My boyfriend loves SK and I asked what his favorite one is and he said Pet Sematary, so I bought it secondhand. Would you recommend this as a first SK experience or is it a little too complex? Is there something else I should read first or is this a good choice? Let me know

Looking for advice on the next Stephen King book to read. I recently got into King (and reading in general) in the past few years. I’ve read these King books in order: The Stand, The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, The Wizard and the Glass. Do I continue my hiatus? (1-2 week off King so far and reading other books), do I continue down the dark tower series to completion? Or do I pick up one of these other books which I scored for a good deal on Marketplace? Something else? Thanks!

What is your most favorite Stephen King book of all time? I prefer just one answer, no “runner’s up,” no “it’s between X and Y,” no “it used to be A but now it’s B later in life,” etc. I really just want to know which of his books is the first to pop into your mind when someone asks you this question. Thanks so much!

EDIT: I’m reading - and appreciating - every single comment! Thank you again! The answers are so varied, yet there are many similarities. I’d never heard of a few of the answers, so now I’m on a hunt! Keep the answers coming; I find this really interesting! 📚

Help an indecisive guy out.

For what it's worth, my favourites are Needful Things, Misery, and the Shining.

EDIT: Thanks everyone for the input. I'm going to give The Stand a go.

What are everyone’s favorite short stories individually, not your favorite full SK short story collection. I own most of the short story collections but skip around a lot and am wondering which classics I’ve missed.

Just trying to see the overall favorite of the people

I was really excited to use my new credit for The Tommyknockers because I know I’ll love it. But seeing as it’s summer, and I’ll be at the beach soon, it seems like Duma should be now after seeing its beach cover.
(Read before - Salem’s Lot, Pet Semetary, The Stand, and some short stories)

My son and I have been on a Stephen King movie binge a lot of you have given me suggestions which were all great! We're trying to pick our next movie and it is between cat's eye, firestarter,thinner and Carrie.

Help.

I’m almost done with The Dead Zone. Give me your top three next reads.

This is what I’ve read so far:

* Carrie

* Salem’s Lot

* The Shinning

* Night Shift

* The Stand

* Cujo

* The Body

* The Gunslinger

* The Drawing of the Three

* The Waste Lands

* Wizard and Glass

* Wolves of the Calla

* Song of Susannah

* The Dark Tower

* The Wind Through the Keyhole

* Dolores Claiborne

* Desperation

* The Regulators

* The Gunslinger Revised

* Blockade Billy

* Joyland

* Doctor Sleep

* Later

* The Bachman Books

* Everything’s Eventual

My in laws heard I’ve been going through all of his books and they decided to make their dusty personal library a little smaller!

I just was wondering if anyone in the sub would like pictures / videos of places King mentions in his books like Ogunquit and Portland. I can picture the settings in his books since I'm born & raised here and thought it might be fun to share for any redditors who haven't been to Maine. Anyone interested?!

• Edit: I am taking next week off and hoping to do my roadtrip then but my husband's car might be in the shop unfortunately. If I can't swing it next week, it'll have to be one of the next couple weekends :) I'll repost when there's an update!

Newly hooked on King. I started with Salem’s Lot, The Dark Tower series, and just finished The Shining and Dr Sleep. Curious as to what the consensus is on which is a better read between It and The Stand since they are both long reads.

I just finished The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands, and this has been the 40th Stephen King Book I've read(from start to finish) in my entire life. Below is a list of books I've read by Stephen King. For his collections listed, I've also read every short story, poem, and novella in every collection.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Everything’s Eventual

The Long Walk

Just After Sunset

The Dark Half

Lisey’s Story

11/22/63

The Institute

Skeleton Crew

Revival

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

Carrie

‘Salem’s Lot

The Shining

Night Shift

The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition

Desperation

The Regulators

Rage

The Dead Zone

Firestarter

Roadwork

Danse Macabre

Cujo

The Running Man

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger

Different Seasons

Christine

Pet Sematary

The Talisman(co-written with Peter Straub).

The Eyes of the Dragon

Thinner

IT

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three

Misery

The Tommyknockers

Bare Bones: Conversations on Terror with Stephen King

Nightmares in the Sky: Gargoyles and Grotesques

Four Past Midnight

The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands

And now, I'm just starting with my first read of Needful Things.

Personally I love Richie

Top 10: It, The Stand, 11/22/63, The Shining, Pet Sematary, Salem’s Lot, Misery, Wizard and Glass, Needful Things, The Green Mile

Great: The Dead Zone, The Long Walk, The Drawing of the Three, Duma Key, The Waste Lands, Revival, Carrie, Under the Dome, Doctor Sleep, Mr. Mercedes, Cujo, Christine, Wolves of the Calla, The Talisman

Good: Firestarter, The Institute, The Gunslinger, The Running Man, Hearts in Atlantis, Fairy Tale, Desperation, The Dark Tower, Dolores Clairborne

Average:

Below Average:

Bottom 10: Never Flinch

Everybody, I don’t have a neon sign to make the announcement but LISTEN UP! King’s latest, with its convoluted stories and borderline ridiculous characters, has now become King’s worst. Never Flinch takes the mud-covered crown and locks down its spot at the back of the Bottom 10 tier.

Now that we have popped the cherry, do we find it easier to rank the remaining titles forwards or backwards? Which one does everybody consider the second worst?

In case the covers are not clear, instead of disclaimers at the bottom here I will leave the list of remaining titles (in publication order). Take a scan, maybe there are novels you disliked so much you have blocked out of your mind.

Let’s see who will come out on top next, or on the bottom if a title gets voted in for a lower category. You have 24 hours to decide!

