Considered by some to be king s scariest book, pet sematary becomes less of a queasy moral fable and more of a traditional horror, jumpscare picture in the hands of director mary lambert. Their subject matter is rarely pleasant, and the events that take place within them are often highly disturbing. The surprise for nonking readers will be that those emotions may include wonder, amusement, tenderness, admiration, hope, nostalgia, awe, wistfulness, and joy. Stephen king, his books, and their origins at lisner audiotorium duration. As one of the most prolific horror and suspense writers in the biz, stephen king has enough books in his extensive oeuvre to last thriller readers quite some time. The first novel i ever read of king s was the girl who loved tom gordon. I have been an avid king fan ever since, reading everything he has published, including works written under his pseudonym. Hes sold hundreds of millions of books, seen countless movies of varying quality adapted from his work and, at 67, remains one of the. We rank it number one because its in many ways the ideal king novel, the novel scientists would create if they sought to grow a king. Sep 07, 2017 king, of course, did not actually stop writing horror novels after it of the nearly 40 books hes written since, at least a quarter can be classified as horror, with many more horroradjacent. Stephen king is the author of 52 novels and around 200 short stories. If his books werent scary, nobody would buy them, for after all, a good scare is what horror fiction fans demand. Stephen king is sorry you feel like youre stuck in a stephen.
The institute might be stephen kings scariest novel yet. Note that aside from creepshow 2, it chapter two, and doctor sleep, the sequels are only tangentially related to stephen king s work. King s novel may be fiction, but these scary vampire legends might just be true. His books have sold over 350 million copies since he first published carrie in 1974.
Since 2001, hes put out nineteen more novels, adding onto the previous thirtyfive. The mainer has a career spanning more than 40 years and dozens of titles, but there are a few. Its very good, about vampires, i was hooked instantly and couldnt put it down. Stephen kings 10 scariest books, because sleeping is overrated 1. Christine is a horror novel by american writer stephen king, published in 1983. The craft of writing horror stories while writer stephen king was recovering from a nearfatal car accident, he finished a nonfiction book. The author of fifty novels, nearly two hundred short stories and nine collections of short fiction, he is as productive as he is versatile. In other words, not only has stephen king written some genius novels and short stories, novellas, essays, and works of criticism, but hes written a lot of them51 novels to date, in fact, with number 52 coming up shortly. The 10 greatest stephen king horror novels according to goodreads. May 20, 2017 the fact that stephen king can take an idea like this one and turn it into a very readable short story is a testament to his writing ability. Apr 02, 2014 the author here is stephen king, though, so be prepared for the stories to bring up some strong emotions. A list of stephen king s novels, organized alphabetically. I held in my hand the one stephen king volume that would probably not generate that description or anything close to it from anyone.
Stephen king has seen his share of controversy over the years, but one of his earliest novels is so contested that its not available to buy anymore. The mist first published as a novella in skeleton crew. Every single stephen king book, ranked from worst to best. While most of king s books maintain a comforting, yarnlike tone amidst all the grossout moments, tension, and body horror excess, few are as unnerving on a chaptertochapter level as cujo. However, the sheer number of books 54 novels, six non. It tells the story of a 1958 plymouth fury apparently possessed by supernatural forces. King has been such a defining part of the horror genre, with a total of 61 novels, 200 short stories, and 82 film adaptations. Stephen king s protagonists have been hunted by all sorts of malevolent beings, from the demonic clown of. Carrie was an explosive start, but stephen kings second published novel best forecasted what to expect from the horror genres most outstanding author. The least scary stephen king book ive ever read the.
Posted by lisa braxton on monday, december 9, 2019. Many of his books have been adapted into movies, including it, carrie, the dark tower series, and the shining. What is the scariest or most disturbing part of stephen king. Thats sort of what it is aboutfinding a persons fears and exploiting them. With more than 50 books in print, king is insanely prolific. Stephen kings 10 scariest books, because sleeping is overrated. A roundup of the scariest stephen king movies, from least to most. Stephen kings protagonists have been hunted by all sorts of malevolent beings, from the demonic clown of it to the fiendish cowboy randall flagg in the. Children of the corn first published as a short story in night shift.
Stephen king hype is climbing to a high in advance of 2017s. I dont mind reading scary novels, but its the psychological effects afterward that gets to me. Best stephen king books ranked by how scary they are. All the synopses and book jacket images above were obtained directly from. With the release of hulus castle rocka show that pulls from the many different stephen king novels and stories set in this one particular, terrible little town, check out this list of books set in there, from least scary to most. Why have stephen king novels become less scary in recent years.
