I've put off reading his stuff for years, and now I've finally decided to delve into the King Universe (mainly due to the movie It and the show Castle Rock). I've bought The Body and The Shining to ease my way into his stuff.

I was wondering if anyone had any other recommendations for someone who just started to delve into the King Universe? Books I should read immediately, books I should make sure to avoid?

***also, STEPHEN

The Stand and IT are my favorites, but also probably his longest.

For the Maine vibe, gotta go with Pet Sematary and The Dark Half.

I didn't know The Body was sold as a stand alone; I read it as part of the Different Seasons collection, which I would also highly recommend (the prison story may feel familiar).

Christine is up there, and everyone will recommend The Stand.

He's really all over the place as a writer. Some of it is really solid modern literature, and sometimes....it feels like he was just trying to fill those pages. I would avoid some of the larger, later tomes like Insomnia and start with the better known, compact books from when he was really in his swing writing tight stories.

There's a short one called the eyes of the dragon that's nice to jump into

Dr. Not Yet Dr. Ag said:

---

I've put off reading his stuff for years, and now I've finally decided to delve into the King Universe (mainly due to the movie It and the show Castle Rock). I've bought The Body and The Shining to ease my way into his stuff.

I was wondering if anyone had any other recommendations for someone who just started to delve into the King Universe? Books I should read immediately, books I should make sure to avoid?

---

Hmmm.... wow. I consider this a huge question and cannot imagine starting that journey blind. I've been a lifelong King avid reader since about 1978 so I did not have much to catch up on then.

There are a couple of approaches I guess - chronologically maybe skipping a few; or go for the best of the best regardless of order; or go with what interests you or intrigues you based on what you know already.

What do you mean you bought "The Body".... that was a novella that was part of the Different Seasons collection of 4 novellas. Did they make it a standalone book sometime? Fantastic group of stories actually with 3 of the 4 becoming movies (The Body became Stand By Me, Apt Pupil and of course Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption with a slightly shorter movie title). that's not a bad place to start actually. Although not purely horror if that's your interest.

The Shining is an interesting one - you might love it or hate it. More suspense and kind of psychological than pure horror as well.

I would steer away from the epic 7 novel fantasy series The Dark Tower books - not that they are not good, but different and that takes quite a commitment.

If you want go for best of the best my top 10 would be:

The Stand - epic post apocalyptic masterpiece
Salem's Lot - great witches and vampires classic
Misery - terrific psychological story
The Dead Zone - just a great concept and execution of a story
Firestarter - another classic
It - if the recent movie appealed to you at all, it's just great
The Shining - a masterpiece but different than the Nicholson movie
The Green Mile - another prison story, awesome
Mr. Mercedes - recent thriller loved it
Different Seasons - this collection of novellas is among his best work as mentioned above

honorable mention:
The Bachman Books - a collection of his pseudonym publishing (Rage, The Long Walk, The Running Man and Roadwork)....he wrote some great stuff here liberated from being Stephen King for a while.

There are plenty of other good ones but if you can't get into any of those you are not going to be a fan.

Others - Christine, Pet Sematary, the Dark Half, Cujo, Insomnia, 11/22/63, Carrie, The talisman (with Peter Straub), Thinner, Gerald's Game, Needful Things

Avoid these - Duma Key, Cell, Rose Madder, The Regulators, Dreamcatcher, Bag of Bones, the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, From a Buick 8, Blaze, Doctor Sleep, Dolores Claiborne, Under the Dome - unless you become a big fan and have read the others already.

Hope that helps.

Yep, apparently you can buy "The Body" as a stand alone. Didn't even know it was part of a larger collection of stories.

Dr. Not Yet Dr. Ag said:

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Yep, apparently you can buy "The Body" as a stand alone. Didn't even know it was part of a larger collection of stories.

---

Interesting - well don't miss the other stories from Different Seasons. those are good shorter reads since they were novellas and will give you some variety and intro.

