fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3703 ]

[ SECRET POST #3703 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3703 ⌋

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I've read Misery, really disliked it, but an acquaintance swears that that's not one of his better ones, and has been trying to get me to read another one, to the point that every time I see him now he asks if I've read any Stephen King books since I last saw him. Which is honestly making me even less interested in reading his stuff, but I thought I'd ask here since I feel like I can trust you guys' opinions more than this random dude's (yeah, I guess that's weird, but whatever).

Anyway. Is it true that Misery isn't one of the good ones? Is his other stuff better? Is it possible I might still like his other stuff even if I dislike Misery? This dude and his wife both suggested Salem's Lot, but I don't know. The premise of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon actually sounds vaguely interesting to me, but again...I don't know.

Usually I prefer mystery/suspense/thrillers to straight up horror, but I've read several books by John Saul and Douglas Clegg and enjoyed them, and I feel like those are authors that sometimes get compared to SK.

So. Thoughts? Should I read any of his other stuff even though I really, really didn't like Misery? If so, should I start with Salem's Lot or The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, or something else entirely?

I've never read Misery, and I don't remember thinking terribly highly of Salem's Lot, but I really, really enjoyed Cell and 95 percent of 11/22/63. His memoir "Oh Writing" is really good, too.

I feel kind of weird about IT. I remember reading it because I liked the movie, and the writing is compelling but the story itself goes in unncessarily pervy and strange places.

I personally liked his earlier stuff -- Carrie, Salem's Lot, Christine, Firestarter. (The short stories were good, but scared the crap out of me). I even liked The Stand, for all its flaws.

I've heard people say good things about Dark Tower too.

(I didn't care much for Misery either, or It. I can rmember reading Cujo and Pet Sematary, but don't recall much about them. haven't read anything he did after It.)

I say poke at any book that looks interesting to you ( especially of you an borrow it from someone :p), but if it doesn't grab you after 20 or 30 pages, there's no reason you have to finish.

Firestarter is another that I remember liking.

Pet Semetary creeped me out. And I'm not that creeped out by stiff like that.

I just hate creepy kids. *shudders*

It's been too long since I've read Misery and I couldn't say. If old school vampires appeal to you, then sure, try Salem's Lot. If old school tales from the crypt like horror appeals to you, try Pet Sematary. Me, I'd recommend starting with a short story collection, one of the older ones like Skeleton Crew. King also does well with stuff that's not really horror, such as "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body", not coincidentally two of the best movie adaptations of his work. Ditto Eyes of the Dragon which is pretty much straight up fantasy.

As for The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, it's an entire novel of a little girl shitting in the woods and hallucinating about monsters while she's lost. I definitely would not say it's one of King's best.

I really prefer King's short stories to his novels. You might want to pick up one of his short story collections and give it a try. I'd recommend Skeleton Crew. Depending on what you like (or don't) in the short stories, it'll be easier to determine what else might suit you.

I very much enjoyed Carrie (a lot of interesting details in there that are nowhere in the movie) and The Dead Zone (again, details). The Green Mile was pretty good, and The Stand, though it got a little long-winded.

That's all the SK i really enjoy. The rest are either boring, or gross, or just stupid.

Edited 2017-02-23 06:03 (UTC)

The Stand was great, but the chapters where people would die of freak circumstances after having survived the plague may lose the OP. Unless they like that kind of stuff. *shrug*

I remember really liking Christine when I first read it, but I was a teenager, and just discovering horror as a literary genre, so take that with a grain of salt.

He's always been hit-or-miss for me, and the hits tend to be his earlier stuff and his misses tend to be his more recent stuff, but it's not a hard-and-fast rule.

the trouble with sk is that there are a lot of books, and he does go into a wide variety of directions. i'd def rec his short story collections as a bit of an indicator, and since you've already been recommended "skeleton crew", i'm going to toss "full dark, no stars" into the ring.

my personal favorite actually happens to be "the girl who loved tom gordon" – good book-length-to-"give a fuck"-ratio, and he does a good job at keeping things interesting as far as psychological horror and terror go!

I actually really like Misery and think it's one of his better books, so you can take my recs with that in mind. But as people say, SK's books are actually quite varied in terms of plot. So if it was the plot that annoyed you, give some of his other books a go. But if it was the style, then you're probably not going to like his other books because he's pretty consistent in that and also characterisation.

If you didn't like how bleak Misery was, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is definitely a good option - it's suspenseful, with some mystery elements (working out what's real and what's not).

Carrie would also be good because it's short, and even if you know what's going to happen it's a fun ride.

IT I really like - it's 60% character, for one. He also skillfully weaves the stories of the present and the past of the 6 kids, and switching the perpectives and timelines makes it more horror/thriller than straight horror. The ending is wack, but if you know that going in the rest of the ride is good enough to be worth it.

I'd say skip The Stand until you know you'd like to read more.

Salem's Lot and Pet Semetary I'd classify as more conventional horror.

Whatever you do, don't read the Mr Mercedes books - they're utter shite.

On Writing is part memoir, part writing advice, part life advice and 100% charm. It's also a super easy read.

The Dead Zone is fab, more thriller with supernatural elements than horror, and I think a particularly chilling read considering current American politics. Just a great premise for a book as well.

If you like dystopian books and/or want a short read try The Long Walk or The Running Man (yes, the movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger was based on this - just one of many movies you might not realise are based on Stephen King works). The Long Walk in particular I think is super underrated, it's such a simple premise but it gets to you.

If you like the TV show Haven, that was roughly based on King's novella The Colorado Kid. Haven't read it, but just in case it's up your alley.

I really, really love his short stories. I kinda think he thrives in that setting!

I personally love Cell, IT, The Long Walk (one of my favourites).

I've honestly never read Misery though, so I can't compare it to his other works, unfortunately.

Depends. Stephen King may just not be your thing. But I really liked Carrie and The Stand.

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