This is a list of media based on work by stephen king including the richard bachman titles. Sep, 2011 one such movie is it, based on the novel by stephen king, which had a child killing clown. A film adaptation, directed by john carpenter, was released in december of the same year. Misery god, i saw annie for weeks all over the house salems lot the. It tells the story of a car a 1958 plymouth fury apparently possessed by supernatural forces. Which book of stephen kings is the least scary answers.
This year marks four decades as a published novelist for stephen king, and since carrie first hit shelves in the spring of 1974 hes written more than 50 novels, dozens of short stories, screenplays and nonfiction in various forms. Many readers king fans or not have called the stand the best postapocalyptic book ever debatable. If youre going for introduction into king, starting at the start is always a good idea. Jul 22, 2016 king staked his claim to the horror world when he published carrie in 1974. But, after much voting, pet sematary by stephen king is your top pick, and hell house by richard matheson comes in a close 2 nd. Jan 12, 2018 the stephen king top ten could be argued up and down, but theres little doubt that the shininghis most parodied, most famous, twiceadapted novelis always going to be a contender for the top slot. The stephen king novel so controversial its been out of.
It was the first novel by stephen king that i had ever read. The novel contains his definitive depiction of derry, maine, his fictional analog for the actual town of bangor, and. King originally planned to publish misery under the pseudonym. His name might be synonymous with horror, but its not easy to pick out stephen king s scariest books. Contains spoilers for stephen king s novel it and possibly spoilers for the upcoming film adaptation, too for rampant stephen king fans like myself, 2017 is set to be a year of. Not simply because i love pennywise, but also due to the fact that the novel encompasses some of stephen kings best writing ever. So, without further ado, and with a little fanfare, we present to you our pick of scariest books ever written, the best horror books no matter what kind of horror you are into. The only thing i may look forward to more than a new stephen king novel is a new collection of his short stories.
I cant afford to keep the lights on every night for the rest of my life. Stephen king was only an actor and seemed to be scary, but not in real life another answer. From an oeuvre of almost 100 books, here are the best stephen king books, ranked. To keep ourselves busy while we wait, weve already ranked every one of the master of horror s novels but for the purposes of comparing apples to apples presumably, apples with razorblades hidden inside them, our exhaustive list did not include king. Stephen king is sorry you feel like youre stuck in a stephen king novel the horror writer says he understands why fans have said the covid19 pandemic feels like living inside one of his novels. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, and many of them have been adapted into feature films, television movies and comic books. End of watch, the third book in his hardboiled detective trilogy, is due out in june. Oct 20, 2017 sounds like a cheesy, worn premise, but hill turns his debut novel into a nightmare of insanity and culpability and regret. The 10 best nothorror, notscary books by stephen king. I do not want to have nightmares for weeks, or not be able to sleep, over a book. The 10 best stephen king books your picks for the horror masters scariest, most suspenseful pageturners, from it to the dead zone by. It by stephen king, the shining by stephen king, pet sematary by stephen king, salems lot by stephen king, misery by steph. Christine is a horror novel written by stephen king, published in 1983.
Jan 21, 2019 it was the first novel by stephen king that i had ever read. Stephen king is a literary icon, a status hes achieved by a defining a genre. The 10 scariest stephen king novels horror freak news. Stephen king books that wont scare the crap out of me because 1. Apr 06, 2020 as one of the most prolific horror and suspense writers in the biz, stephen king has enough books in his extensive oeuvre to last thriller readers quite some time. These are the stephen king books i have read so far. Feb 18, 2016 and at age 68, king shows no sign of slowing down. In his entire career, i wouldnt venture to say for sure, but what comes to mind instantly because its relatively recent is elevation. However, calum marsh at the national post argues theres never been a better time to read the stand, widely considered the popular horror.
Jul 18, 2019 released in 1974, carrie was stephen kings first published novel. Sissy spaceks breakthrough role as the troubled teenage carrie is both sympathetic and frightening, resulting in one of the very best performances in any horror film ever. An underrated classic, rose madder 1995 is the story of rosie daniels, a wife who has finally found the courage to. Stephen king shares coronavirusrelated chapter from his. Every single stephen king novel ranked by how likely they are. That depends on whether youre looking for a horror classic like it or supernatural novel like the shining, heres every king book. Gwendys button box isnt quite scary, either, but it has more potentially om. I was in the waiting room of the dentists office the other day when another patient glanced over and asked me what book i was reading.
The novels protagonist carrie white endures endless teasing and bullying from the popular kids. This adaptation of a king novel is probably the best of the authors movies and is easily one of the most frightening films of all time. Stephen king on his best and worst books, and returning to. List of adaptations of works by stephen king wikipedia.
Top 10 modern horror novels more terrifying than a stephen. A definitive ranking of every stephen king short story. Theres no doubt that writer stephen king is best known for the horror novels that haunt his special corner of american literature. They dont call him the king of horror for nothing christine 1983.
