Hi yall! I'm new to stephen king and i have the institute and i watched the 11/22/63 series on neetflix not realizing it was actuallly a stephen king novel originally! i never knew he did any non-horror books so now im very intrigued and wanted to know what books you could could recommend from stephen king that are great for newbies/beginners?? thanks in advance!
by supern0vaee
22 Comments
My first Stephen King book was The Long Walk. He wrote it as Richard Bachman. And it’s now a movie!
I also really enjoyed The Body. That’s what the movie Stand By Me is based on.
You’d be surprised how much Stephen King you’ve seen that’s not horror.
The Green Mile
Stand By Me (from a short story called The Body)
Hearts in Atlantis
The Shawshank Redemption (from a short story called Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption)
If you don’t mind horror, start with something like Pet Sematary, Salem’s Lot, or Carrie.
The Long Walk (originally published under his pen name Richard Bachman) is an excellent introduction to King’s work. Its one of his shorter works and its a great blend of psychological and physical horror and has an AMAZING ending, in my humble opinion.
My entry to SK was The Gunslinger – when I was 12 I read a first edition copy of it and then developed a lifelong obsession with The Dark Tower series. So if sci fi/horror/fantasy is your vibe, go thataway I’d say. But I’ve also always loved The Stand (the unabridged version in particular) and It. Lots to choose from.
The shining was the only book I’ve ever read that was actually scary. I love that book.
The Stand is an epic novel that will keep you thinking long after you finish. I read it every ten years or so.
It will suck you in quickly. One of my favorite all time books.
I don’t think Misery really qualifies as traditional horror, so I’d recommend that one
Firestarter
Read the 11/22/63 book!
Start with one of the short story collections. Night Shift will give you a look at all the different genres he writes in. Different Seasons will give you four novellas.
At this point he may have written more books that aren’t horror than are.
Misery is a good book to start with. It’s a great and not super long like a lot of his books.
The Shining is amazing
Joyland was my first King. It’s more of a coming-of-age story with some supernatural elements. No real horror
My first Stephen King book as a woman who wasn’t sure I would like his style was the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Suggested to me by a big Steven king fan.
My intro to Stephen King was Carrie, then Firestarter. The Green Mile is a great one to read.
thanks everyone!! i think i’ll check out the long walk and im surprised to see that the green mile is his too! i can’t believe how much im missing out on king’s work considering im familiar with most of these titles but didnt even know it was his. I’ll check those out, thank you all so much. and i will read 11/22/63 as well since the show was interesting to me! 🙂
Fairytale
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was my intro book. Highly recommend!
Not The Stand. It was recently my first King book and will be my last.
Misery is solid, and it’s not too long. Arguably his best book.
The pacing is good, and there’s no “what the hell was that?” weak ending like in some of his books.
I would go Salem’s Lot, The Shining, or Misery to start.
The Green Mile is my favorite Stephen King book …and the movie was good too.