# Stephen King recommendation?



## frogman81 (Jul 2, 2018)

Hey there, interested in checking out some Stephen King. I read the first book in the Dark Tower series and found it interesting but a bit psychedelic for me by the ending. I also read his short story collection - Full Dark, No Stars, which was fairly enjoyable but not very memorable. Lately I've been pretty taken by the Gothic Romance genre and the writing tends to be (obviously) quite "high-brow". I have to admit I enjoy this style (Tolkien, Robert Jordan, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Edith Wharton, Bram Stoker, even Bret Easton Ellis...) and I find Stephen King's writing somewhat "low brow" - meaning the characters are often disadvantaged, abused, with slang-based dialogue etc... Somewhat like the characters that Rob Zombie loves making movies about... This could just be my limited exposure to King's writing?

I hope I'm not coming off as a total douche... I suppose maybe my enjoyment of what I consider "high brow" literature is a bit of aspirational porn for me. I guess I'm wondering: has Stephen King written any white collar horror lol?

Secondary question - I thoroughly enjoy a good eerie New England forest setting. I have yet to read any Washington Irving although I intend to. Any other suggestions in a similar style?


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## bostjan (Jul 2, 2018)

Almost everything from Lovecraft was set, at least in part, in New England.

I enjoyed "Thinner" by King quite a lot, but I certainly wouldn't consider it high-brow. I think he's a popular writer partially because he's so down-to-Earth about his character development. I honestly haven't read much fiction at all, but Stephen King is one of my 3 or 4 exceptions.


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## rifftrauma (Jul 2, 2018)

King is really more supernatural than horror in my opinion. I've read most of his books and never really got the "horror" vibe from the majority of his work. I think he kinda gets thrown in the "Master of Horror" category, as it's catchy and makes for good marketing.

If you're after a single book that really summarizes what King is all about, then check out the uncut version of The Stand. Most of this is purely opinion, but I feel that the uncut version of The Stand really is King's best singular work. The Dark Tower gets much better after the first book. The next three books are pretty great for setting up the back story, making whats considered King's magnum opus feel much more alive than the first book. 

Some other worthy mentions, the seriously under rated Tommyknockers if your interested in Sci-Fi, The Eyes of the Dragon for fantasy, or Needful Things, which I feel again is just kinda like supernatural, not horror. Also, the stuff he wrote under his pen name, Richard Bachman, is generally more fucked up for lack of a better word than most of his normal writings. Check out The Long Walk.


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## isispelican (Jul 2, 2018)

You can't go wrong with the classics, Shinning, It, Salem's Lot etc (thinking about it most of his books are classics hahah). One of my favorites is The Stand, it's got a really epic rock & roll vibe throughout. Dream Catcher and Cell were also cool. The Dark Tower is his absolute masterwork though. Shit, just grab one and go!


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## jco5055 (Jul 2, 2018)

I feel like I can chime in, as I've literally read every King novel up to and including It chronologically, as well as the uncut version of the Stand.

I'd definitely say his best work was in the 70s (and this includes the Stand since it was originally '78). I think after reading It I just need to take a big break from him. Christine was the first book I read from him that was not at least a "really good/enjoyable" from me, and everything after hasn't been up to par from his 70s stuff imo. For years I actually liked his "low-brow" style and other thriller novels, basically I got completely pooped out of reading like fantasy/sci-fi because it felt like it was so dense. 

But reading It made me fully realize how he's definitely not the best writer out there. Sure, for how popular he is he's amazing, but he definitely has a problem with endings and getting sidetracked/going on tangents which would have been better with an editor.

But a lesser known book I'd recommend (since I'd say his best is probably the Shining or the Stand but a person can't miss those when looking for recommendations) is the Long Walk, I really enjoyed it. The Talisman was also pretty good, that may be thanks to Peter Straub "refreshing" a book compared to it being 100% King.

