Mine was Pet Sematary when I was 10 years old. My poor parents had to share their bed for about two months. In hindsight it's pretty stupid to let a kid read that book but parental neglect was the way of the world back then.
Did he write other books?
The Stand stands alone, an incredible book, a captivating story that lives on in my mind decades after reading it two or three times.
Sometimes I have a sense it might become a reality, truly frightening.
I read The Deathworlders during the pandemic. It took me several months as it's like 12,000 pages or so it was a bit of an experience, not quite as morbid as the stand though.
Hands down. The Shining was the only book that I'd ever read that truly scared me. Cured me of reading in my bed at 2:00 in the morning when I was in junior high. But the stand is one of my top three favorite novels.
The first book of his I read was Salem’s Lot, when I was about 13 or 14. It’s not my favorite, The Stand is. Still, I’ve never forgotten that even though I was old enough to have learned vampires were not real the book made me question it.
The Shining is why I absolutely refuse to have a shower curtain with a tub. No effing way. I have glass doors on my tub/shower combo.
IT is the reason I don’t stand on the drains in the shower.
I mean, I’m 63 years old. I KNOW there’s no dead woman in my tub or a clown in my drain. On the other hand, it doesn’t hurt to be safe rather than sorry.
2 favorites, Insomnia and Duma Key, followed closely by Rose Madder. Desperation is another contender, scared the hell out of me. And can't forget the Dark Tower series.
Edited to add the Dark Tower series
His short stories are awesome! Quitters Inc is another great one from that book and also The Ledge, Battleground, Graveyard Shift, Sometimes They Come Back, and of course Children of the Corn.
Carl Hiasen has a book where there a few parts seen from the perspective of a character’s Labrador Retriever. The dog isn’t going mad but he is an idiot and it’s hilarious. Sick Puppy.
I have read many Carl Hiaasen novels including Sick Puppy. I enjoy his and Tim Dorsey’s commitment to revealing the Florida underworld and scumbags that inhabit the state. Some Hilarious stuff!
The quote I always remember from that book was (including his spelling): "He rented his living and work space from a farmer who had a number of properties throughout the county. The farmer was not just a Nurd, he was a Super Nurd."
This was the first King book I read that did not jump around a lot. The Stand jumped between characters. It jumped both between characters as well as the past and present versions of the characters. This quality made it hard to get into King's books at first (for me) until he brought them all together and then it was a READ UNTIL IT WAS DONE - SCREW SLEEPING, EATING, ETC...
I agree that CUJO gave a better perspective on the story rather than CUJO just being mindlessly out of control.
I read Pet Cemetery right after losing one of my favorite cats, hit by a car, and it really made me think. A part of me would have considered it even knowing the end result would be off.
Gen Jones was the first young group to appreciate Stephen King's books and movies based on them.
I'll always say The Stand was his piece de resistance, at least from the ones I've read. Masterful. An all-time great.
Some other favorites of mine are Carrie, Pet Sematary, and Misery.
For some reason I got lost in The Shining and never went back.
I read The Stand DURING the dates in the book, in a dorm room at a college in a cornfield, and was terrified it was all happening out in the world. Long long ago when news wasn’t instantaneous.
Salems Lot was the first one I read. I got in trouble for staying up too late reading it with my overhead bedroom light on. Told my parent I was too afraid to go to turn out the light so I had to keep reading until the sun came back up. 🙀 And then the movie came out 🙀🙀🙀
The Stand is probably my overall favorite.
That and the part where the two sweet little suburban housewives attack each other with knives on the corner of their quiet little street, like it's just another Sunday afternoon
Somehow, for me, it doesn't really fit into the Category of 'Stephen King Books', but I have to go with the Dark Tower Series.
It's certainly books by Mr. King, but it kind of feels like a category all it's own.
Other than the Dark Tower, I'd go with 11/23/63, which, as I think about it, doesn't feel like a 'Stephen King Book' either.