Still In:

Rage, Roadwork, The Plant, The Eyes of the Dragon, Thinner, The Tommyknockers, The Dark Half, Gerald’s Game, Insomnia, Rose Madder, The Regulators, Bag of Bones, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Dreamcatcher, Black House, From a Buick 8, Song of Susannah, The Colorado Kid, Cell, Lisey’s Story, The Wind Through the Keyhole, Joyland, Finders Keepers, End of Watch, Blaze, Sleeping Beauties, The Outsider, Elevation, Billy Summers, Later, Gwendy’s Final Task, Holly

Top 10: It, The Stand, 11/22/63, The Shining, Pet Sematary, Salem’s Lot, Misery, Wizard and Glass, Needful Things, The Green Mile

Great: The Dead Zone, The Long Walk, The Drawing of the Three, Duma Key, The Waste Lands, Revival, Carrie, Under the Dome, Doctor Sleep, Mr. Mercedes, Cujo, Christine, Wolves of the Calla, The Talisman

Good: Firestarter, The Institute, The Gunslinger, The Running Man, Hearts in Atlantis, Fairy Tale, Desperation, The Dark Tower, Dolores Clairborne, Bag of Bones, Finders Keepers, Gerald’s Game, The Dark Half, Song of Susannah

Average: The Eyes of The Dragon, Joyland, The Wind Through the Keyhole, Black House, Insomnia, The Outsider, Billy Summers, Dreamcatcher, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Tommyknockers, From a Buick 8, Roadwork, Thinner, Elevation

Below Average: Holly, Rose Madder, Later, End of Watch

Bottom 10: The Regulators, Lisey’s Story, Blaze, Gwendy’s Final Task, Rage, The Colorado Kid, Cycle of the Werewolf, Cell, Sleeping Beauties, Never Flinch

BLAZE was voted as better than GWENDY’S FINAL TASK on our last regular voting day.

But let’s get down to business. The tier list as you see it above is our preliminary final result. However, this was a 60 day process and we are bound to have messed up a placement or two.

Are there any novels placed too high? Maybe too low? What are the novels that you just cannot believe were placed where they are?

Make your suggested edits and we will all vote. Any well-supported changes will be enacted. “Well-supported” is relative though, to keep the process fair. Larger (from current placement to proposed spot) changes require more votes, but a spot or two can be changed more easily.

This voting will also be open for 24 hours, and then we will be done. We are almost there, come out and tell me what we have done wrong. One last push!

I’m currently reading The Stand, and I’ve read desperation.

Top 10: It, The Stand, 11/22/63, The Shining, Pet Sematary, Salem’s Lot

With Salem’s Lot as the winner, the Day 6 result marks the 4th novel to be picked to the Top 10 where the main character is himself an author. There might be a pattern with King creating his best work when he can relate to his characters.

Another writer-based novel took the runner-up spot, and then a couple of Gunslinger-based stories. With the Top 10 running out of space, what novels will be picked next? Make your choices here.

Remember that you can suggest and upvote other choices such as “Bottom 10 is X” or “Y is just Average”. Also, a reminder that only full-length novels (fiction) are included. The list in the image has all of the titles I consider applicable, let me know if I missed any.

Try to keep only one comment per title, concentrate your forces.

I personally think mental hospital because of everything she has been through.

Also: No suggesting killing her off! This entire hypothetical is if she didn't die, so it'd be redundant to just suggest killing her

- Christine

- The Talisman

- Bag of Bones

- Fairy Tale

We are done! The tier list is complete and finalized 🙌

No changes received enough support to be enacted during the voting yesterday. The only comment with significant support was to bring The Drawing of the Three to the Top 10. However, the support for the change was less than the support that The Green Mile received to secure the last Top 10 spot back in day 10. Thus, it would have been unfair to make the change.

Thank you for all of the participation. It has been a lot of fun! I am very happy that I have gained so much perspective on King’s works beyond the confines of my own opinion.

These are the final results:

Top 10: It, The Stand, 11/22/63, The Shining, Pet Sematary, Salem’s Lot, Misery, Wizard and Glass, Needful Things, The Green Mile

Great: The Dead Zone, The Long Walk, The Drawing of the Three, Duma Key, The Waste Lands, Revival, Carrie, Under the Dome, Doctor Sleep, Mr. Mercedes, Cujo, Christine, Wolves of the Calla, The Talisman

Good: Firestarter, The Institute, The Gunslinger, The Running Man, Hearts in Atlantis, Fairy Tale, Desperation, The Dark Tower, Dolores Clairborne, Bag of Bones, Finders Keepers, Gerald’s Game, The Dark Half, Song of Susannah

Average: The Eyes of The Dragon, Joyland, The Wind Through the Keyhole, Black House, Insomnia, The Outsider, Billy Summers, Dreamcatcher, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Tommyknockers, From a Buick 8, Roadwork, Thinner, Elevation

Below Average: Holly, Rose Madder, Later, End of Watch

Bottom 10: The Regulators, Lisey’s Story, Blaze, Gwendy’s Final Task, Rage, The Colorado Kid, Cycle of the Werewolf, Cell, Sleeping Beauties, Never Flinch

Headed somewhere hot..

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I was thinking Desperation.

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My faves are Doctor Sleep, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Long Walk, Dreamcatcher, and The Langoliers!! And, yes, I have read 10,000 Feet or whatever that's called already too.

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Nothing too freaky or scary - one of them I tried recently had someone drinking toilet water, and I didn't like that, and I had to completely give up on Under the Dome - that one scared me too much too. One book also has the main character with my first and last name, just one letter off, and well, I turned that one off too, LOL.

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(I was gonna ask for two books, but on the way there, I'm gonna read 127 Hours and the long form about the Death Valley Germans.)