Appreciate the recs Zombie

I really enjoyed It, 11/22/63, and the Mr. Mercedes series. I hated Insomnia, like you I recently started reading King, first one for me was Mr. Mercedes, then I had to finish the others in the series, Finders Keepers and End of Watch, that convinced to keep on King, so I went on a Stephen King kick for a while. Have read It twice, and 11/22/63 three times, right now I'm going through the Mercedes series again. Next will either be Pet Cemetary or The Stand for me. Just to clarify, the multiple trips through these books were on Audible, which I would definitly recomend for Mercedes and 11/22/63, the narrator is great in those. It's a cool experience for rereading books you enjoyed.

Zombie Jon Snow said:

---

Dr. Not Yet Dr. Ag said:

---

I've put off reading his stuff for years, and now I've finally decided to delve into the King Universe (mainly due to the movie It and the show Castle Rock). I've bought The Body and The Shining to ease my way into his stuff.

I was wondering if anyone had any other recommendations for someone who just started to delve into the King Universe? Books I should read immediately, books I should make sure to avoid?

---

Hmmm.... wow. I consider this a huge question and cannot imagine starting that journey blind. I've been a lifelong King avid reader since about 1978 so I did not have much to catch up on then.

There are a couple of approaches I guess - chronologically maybe skipping a few; or go for the best of the best regardless of order; or go with what interests you or intrigues you based on what you know already.

What do you mean you bought "The Body".... that was a novella that was part of the Different Seasons collection of 4 novellas. Did they make it a standalone book sometime? Fantastic group of stories actually with 3 of the 4 becoming movies (The Body became Stand By Me, Apt Pupil and of course Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption with a slightly shorter movie title). that's not a bad place to start actually. Although not purely horror if that's your interest.

The Shining is an interesting one - you might love it or hate it. More suspense and kind of psychological than pure horror as well.

I would steer away from the epic 7 novel fantasy series The Dark Tower books - not that they are not good, but different and that takes quite a commitment.

If you want go for best of the best my top 10 would be:

The Stand - epic post apocalyptic masterpiece
Salem's Lot - great witches and vampires classic
Misery - terrific psychological story
The Dead Zone - just a great concept and execution of a story
Firestarter - another classic
It - if the recent movie appealed to you at all, it's just great
The Shining - a masterpiece but different than the Nicholson movie
The Green Mile - another prison story, awesome
Mr. Mercedes - recent thriller loved it
Different Seasons - this collection of novellas is among his best work as mentioned above

honorable mention:
The Bachman Books - a collection of his pseudonym publishing (Rage, The Long Walk, The Running Man and Roadwork)....he wrote some great stuff here liberated from being Stephen King for a while.

There are plenty of other good ones but if you can't get into any of those you are not going to be a fan.

Others - Christine, Pet Sematary, the Dark Half, Cujo, Insomnia, 11/22/63, Carrie, The talisman (with Peter Straub), Thinner, Gerald's Game, Needful Things

Avoid these - Duma Key, Cell, Rose Madder, The Regulators, Dreamcatcher, Bag of Bones, the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, From a Buick 8, Blaze, Doctor Sleep, Dolores Claiborne, Under the Dome - unless you become a big fan and have read the others already.

Hope that helps.

---

The first 4.5 books of The Dark Tower are pretty good.

I always point this out on King threads but if you are particularly anal about books tying into other books I would do some cursory research on The Dark Tower series. Many of his other stand alone novels tie into DT...some with just one small mention you will never notice and others are essentially DT novels although not part of the official main story line.