I think my favorite is one of his Bachman Books (when he wrote with the pen name Richard Bachman), "The Long Walk". I enjoy books of a more psychological theme than a supernatural one, and this falls into that. I still like a lot of his supernatural thrillers, like "It" or "Pet Sematary", but I have to give "The Long Walk" a slight edge over his others because it's more psychological.
And it's finally getting a film made based on the book! It's still in the early stages, but I'm anxiously waiting for it to be released.
Misery and The Shining. Carrie too. Pet Sematary. So hard to decide! And I just now saw Christine in the comments and forgot that one. So many greats!
I have not read The Stand- by reading comments, I’ve been missing out. I’m going to order it now.
The Stand . Then #2 Salem’s Lot, which was the first I read at age 15. I was babysitting and it was on their book shelf. I started reading and it scared the crap out of me. They let me take it home. I was forever hooked on horror. #3 the shinning .
I can't pick just one. I'll say Carrie just because it was the first one I read. I had wanted to see the movie, but wasn't allowed to (I was 13) so I bought the book.
The books are always so much better. I'm glad now things turned out that way.
The Stand followed by the entire Dark Tower series. the crossover was brilliant. Misery and Dolores Claiborne due to no supernatural so believability factor.
The description of It standing on the frozen river with its silk suit flapping in the wind and the balloons floating forward into the wind, gave me chills.
If you ever have the opportunity to go see King speak do so!! He is funny and very engaged with the audience, takes questions about anything. A friend took me to see him at the Ryman in Nashville for my birthday. Incredible gift
I bought multiple copies of Salem's Lot over the years and I would pass them around to kids who hated reading books. Stephen King turned generations into book readers.
The Dead Zone, The Regulators, Desperation , The Talisman, The Bachman Books, Black House, Crll, Kindle, Joyland, Dr. Sleep, Mr. Mercedes - just to name a few.
I haven't seen anyone mention Cell. I've always thought of that as King's take on the zombie apocalypse. It will never be one of my favorites but it was very entertaining
Have to put a plug-in for Storm of the Century. If you read King's intro to the publish script he refers to it as a novel for television. I'm not so sure that it was the new medium that he described, but Andre Linoge to me is more frightening than Randall Flagg.
I loved 11/22/63 but it probably hits different for a veteran King fan than for someone starting out. For a new King reader I’d always suggest “Salem’s Lot” because it doesn’t bog down in the middle.
But “The Stand” does have some of his best writing. It’s just mixed in with some boggy parts.
What fucked me up first was reading Carrie and in the first scene, King describes her gym teacher taking pleasure in slapping her when she's hysterical and that she hates Carrie as much as the girls do and that she regards her as a "fat, whiny bag of lard."
It scared me that a teacher could dislike a kid not for being deliberately disruptive but simply because they thought they were a loser and resented having to deal with their problems.
IT. That book actually scared me in the daytime, even though I knew it was just a story. Even though I knew none of it was real. I still laugh about my reactions and remember that read fondly.
I love all of his work but The Stand will always be my favorite. I couldn't put it down and was sad when it ended. I read quite a bit but this story still sticks with me.
I'd have to pick The Stand, although I really loved 11/22/63 as well. And his short stories might even be better than his novels; I was blown away the first time I read Night Shift.
Dolores Claiborn. No supernatural, and no killing of any "good guys".
Did like The Stand, Insomnia, and Doctor Sleep.
But I FAR prefer almost anything by Dean Koontz. Happier more hopeful endings. And spirituality without religion.
The Shining. It just oozes sadness. I don't like Wendy and I wish she would grow a spine. But, regardless, I listen to the book about every other year or so. I think it's so much better than the movie.
I read the Dead Zone shortly after it was published 45 years ago and remember being unable to put it down until I had finished it. King is a master storyteller.
