Which Stephen King book should I read first

[Mellowyellow22]

I am feeling in need of a bit of horror, have not read any since the 'point horror' books when I was a teenager.
Am I right in thiking that Stephen King books are horror stories? Which would you reccomend for me to start with?

Thanks

[chocolateyclur]

I LOVE 'It'. It's a massive novel, but it's probably my favourite - real characterisation, depth of plot, and certainly gives shivers up the spine.

[DurhamDurham]

I love Stephen King. Read 'Thinner' and then 'Misery' to get you started.

Then read 'The Stand' and 'Under the Dome', both are fantastic.

I don't like 'The Dark Tower' stuff, I just couldn't get into it.

[KurriKurri]

I've just started reading Stephen King, I really enjoyed The Green Mile, and I have It and Salem's Lot lined up to read (leant to me by my DS) have also read Carrie, which is good and pretty short if you want something quick to get you started

[KurriKurri]

Sorry that should be 'lent' -

[monkeyslut]

Save yourself the trouble and just watch the movies instead..usually ten times better.

[fluffyliquorice]

My favourites are 'Gerald's Game', 'The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon' and 'Rose Madder' (not one of his most popular but I love it). I also really enjoyed 'Full Dark, No Stars'.

[Mellowyellow22]

Thanks for the recomendations.

I have just had a look on Amazon and all his books are £4.99 for the Kindle editions which is a bit much.

I will have a look for some of these next time I go to the library, I am looking forward to some spine tingling, knot in the stomach tension

[wimpybar]

short stories like night shift - so much better than the novels, straight to the point and scary as hell.

[WidowWadman]

Well, King does Horror, but not really well. I'd go for some Koontz instead.

[mummynoseynora]

hmmm I would say a lot aren't horror as such but more intense thrillers.... there were some mind which scared the bejesus out of me!

IT - couldn't leave the cover facing up
oh god - I have nearly all of them (or had... had to give in and give some to charity shop to make space for more!)

his last few have been back to top form for him - all written since he nearly died!

black house which he wrote with peter straub is fab too...

in fact - if you pm me I can pick one and post it to you! Happy to start off a new kinger!
What sort of stories do you like and I can pick one out?

[LadyWithNoManors]

Ooo Firestarter, Thinner, Rose Madder.

[MajorMajor]

The Shining is brilliant as long as you are not constantly thinking about the Jack Nicholson character in the film

[missdt]

Dead Zone, Night shift, Skeleton crew.

[Browncoats]

Dean Koontz (sp?) is shit compaired to Stephen King!!! I've read horror for years and would even bother to pick up a Koontz novel...

I think his best are Pet Semetary, Salems Lot, The Stand, Chrinstine, Carrie, Cujo, Misery, Dead Zone, Night Shift, Skeleton Crew and IT (seriously scary).

King also does amazing stories that aren't horror too, like Dolores Claiborne and The Green Mile and his short story collections are always brilliant including the story that formed the movie 'Stand by Me' called The Body that was in the collection Different Seasons.

[spamm]

I would start with the short stories first - Different Seasons, Night Shift or After Sunset.

And then go to The Shining, IT, The Stand, and The Dome. I love them all, but especially the short stories.

[ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie]

Daen Koontz mainly writes crap books, most of which are virtually identical and have some simperingly bad Christian overtones in places imho.

The Dark Tower series is amazing but it isn't hooror and I certainly wouldn't start with it, if you're new to King.

'Misery' or 'It' would be good places to start, or for v v traditional horror, 'Salem's Lot' or 'The Shining.'

[ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie]

horror not hooror - I'll be back with a list of good hooror books later! :)

[JaneBennet]

Definitely Cujo and Misery, couldn't go near a dog for months after reading the first one!

[Abcinthia]

I think Dean Koontz is a bit hit and miss. I really enjoy reading some, like Lightening, but some are rubbish. I read one called Breathless (or something similar) which was really awful.


But Back to Stephen King. My favourites are The Stand, Carrie, Under The Dome, Different Seasons (a collection of short stories), The Green Mile and Cujo.

[Clarence15]

This takes me back to my teenage years when I used to read a lot of both King and Koontz. By far the scariest Stephen King book I read was Misery - I was only about 15 at the time mind I couldn't put it down and finished it in a couple of days. My friend and I then managed to sneak into the film, prepared for full-on horror but were a bit disappointed that it missed out some of the most gruesome parts.

I also enjoyed Insomnia a lot but that was more Thriller than Horror. I've not read any SK for years now but I know a lot of people who are re-visiting him so I might give him a try.

[Slainte]

Needful Things was brilliant, surprised no-one has mentioned it yet. I read it years ago and it still gives me that knot in the stomach feeling thinking of it.

[pointythings]

It
Bag of Bones
Duma Key
The Shining

Not necessarily in that order.

Avoid: the Tommyknockers, Cell, From a Buick 8, Dreamcatcher.

A lot of his books are linked in to his Dark Tower series - Hearts in Atlantis, Salem's Lot (retroactively), Black House, The Talisman. I'd really recommend the Dark Tower series, but it's a big commitment.

[blueshoes]

No one has mentioned Pet Sematary ...

[pointythings]

I'm a bit 'meh' about Pet Sematary - I think the idea is really really good, but he could have written it so much better! It has a rushed feel about it, which isn't like King at all. The scary bits seem to be there just as window dressing because the foundations haven't been laid properly like in some of his other books.

[MarkMarkMarkMark]

IT
The Stand
Thinner
The Long Walk
Green Mile
(Dark Tower - excellent fantasy)
The Shining
The Dead Zone
Carrie
Skeleton Crew (The Mist)
Different Seasons (The Body)
On Writing (a good non-fiction read)