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[SlaughterX]

For a man with such a sick and twisted mind, he sure seems like such a nice guy...

Just watched Doctor Sleep... and I had me thinking about how many of his novels have been adapted to film, and how they have their similarities, but can all be so different. Then I realized how many movies I own that were based off his books, many of which I have recently purchased and watched...

Castle Rock
Misery
The Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
Pet Semitary
Carrie
The Stand
The Mist
The Shining
Doctor Sleep
1408
Cujo
Children of the Corn
Secret Window
The Lawnmower Man
Christine
Thinner

Had no idea The Dark Tower, Apt Pupil and Stand By Me were also based off his books

Still need to see Creepshow, It, Salem's Lot...



Dude is the GOAT of horror.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I really loved Bag of Bones and Dreamcatcher when I was a teenager. I read Doctor Sleep before the movie came out, pretty solid.

Everything’s Eventual and Full Dark, No Stars were two of my favorite books in my 20s

he’s awesome

 

[haxan7]

He’s a juggernaut and I don’t think he’ll get the credit he deserves until long after he’s dead.

His reach goes far. If you grew up loving Goosebumps, King is the reason that happened.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

I just love his cocaine lore.

 

[Flying Toaster]

He is a prolific writer that proves that one must write daily and without stopping to become better at ones craft. A lot of people do not realize the real magic of Stephen King is in his sports writing, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, and books he co-authors. The man is a bottomless pit of ideas and many take for granted what he has done in horror/suspense without ever really reading or enjoying the other genres he has played with.

King has a special skill with creating real characters, something that many modern writers have issues with. I link that to his involvement in politics, general love of sports and genuine interest in people. I will not claim he is the best in horror as I have other favorites of the overall genre but he is in my list of modern writers that I appreciate and will give a chance at new work without hesitation.

 

[King of Foxes]

His books are one of the main reasons i love that i learned English.

His short stories are so good, if you havent read them do yourself a favor and check out my favorites of Mr Kings

Night surf
Trucks
The 10 o'clock people
Jerusalem's lot
The mist
The raft

 

[Urprobablyright]

Two things:

First. Until you have completed the Dark Tower book series, you don't really appreciate the universe King has cooked up for his books and their films.

Second, i don't rate him super highly as an author, but rate him very highly as a concept-wright.. for one example, to cut down on spoiling anybody's opinion on books they perhaps have yet to read, i didn't find The Stand to be the most convincing novel, didn't really ever feel like there was anything left to chance by the author, but it dealt in such grand ideas that i had to love it. The Dark Tower involves an Ultimate Badass but exhibits of his badassity are of debatable payoff (in my opinion, wouldn't want to colour perceptions)

 

[King of Foxes]

Two things:

First. Until you have completed the Dark Tower book series, you don't really appreciate the universe King has cooked up for his books and their films.

Second, i don't rate him super highly as an author, but rate him very highly as a concept-wright.. for one example, to cut down on spoiling anybody's opinion on books they perhaps have yet to read, i didn't find The Stand to be the most convincing novel, didn't really ever feel like there was anything left to chance by the author, but it dealt in such grand ideas that i had to love it. The Dark Tower involves an Ultimate Badass but exhibits of his badassity are of debatable payoff (in my opinion, wouldn't want to colour perceptions)

I have recently been thinking about how GRRM hasnt finished game of thrones and can only think its the same thing as King with finishing the Dark Tower. They know the ending they just cant quite get there properly.

I didnt hate the last three Tower books, there was really some great moments and characters (the hume warden and the taheen were great in their interactions) but the ending really felt rushed and glossed over.

I'm pretty sure i read an article where King was lamenting that he didnt know or feel up to being able to finish the Tower series and in the end had to force himself, partly due to fan pressure???

 

[xrnzaaas]

The Stand is what got me into reading Stephen King's books. I just love the early chapters about the spread of the disease, "immune" people coming to terms with everyone else dying and the government being helpless in understanding it. I'm not such a big fan of the second part of the book and I dislike the ending, but I think many people agree that you don't read Stephen King's books because of good endings.

Langoliers is also my guilty pleasure. I love the premise and the mystery surrounding what the langoliers actually are.

I haven't read all of King's books yet, but the best one I've read so far was probably The Green Mile. I remember consuming that book in two days wanting to know what will happen next and how it will end.

