The Dark Tower Series.
I loved all seven of these books.If you've
never read them I strongly suggest that you do.He uses a lot of familiar characters in these books and a few of his own life experiences.It is definetly a must read!
"To the Dark Tower,Childe Roland came"

Just finished reading Carrie. It was good, but nowhere near The Dark Tower series and The Shining for me.

All of them except the Talisiman.

My favorite of King's novels is The Stand, although the ending was a let down. It almost felt as if he got tired and slapped on the ending from a TV movie of the week script. Very formula. I think he does best on his short stories and novellas.

My very favorite of all his works is a short story in Skeleton Crew titled Mrs. Todd's Shortcut. It is unlike most of his tales in that it isn't really a horror story or a thriller. It has an ethereal haunting quality that is just beautiful.

Well, it's been a while since I read any, but all of them are unique.. can't really choose.

For nostalgic value: The Tommyknockers was one of my first, I remember getting it from the library (my mom didn't really like me reading such books, was about 12-13-14 something). I especially remember that I didn't half of it, my vocabulary wasn't very extended yet. I remember trying to figure out what 'shed' meant, hah. Read it again later, and my suspicions were correct :P

Anyone else read that one?

I am a huge fan of King! He really is the king of horror and suspense, I have not read all of his works yet, but up till now I love the novella 'four past midnight' it is brilliant with a thick scary touch, especially 'the langoliers'

For some reason "Pet Sematary" always stuck with me. I read it when I was sixteen years old, and I never forgot the impression it made upon me.

But, boy, was it creepy!

The Stand is my favorite of SK's. Then Four Past Midnight ( I love The Langoliers ) and Pet Semetary is far scarier than the lame movie. A great read is his son Joe Hill. OMG he is wonderful. I have Heart Shaped Box. And 20th Century Ghosts. 20th is short stories. He is going to be as good if not better than daddy. I have a bookcase devoted to SK works.

mizKatie, your post sent me running to Amazon! I knew SK had kids, but I had no idea Joseph was a writer! I'm off to find "Heart Shaped Box." I read a bit online, and know I'll love it.

I've read all of King's stuff, and I don't care for anything Tabitha has written, so I guess I just lost touch. Well, I'm back! Thank you!

mizKatie, thanks for the tip. I'm going to check him out (Joe Hill).

My favorite SK novel is also "The Stand" - totally worth every page.

Y

Blaze, written under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman.

You are welcome. I have some of Tabitha's works but not a fan. Not sure why.

I read Heart Shaped Box and found it to be one of the best ghost stories I've come across. I did not know Joe Hill was Stephen King's son.

Mizkatie, I agree about Tabitha's books. While readable, they lack something. And I was pretty surprised she treats her female characters with the same lack of substance her husband has been prone to in some of his writings.

I'm not sure if The Shining still isn't my favorite. But I have really enjoyed many of his books.

If you liked Heart Shaped Box, you will love 20th Century Ghosts. Scary and just plain good. A bit better than dad. Oopppsss.

Please, don't shoot! So many fans here, wow. I have to admit that I have never made it through an entire Stephen King book, although I have tried to read several of them. Somehow I find myself dreadfully bored in the middle every time. Most of his books (that I have tried to read) seemed to me that they would have made great short stories, but are, instead, stuffed with filler to make all-too-lengthy novels. Reading all of the previous posts suggests to me that I must be missing something...? I am a big fan of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, so I should think there would be something of his that I would enjoy. Maybe I just haven't found the right book. I haven't attempted to read the Green Mile or Mysery but I really liked both of those on film, so maybe I should have a go at those. Also, there seem to be some big time fans of The Dark Tower series. Perhaps I should try those.

Roofoo, have you read his short stories? Even though I am a huge King fan, I do think the short stories are superior to the novels. Try Nightshift or Skeleton Crew.
If you prefer novels, his earlier stuff is a lot less long-winded. Carrie, The Shining, Firestarter, etc. The Bachman books read faster, too.