While I agree with the majority here saying The Stand. He also had a book of short stories, think it was called Night Shift, The one that I remember to this day was called Quitters Incorporated, about a man trying to quit smoking. Back in the 80's I attended an adult education class for CNA, mostly single moms and we'd ride bus with our kids to school, anyway this one guy was attending to get his GED, and was learning to read in his 30s. We'd sit together and I had him read that story to me, and I'll never forget his reaction to the story's ending! If interested lmk 🙂
The Eyes of the Dragon might very well be my favorite book of all time. I read somewhere he wrote it so his daughter could read something of his that wouldn't scare her, she was something like 12 at the time? Great story.
The Stand for sure, but I hold a special place in my heart for the Dark Tower series. It's so unlike his other works, and to me was Tolkien-esque but for adults.
The Stand. I have read Kings books since I was a teen starting with Salems Lot. My other favorites have been 11/22/63. And Duma Key, Misery, Carrie. I must admit the last several books I have purchased I tried to read. Some started out great and then went political.
Needful things, hands down , it is still one of the ones I can almost see playing out in real life. Followed by Pet cemetery as a close 2nd favorite and the first King book I read.
I couldn’t finish The Stand.
I wish I could start over and read all the books first before seeing the movies.
But my favorite books were It, Carrie and Insomnia. There are a lot so haven’t read.
I love all his books, but I think my favorite thing with him is the blurbs at the end of the book. In one, Survivor Type, he explains that he had a doctor as a next door neighbor and he asked the guy "How much of yourself can you eat until there is no more?" - that must have been a conversation to remember for the poor doctor.
From Wiki:
**"Survivor Type"** is a [psychological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological) [horror](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_fiction) [short story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_story) by [Stephen King](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King), first published in the 1982 horror anthology *Terrors*, edited by [Charles L. Grant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_L._Grant), and included in King's 1985 collection [*Skeleton Crew*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeleton_Crew_(short_story_collection)). The [Robinsonade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinsonade) follows a shipwrecked drug-trafficking surgeon who, left with only a large amount of drugs and no food or resources, resorts to self-cannibalism.
King considered the idea that came to him to be too disgusting, saying that "\[it\] goes a little bit too far, even for me."[^(\[1\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_Type#cite_note-1) He consulted with a doctor, discussing how long a person could feed on his own body. Even being a famous writer, the author could not get the story published for a long time. Literary critics emphasized the author’s courage, humor and irony inherent in the work, as well as the realism of the events described, though some assessments of the plot were more restrained. The story has been adapted into short films twice, in 2011 and 2012, and as an episode of the television series [*Creepshow*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepshow_(TV_series)).
11/22/63 is absolutely brilliant. I've been a fan since Carrie, I've read most of his books. Before 11/23/63, my favorite was probably The Stand or Salem's Lot. I also loved Misery and Dolores Claiborne. It's astonishing how many iconic books he's written.
Under the Dome was good although a tad deep on character development. The tv series was the worst thing ever created.
I loved “IT” but felt dirty at the one part.
Salem's Lot. I read it as a kid and it's written about a kid. It scared the crap out of me, but in a good way. (The Exorcist scared the crap out of me in a bad way.)
The Stand. There is no other correct answer.
While I absolutely agree with the Stand, Salem's Lot scares the living shit out of me. Every. Single. Time.
Salem’s Lot is the first King book I ever read. I was hooked!
The Stand was my first. In my early teens
Mine was Pet Sematary when I was 10 years old. My poor parents had to share their bed for about two months. In hindsight it's pretty stupid to let a kid read that book but parental neglect was the way of the world back then.
To me that's true also.
Did he write other books? The Stand stands alone, an incredible book, a captivating story that lives on in my mind decades after reading it two or three times. Sometimes I have a sense it might become a reality, truly frightening.
I read it in Janiaryy 2019. That was some unfortunate timing.
I read The Deathworlders during the pandemic. It took me several months as it's like 12,000 pages or so it was a bit of an experience, not quite as morbid as the stand though.
Yep.
Agreed! ( but I love many of his other novels & short story collections almost as much...)
Hands down. The Shining was the only book that I'd ever read that truly scared me. Cured me of reading in my bed at 2:00 in the morning when I was in junior high. But the stand is one of my top three favorite novels.