Examples (off the top of my head):

• The Stand
• IT
• Eyes of the Dragon
• The Mist
• Salem's Lot
• Insomnia
• The Talisman & Black House (the latter has huge tie in to DT)

Got to drive by his house in Bangor last month

It...probably my favorite novel

Zombie Jon Snow said:

---

If you want go for best of the best my top 10 would be:

The Stand - epic post apocalyptic masterpiece
Salem's Lot - great witches and vampires classic
Misery - terrific psychological story
The Dead Zone - just a great concept and execution of a story
Firestarter - another classic
It - if the recent movie appealed to you at all, it's just great
The Shining - a masterpiece but different than the Nicholson movie
The Green Mile - another prison story, awesome
Mr. Mercedes - recent thriller loved it
Different Seasons - this collection of novellas is among his best work as mentioned above

honorable mention:
The Bachman Books - a collection of his pseudonym publishing (Rage, The Long Walk, The Running Man and Roadwork)....he wrote some great stuff here liberated from being Stephen King for a while.

There are plenty of other good ones but if you can't get into any of those you are not going to be a fan.

Others - Christine, Pet Sematary, the Dark Half, Cujo, Insomnia, 11/22/63, Carrie, The talisman (with Peter Straub), Thinner, Gerald's Game, Needful Things

Avoid these - Duma Key, Cell, Rose Madder, The Regulators, Dreamcatcher, Bag of Bones, the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, From a Buick 8, Blaze, Doctor Sleep, Dolores Claiborne, Under the Dome - unless you become a big fan and have read the others already.

Hope that helps.

---

Follow this advice. Great post. Everything above the "avoid these" line is solid. I liked Dolores Claiborne and Rose Madder too, but I read them after I read all of those others. Everything from the late nineties on is pretty mediocre.

Another short story I always loved - The Langoliers. its a horrible movie (as are most of the others), but a really cool short story.

I was in middle school when I read it, so your mileage may vary.

After reading some of his fiction, I would highly recommend "On Writing". It's his perspective on what it takes to be a writer while folding in almost an autobiographical spin to it. He shares lots of background on where he was in life when he wrote many of his books. Gets into his cocaine-fueled past.

Really interesting and entertaining.

It, The Stand, and Misery are my clear top 3

His short stories are his best work.

I'm a huge fan of King, but he's got trouble with writing endings. This makes some of his longest and most awesome stories (Stand, IT, DT series) a little problematic.

On a sort of related note, I would really recommend the Talisman and Black House. It's a great collaboration between King and Peter Straub, and I think having a co author may have reigned in some of his worst tendencies.

Also, I don't know how anyone could dislike Insomnia. That book was awesome.

Since I have so much trouble committing to a long novel, I find his short stories to be perfect for me.

Some of my favorite collections from him are Night Shift and Nightmares & Dreamscapes.

ChiliBeans said:

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For the Maine vibe, gotta go with Pet Sematary and The Dark Half.

I didn't know The Body was sold as a stand alone; I read it as part of the Different Seasons collection, which I would also highly recommend (the prison story may feel familiar).

Christine is up there, and everyone will recommend The Stand.

He's really all over the place as a writer. Some of it is really solid modern literature, and sometimes....it feels like he was just trying to fill those pages. I would avoid some of the larger, later tomes like Insomnia and start with the better known, compact books from when he was really in his swing writing tight stories.

---

The Different Seasons collection is great

No mention of The Tommyknockers? I liked it.

The Talisman is my mother's favorite book. I also enjoyed it.

amercer said:

---

His short stories are his best work.

I'm a huge fan of King, but he's got trouble with writing endings. This makes some of his longest and most awesome stories (Stand, IT, DT series) a little problematic.

On a sort of related note, I would really recommend the Talisman and Black House. It's a great collaboration between King and Peter Straub, and I think having a co author may have reigned in some of his worst tendencies.

Also, I don't know how anyone could dislike Insomnia. That book was awesome.

---

Was going to say this earlier. He excels at the short story format.

Black House has an especially heavy tie in to The Dark Tower though. I just think people have to be aware of that because if you haven't read any DT it's going to seem really odd and out of nowhere without that context.

Zombie Jon Snow said:

---

Dr. Not Yet Dr. Ag said:

---

I've put off reading his stuff for years, and now I've finally decided to delve into the King Universe (mainly due to the movie It and the show Castle Rock). I've bought The Body and The Shining to ease my way into his stuff.

