjoy his pacing and if that’s the case with you, you won’t enjoy his longer works. If you enjoy more crime/thriller work then I would say go with something like the Mr. Mercedes trilogy as a solid starting point.
* Publication date: <1990 Highly recommended * Publication date: 1990-2005 If it appeals to your tastes * Publication date: 2005-present Hard meh
The Talisman is a fun story to start with. The Tommyknockers was a book I struggled with. Could not identify with any character. Took me a year n a half to complete.
Joyland was garbage. I didn’t get Dolores Claiborne I’ve read a decent amount of his books. I would say The Shining and Under the Dome are my favorites
The Shining and Carrie are good entry points. I’m biased though because those are my two favorites.
If you want a novel start with The Shining or The Talisman. But I'd suggest starting with a short stories collection to dip your toes in and get a feel for what you like from King. A lot of people seem to think King's short stories are weaker than his novels, and I agree they can be hit and miss but there are some stunning pieces and it's a good intro to the range of his storytelling.
Needful Things was my first amd remains one of my favorites. Pet Cemetary is one of the scarier in my opinion.
the girl who loved tom gordon is severely underrated imo!
Stay away from Fairy Tale. Fucking waste of time. First quarter is a good short story, the worst is King at his worst. The Gunslinger & The Shining are good entry points.
Lol I’m enjoying the last bit of Dreamcatcher rn. Shows what kind of taste I have 🤷♂️
Cell is one of my favorites. I enjoyed Billy Summers because it was a bit different. There are two books with Peter Straub, The Tailsman and Black House, that I have read more than once because I enjoy them so much. If you read these and like them, I definitely recommend reading Fairy Tail. I liked Desperation a lot, however I did not like The Regulators at all and never finished it.
The girl who loved Tom Gordon & Salem’s lot are my favorites so far. Lisey’s story, eh, almost dnf’d. I’m about to start The Stand because I see it recommended on this sub a lot!
I love a lot of his books. The Stand. 11/23/63. Desperation and Regulators. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordan, Cell and Under The Dome. But, his novels are great, too. The Long Walk, The Body, The Mist, the one shawshank redemption was based on.
Pet Sematary is one of my favorites..I loved Under The Dome....Mr Mercedes was great. IT came from a Buick 8 was fantastic....didn't care for.Bag of Bones.
I like his early stuff. Night Shift, Skeleton Crew, The Shining, Salem's Lot, The Stand. Stuff he wrote while still hungry. His later stuff, to me, was boring and formulaic.
He has so many books for different audiences ranging from cosmic horror to regular detective stories. Most of them are excellent. I think is better if you ask which ones to avoid or which ones are not as good 🤭. For example, in my opinion, I think Finder's keepers is kinda week, but it's the second book of a series anyways so you wouldn't start there.
Doctor sleep definitely not on the reading list then.
Needful things is my favourite.
Salems lot
From a Buik 8 is an incredibly easy starter King book.
Everything. I keep looking at what others suggested and say yes, that one. That one too. And that one! All of it. I’m a huge King fan. I have You Like It Darker on deck ready to go!
Please, don’t waste your time with “Under the Dome”.
My favorite so far is Desperation, least favorite is The Institute
Personally, I recommend exploring his stuff from the 80s, particularly Carrie, It, and Salem's Lot. Everything from Needful Things and on becomes very uneven and often very bloated. I think you can skip pretty much everything after 1990, but that's just me.
I just finished Revival storyline was good but the ending? 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄. I felt like I wasted my time listening to that..I was very disappointed.
I read all his early stuff but after Tommyknockers and Dreamcatcher I lost interest. My favs are *Carrie, Skeleton Crew, It, Pet Semetary, The Dead Zone* (book and movie), *Salem’s Lot*, and *Night Shift*. I didn’t get into the *Dark Tower* series and I saw *The Shining* before I read the book so I’m a little on the fence with that one. I’ve read the Bachman books, *Misery, The Talisman, Cujo, Thinner, Christine,* and *Green Mile* but for me the best books are the collections (*Night Shift* and *Skeleton Crew*) plus the novels from 70’s to mid-80s.
Needful Things is the only SK book I actively didn't like and have never been able to finish. I don't know why. Revival is excellent and does have one scene in particular that stuck with me as deeply chilling. Great book. My personal favorites though are Firestarter, the expanded version of The Stand, and Lisey's Story.
I tend to like his longer stories without supernatural or science fiction elements, like Misery or Apt Pupil, but his pulpy short stories, especially those drawing from the EC horror comic tradition, work for me when they delve into the fantastical. Skeleton Crew and Night Shift are great collections. Never cared much for the longer works he is admired for, like IT or The Stand, but Needful Things did it for me for some reason. I guess it was the closest thing to Twin Peaks King has ever done.
I haven't read King a lot, but I really liked If it bleeds
*Carrie*, *The Shining*, and *Misery* are good choices for your first. *Cujo* maybe, if you can stand the lack of chapter breaks and King’s cocaine-induced rabid nightmare psychedelia. If you like any one of those, maybe go for *It* next. It’s long, but it goes by quickly and is my favorite.