PS I also thought the Gunslinger was only ok, but talking with an ex-coworker who loved the Dark Tower it seems like it might be accepted that the Gunslinger is a bit meh compared to the saga overall?


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## KnightBrolaire (Jul 2, 2018)

If you want flowery prose/ gothic horror , check out Anne Rice's Vampire Lestat books.

As far as King goes, he doesn't really have any books that read like flowery prose besides some sections of Misery (which is a great book).


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## tedtan (Jul 2, 2018)

Tommyknockers, The Shining, and The Stand will give you a good overview of King.


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## Humbuck (Jul 2, 2018)

Night Shift


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## mongey (Jul 2, 2018)

I have read quite a few

I'd say the stand and thinner were my faves 

there is also a collection of short stories he wrote under a ghost name . robert bachman or something. it has the running man , which he wrote and Hollywood took and totally butchered, which is good . but it also has a story called the long walk which I rate as his best work . but it has been a long time since I read it


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## frogman81 (Jul 2, 2018)

bostjan said:


> Almost everything from Lovecraft was set, at least in part, in New England.



Interesting to note about Lovecraft. He has been on my list of authors to check out at some point, and I had always associated him with sci-fi.



bostjan said:


> ...I think he's a popular writer partially because he's so down-to-Earth about his character development.



You're probably right there.



rifftrauma said:


> If you're after a single book that really summarizes what King is all about, then check out the uncut version of The Stand. Most of this is purely opinion, but I feel that the uncut version of The Stand really is King's best singular work.



This seems to be a recurring recommendation.



isispelican said:


> One of my favorites is The Stand, it's got a really epic rock & roll vibe throughout.



I like the sound of that.



KnightBrolaire said:


> If you want flowery prose/ gothic horror , check out Anne Rice's Vampire Lestat books.



I've been slowly working through her books but I put down Queen of The Damned for awhile. I feel like her writing kind of came apart when it was brought into the modern day setting. The "Wolfkiller" scene in The Vampire Lestat as well as the "Happy Times in New Orleans" chapters with Lestat, Louis and Claudia in Interview With The Vampire will always be classic readings for me.


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## spudmunkey (Jul 2, 2018)

Needful Things was my favorite king book. 2nd would be...I'd say Carrie, Christine, and "Four Past Midnight", which was a collection of short stories. The Dark Half was another favorite.


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## mongey (Jul 2, 2018)

spudmunkey said:


> Needful Things was my favorite king book. 2nd would be...I'd say Carrie, Christine, and "Four Past Midnight", which was a collection of short stories. The Dark Half was another favorite.


needful things is a good one actually. had totally forgotten that one


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## NateFalcon (Jul 3, 2018)

Tommyknockers and The Stand are good classics. For shorter reading Thinner was cool and The Body (which Stand by Me is based on) is also pretty good. I’m more of a Dean Koontz fan myself for that particular style


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## lemeker (Jul 3, 2018)

Different Seasons is a collection of novellas of his. It has Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, The Body and The Breathing Method (which is my favorite all time of his). I also liked Delores Claiborne a lot.
The movies for Shawshank and The Body (Stand By Me) were fairly similar, but Apt Pupil fell short. The book was so much better, and made the kid feel more disturbing.


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## Mathemagician (Jul 3, 2018)

Don’t know if it was mentioned but “Bag of Bones” is a slow-read. Builds up nicely as far as pacing goes. I ended up really liking it. Haven’t read a lot of King though so idk how it stacks up.


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## Andrew Lloyd Webber (Jul 3, 2018)

@frogman81

Any preference regarding print vs audiobook? I’ve consistently gotten the most out of King’s respective junkfoods through someone else reading it (King himself, in particular), and that may be a point to weigh against something you want specifically for the reading ritual.


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## frogman81 (Jul 4, 2018)

Andrew Lloyd Webber said:


> @frogman81
> 
> Any preference regarding print vs audiobook? I’ve consistently gotten the most out of King’s respective junkfoods through someone else reading it (King himself, in particular), and that may be a point to weigh against something you want specifically for the reading ritual.