I was wondering if anyone had any other recommendations for someone who just started to delve into the King Universe? Books I should read immediately, books I should make sure to avoid?

---

Hmmm.... wow. I consider this a huge question and cannot imagine starting that journey blind. I've been a lifelong King avid reader since about 1978 so I did not have much to catch up on then.

There are a couple of approaches I guess - chronologically maybe skipping a few; or go for the best of the best regardless of order; or go with what interests you or intrigues you based on what you know already.

What do you mean you bought "The Body".... that was a novella that was part of the Different Seasons collection of 4 novellas. Did they make it a standalone book sometime? Fantastic group of stories actually with 3 of the 4 becoming movies (The Body became Stand By Me, Apt Pupil and of course Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption with a slightly shorter movie title). that's not a bad place to start actually. Although not purely horror if that's your interest.

The Shining is an interesting one - you might love it or hate it. More suspense and kind of psychological than pure horror as well.

I would steer away from the epic 7 novel fantasy series The Dark Tower books - not that they are not good, but different and that takes quite a commitment.

If you want go for best of the best my top 10 would be:

The Stand - epic post apocalyptic masterpiece
Salem's Lot - great witches and vampires classic
Misery - terrific psychological story
The Dead Zone - just a great concept and execution of a story
Firestarter - another classic
It - if the recent movie appealed to you at all, it's just great
The Shining - a masterpiece but different than the Nicholson movie
The Green Mile - another prison story, awesome
Mr. Mercedes - recent thriller loved it
Different Seasons - this collection of novellas is among his best work as mentioned above

honorable mention:
The Bachman Books - a collection of his pseudonym publishing (Rage, The Long Walk, The Running Man and Roadwork)....he wrote some great stuff here liberated from being Stephen King for a while.

There are plenty of other good ones but if you can't get into any of those you are not going to be a fan.

Others - Christine, Pet Sematary, the Dark Half, Cujo, Insomnia, 11/22/63, Carrie, The talisman (with Peter Straub), Thinner, Gerald's Game, Needful Things

Avoid these - Duma Key, Cell, Rose Madder, The Regulators, Dreamcatcher, Bag of Bones, the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, From a Buick 8, Blaze, Doctor Sleep, Dolores Claiborne, Under the Dome - unless you become a big fan and have read the others already.

Hope that helps.

---

Pretty good assessment, though I'd put 11/22/63 somewhere in the top 10.

The only one on your "avoid" list that I liked was Under the Dome. He took the premise of "what could happen if a town was suddenly under an impenetrable dome" and ran with it. Not sure there was a better way to end it, however. I also (gulp) enjoyed the TV series which had the same premise and characters, but completely different plot.

Yah my "avoid" list did not mean there are not good books in there but I would not read any of them before the best stuff.

At the end I said - unless you become a big fan and have read the others already.

I certainly would read several of them I don't really regret reading any of them - just prioritizing - those are meant as "avoid these FOR NOW".

"Cell" might be the exception - ugh. And while I didn't mind "Tommyknockers" when I first read it I don't think it has aged well. It's nearly a farce.

As a new reader I'd avoid Talisman/Black House simply because it's a dual-authored novel and it's much more metaverse than most of his more notable novels.

I'd avoid Insomnia because other than the DT toss in at the end, it's simply a boring novel.

Stick with the thoroughbreds if you are just starting off - The Shining, It, Carrie, The Stand. If you like those, then you can expand to the secondary stuff.

And Duma Key shouldn't grouped with the others in the "avoid unless you liked...". It's not his best work, and is rather paint-by-numbers, but it's a solid story. But save it for your beach vacation read. The rest in that category are a notable rung below.

Zombie Jon Snow said:

---

Dr. Not Yet Dr. Ag said:

---

I've put off reading his stuff for years, and now I've finally decided to delve into the King Universe (mainly due to the movie It and the show Castle Rock). I've bought The Body and The Shining to ease my way into his stuff.