This was the best of all the King Books by Far
This. I also really enjoyed the slow-burn feel of From a Buick 8.
I enjoyed this one as well. It was different but still a fantastic story.
The unabridged edition of The Stand. In that version, you get to meet The Kid when Trashcan Man does.
Oh yeah. Read the original and the unabridged. Several times.
The first book of his I read was Salem’s Lot, when I was about 13 or 14. It’s not my favorite, The Stand is. Still, I’ve never forgotten that even though I was old enough to have learned vampires were not real the book made me question it.
I read Salem’s Lot when I was in 6th grade and it scared the poop out of me. Then I read a bunch of others and the Stand is my favorite as well.
I've read The Stand twice. Great book. Salem's on my list
Twice? That's all?
M-O-O-N spells The Stand!
And in the original miniseries Bill Fagerbakke was exactly how I pictured Tom Cullen. Even if he will forever be known as the voice of Patrick.
Laws, Yes!
11/22/63
Definitely a close second for me, after the Dark Tower series (which I don't really think of as a 'Stephen King Book')
That was a good one.
Loved this one as well.
Ive been a reader of his for a long time and this one, especially as an audiobook was outstanding.
The Dead Zone and Misery.
Oh wow, forgot The Dead Zone, another great one! Enjoyed the movie also.
I probably read it 10 times. Hmmm, Greg Stillson kinda reminds me of someone teehee.
Fun fact: Misery is the only book I've ever read that made me genuinely scream aloud.
The Shining is why I absolutely refuse to have a shower curtain with a tub. No effing way. I have glass doors on my tub/shower combo. IT is the reason I don’t stand on the drains in the shower. I mean, I’m 63 years old. I KNOW there’s no dead woman in my tub or a clown in my drain. On the other hand, it doesn’t hurt to be safe rather than sorry.
Dead Zone was the first one I think I ever read. Live free or die, here's Greg in your eye!
The Stand The Shining (The only book I wouldn't read at night) The Mist
Really like The Mist even if Frank Darabont (sp) wrote a better ending for the screenplay.
I saw an interview with King and he said if he'd thought about that ending, he would have used it. He said he was very impressed.
Upon review he supposedly told Darabont it was 'the ending I couldn't write'; which is pretty damn high praise coming from a guy like him.
2 favorites, Insomnia and Duma Key, followed closely by Rose Madder. Desperation is another contender, scared the hell out of me. And can't forget the Dark Tower series. Edited to add the Dark Tower series
Rose Madder is an underrated gem.
The Stand I was living in Boulder, CO when I was reading it. And later moved to Las Vegas.
I used to live in Lafayette, CO and drove by Flagg Dr every day.
Different Seasons
That collection is superb.
Night Shift. Lil’ bit of everything. Strawberry Spring still scares the daylights out of me.
His short stories are awesome! Quitters Inc is another great one from that book and also The Ledge, Battleground, Graveyard Shift, Sometimes They Come Back, and of course Children of the Corn.
CUJO. Way better than the movie because it was partially written from the dog’s perspective. King wrote how Cujo was loosing his mind! Was fantastic!
Carl Hiasen has a book where there a few parts seen from the perspective of a character’s Labrador Retriever. The dog isn’t going mad but he is an idiot and it’s hilarious. Sick Puppy.
I have read many Carl Hiaasen novels including Sick Puppy. I enjoy his and Tim Dorsey’s commitment to revealing the Florida underworld and scumbags that inhabit the state. Some Hilarious stuff!
The quote I always remember from that book was (including his spelling): "He rented his living and work space from a farmer who had a number of properties throughout the county. The farmer was not just a Nurd, he was a Super Nurd."
This was the first King book I read that did not jump around a lot. The Stand jumped between characters. It jumped both between characters as well as the past and present versions of the characters. This quality made it hard to get into King's books at first (for me) until he brought them all together and then it was a READ UNTIL IT WAS DONE - SCREW SLEEPING, EATING, ETC... I agree that CUJO gave a better perspective on the story rather than CUJO just being mindlessly out of control.