Roofoo, I concur with Taesma. But also, if you do want to eventually get into the Dark Tower series, I'd recommend reading The Eyes of the Dragon. That is a great book that flows. Pretty mellow by his standards too. More on the line of fantasy than horror.

Not Dark Tower related but both The Dead Zone and Salem's Lot are two others I'd recommend of his older books.

Personally, I think his novellas, such as in The Bachman Books and Different Seasons, are his best works. Not too long, not too short, just perfect. Enough to get you into the story but not long enough to drag. I don't think it is a coincidence either that those are what have generally become some of his best movies: Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, The Mist, The Green Mile, just to name a few.

Rage will never be made into a movie. Too bad. I had to laugh though as the script from The Negotiator with Samuel L. Jackson incorporated quite a bit via the interrogation scenes. Script robbery.

However, word on the street is that The Long Walk will be adapted into a movie. That'll be tough but I think Darabont is going to do that one so it should turn out pretty well.

And, by the way, if you want to avoid a book that drags worse than an elephant seal, don't bother reading The Tommyknockers. I tried to reread that lately - painful. Couldn't even get a few dozen pages in.

Other than that last one, enjoy!

Am I the only person who hated Heart Shaped Box? I'm not sure why, it just didn't "do it for me" somehow - I got so far in and thought it must be one of those self-published "well my mam said it was good", it was that bad, and I gave up I didn't realise Hill was SKs son, though they probably did that on purpose so that people didn't just buy it "because he is a King" - Joe probably wanted to make his own way and get true opinions on his own merits which is good for him
I always say that Steven King is either brilliant or just dire "oh dear the mortgage is due dear, write something quickly!" bad. I read recently that he's struggled with alcoholism and drug use for years and wondered if that had anything to do with it, but there isn't really a "pattern" to it - from his early stuff to his latest ones, it seems to be fairly random as to which it is
I have noticed though, that whenever there's a discussion of his work, different people love and hate each and every one of his works, so if nothing else he most certainly "gets to" people and when he reaches them, does it in a lasting way if that makes sense. Nobody ever seems to say "meh"

Rowena, you're right about King being on the cocaine (well, at least we know how he cranked out so many books so fast ) and alcohol diet for a while there. In fact, he said he didn't even remember writing Cujo. I think something similar for Tommyknockers. Figures, both of those were pretty poor, definitely not his best work.

The Stand, It, Hearts in Atlantis, The Dark Tower (just to name a few), on the other hand, those are GREAT.

I love The Stand Have you read Swan Song by Robert McCammon? It's as if "they" gave both McCammon and King a plot outline and said write this, and The Stand and Swan Song were the results.
One of these days I must read the Dark Tower...somehow I've just never gotten round to them.
I did enjoy bits of Hearts in Atlantis, some of it not so much, and It can terrify me to this day lol and I just can't watch the film at all, (the "bit with the rain grating in the gutter" makes me shudder just typing it here, kept me awake for a week afterwards!) it was so scary, and that Salem's Lot miniseries that my mam let me watch when I was probably too young is the same.

My mother read "The Shining" when it first came out while sick with the flu and running a high fever. It scared her so badly she went and slept on the couch because she was afraid to sleep in the same room with my father!

Haven't seen much mention of it here, so maybe I'm in the minority, but I really liked "Christine". It was ruined by the totally cheesy movie, but I found the book to be quite eerie.

I loved The Green Mile, inhaled it in one sitting. I had the one that had all the book in one version, it would have been irritating to wait for each installment as it was originally published.

The Dark Tower series is his best work, in my opinion. Book 2, The Drawing of the Three, is just riveting. A great read, definitive King.

Also, I read Salem's Lot when I was a teen, and I wore a crucifix to bed for a week. Kept thinking of my parents as vampires, and hearing the branches of my overgrown tree tapping on the windows late at night...

My favorite Stephen King book would have to be the short story " The Long Walk". It is on of my absolutely favorites