I was wondering if anyone had any other recommendations for someone who just started to delve into the King Universe? Books I should read immediately, books I should make sure to avoid?

---

Hmmm.... wow. I consider this a huge question and cannot imagine starting that journey blind. I've been a lifelong King avid reader since about 1978 so I did not have much to catch up on then.

There are a couple of approaches I guess - chronologically maybe skipping a few; or go for the best of the best regardless of order; or go with what interests you or intrigues you based on what you know already.

What do you mean you bought "The Body".... that was a novella that was part of the Different Seasons collection of 4 novellas. Did they make it a standalone book sometime? Fantastic group of stories actually with 3 of the 4 becoming movies (The Body became Stand By Me, Apt Pupil and of course Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption with a slightly shorter movie title). that's not a bad place to start actually. Although not purely horror if that's your interest.

The Shining is an interesting one - you might love it or hate it. More suspense and kind of psychological than pure horror as well.

I would steer away from the epic 7 novel fantasy series The Dark Tower books - not that they are not good, but different and that takes quite a commitment.

If you want go for best of the best my top 10 would be:

The Stand - epic post apocalyptic masterpiece
Salem's Lot - great witches and vampires classic
Misery - terrific psychological story
The Dead Zone - just a great concept and execution of a story
Firestarter - another classic
It - if the recent movie appealed to you at all, it's just great
The Shining - a masterpiece but different than the Nicholson movie
The Green Mile - another prison story, awesome
Mr. Mercedes - recent thriller loved it
Different Seasons - this collection of novellas is among his best work as mentioned above

honorable mention:
The Bachman Books - a collection of his pseudonym publishing (Rage, The Long Walk, The Running Man and Roadwork)....he wrote some great stuff here liberated from being Stephen King for a while.

There are plenty of other good ones but if you can't get into any of those you are not going to be a fan.

Others - Christine, Pet Sematary, the Dark Half, Cujo, Insomnia, 11/22/63, Carrie, The talisman (with Peter Straub), Thinner, Gerald's Game, Needful Things

Avoid these - Duma Key, Cell, Rose Madder, The Regulators, Dreamcatcher, Bag of Bones, the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, From a Buick 8, Blaze, Doctor Sleep, Dolores Claiborne, Under the Dome - unless you become a big fan and have read the others already.

Hope that helps.

---

This is a pretty solid post. Personally, I'd say jump in with Misery. I do highly recommend the Dark Tower series, but only after you've become a King fan.

I might be the only one, but I didn't care for 11/22/63. Both it and Under the Dome had the same problem, all to common with post millenium King....just too damn long and bloated. IT and the Stand were both super long but neither ever bogged down. The writing was sharp and engrossing on every page. Not so much with the other two, which seemed long just for the sake of being long.

Skeleton Crew short stories are great too. The Jaunt, The Raft, The Mist, Survivor Type...all great stories.

How was Storm of the Centiry? The TV movie was creepy as hell.

Muy said:

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How was Storm of the Centiry? The TV movie was creepy as hell.

---

It's not a book. Direct screenplay.

Check out "I'm such a bitter old fart now", Stephen King's Twitter account.

Also, the best book...Salem's Lot

Here's something for our present age

Read "It"
Wonder "who thinks about sex this way?"
#timesup

Do not start with IT, just my opinion. I love the book, and just finished reading it for the third time, but it's not a good jumping in point. It is great narratively, but it definitely has its weird, "cocaine King" bits.

Start with the tried and true: Carrie, Salem's Lot, Pet Semetary, or The Shining. Of his earlier works, I love The Dead Zone quite a bit, but it's not as heavy on the horror as you may be looking for.

If you liked the vibe of Castle Rock the TV show, you could jump into some of the Castle Rock novels and short stories: The Dead Zone has a few chapters in the town, Needful Things, Cujo, The Dark Half, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, The Body, The Mist, etc.

If you're wanting something to read around fall, definitely pick up Salem's Lot. That thing was meant to be read in the fall.