Interesting question. I’ve never used audiobooks. The idea has piqued my curiosity before, but since sampling a Tolkien audiobook ages ago that was super cheesy I haven’t given them a real shot. Since I’m a pretty slow reader maybe this would be a good chance to try one out.


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## Andrew Lloyd Webber (Jul 4, 2018)

In that case, I’d recommend the Blood and Smoke or LT’s Theory of Pets audiobooks for an audition - Short stories read by King.


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## KnightBrolaire (Jul 4, 2018)

frogman81 said:


> Interesting question. I’ve never used audiobooks. The idea has piqued my curiosity before, but since sampling a Tolkien audiobook ages ago that was super cheesy I haven’t given them a real shot. Since I’m a pretty slow reader maybe this would be a good chance to try one out.


just don't get IT as an audiobook. It's like 20 hours a chapter


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## Andrew Lloyd Webber (Jul 4, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> just don't get IT as an audiobook. It's like 20 hours a chapter



You should check out the audiobooks for the Wheel of Time series.


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## SamSam (Jul 4, 2018)

The Dark Tower 2 - 4 (4 being the highpoint for me) are all fantastic stories. 5 really drained me reading through.

He's a great story teller, but not a great writer, but he does have an enjoyable, easy reading, visceral style. And I do feel that easy readability is an under valued quality.

I can't recall most of the titles of the books I have read, but I generally find most of his work (that I have read) enjoyable.


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## Triple7 (Jul 11, 2018)

I would definitely finish the Dark Tower saga. As stated above books 2-4 are fantastic books. 

"IT" is definitely worth reading too. Such a great book. A lot of it focuses on the New England area itself. 

"The Talisman" was awesome...but I'm in the minority who liked "Black House" (the sequal) even better. 

I recently read one of his newer books, "Revival" I really enjoyed that one as well.


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## wankerness (Jul 11, 2018)

Most of these recs are giving you the "best" books by him instead of what you asked for, which is less trashy and/or blue collar. I don't know if he really HAS anything "classy." His dialogue in particular tends to be really blunt and often downright bad. His actual stories (and how accessible they are across all demographics, I guess) tend to be what makes them so popular.

I think "The Dead Zone" and maybe "Pet Semetary" have characters that are meant to be a little bit more intelligent instead of a bunch of foul-mouthed (if often likable!) idiots. They both have pretty focused, solid stories as well with a minimum of the bizarre digressions that he's known for.

If you're just curious about his best stuff, regardless of what you asked for, I guess "The Stand" is probably what you should go for first.

"It" is a gigantic mess. I like it, but you will absolutely react with disgust and head-shaking to the frequently terrible dialogue and nonsensical interludes that get thrown in there. Oh, the bully and his buddies are all jacking each other off in the dump? Oh, the guy out to catch and rape/beat his wife frequently has his boner described? Yep, that all got past the editor, because it just HAD to be 1100 pages and none of it was disposable!!! it's not just a sexual thing, those are just the most pointless scenes I can think of off the top of my head. The dialogue and horribly artificial way characters interact are bigger problems. You could have a drinking game based on how many times characters "throw their arms over reach others' shoulders."

IIRC Eyes of the Dragon was pretty good. The Shining was pretty decent, although I think the film made some good decisions in tossing out some of the material and also had a better climax/ending. Most of the ones with famous movie adaptations are pretty good, but some I think are legit inferior to the movies. "Carrie" in particular.

The most fun books, which I've re-read the most times, are "Night Shift" and "Skeleton Crew." They're most definitely loaded with trash and bizarre ideas, but they all go past so quickly and they work really well in bite-sized form instead of being a long book that suddenly has something that doesn't fit.

"The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" is a good short one.

EDIT: The Talisman is quite good except for another weird fascination with describing bad guys' penises. Also, it was only co-written by King.