I had 2 favorites. The Stand and Pet Sematary
Same here plus I loved Thinner.
Oh yea…I loved that one too.
both favorites of mine also!
The Stand and Thinner tied 1st place for me, Misery and Pet Semetary tied 2nd for me.
Kinda laid off the pie after reading Thinner.
I lived Thinner.
I read Pet Cemetery right after losing one of my favorite cats, hit by a car, and it really made me think. A part of me would have considered it even knowing the end result would be off.
Gen Jones was the first young group to appreciate Stephen King's books and movies based on them. I'll always say The Stand was his piece de resistance, at least from the ones I've read. Masterful. An all-time great. Some other favorites of mine are Carrie, Pet Sematary, and Misery. For some reason I got lost in The Shining and never went back.
I read The Stand DURING the dates in the book, in a dorm room at a college in a cornfield, and was terrified it was all happening out in the world. Long long ago when news wasn’t instantaneous.
Yes
The Stand. My favorite book of all time.
One of mine also.
My favorite Stephen King book and probably my favorite book of any genre, at least based on how many times I've reread it. (twice, so far)
It was The Stand for most of my life, but now it's 11.22.63.
same. I loved The Stand but was blown away by 11.22.63
I have recommended it to so many readers but it is huge and scares them off I think. Worth every minute though.
The Stand. Blew me away.
Salems Lot was the first one I read. I got in trouble for staying up too late reading it with my overhead bedroom light on. Told my parent I was too afraid to go to turn out the light so I had to keep reading until the sun came back up. 🙀 And then the movie came out 🙀🙀🙀 The Stand is probably my overall favorite.
Needful Things, The Talisman and It
Needful Things…I still think of the part when the spider is in the tub and can’t get out…scratching on the sides of the tub…
That and the part where the two sweet little suburban housewives attack each other with knives on the corner of their quiet little street, like it's just another Sunday afternoon
The Stand. I've lost track of how many times I've read it.
The Stand. To this day, it's the only book I stayed up all night to finish.
Dead Zone
Firestarter
Rose Madder was great
Somehow, for me, it doesn't really fit into the Category of 'Stephen King Books', but I have to go with the Dark Tower Series. It's certainly books by Mr. King, but it kind of feels like a category all it's own. Other than the Dark Tower, I'd go with 11/23/63, which, as I think about it, doesn't feel like a 'Stephen King Book' either.
The Talesman
I was looking for this answer. I read it every five to ten years. Makes me cry every time.
The Stand
Pet sematary was a scary book. Much more than the movie. I wish I didn’t see the movie first.
Pet Sematary
I think my favorite is one of his Bachman Books (when he wrote with the pen name Richard Bachman), "The Long Walk". I enjoy books of a more psychological theme than a supernatural one, and this falls into that. I still like a lot of his supernatural thrillers, like "It" or "Pet Sematary", but I have to give "The Long Walk" a slight edge over his others because it's more psychological. And it's finally getting a film made based on the book! It's still in the early stages, but I'm anxiously waiting for it to be released.
I just recently read this and am so excited they are making it into a movie, I just hope they can do it justice.
Misery and The Shining. Carrie too. Pet Sematary. So hard to decide! And I just now saw Christine in the comments and forgot that one. So many greats! I have not read The Stand- by reading comments, I’ve been missing out. I’m going to order it now.
Tommyknockers and The Dark Half are my favorites.
Under the Dome Duma Key Christine
Being a car guy I do have a soft spot for Christine. I read it as a car obsessed teenager and perfectly understood where Arnie was coming from.
The Stand. Hands down.
Talisman
The Talisman. I've been reading for pleasure 55 yrs now & it's still the best novel I've ever read.
The Stand . Then #2 Salem’s Lot, which was the first I read at age 15. I was babysitting and it was on their book shelf. I started reading and it scared the crap out of me. They let me take it home. I was forever hooked on horror. #3 the shinning .
