Stephen King - 'IT', really scary book

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I thought the film was really silly and not at all frightening - the clown was almost comical.

I decided to read the book (don't usually read horror) and it's really got to me and given me nightmares!

'It' is very scary, Pennywise is one of the nastiest, most chilling characters in literature imo and SK breaks a taboo when he kills off the younger brother right at the start of the book (as I recall - the boy follows his toy boat to the sewers?) which really sets the scene. But Stephen Kings's books almost never translate well to the big screen. The characters express themselves so much through internalised thought rather than speech or action.

Have you read Gerald's Game? It is about a couple who go off to their cabin off-season to revive their marraige/sex life. Gerald (the husband) gets out the handcuffs and handcuffs his wife to the bed, he then keels over and dies (she kicks him in the nads because he is so repulsive). What follows is the story of how she gets herself free. It is a very good story, very disturbing in places, but I would say impossible to make a film out of as you see everything through the wife's eyes.

No, I haven't - this is the first SK book I have read. I had heard The Stand is also very good?

Tommy knockers and pet cemetery are creapy and really good to read.

'The Stand' is excellent.

I like 'It' a lot apart from that silly bit with Bill and his wife. I agree it's one of King's scarier ones and that the murder of the little boy (is it Denny?) is a horrible but great opening. And the bit with the gay man is v distressing.

I don't like 'Gerald's Game' - I think it's one of the worse things he's written.

In terms of film, 'Misery' and 'The Dead Zone' both work well imho.

Oh, pet semetary is the scariest, most vile book i have ever read and could never read this post children. I think stephen king either writes fantastic books or really shite books! I agree with those who say the films never translate well.

I haven't read "it" and i don't think i could - the film was just awful (scary and upsetting).

Oh and cujo, in the film the little boy survives, and in the book he doesn't , i had seen the film first so wasn't expecting that, i was devestated :(

It the film was bad. I think some of the others mentioned have worked though.

My favourite book of his is needful things, and I also like Hearts in Atlantis a lot. I like the psychological ones.

I find it hard to get my head around the fact that "the shawshank redemption" was based on a stephen king short story.

I think he is a good writer, his books read well, but i grew tired of the apocalyptic endings, often involving some sort of alien life force. Wasn't "it" a giant alien spider in the end?

Pennywise is the embodiment of the evil of Derry, isn't he? The town itself has something 'wrong' with it and Pennywise is an aspect of that - the town has created various evils itself and attracts evil to it. Or am I over-thinking it?

I detest 'Needful Things.' I think 'The Tommyknockers' 'Gerald's Game' and 'Needful Things' are by far his worst. 'Needful Things' is trite and sex-obsessed and 'Gerald's Game' just gets sillier and sillier as the evil geezer in the corner arrives.

I read 'Cujo' before I saw the film and was cross that they'd changed the ending in the film. Yes, it 'feels better', but the book is more powerful because it 'feels worse' I think.

IT was given many 'faces' to make it more palatable, it wasn't necessarily actually physical.

The little brother is George :(. I love SK can read them over and over again apart from The Shining now that really frightens me.

The Stand is my favourite. I think it was made into a mini series and didn't work due to the lack of depth given to the characters.

He almost didn't publish Pet Semetary as he said even he thought he had gone too far this time.

I love IT, The Stand is excellent as is Misery.

Misery was a terrible film but the book is very good.

Every time I hear 'Für Elise' I think 'Mrs Denbrough was playing that when George was killed'. Not that I've read the book much

The Shawshank Redemption wasn't just based on the novella though, the film was the closest book-to-movie adaptation I've ever seen. And Stand By Me (from another novella from the same book) is just a lovely teen movie/book, I can never decide if the book or the movie is better. River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton just made the movie with their acting. I can never reconcile Wil Wheaton in the movie with him in The Big Bang Theory now!

I re-read 'Pet Semetary' a couple of weeks ago. It's fun but it's not really scary and it gets a bit daft at the end with all that failing to learn from his mistakes stuff going on. I really like the old man though.

Who is Denny then? I'm sure he's a SK child because I used to want to name a little boy it! Think, Remus, think...

I like most of his books, though got bored with both Needful Things and TOmmyknockers.
It scared me green when I first read it about 25 years ago.

IT is the scariest book I've ever read, it definitely gave me nightmares - I was about 15 when I read it and wouldn't pick it up again!

It was great though, and I really like the way SK can write in layers; there is what's happening and what the character is actually saying, then you have the character's thoughts, but also then the subconscious. Its very clever but like others have said, it can't translate into the big screen....

It is brilliantly scary, I read it as a teenager and used to have nightmares about waking up and seeing a balloon tied to my bedside lamp.

The Stand is also fantastic, but very very long. I also like Carrie and Firestarter.