The Stephen King Thread

[muertevilla]

I second that. I really liked the Dark Half too (the movie wasn't nearly as good, although it did have some good moments).

I think it's the only King book I read. I've started to read other books, but never finished them for various reasons. I got about 2/3 through the Tommyknockers, but didn't finish. I liked it, but was young and in school, and just never finished reading it. I started the Dark Towerss , and was really liking it, but didn't finish because it was a friend's book who moved.

I should really finish those.

most king movies dont do the books justice. the only king movie i saw that was actually worth a damn was rose red. the dark half was definately cool. my favorite part is when the security guard gets his eye slashed open and it makes a popping sound... great stuff

 

[PuMpKiN EsCoBaR]

IT is really good.
Desperation I liked.
Insomnia I really liked.

 

[Equint77]

I like the shining..

 

[muertevilla]

and when i said the dark half was definately cool, i was talking about the book

 

[muertevilla]

IT is really good.
Desperation I liked.
Insomnia I really liked.

RIP DIME!!!!!

 

[Cаrter]

IT took me about 2 months to get through

 

[Eggyman]

'Bag Of Bones' is my fave, but someone before me also mentioned 'Night Shift' which has some excellent short stories in it -- also for short stories check out 'Everything's Eventual'. On the subject of his films, yes, i aggree, most have been stinkers -- but 'Secret Window' I thought was brilliant, both on page and on screen!

 

[StrainedEyes]

I finished Apt Pupil like 10 minutes ago.

My reaction - HOLY ****!

Spoilers for Apt Pupil...

Spoiler

What a great ending. I feel really bad for Todd's parents. That's gonna badly screw them up for the rest of their lives. They were so proud of their son. They had no idea. There was a point in the book where Todd was going to committe suicide, and I wanted him to do it. I knew he'd only end up hurting people. 'It was five hours later and almost dark before they took him down'. Powerful line. I asked myself occasionally when I read it, who is worse? Dussander or Todd? Technically, Dussander is worse. But Todd is creepier. Way creepier.

Apt Pupil is probably my favorite SK story. I dunno why but it really struck me as brilliant, lol.

 

[Lightspeed]

The only two books I have read from him are Firestarter and The Dead Zone. I recommend both of them.

 

[Iceman]

Hey guys, could you recommend Stephen King books please?

I've read The Shining, part of Pet Cemetary (wasn't my copy didn't get to finish it), Shawshank Redemption, and part of Apt Pupil (which is upstairs and I intend to finish).

The Stand is my favourite. You should also finish Pet Sematary when you get a chance. That was one of the first books I ever read and I still remember it.

 

[Galactus]

Coming soon:

DUMA KEY is the engaging, fascinating story of a man who discovers an incredible talent for painting after a freak accident in which he loses an arm. He moves to a 'new life' in Duma Key, off Florida's West Coast; a deserted strip, part beach, part weed-tangled, owned by a patroness of the arts whose twin sisters went missing in the 1920s.

Duma Key is where out-of-season hurricanes tears lives apart and a powerful undertow lures lost and tormented souls. Here Freemantle is inspired to paint the amazing sunsets. But soon the paintings become predictive, even dangerous. Freemantle knows the only way forward is to discover what happened to the twin sisters -- and what is the secret of the strange old lady who holds the key?

The story is about friendship, about the bond between a father and his daughter. And about memory, truth and art. It is also is a metaphor for the life and inspiration of a writer, and an exploration of the nature, power and influence of fiction.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Definitely The Stand.

Also, don't overlook his short story collections. Skeleton Crew, Night Shift, Everything's Eventual, and especially Nightmares and Dreamscapes are all great reads imo. Ditto The Bachman Books.

The Dark Tower series can be kinda daunting I guess if you haven't started it yet but it's a hell of a lot of fun, though I thought it started to jump the shark a little during the last 3 books.

I also highly recommend The Talisman, and the follow up Black House.

Eyes of the Dragon is a cool read if you want more fantasy/less horror.

Desperation and it's companion The Regulators were enjoyable.

Ok I'm done.

 

[Ghostvirus]

I intend to. What I had read of it was amazing and heartbreaking.

From what I have read this is Stephen Kings hardest book he ever wrote. He actually stopped writing it half way through, because he couldn't stand it.

To give you an idea of how personal it was. The house in the Pet Semetary movie was where he wrote Pet Semetary. That is also the actualy Pet Semetary that inspired the book.

I finished Apt Pupil like 10 minutes ago.

My reaction - HOLY ****!

Spoilers for Apt Pupil...