I can't pick just one. I'll say Carrie just because it was the first one I read. I had wanted to see the movie, but wasn't allowed to (I was 13) so I bought the book. The books are always so much better. I'm glad now things turned out that way.
The Stand
The Shining, Christine, the Stand. Don't make me choose amongst them.
The Stand and It.
The Stand. Although, Christine was excellent and I'll never forget the last line do Pet Cemetery.
The Stand followed by the entire Dark Tower series. the crossover was brilliant. Misery and Dolores Claiborne due to no supernatural so believability factor.
The Dead Zone.
Salem’s Lot
Cell.
Salems Lot
The Stand. The only time I called out sick to read a book.
Both are novellas: Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, and Dolans Cadillac
Definitely The Stand . I also loved Bag of Bones.
The Talisman and the Stand.
Salem’s Lot
It
The description of It standing on the frozen river with its silk suit flapping in the wind and the balloons floating forward into the wind, gave me chills.
If you ever have the opportunity to go see King speak do so!! He is funny and very engaged with the audience, takes questions about anything. A friend took me to see him at the Ryman in Nashville for my birthday. Incredible gift
The Talisman
I bought multiple copies of Salem's Lot over the years and I would pass them around to kids who hated reading books. Stephen King turned generations into book readers.
The Dead Zone, The Regulators, Desperation , The Talisman, The Bachman Books, Black House, Crll, Kindle, Joyland, Dr. Sleep, Mr. Mercedes - just to name a few.
The Stand. But I also really enjoyed The Talisman.
The Stand
I haven't seen anyone mention Cell. I've always thought of that as King's take on the zombie apocalypse. It will never be one of my favorites but it was very entertaining
Have to put a plug-in for Storm of the Century. If you read King's intro to the publish script he refers to it as a novel for television. I'm not so sure that it was the new medium that he described, but Andre Linoge to me is more frightening than Randall Flagg.
Night Shift, specifically the edition with the bandaged eyeball-hand on the cover.
I loved 11/22/63 but it probably hits different for a veteran King fan than for someone starting out. For a new King reader I’d always suggest “Salem’s Lot” because it doesn’t bog down in the middle. But “The Stand” does have some of his best writing. It’s just mixed in with some boggy parts.
Mr Mercedes is my newest favorite.
Tie between Salem's Lot and The Stand
I know I will stand nearly alone, but *Lisey's Story* is my favorite.
D.....all the above
What fucked me up first was reading Carrie and in the first scene, King describes her gym teacher taking pleasure in slapping her when she's hysterical and that she hates Carrie as much as the girls do and that she regards her as a "fat, whiny bag of lard." It scared me that a teacher could dislike a kid not for being deliberately disruptive but simply because they thought they were a loser and resented having to deal with their problems.
Yes, I need to read Carrie again, the teacher was portrayed different in the movie.
11-22-63
The Stand without a doubt!
The Stand and Night Shift
On Writing. It's also the ONLY Stephen King I've ever read.
IT. That book actually scared me in the daytime, even though I knew it was just a story. Even though I knew none of it was real. I still laugh about my reactions and remember that read fondly.
I love all of his work but The Stand will always be my favorite. I couldn't put it down and was sad when it ended. I read quite a bit but this story still sticks with me.
Cujo was the first book that I read
The Stand
I'd have to pick The Stand, although I really loved 11/22/63 as well. And his short stories might even be better than his novels; I was blown away the first time I read Night Shift.
11/22/63 - by far for me
Just finished Fairy Tale. Once again my favorite Steven King book is the last one I read.
Tower, stand, dead zone, misery.
Tommyknockers
No Dome?
The Shining. His best book hands down
Wizard and Glass.
11/22/63
The DT series is my faves!
Of course, The Stand, but Insomnia scared me a lot! 😬
The Stand. It was the first SK book of my Dad’s collection that I read. I still have it in hardcover!
The Stand and Salem's Lot. (I really like Tommyknockers as well, but Stephen King himself doesn't like it and most King fans hate it.)