Once you get through those and decide you're in for the long haul, I'd then recommend The Stand and IT.

Zombie Jon Snow said:

---

Dr. Not Yet Dr. Ag said:

---

I've put off reading his stuff for years, and now I've finally decided to delve into the King Universe (mainly due to the movie It and the show Castle Rock). I've bought The Body and The Shining to ease my way into his stuff.

I was wondering if anyone had any other recommendations for someone who just started to delve into the King Universe? Books I should read immediately, books I should make sure to avoid?

---

Hmmm.... wow. I consider this a huge question and cannot imagine starting that journey blind. I've been a lifelong King avid reader since about 1978 so I did not have much to catch up on then.

There are a couple of approaches I guess - chronologically maybe skipping a few; or go for the best of the best regardless of order; or go with what interests you or intrigues you based on what you know already.

What do you mean you bought "The Body".... that was a novella that was part of the Different Seasons collection of 4 novellas. Did they make it a standalone book sometime? Fantastic group of stories actually with 3 of the 4 becoming movies (The Body became Stand By Me, Apt Pupil and of course Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption with a slightly shorter movie title). that's not a bad place to start actually. Although not purely horror if that's your interest.

The Shining is an interesting one - you might love it or hate it. More suspense and kind of psychological than pure horror as well.

I would steer away from the epic 7 novel fantasy series The Dark Tower books - not that they are not good, but different and that takes quite a commitment.

If you want go for best of the best my top 10 would be:

The Stand - epic post apocalyptic masterpiece
Salem's Lot - great witches and vampires classic
Misery - terrific psychological story
The Dead Zone - just a great concept and execution of a story
Firestarter - another classic
It - if the recent movie appealed to you at all, it's just great
The Shining - a masterpiece but different than the Nicholson movie
The Green Mile - another prison story, awesome
Mr. Mercedes - recent thriller loved it
Different Seasons - this collection of novellas is among his best work as mentioned above

honorable mention:
The Bachman Books - a collection of his pseudonym publishing (Rage, The Long Walk, The Running Man and Roadwork)....he wrote some great stuff here liberated from being Stephen King for a while.

There are plenty of other good ones but if you can't get into any of those you are not going to be a fan.

Others - Christine, Pet Sematary, the Dark Half, Cujo, Insomnia, 11/22/63, Carrie, The talisman (with Peter Straub), Thinner, Gerald's Game, Needful Things

Avoid these - Duma Key, Cell, Rose Madder, The Regulators, Dreamcatcher, Bag of Bones, the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, From a Buick 8, Blaze, Doctor Sleep, Dolores Claiborne, Under the Dome - unless you become a big fan and have read the others already.

Hope that helps.

---

I'll throw in my own opinions on some of these. The top 10 pretty much nails it IMO (except for Mr.Mercedes, haven't read that one).

I'd consider reading the Bachman books separately, since they don't really fit within the King metaverse.

I *do* recommend reading the Dark Tower, but only after you've read a bunch of his others to get context. Key ones in particular are The Stand, Salem's Lot, Insomnia, Eye of the Dragon, Hearts in Atlantis, and a few others I'm probably forgetting.

If you read The Talisman, make sure you read Black House as well, it's a direct sequel.

I know Cujo is a classic, but I found it to be kind of boring personally.

For the avoid, I disagree with Rose Madder, Dreamcatcher, and Bag of Bones. I personally found those all to be very enjoyable. Doctor Sleep is the sequel to the Shining if you want to pursue that story further, but I can't speak personally to the quality.

Really, though, explore! King has a wide range of works, so there should be plenty for you to enjoy.

I haven't seen Desperation mentioned.

This thread just reminds me that I have read a TON of Stephen King over the years, starting with the classics (Christine, Carrie, Cujo, Salem's Lot, IT) back in high school and never stopping. Back when books were a thing and prior to a move, I probably had 30 SK hard backs in my library and would pick one up for a reread often.