King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name richard. Its no secret that king s books often arent appropriate for the overly squeamish or faint of heart. Like other answers, i was in my early teens when i read it. Top 10 most underrated novels hail to stephen king ep59 duration. Stephen king is sorry you feel like youre stuck in a. Apr 09, 2020 the author, who wrote about a pandemic of a strain of influenza that wiped out almost all humans on earth in his 1978 novel the stand, says a real, much less severe pandemic was bound to happen. That depends on whether youre looking for a horror classic like it or supernatural novel like the shining, heres every king book ranked by scarefactor. Stephen king has evolved into one of literatures most complex cases. The author here is stephen king, though, so be prepared for the stories to bring up some strong emotions. Misery god, i saw annie for weeks all over the house salems lot the shining carrie eyes of. Its far to say that he was emotionally scarred during this period, and when youre writing a horror novel this is a good thing. So many of stephen king s scariest novels still need movie remakes or tv adaptations.
But by some off chance youre a stranger to his writing, weve rounded up 10 of the best, most ghastly horror books written by stephen kinghis greatest hits, if you willin no particular order. In a recent interview with rolling stone, prolific author and cameolover, stephen king 67 talked about how lifes been treating him since that van nearly slammed the life out of him back in 1999. Apr 27, 2020 one of hulus earliest bigbudget attempts at a limited series was 2016s adaptation of king s highlyacclaimed 2011 timetravel novel, 112263. Little girl gets lost in the woods, but shes not alone. See where misery, the shining, pet sematary, and the dark tower land and which horror gem takes the top spot. The best stephen king movies, ranked from worst to best. With well over 50 novels, multiple novellas, short story collections, and works of nonfiction, plus a handful of other releases that defy easy categorization among them, a libretto for a southern gothic musical, stephen king is a literary madman and an insanelyquotable storyteller. Stephen king, one of the masters of american horror fiction, has an oeuvre of close to 100.
A definitive ranking of every stephen king novel ever. A tv miniseries was produced in 1997 that was truer to the book, but it was nowhere near as creepy in part because steven weber is no jack nicholson. Geralds game is a 1992 suspense novel by american writer stephen king. Without a moments hesitation he went with liseys story, a 2006 novel about a woman coping with. I havent managed to read all of stephen king s novels yet im still working on that but i. Stephen kings 10 scariest books, because sleeping is. Sep 24, 2017 it depends on what kind of things scare you.
Nov 05, 2014 in our recent interview with stephen king, we asked the author to name the best book he ever wrote. The surprise for non king readers will be that those emotions may include wonder, amusement, tenderness, admiration, hope, nostalgia, awe, wistfulness, and joy. Aug 24, 2015 you may have heard of a writer named stephen king. Apr 08, 2020 stephen king is sorry you feel like youre stuck in a stephen king novel the horror writer says he understands why fans have said the covid19 pandemic feels like living inside one of his novels.
Apr 10, 2009 the books arent really all that scary, but they are beautifully written, it is hard to find a author that is that good at what they do. The book, as is usual, is much more scary than the movie, because you. Carrie was an explosive start, but stephen king s second published novel best forecasted what to expect from the horror genres most. Apr 11, 2018 10 scariest stephen king novels whatculture. Stephen king remains horror fictions most popular and celebrated writer. Pet sematary isnt just horror, its one of the scariest. The following is a complete list of books published by stephen king, an american author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. On september 10, stephen king s hotly anticipated new thriller the institute arrives to scare the pants off of us again.
Its a wellcrafted story from an author with a lot to prove. If ever he thought of slowing down right after the accident he contemplated retiring, youd never know. Apr, 2017 stephen kings it remains one of his most disturbing and sprawling novels. For me, here are a few scenes i remember thinking were scary when i first read the book. A memoir of the craft, is the kind of book that could actually calm fears and ease fright, at least when it comes to writing. In other words, not only has stephen king written some genius novels. From one stephen king scaredycat to anotherwelcome to castle rock. Best and worst stephen king movie adaptations screenrant.
Read the book and decide for yourself which is the most horrific scene. Yes, i love stephen king, but even being a constant reader doesnt prevent me from being willing to admit that the man can and often does go long on his word count. The one movie king ever directed, and well, you know, stephen king is a wonderful writer who should probably stick with writing. Meanwhile, king kept turning out novels at a rate only the most committed fan could keep up with the new volume lists him as the author of more than 60 books, often veering away from the. By the time carrie hit the big screen in 1976, king had put out another novel, salems lot.
512 1228 659 421 235 232 170 1496 826 183 152 396 717 913 12 326 173 107 562 2 27 1287 412 1106 954 847 1357 1043 31 843 1171 354 402 136