 

[Urprobablyright]

, partly due to fan pressure???

That sounds about right bro, i mean part of me.. the Tolkien part, kind of likes it being on the border of dry unreadability... Yeah I'm proud I've got through the series a couple of times now, i think my biannual re-read might be coming up.. i think my favourite might be wolves of the calla

 

[Airola]

Used to read a lot of King's books as a kid in the early 90's.
My favorite for the longest time was The Long Walk. I read it again last year and it wasn't as good as I remember but it was still ok.

I kinda stopped following what he's doing a bit after Desperation, which was REALLY good (with not that great last part). I remember not being able to put that book down. Spent a few of loooong nights reading that instead of getting to sleep.

I've been surprised how much now stuff he has created lately. Just yesterday we watched this movie called In the Tall Grass, which has a great premise of siblings hearing someone cry for help somewhere deep in a field of very tall grass and when they go in they find out they can't get out. It's directed by the guy who directed the first Cube. I was suprised this was a Stephen King movie (he co-wrote it with Joe Hill). It was an interesting movie. Very good at best but average at worst.

 

[Porcile]

Salem's Lot is my personal favourite King movie adaptation. I've never seen but I really want to watch The Shining mini series. I know it's probably dog shit but the movie and TV adaptations have a certain feel to them.

 

[Ingeniero]

King is amazing, so many classics.

Don't watch the 1922 adaptation tho.... It's a good movie, but its too sick.

 

[HaveButOneLife]

I have a hard time separating a creator's work from their politics, King actually does it quite well, as crazy as his beliefs are in real life.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

After reading IT at 14 I went on a tremendous King spree, barely reading anything else for a time.

I've long since lost that interest so I haven't really followed King after the early 2000s. I read Full dark, no stars (very good book) and completed The Dark Tower series (oustanding for the first 5 books, not so good in the final part but it was a wild ride nonetheless).

IT remains a quintessential novel, an archetypical "haunted town" story that's just too engrossing to put down. It's a wonderful book. I read it in 6 days the first time.

 

[kingbean]

I've read almost every book the man has written. His work is some of the most comfortable reading material for me.

 

[Nymphae]

The only story of his I've read and really enjoyed was The Jaunt, which is a science fiction short story. Other than that, some of the movies are ok, but I don't like the way he writes.

Also, he is extremely weird.

When the Losers' travel into the sewer with the intent of destroying It, they momentarily find themselves hopelessly trapped. As the boys start to panic, Beverly comes up with the idea of having sex with the others in order to calm them down, as a result the other Losers take turns having sex with her. Because King didn't wish this to be viewed as a lewd scene, the narrative explicitly states that the act of intimacy with each of the boys' helps to further strengthen their friendship; and Beverly only experiences orgasm while having intercourse with Bill Denbrough and Ben Hanscom.

lol @ him not wanting this quaint scene to be viewed as lewd, and him thinking stating that the gangbang strengthened their friendship somehow avoids this perception. Just running a train on an 11 year old, no biggie.

Then there's "The Library Cop":

The Library Cop seizes Sam's pants and pulls them down. His underpants come with them. He jerks as the cool air strikes his bum.

Thdeady, the Library Policeman pants. Don't move. Once you pay the fine, son, it's over ... and no one needth to know.

Something heavy and hot presses itself against his bottom. Little White Walking Sam jerks again.

Thdeady, the Library Policeman says. He is panting harder now; Sam feels hot blurts of breath on his left shoulder and smells Sen-Sen. He is lost in terror now, but terror isn't all that he feels: there is shame, as well. He has been dragged into the shadows, is being forced to submit to this grotesque, unknown punishment, because he has been late returning The Black Arrow. If he had only known that fines could run this high

The heavy thing jabs into his bottom, thrusting his buttocks apart. A horrible, tearing pain laces upward from Little White Walking Sam's vitals. There has never been pain like this, never in the world.

He drops The Black Arrow and shoves his wrist sideways into his mouth, gagging his own cries.

