I need a new Stephen King book

[DK]

Yeah, so I finally finished The Stand yesterday and I need something else of his to read. Is it time to finally jump into The Dark Tower?


Don't have much exposition to say here, I just want another of his books for now, don't care if you don't think much of him as a writer.

I've read It, Desperation, Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and now The Stand. I read The Shining a long time ago but don't remember much.

[Perversion]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

Read Gerald's Game and Dolores Clayborne back to back, as both contain cross-over references to each other. Gerald's Game is actually my favorite Stephen King book, with Dolores Clayborne and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon not too far behind. If you like his character-driven psychological dramas more than his straight-up horror stuff (not like he really even writes straight-up horror, actually), then either of these that I mentioned are well worth reading.

[Perversion]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

Well, his novels tend to be character-driven, with horror as a backdrop, whereas most of the film adaptations, aside from the overt character dramas (Stand By Me, Shawshank Redemption, etc) tend to focus on the horror aspects while giving the character development in the novels short shrift.

[Kire]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

Ever try Nightmares & Dreamscapes? I thought they were pretty fun and not too much of a commitment (short stories).

[Funk]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

The newest Stephen King book is Full Dark, No Stars.

[Hrafn]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

Now might be a good time to try one of his Bachman novels. Thinner might be the best, but any of them will work.

Also, you said you read Desperation, so The Regulators would be good to read while that's still relatively fresh in your mind. Those two are pretty closely tied together.

Although I'm a big King fan, I have to second Gloom's comment about the Dark Tower series. Although my personal favorite was Wizard and Glass (the characters and plot of that flashback story were arguably better than the ones in the main DT storyline), simple fact is 5, 6, and 7 were all kinda screwed up. Too much meta. I heard he's writing another one, we'll have to see where it goes.

[Big Rick Cook]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

Post-Dark Tower writing I found Duma Key to be awesome.

[Hrafn]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

I'd say most of his recent stuff has been good. The newest book of his I really did not care for was Dreamcatcher. I think maybe he was just working through some post-accident stuff with that one or something, because whatever meaning he was intending for it to have, it didn't. And the movie was just terrible. It bombed, and the only reason it didn't bomb harder is because they were smart enough to toss the first Animatrix short in with it, back when Matrix mania was just about at its peak.

[Funk]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

I think "Under The Dome" looks like a good read. I've never read a Stephen King novel, though.

[Riotsword]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

Under the Dome starts out pretty good, and then it just wears out and dies. I didn't even care by the end.

His books as Bachman are all pretty decent I thought; you should give The Regulators, The Long Walk, and Rage a look.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

Anybody else read Insomnia? It's largely uneventful but by the end I came to like it.

[Sivart the Sloth Trencher]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

Huh. I'm surprised no one's mentioned this one yet...

Misery. You should definitely read misery.

I remember reading this book back in ninth grade and it was pretty ****ing great. His most realistic stuff (no unnatural elements at all) tends to be the scariest. In my opinion, at least.

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

Nobody has said Christine yet, so.... Christine.

[Perversion]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

Anybody else read Insomnia? It's largely uneventful but by the end I came to like it.

Had the complete opposite effect on me (in regard to the title)...I tried really, really hard to read it for a period of about 3 weeks, and every time I picked it up, within 30-40 pages, I kept dozing off. I think I got about ~170 pages in, and gave up.


What's the one where everyone is stuck in this town, almost like one long street with a old West showdown or something? Was that Desperation? I think I kinda liked that one, but it was different than I was expecting it to be, and for some reason, I always get it mixed up with Needful Things. I think I saw part of the made-for-TV movie or miniseries or whatever that they did for the latter, and it was kinda not so good.

The Stand miniseries was okay, but obviously did not come close to comparing to the book. I actually read the entirety of the 1100+ page "real" version in like three days the one and only time I read it. Maybe three and a half. Second day, I blew through ~700 pages in one sitting.


As for his "realistic" stuff being scarier than his horror or supernatural stuff, yeah...it's kinda the reason Gerald's Game, Dolores Claiborne (spelled it wrong the first time), and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon are favorites of mine. Give Rose Madder a chance, too. Although it kinda got panned, and is usually not considered to be one of his better works, I did like it quite a bit, if you can take the sorta tacked-on "supernatural" or "monster" element with a grain of salt. The core story was actually pretty decent.


Probably the best "supernatural" novel I've read of his is actually The Shining.


Dreamcatcher was kinda cheesy, and the movie version was pretty horrible. Some of the stuff in Everything's Eventual was pretty good, and if you've not read Different Seasons, it should be right near the top of your list...the novellas that The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, and Apt Pupil are based on are three quarters of the book. Well worth reading.

[Loki]

Re: I need a new Stephen King book

His books as Bachman are all pretty decent I thought; you should give The Regulators, The Long Walk, and Rage a look.

Echoing this. I found The Long Walk haunting and couldn't put it down.