The Dark Tower's first four books are pretty great, especially the fourth. I still wouldn't recommend reading them all, since they're a gigantic time investment, I really don't think the first three are on par with his best work, and almost everything I've heard is that reading the last three might just make you mad.

EDIT 2: Someone gave me Revival for Christmas. It's good, huh? I'll have to read it. I was a King diehard way back in middle school (I think the most appropriate age for him), but I sorta stopped bothering to keep up around 9th or 10th grade. And since he releases like 2 books a year, now it's an insurmountable task!!!


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## fps (Jul 12, 2018)

IT. Flaws and all, it's so, so awesome.


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## rich_chaffins (Jul 25, 2018)

I love me some King. One that surprised me was 11/22/63. Just a phenomenal book, especially the audiobook. It hits a lot of notes: sci-fi, love story, thriller. Exceptionally well written. 
Past that, The Stand, of course. The Dark Tower, especially with the revised version of The Gunslinger, is probably my favorite.


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## Seabeast2000 (Jul 25, 2018)

wankerness said:


> "It" is a gigantic mess. I like it, but you will absolutely react with disgust and head-shaking to the frequently terrible dialogue and nonsensical interludes that get thrown in there. Oh, the bully and his buddies are all jacking each other off in the dump? Oh, the guy out to catch and rape/beat his wife frequently has his boner described? Yep, that all got past the editor, because it just HAD to be 1100 pages and none of it was disposable!!! it's not just a sexual thing, those are just the most pointless scenes I can think of off the top of my head. The dialogue and horribly artificial way characters interact are bigger problems. You could have a drinking game based on how many times characters "throw their arms over reach others' shoulders."



IT's ending was as ridiculous as the previous 1100 pages. It all seemed to me like a sloppy joke on the reader.


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## Descent (Jul 25, 2018)

I much rather read Richard Bachman. "Running Man" especially, that movie doesn't do the book justice.


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## wankerness (Jul 26, 2018)

Descent said:


> I much rather read Richard Bachman. "Running Man" especially, that movie doesn't do the book justice.



This sounds almost like hipster contrarianism! There are what, 5 Richard Bachman books? And some of those aren't even good! The Long Walk, Rage and The Regulators are pretty dumb and bland. I haven't read anything he released under that name since The Regulators, I guess.


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## Descent (Jul 26, 2018)

I am not sure, I remember reading them initially and loved all of them (the 80s ones). Revisited Running Man last year and I was blown away. His more recent writing doesn't really excite me as much. I loved his earlier stuff. "The Cell" wasn't bad for new but kinda lost me towards the end.


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## wankerness (Jul 26, 2018)

I remember The Cell having particularly awful dialogue between characters, especially the crap that characters would say that made other characters laugh. And the flying zombies, oh man. I'm not sure if it was actually worse than his older stuff, or if it's just that it was one of the only novels of his I read for the first time post-9th grade, but either way I thought it stunk. My guess is that it is actually worse, since I've listened to books on tape of a few of his things in the last couple years and some of them held up decently. And if the book of 11.22.63 is like the miniseries, that's probably quite good as well. I'm curious to read the Shining sequel, even though I don't like that book much.

I would have to reread that compilation "The Bachman Books" to be sure. I remember the plots of The Long Walk and The Running Man quite clearly, but not the writing quality. Partly cause I read them back when I was too young to be able to identify writing quality. My favorite book back then was Jurassic Park!!


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## MFB (Jul 26, 2018)

wankerness said:


> I remember The Cell having particularly awful dialogue between characters, especially the crap that characters would say that made other characters laugh. And the flying zombies, oh man. I'm not sure if it was actually worse than his older stuff, or if it's just that it was one of the only novels of his I read for the first time post-9th grade, but either way I thought it stunk. My guess is that it is actually worse, since I've listened to books on tape of a few of his things in the last couple years and some of them held up decently. And if the book of 11.22.63 is like the miniseries, that's probably quite good as well. I'm curious to read the Shining sequel, even though I don't like that book much.
> 
> I would have to reread that compilation "The Bachman Books" to be sure. I remember the plots of The Long Walk and The Running Man quite clearly, but not the writing quality. Partly cause I read them back when I was too young to be able to identify writing quality. My favorite book back then was Jurassic Park!!



