Few writers compare to Stephen King. Master of horror and weaver of our cultural fabric, King's been a mainstay now for decades. He's half the reason horror can be considered art, and he's the whole reason I'm terrified of clowns.
But he's also written a lot. Like A LOT. Enough books to ballast a cruise ship. So if you're new to King and looking for the right place to start, let this be a guide.
Here are eight of my personal favorite books by Stephen King (yes, in order). And at the end, I let you in on my secret biggest disappointment that nearly put me off of King.
The best books Stephen King has written:
11/22/63
A man travels back in time to stop the J.F.K. assassination, and uh-oh, things don’t go quite according to plan.
It’s a semi-interesting concept, maybe even a somewhat tired idea, but this book sings. The depth of historical detail is stunning, the twists and turns captivating, and the tension is classic King. Also classic King is the fact that if you buy the hardcover, it doubles as ballast and in a pinch can be used for self-defense. King is known for nothing if not the length of his works, and this is no exception. But it doesn’t _feel_ that long. It’s a book that welcomes you warmly into its embrace, then starts squeezing you tighter and tighter until you just about can’t breathe until you get to the ending. And about that ending. Endings make stories, and this one is bittersweet perfection. No spoilers here — you’ll just have to read it — but it’s well worth the dedication. King has said that his son (the novelist Joe Hill) helped him to tidy up the ending, and it really worked. Think the kid might know a thing or two about writing.
Read if:
You like historical fiction, moving characters, and warm worlds.
Skip if:
You don’t like good books.
The Stand
The worst flu the world’s ever seen escapes a lab and eviscerates the country.
The rare survivors are drawn in two directions — the good, to a mysterious old woman who appears in their dreams and leads them to Colorado, and the bad, who are consumed by dark forces in Nevada. Neither can let the other live, and the fate of humanity hangs in the balance on which side wins… Classic King. Literally, given it was his fourth novel ever published, back in the woebegone era of the 1970s. It’s also his longest, if you read the right version (the uncut, King’s preferred text version that adds a whole other book’s length into the picture with 400 pages that had to be left out of the original). It’s complex, with interwoven storylines and slow burn tales shot through with bursts of adrenaline and terror. Absolutely marvelous work. Maybe you don’t feel like reading plague books in a post-COVID world. Your loss. This one’s worth it.
Read if:
You like dark fantasy, post-apocalyptic terror, complex, interwoven storylines.
Skip if:
You’re still not over COVID or just can’t stomach extreme (fun!) violence. But in that case you’re mostly out of luck with King…
It
Evil clown terrorizes the population of Derry, Maine, and it’s up to a band of young kids to stop him.
The only book to give me nightmares as an adult, and possibly the most popular film adaptation of any of King’s work. It’s weird, it’s creepy, it gets under your skin and haunts you, and you just. Can’t. Put. It. Down. Much of King’s work has ended up weaving itself into the cultural fabric of our society, but few of them have done it like It. If you’ve never read King, this is the place to start. You’ll get a sense of terror like few other stories can manage, you’ll be introduced to Derry, Maine, King’s favorite fictional town, and you’ll finally understand all those creepy clown memes that plaster your favorite social media app every few months. I will note, the ending gets… uh, weird. But it works. In King’s fashion.
Read if:
You like being scared, and if you’re into the weird.
Skip if:
You’re a scaredy pants.
The Shining
A broke father takes a job as the winter caretaker in a haunted hotel, bringing just his wife and young son. They’re cut off from civilization by the heavy snows, trapped in an ancient structure that wants to consume them, but they might have a chance if they can just stick together…
Tense. No other way to put it. This book is TENSE. Your chest will be tight pretty much from the get-go, and damn, it will not ease up until the end. I can’t really say much more about the book without giving too much away, but you ought to at least know that if you’ve seen the movie… that ain’t really the book. Personally, I thought the movie was great fun, and will watch it many times again just for Jack Nicholson’s wild performance, but the book is better. Of course. So much better that King himself despises the film.