Spoiler

What a great ending. I feel really bad for Todd's parents. That's gonna badly screw them up for the rest of their lives. They were so proud of their son. They had no idea. There was a point in the book where Todd was going to committe suicide, and I wanted him to do it. I knew he'd only end up hurting people. 'It was five hours later and almost dark before they took him down'. Powerful line. I asked myself occasionally when I read it, who is worse? Dussander or Todd? Technically, Dussander is worse. But Todd is creepier. Way creepier.

Did you read the breathing method as well. I believe Apt. Pupil is in a collection of stories called Different seasons, & one of the stories is called The Breathing Method. The ending to that is f-ing creepy!

Read most, if not all, of his older books. The two I was a bit disappointed with were From A Buick 8 and The Cell.

I couldn't even get through A Buick 8. All I could think was this is like Christine.

IT is really good.
Desperation I liked.
Insomnia I really liked.

I am glad some one reccommended Desperation. Great book. The movie was just crap. Utter crap! Did you also read The Regulators? He wrote that under his Suedo-Name Richard Bachman.

Coming soon:

DUMA KEY is the engaging, fascinating story of a man who discovers an incredible talent for painting after a freak accident in which he loses an arm. He moves to a 'new life' in Duma Key, off Florida's West Coast; a deserted strip, part beach, part weed-tangled, owned by a patroness of the arts whose twin sisters went missing in the 1920s.

Duma Key is where out-of-season hurricanes tears lives apart and a powerful undertow lures lost and tormented souls. Here Freemantle is inspired to paint the amazing sunsets. But soon the paintings become predictive, even dangerous. Freemantle knows the only way forward is to discover what happened to the twin sisters -- and what is the secret of the strange old lady who holds the key?

The story is about friendship, about the bond between a father and his daughter. And about memory, truth and art. It is also is a metaphor for the life and inspiration of a writer, and an exploration of the nature, power and influence of fiction.

Interesting.

 

[Superman]

Coming soon:

DUMA KEY is the engaging, fascinating story of a man who discovers an incredible talent for painting after a freak accident in which he loses an arm. He moves to a 'new life' in Duma Key, off Florida's West Coast; a deserted strip, part beach, part weed-tangled, owned by a patroness of the arts whose twin sisters went missing in the 1920s.

Duma Key is where out-of-season hurricanes tears lives apart and a powerful undertow lures lost and tormented souls. Here Freemantle is inspired to paint the amazing sunsets. But soon the paintings become predictive, even dangerous. Freemantle knows the only way forward is to discover what happened to the twin sisters -- and what is the secret of the strange old lady who holds the key?

The story is about friendship, about the bond between a father and his daughter. And about memory, truth and art. It is also is a metaphor for the life and inspiration of a writer, and an exploration of the nature, power and influence of fiction.

Looks good.

 

[Holly]

the last Stephen King book i read made me want to put my face through a window. Desperation? Desper-something. it was horrible

 

[kainedamo]

Yeah right, Toven! You love Stephen King! You don't fool me!

 

[PLAS]

The Running Man
Rage
Carrie
Misery
The Stand
The Regulators
On Writing

I've enjoyed mostly his Bachman stuff

 

[Victarion]

The Shining-I had seen the movie, but by God, the book absolutely had me tense and on the edge of my seat, bed, etcetera. A nice piece of work that managed to scare me away from the bottle before I could even enjoy it.

The Gunslinger-After my first read through, I was lost. After another, I fell in love with the story King began.

-Morzan

 

[AhabTheArab]

I do read other authors! Though I don't read as much as I'd like. Just about my favourite book is 1984.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. also a utopian society.
Stranger in A Strange Land. a strange land indeed..

if you enjoyed 1984, id recommend those. stephen king on the other hand is horrendously over rated, and the dark tower series, might be the most over rated series of all time imo, its horribly paced, the characters kinda suck, and its just not very well written imo.

 

[Galactus]

Big day for Stephen King today: His 60th birthday

 

[Honey Vibe]

Great:
- It
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Dolores Claiborne
- The Dragon's Eyes
- The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
- Gerald's Game

Okay:
- The Shining
- Needful Things
- The Dark Half
- Rose Madder

Terrible:
- Carrie
- Cujo
- Thinner
- The Dead Zone

 

[knowsbleed]

Terrible:
- Carrie
- Cujo

 

[Kritish]

Cujo, Cell, Carrie and The Shining.

 

[Honey Vibe]

Actually Carrie wasn't that bad. I take that back.
Cujo was and is horrible.

 

[DBella]

Too many but you can start with either of these 3 if they've not already been suggested:

The Stand
Cell
It