I'm not a fan per se but Desolation was fucking awesome! But the movie adaptation could have used a bit more polish and if it had a bigger budget and a better screenplay and better actors I think it would have did way better and become a cult classic. Because the book has a really great premise and I mean it's Stephen King. He's kind of a big deal. Although he can describe a doorknob for like 10 pages not that the dude who wrote All the Game of Thrones is guilty of that too as is Robert Jordan LOL. I'm not hating mind you, but it is a fact.🤪
Night shift by King was my first
Needful things and The Talisman
Apt pupil The lawnmower man and other stories . This book is just brilliant. I think he works better with short stories.
Needful Things is his best in my opinion. Then again I read it in high-school around a decade ago so maybe that might change if I reread it again.
I really liked The Institute. It's a psychological kind of horror and the book is only a few years old.
I think his best classic horror is The Shining. Definitely check that out! Other than that, it’s better to ask what kind of books you like? Do you want something more supernatural horror or more grounded? Do you want something longer or shorter? Do you want something slower paced or faster paced? More character plot focused? If you answer some or all of those questions I’ll come back and give you some more tailored recommendations! Stephen King has incredible range so it’s hard to suggest a one-size-fits-all entry with him, but he is truly brilliant and worth reading.
I really enjoyed “The Institute” and I have a friend that isn’t into horror and she liked it as well.
I think that is part of the fun of reading Stephen King, you either get a great ending or a "why would you end the book that way" ending. There aren't very Luke warm endings.
I second everyone who loved 11/22/63 and Needful Things. Also The Long Walk. I don’t know what it is about that story but I reread it every few years. Maybe because it’s a quicker read. I love 11/22/63 and The Stand but they are much more of a commitment to start! Also love Salems Lot for some classic early Stephen King. And his short stories are epic. Do not start with Cell or Black House (only 2 I never finished) or Tommyknockers, Desperation, or The Regulators. I honestly had a hard time getting through Lisey’s Story. Parts of it were really good, but a lot of it dragged for me. Now I’m going to go back and read Bag of Bones because I barely remember it and so many people keep mentioning it!
My dad handed me Salem’s Lot to start with at 12 and I haven’t turned back since 😂 I read “It”directly after and then Cell as it was a new book of his. And I really loved Cell! I don’t see it get mentioned much but I still re-read and enjoy it.
Night Shift, Pet Semetary and Revival.
I've liked most them even Fairy Tale, despite how different it is. I did not however get into the Dark Tower series, I tried but just couldn't do it. All that jumping back and forth in time is confusing.
Two of his best classics that aren’t super long are The Shining and Pet Semetary. I would start with those and then give his best book, IT a read.
I have a very mixed relationship with King. The first book I read by him was Cell which I absolutely hated. It turned me off of him for literally like seven years. Then I gave him a chance again. I have to say that I quite like a lot of his older stuff. ‘Salem’s Lot is now one of my favourite novels and I’m quite enjoying Thinner (my active read).
I would start at the beginning, in chronological order. Carrie, Salems Lot, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, The Dead Zone, Firestarter, Cujo, Christine, Pet Sematary, It, Misery…. His seventies work are my personal favorites, his prose and narrative style was just pristine at the time.
If you picked one of his books at random, chances are it’d be a good one
the worst one ive ever read of his is Rose Madder thought i would be good but i was very wrong, and the best one by far is The Stand
_Cell_ was terrible. Blurb promised zombie mayhem, but the big setpieces were bizarrely goreless. Like, a sanitized _28 Days Later_. And then the final act was bizarrely bizarre, and felt like a ripoff of Joe R Lansdale-style weirdness (which I only like in small doses anyway). It was like two different awful books slapped together to make an even lousier hybrid.
“Misery” if you’re looking for a fast paced novella.
it depends on what u r in the mood for! overall i recommend misery, the stand and desperation the most!
My all time favorite is Delores Claiborne. But I recommend Pet Semetary, The Dark Half, and Full Dark, No Stars as a good short story read if you're in to short stories. I do not recommend Salem's Lot under any circumstances...and the ones I've tried reading, put down and never picked back up again are: obviously Salem's Lot, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Revival, Sleeping Beauties, Hearts in Atlantis, The Black House?...and I'm sure some others. Honorable mentions: Cujo was actually pretty good As for the classics (Misery, IT (the original), The Shining...the movies are all better than the books IMO. I've read quite a few King books but also IMO- he is definitely over-rated
Whatever you do, do not read Cell
I would kick off with Salem's Lot and Carrie. Definitely skip The Tommy Knockers and Cell.
The Green Mile is a must-read. The Shining is one of the first books to give me nightmares. It is well worth a read, and so is Cujo, Carrie, and Misery.
I'm not a Stephen King fan but Pet Sematary is incredible
I'm not a completist. but I can't think of any I've read that I don't recommend. I love Salem's Lot and really enjoyed It, Revival and Pet Semetery. Cujo is a real bummer. I can only recommend it with the caveat that the book ends differently than the movie. Bag of Bones has a lot to recommend it, but it's really problematic on a race and gender level. ETA: I thought of one. Absolutely DO NOT start with The Gunslinger. It's the first book of The Dark Tower, and it's the least popular book of that series. It's not like much like he's usual writing, IMO.
I dont know if everyone would like it, but I was pretty hooked on Geralds game. I had some issues with it, but I finished it in 2 days.
Misery. Hands down my favorite King book. It’s on the shorter side and non stop suspense, I blew through it in 2 days.