Doctor Sleep? 

Wasn't bad, different than anything else by him that I've read in that it has two different storylines running at the same time and eventually coming together to set up the 3rd act. I forget how it ends though, which is usually King's Achilles heel.


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## Drew (Jul 26, 2018)

frogman81 said:


> Hey there, interested in checking out some Stephen King. I read the first book in the Dark Tower series and found it interesting but a bit psychedelic for me by the ending.


I'd definitely finish The Dark Tower. It's a great storyline (2-4 really are quite good, though the last half of the last book was, IMO, my favorite), and it's kind of cool to see King maturing as an author, since The Gunslinger was written in the 70s, a solid 20 years, I believe, before he wrote the second... and I think there was a 10 year gap after either 4 or 5 before he picked the series back up. There's a pronounced difference in the quality of writing from the start of the series to the end. Not that even by the end King is exactly highbrow, but it's cool to watch him find his voice.

Wheel of Time is excellent too - I started reading those as a kid and stuck with it untul maybe 7 or so, when finally I gave up and vowed to just reread them all after Jordan finished the series.  I picked them back up a couple years ago, and while whoever finished the series for him - Sanderson, maybe? - broguht a slightly different voice to it, it worked really well. I was also surprised that while 12-year-old-me related most immediately to Rand, as an adult Mat was the character I related the most to.


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## technomancer (Jul 27, 2018)

Drew said:


> I'd definitely finish The Dark Tower. It's a great storyline (2-4 really are quite good, though the last half of the last book was, IMO, my favorite), and it's kind of cool to see King maturing as an author, since The Gunslinger was written in the 70s, a solid 20 years, I believe, before he wrote the second... and I think there was a 10 year gap after either 4 or 5 before he picked the series back up. There's a pronounced difference in the quality of writing from the start of the series to the end. Not that even by the end King is exactly highbrow, but it's cool to watch him find his voice.



Sadly the last couple books had also passed the point where he really needed an editor with balls big enough to tell him to cut stuff... I loved the world and the characters, but some of the stuff in there was terrible and the climax was, well, anticlimactic 

Overall pretty much everything 1991 and earlier is good... after that things got a bit hit or miss IMHO. I say this as someone who was a HUGE King fan.


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## HeavyMetal4Ever (Jul 28, 2018)

Why bother with recommendations though? Start at the start and work your way through his material chronologically, then you won't need to ask others what's up, you will know yourself.


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## KanoraK (Jul 28, 2018)

Stephen King is the writer that got me into fantasy as a genre. I remember my French teacher handing me the book 'Christine' because I couldn't find an interesting book to study and it was a revelation !

I haven't read all his books, but I would recommend reading Christine, It, The Long Walk, 11/22/63 and of course Shining ! I found 11/22/63 very different, less dark than what he's used to.

I was a huge fan of the TV series 'Dead Zone' when I was a child. I read the book a few years ago...and I was very disappointed. I wouldn't recommend reading the book but watching the TV show instead.


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## Andrew Lloyd Webber (Jul 28, 2018)

HeavyMetal4Ever said:


> Why bother with recommendations though? Start at the start and work your way through his material chronologically, then you won't need to ask others what's up, you will know yourself.



It _is _only fifty-eight novels, after all.


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## HeavyMetal4Ever (Jul 28, 2018)

Andrew Lloyd Webber said:


> It _is _only fifty-eight novels, after all.



Exactly...years of entertainment.


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## Andrew Lloyd Webber (Jul 29, 2018)

I recommend a lengthy prison sentence to facilitate it.


