I should read Stephen King if…?

[AfterTheRainComesSun]

Never ready any of his books, who would ypu recommend his books to?

Early King - If you like well written horror.
Later King - If you're a glutton for punishment.

Yes 😂, spot on!

Everyone everywhere should read Stephen King imo

If you like a satisfying ending then maybe avoid. They're usually good until about 5 pages from the end!

Completely agree with this! His endings drive me mad.
Try a shorter novel, don't try to slog your way through IT if you've never read his stuff before.

Personally I can only read it in broad sunshine on a beach 😂. Never recovered from IT.

Agree his earlier books are better. Although I liked Under The Dome.

@NooNakedJacuzziness oh I love a Stephen King ending, hate when they make it a happy ending in the film where it wasn't in the book

I have never recovered from Pet Semetary-read at Uni and it scarred me for life!

They all seem to fizzle out or "it was aliens wot did it". I do love his books but not his endings!

My 11yr old has just read her 1st Stephen King book, she wanted to read IT but I gave her The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon to start her off with! She was confused by all of the basketball talk but otherwise enjoyed it.

My personal favourite is 11/22/63.

What @FlameGrilledSquirrel said! Also be warned - IT has an extremely repulsive scene that for me was beyond the pale. Yes, even in a horror book.

Yes! 11/22/63 was brilliant, a real page turner with a proper ending.

I meant baseball not basketball sorry!

Pet Cemetery scared the life out of me! ( the film however was shite 😆 )

Another vote for 11/22/63 as one of his best.

I thought his new-ish one, Fairy Tale, was fantastic.

If you like crime thrillers, his Mr Mercedes/Holly Gibney series is great but does have a supernatural twist.

Avoid Dreamcatcher like the plague. He wrote it while on very strong medication after he was hit by a car and it really is a stinker.

Misery is the best starting place. Super tense, no magic denouement and a proper ending.

I think King's best novels are the ones with no supernatural elements, or where they're treated a bit more lightly (eg Carrie, The Stand) than whole universes created (Insomnia).

I am a huge King fan, have read pretty much everything he’s ever done, and I actually threw Dreamcatcher in the bin. I didn’t even send to the charity shop.

I really wouldn't say that IT is suitable for an 11yo child. My 15yo has just read it and I had forgotten how bad it is in places, especially the section where it talks about Beverley and her Dad, it is really disgusting. Even DD's teachers raised an eyebrow at her reading it. When DD read some of it out to me, I was horrified.

If I had remembered, I wouldn't have let her read it :(

The Stand is a good book but a long read.

I like a lot of the early stuff too, Cujo, Carrie, Misery, Christine, Firestarter. The Green Mile.

I also like his books which have several stories in, like Four Past Midnight or Skeleton Crew. There are some great little stories in those. The Mist is one of my favourites.

Thinner written as Richard Bachman is good too.

No it is definitely not suitable for an 11yr old, that's why I gave her The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon instead. I first read IT when I was 12, as much as I didn't have any problems reading the words themselves I think a lot of what was happening went right over my head at that age!

My daughter might think she's up to reading Stephen King already but I disagree! I gave her The Princess Bride to read a while back and she handed it back to me after 5 minutes saying it was "too wordy" so not sure how she thinks she's going to manage a 900 odd page book set across 2 different timelines and told from the perspectives of multiple different characters! I'd rather she avoided any more SK for now!

I started with The Eyes Of The Dragon as a teenager (15/16 probably) There's more magic than horror in that one, if I recall correctly.

I read The Institute recently. I would not recommend that for a child/teenager.

I read a lot of Stephen King as a teenager and my overall memory is that SK has a thing about eyeballs 😂 always a slice or a pop of an eyeball in there somewhere

Carrie was a good read in my view!

There's a definite shift in style between older and newer but I've enjoyed them all differently. My mum introduced me to SK.

My first foray was thinner. Then Christine and found night shift.
I love his short stories, from a buick 8, 4 past midnight, everything's eventual and just after sunset has a goosebumper of a story. I won't spoil which one!

The shining and the later follow up too.
If you've watched any films of his books, apart from green mile, Shawshank and stand by me, don't judge the book!

Rose madder, girl who loved tim Gordon great. I've just finished lisey's story and bag of bones. Real people but supernatural elements. Fairytale was excellent too.
It and the stand are whoppers but good. Like pp though, the ending of IT snapped me back to reality. Unpleasant.
Currently reading desperation.

But, by far my favourite is 11/22/63. I just didn't want it to finish. Avoid the TV series like the plague - utter shite.

I find you need to get over the Americanisms and sometimes the language/ swearing let’s them down. But his ability to create an interesting story is fantastic.

I think Pet Semetary is a good example of his work. It’s got “ the unexplained” but also the absolute horrors that normal life can throw us, which he puts into lots of his stories. I like the details too. What went before, his wife’s story etc.
I like the big stories especially The Stand . His books often start as one thing and end up as another and this one takes it to another level.

Start with Carrie. He did.