Thdeady, the Library Wolf pants, and now his hands descend on Sam's shoulders and he is rocking back and forth, in and out, back and forth, in and out. Thdeady ... thdeaady ... oooh! Thdeeeaaaaaaddyyyyy

Gasping and rocking, the Library Cop pounds what feels like a huge hot bar of steel in and out of Sam's bum; Sam stares with wide eyes into the Library basement, which is in another universe, an orderly universe where gruesome things like this don't ever happen. He watches the janitor nod, tuck his clipboard under his arm, and walk toward the door at the far end of the room. If the janitor turned his head just a little and raised his eyes slightly, he would see a face peering in the window at him, the pallid, wide-eyed face of a little boy with red licorice on his lips. Part of Sam wants the janitor to do just that - to rescue him the way the woodcutter rescued Little Red Riding Hood - but most of him knows the janitor would only turn away, disgusted, at the sight of another bad little boy submitting to his just punishment at the hands of the Briggs Avenue Library Cop.

Wow, ok. Stephen King in an introduction he wrote for the story, on his inspiration. Owen is his son:

I suggested that Owen try the local library, which is a very good one. I was sure they'd have it. He muttered some reply. I only caught two words of it, but, given my interests, those two words were more than enough to pique my interest. They were 'library police.'

I put my half of the newspaper aside, used the MUTE button on the remote control to strangle Willard in the middle of his ecstatic report on the Georgia Peach Festival, and asked Owen to kindly repeat himself.

He was reluctant to do so, but I pressed him. Finally he told me that he didn't like to use the library because he worried about the Library Police. He knew there were no Library Police, he hastened to add, but it was one of those stories that burrowed down into your subconscious and just sort of lurked there. He had heard it from his Aunt Stephanie when he was seven or eight and much more gullible, and it had been lurking ever since.

I, of course, was delighted, because I had been afraid of the Library Police myself as a kid - the faceless enforcers who would actually come to your house.

If you didn't bring your overdue books back. That would be bad enough ... but what if you couldn't find the books in question when those strange lawmen turned up? What then? What would they do to you? What might they take to make up for the missing volumes? It had been years since I'd thought of the Library Police (although not since childhood; I can clearly remember discussing them with Peter Straub and his son, Ben, six or eight years ago), but now all those old questions, both dreadful and somehow enticing, recurred.

 

[Amey]

Watching and reading 'The Outsider' in sync. Half way through. Pretty good so far.

 

[Come On Tars]

What makes him one of the goats to me is his range. His horror is great and consistent, but his dramas are top tier.

 

[Cutty Flam]

Wow, for some reason, it completely slipped my mind that he writes "horror" .........

I don't know why, but I've never associated him with the genre for some reason, despite loving horror flicks

I just recently got into reading again, haven't read recreational since I was in elementary until about 7 months ago or so. I'm thinking I might read a Stephen King novel at some point, but I don't know which one to pick tbh

 

[GAMETA]

I wish I had read his work during my teenage years, I don't think I can enjoy it anymore.

 

[haxan7]

Wow, for some reason, it completely slipped my mind that he writes "horror" .........

I don't know why, but I've never associated him with the genre for some reason, despite loving horror flicks

I just recently got into reading again, haven't read recreational since I was in elementary until about 7 months ago or so. I'm thinking I might read a Stephen King novel at some point, but I don't know which one to pick tbh

He really writes about people under the guise of horror so I get you

 

[EverybodyHatesMe]

I realized not long ago that Stephen King actually sucks. His books are no better than the trash you might find at a Wal Mart book section. He's the McDonalds of horror

 

[Old Retro]

I have new appreciation for him now that I recently read a bunch of his short stories. Good stuff!

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I have a hard time separating a creator's work from their politics, King actually does it quite well, as crazy as his beliefs are in real life.

Is he really that crazy or is he just outspokenly liberal?

not trying to derail the thread or anything

I know he tweets liberal support but I can’t remember seeing something that made me think “dude has lost it.” Maybe I’m missing the good stuff tho

 

[HaveButOneLife]

Is he really that crazy or is he just outspokenly liberal?

not trying to derail the thread or anything

I know he tweets liberal support but I can’t remember seeing something that made me think “dude has lost it.” Maybe I’m missing the good stuff tho

Briefly, I just think that his tweets fit the side of "liberal conspiracy" against Trump, in actuality he's more tame than other more left-leaning celebrities.

Luckily his work isn't very "woke" or "political".

 

[Foamy]

Yo Steve! You writes pretty good stories.
Tanks for dat.