Read if:
You like tension.
Skip if:
You’re in need of love.
The Green Mile
John Coffey, An inmate in Cold Mountain Penitentiary death row has been convicted of the brutal rape and murder of two girls in the 1930s.
But for those he comes into contact with in the prison, he’s a gentle giant, exudes only kindness… and supernatural healing powers, where just a touch can soothe illnesses, maybe even death itself. Will Coffey be marched down the Green Mile, the final stretch of the prison to the electric chair, or is there more to his story and how he came to the prison? A tender story, which is kind of an anomaly for King. Also brutal in many ways, as one might (reasonably) expect from a story wherein two young girls were raped and murdered. This was originally published as a series, then combined and resold as a book, and that lends itself to an interesting bit of storytelling. Few wasted words, and a magical book for transporting you into King’s world, a Georgia created from whole cloth.
Read if:
You like tender, moving, powerful stories.
Skip if:
You’re looking for one of King’s dark fantasies (but maybe rethink that… this book is stellar).
Pet Sematary
This one’s as creepy as stories come. A doctor moves his young family to rural Maine, settling into a house between a dangerous stretch of highway and an ancient burial ground that is said to have the power to bring the dead back to life…
but they’re never the same. When tragedy strikes the family, the doctor goes to the burial ground and his real horrors begin. While lots of King’s books skirt the line between genres, this one is pure horror all the way down. A haunting book made even the creepier for being inspired by a real house that King lived in with his own young family.
Read if:
You like horror, dread, and fantastically creepy suspense.
Skip if:
You need your characters to redeem themselves.
Doctor Sleep
Love the Shining but wish it haunted a new generation? This one’s for you.
The sequel to The Shining, set a couple decades later, it follows the mentally struggling, broken Danny Torrance, son of the OG Shining bad dad. He's still got his paranormal gift, and it haunts him. Then he runs into a young girl with an even stronger gift, and finds an old evil after her... can he save her?
Read if:
You like classic, good vs. evil, paranormal suspense.
Skip if:
You need something new and fresh.
On Writing
A memoir of the craft of writing, from one of our modern kings of writing (pun intended).
Even if you don’t care to ever try your hand at writing fiction, this one’s worth the read just to get insight on the practice from one of the master storytellers of our time. Some of the advice is dated, like finding an agent and getting published, an issue King hasn’t had to worry about in decades. But the day-to-day process of crafting a novel is mesmerizing. And who knows, this just might kickstart your desire to pen your own.
Read if:
You like Stephen King and learning new things about interesting people.
Skip if:
You only want fiction.
And the biggest disappointment...
Now for the not so good…
It's worth noting… there are some BAD Stephen King books. And that's a weird statement, because a lot of the time a _bad_ Stephen King book is just a middle-of-the-pack book from anyone else.
And yet.
With the sheer volume this man has published, why settle for the bad?
So here are a few to avoid outright:
The Eyes of The Dragon. A story that hangs on a thread (if you read it, you know what I mean here, har har har), and not a very thick one at that. It's okay fantasy but not much else. Short. Maybe an okay airplane read. But there are better books out there.
Insomnia. I wanted to throw this book through the window. It's about 400 pages longer than it needs to be. Yes, King is notoriously verbose, but this one is just over the top. Skip it.
And… sorry to say, but I'd also skip the Dark Tower.
Nooo, I can hear the hordes of Stephen King's most ardent fans coming to burn down my house… let me explain…
The first two and a half books are good. The fourth isn't bad. The Wind Through the Keyhole is legitimately great. But, on the whole, if you're going to read a series you're going to want to finish it, and this series loses itself in the last few books. It grows self indulgent and over corrects to please the uber fans, and just doesn't satisfy.
King says that with the Dark Tower, he set out to write the longest fantasy series ever, and boy did he succeed. But that length takes its toll, and even if you space it all out, it still feels like too much.
Read only if you like Stephen King himself more than his novels.
Skip if you just want a good story.
And that's it! Now pick one and dive in. Happy reading!