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## HeavyMetal4Ever (Jul 30, 2018)

Any particular crime in mind or dealers choice?


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## Drew (Jul 30, 2018)

technomancer said:


> Sadly the last couple books had also passed the point where he really needed an editor with balls big enough to tell him to cut stuff... I loved the world and the characters, but some of the stuff in there was terrible and the climax was, well, anticlimactic
> 
> Overall pretty much everything 1991 and earlier is good... after that things got a bit hit or miss IMHO. I say this as someone who was a HUGE King fan.


Eh, I liked how it ended, though to be honest I could have done without basically everything about anyone other than Roland. I may be remembering the names of the parts wrong, but the afterward or epilogue after the "official" ending of the book was, while for you anticlimatic, for me really the only way it could have ended that made any sense to me, and the "official" ending itself, where the book stops and King advises you not to read the epilogue or afterward or whatever, was pretty damned epic. The first half of that book was a little bloated, though, IMO.


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## technomancer (Jul 30, 2018)

Drew said:


> Eh, I liked how it ended, though to be honest I could have done without basically everything about anyone other than Roland. I may be remembering the names of the parts wrong, but the afterward or epilogue after the "official" ending of the book was, while for you anticlimatic, for me really the only way it could have ended that made any sense to me, and the "official" ending itself, where the book stops and King advises you not to read the epilogue or afterward or whatever, was pretty damned epic. The first half of that book was a little bloated, though, IMO.



I was more referring to the final showdown as opposed to the ending ending  Also it's been a while but from what I recall you could have probably cut 50% of the last 3 books or so and the story wouldn't have suffered.



Spoiler



Also an editor should have bitch-slapped King for putting himself into the books, that was just lame.


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## Drew (Jul 30, 2018)

technomancer said:


> I was more referring to the final showdown as opposed to the ending ending  Also it's been a while but from what I recall you could have probably cut 50% of the last 3 books or so and the story wouldn't have suffered.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 



Spoiler



Agree to disagree on that - I think he and Vonnegutt are the only two authors who've ever done that who actually pulled it off, and a lot of the reason for that is King paints himself as kind of a bumbling, alcoholic, idiot, in an extremely unflattering picture.



I think we just like REALLY different things in a book.


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## BrailleDecibel (Aug 1, 2018)

I can't really add much to this thread that hasn't already been gone over, but it has inspired me to give the uncut version of "The Stand" another go after not reading it for quite awhile, and to change my user title to reflect it.


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## milofarid (Aug 1, 2018)

IT!


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## Jarmake (Aug 11, 2018)

I recommend reading "Blaze". It's a bit different, but still 100% King stuff. Talisman and Black house are great books too, I love them both, even if they're completely different kinds of animals. Talisman is more fantasy oriented adventure stuff and black house is more dark and violent...

The girl who loved Tom Gordon is great too, it was my favorite when I was a kid. There's a ton of great books from King and his son (Joe hill) seems to have the same talent as his father.

I haven't read the newest collaboration with his other son Owen King, which is Sleeping Beauties, but I have high hopes for it too.


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## frogman81 (Sep 1, 2018)

wankerness said:


> Most of these recs are giving you the "best" books by him instead of what you asked for, which is less trashy and/or blue collar. I don't know if he really HAS anything "classy." His dialogue in particular tends to be really blunt and often downright bad. His actual stories (and how accessible they are across all demographics, I guess) tend to be what makes them so popular.



As the OP I was surprised to see some postings still going in here. Credit to Wankerness for actually reading the full question (most didn’t it seems, but that’s ok) and giving a detailed answer. Nothing against Stephen King but I think the answer is that if I’m after “high brow horror” I should look elsewhere.


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## guitaardvark (Oct 10, 2018)

Why not start with Survivor Type, the short story that even King admits went too far for him?

https://www.georgetownisd.org/cms/lib/tx01001838/centricity/domain/594/survivor_type.pdf


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