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What Stephen King books are appropriate for a 12 year old

71 replies

ConnorFett · 30/05/2021 15:21

My son loves horror and has been asking me for a while if he could read Stephen king's books but I've never read one myself so I don't know how appropriate his books are. Do you know of any that might be appropriate for him to read. I'm not as worried about the violence or gore as I am the sexual content and language.

OP posts:
cantgetmyheadroundit · 03/06/2021 14:21

Forever, by Judy Blume?
Lace was rude. Also The Thornbirds Grin

cantgetmyheadroundit · 03/06/2021 14:22

Sorry that was @NeverDropYourMoonCup

LivingDeadGirlUK · 03/06/2021 20:54

@ContinuousMonotoneBeep

James Herbert has aged dreadfully. Standard man of action and womento scream, die, or for for men to sex with.

There's a lot of sex and it's either crap (not recovered from "moist cave" still or warped.

I'm sure there's some incest in Rats, or it's incestual-sounding. Fairly sure there's a school boy orge in it too.

Odd. Not books for a 12 year old to get from his mother!!

Though I read a few of his books at that sort of age and I dont reall it. So maybe they don't al have weird sex in them. Still they might be too of thier time writing for a 12 year old now.

I'd read a lot of SK before I read any James Herbert and I did think to myself the sex and characters in his books made them sound like they were written by a 16 year old boy. I have def enjoyed some of the stories but it seemed like a lot of sexual violence just for the hell of it, which I don't think was the case with Stephen king at the time although I believe some of his later books are quite nasty in that sense.
ContinuousMonotoneBeep · 03/06/2021 23:54

Yes, James Herbert's stories are great. Just a shame about the old fashioned misogyny and the pointless crap sex 'shocking' sex.

Can't recall dogy sex in SK either, though I can recall reading something and thinking he was being weird about young teenage girls' breast and periods again. Only issue is I can't recall which books I thought that about!

bruffin · 12/07/2021 17:20

I would start with his short stories.. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption or The Body
Doesnt Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption have male rape scenes
TBH i dont think many of them are suitable for 12 years olds

Kanaloa · 14/07/2021 00:47

I would just be careful with The Body as it often comes packaged in the ‘Different Seasons’ book, which contains another (very disturbing) story called The Apt Pupil, which I don’t think would be appropriate for a 12 year old at all.

I think Stephen King is slightly spoiled by being read too young, part of the enjoyment - for me - is the realisation that actually the worst of his novels are the humans in them, which I think might be lost to a 12 year old.

EBearhug · 14/07/2021 01:03

I think 12 is too young for SK. Of course, we were reading Lace and Flowers in the Attic at 12-13, but not with our parents' knowledge. Our shared copy of Forever was confiscated by the headmaster, though.

Children should be reading things parents don't approve of, but that means you can't recommend them...

Silverparting · 14/07/2021 01:13

By 13 I had read lots of SK and loved The Stand and IT. I'm not saying these are appropriate, but I was such a huge fan.
I had also read Forever at that point along with the Virginia Andrews books.

alexdgr8 · 14/07/2021 01:19

None.

SageBlue · 14/07/2021 19:21

I'd try his short story collection Skeleton Crew.

mum2jakie · 14/07/2021 21:49

I started with Firestarter at that age. A great read and nothing too scary for a pre-teen. Probably more science fiction than horror.

Jefferyjr · 15/11/2022 16:43

never read pet cemetery or the shinning because they are one of his most scary ones that I have read and definitely not appropriate

WaveyHair · 15/11/2022 16:49

Night shift- collection of short stories.
Salems Lot is really good
Christine I read about 5 times
Pet Cemetery
The Shining is just a classic

I started reading Stephen King about 12/13 years old.....

VillageCottageEmo · 15/11/2022 16:51

I read IT at 10. Wouldn’t recommend.

Cell
1408 (short story)

heymammy · 15/11/2022 17:00

MegBusset · 30/05/2021 22:20

I would suggest The Talisman (co-written with Peter Straub), it's one of his best novels imo and kind of crosses fantasy / horror, but isn't really gory and no sexy bits. The protagonist is a 12-year-old boy.

Agree with this, I reread The Talisman fairly recently and can't remember anything inappropriate.

Also Firestarter and The Institute were fine as far as I remember

potniatheron · 15/11/2022 17:00

Misery - has some pretty extreme torture scenes
IT - has an underage rapey orgy at the end, plus fairly graphic domestic violence scenes
Pet Semetary - really good, but a bit graphic on the gravedigging. Suitable for a mid teen though.
Thinner, which he wrote under the Richard Bachamn pseudonym, would be suitable - lots of icky horror (someone afflicted with horrific acne, someone else who grows sacles) which a boy of 12 would probably enjoy.
Rose Madder - heavy on the domestic violence, but a very woman centred and feminist novel - plus incredibly tense and thrilling
Cujo - very suitable for a 12 year old.
Firestarter - Sci-fi but very dated and possibly quite difficult to understand unless he knows a bit about the Vietnam War

Avoid the short stories and novellas. Many are sexually graphic. Someone suggested The Long Walk, but it's pretty damn harrowing.

On the whole, SK has a bad rep for teens - his writing is sophisticated, he clealrly loves english language and literature, and for me it was the jump off to other authers like Lovecraft and Poe. So definitely chose him a small selection from the above.

Yes, it's horror, but don't worry too much - it's still not as graphic as Homer's Iliad (bowels being scooped out, eyeballs being pierced, heads being severed and kicked around the battlefield) or Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus (full on rape and torture).

VisitingThem · 15/11/2022 19:40

I think Cell and The Mist are fairly low on the sexual themes, I enjoyed reading both of them. I imagine a teenager would love Dreamcatcher as most of the first chapter is about farting if I remember correctly.

purplepencilcase · 15/11/2022 20:55

I read James Herbert books at that age, then progressed on to Stephen King!

Puppylucky · 15/11/2022 21:39

I wouldn't recommend the Girl who loved Tom Gordon as it's quite boring and totally unrepresentative of what the OP is looking for from SK. The Dead Zone and Christine are both brilliant - and will teach him a lot about human relationships as well as being exciting/scary.

Puppylucky · 15/11/2022 21:40

Sorry that should be the OPs son!

Honeyroar · 15/11/2022 21:46

Kujo? Was that quite simple as they went?
Pet Sematary.

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