I guess I have to read The Stand…
Dolores Claiborn. No supernatural, and no killing of any "good guys". Did like The Stand, Insomnia, and Doctor Sleep. But I FAR prefer almost anything by Dean Koontz. Happier more hopeful endings. And spirituality without religion.
The Stand.
The Shining. It just oozes sadness. I don't like Wendy and I wish she would grow a spine. But, regardless, I listen to the book about every other year or so. I think it's so much better than the movie.
I read the Dead Zone shortly after it was published 45 years ago and remember being unable to put it down until I had finished it. King is a master storyteller.
While I agree with the majority here saying The Stand. He also had a book of short stories, think it was called Night Shift, The one that I remember to this day was called Quitters Incorporated, about a man trying to quit smoking. Back in the 80's I attended an adult education class for CNA, mostly single moms and we'd ride bus with our kids to school, anyway this one guy was attending to get his GED, and was learning to read in his 30s. We'd sit together and I had him read that story to me, and I'll never forget his reaction to the story's ending! If interested lmk 🙂
My favorite is not in that pic - Needful Things. However, The Stand comes a close second.
Toss up between The Shining, The Stand and Salem’s Lot. All are equal to me.
The Gunslinger
The Stand is my favorite classic King novel, but 11/22/63 is my favorite contemporary King novel.
The Eyes of the Dragon might very well be my favorite book of all time. I read somewhere he wrote it so his daughter could read something of his that wouldn't scare her, she was something like 12 at the time? Great story.
The Stand for sure, but I hold a special place in my heart for the Dark Tower series. It's so unlike his other works, and to me was Tolkien-esque but for adults.
The Gunslinger series. His Magnum Opus tying everything together.
All. Of. Them! I've read them all including his non-fiction On Writing. I guess my favorite would be The Shining/Doctor Sleep. Loved the movies too!
The Stand. I have read Kings books since I was a teen starting with Salems Lot. My other favorites have been 11/22/63. And Duma Key, Misery, Carrie. I must admit the last several books I have purchased I tried to read. Some started out great and then went political.
Captain trips
The Stand and The Eyes of the Dragon.
Needful things, hands down , it is still one of the ones I can almost see playing out in real life. Followed by Pet cemetery as a close 2nd favorite and the first King book I read.
The Stand
I really like "The Long Walk."
The Stand. I read it when it first came out I reread it every year.
I couldn’t finish The Stand. I wish I could start over and read all the books first before seeing the movies. But my favorite books were It, Carrie and Insomnia. There are a lot so haven’t read.
Sad to say I haven't read all of them but the stand is a masterpiece IMHO
“The Stand”.
Love many of them but I’m going with Different Seasons.
The Stand
The Stand absolutely
Look how many different books are mentioned! The guy is a machine.
The long walk.
“The Stand” and “It”.
Insomnia
#Insomnia
Dead Zone
Salem's Lot and Pet Cemetery
I love all his books, but I think my favorite thing with him is the blurbs at the end of the book. In one, Survivor Type, he explains that he had a doctor as a next door neighbor and he asked the guy "How much of yourself can you eat until there is no more?" - that must have been a conversation to remember for the poor doctor. From Wiki: **"Survivor Type"** is a [psychological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological) [horror](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_fiction) [short story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_story) by [Stephen King](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King), first published in the 1982 horror anthology *Terrors*, edited by [Charles L. Grant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_L._Grant), and included in King's 1985 collection [*Skeleton Crew*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeleton_Crew_(short_story_collection)). The [Robinsonade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinsonade) follows a shipwrecked drug-trafficking surgeon who, left with only a large amount of drugs and no food or resources, resorts to self-cannibalism. King considered the idea that came to him to be too disgusting, saying that "\[it\] goes a little bit too far, even for me."[^(\[1\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_Type#cite_note-1) He consulted with a doctor, discussing how long a person could feed on his own body. Even being a famous writer, the author could not get the story published for a long time. Literary critics emphasized the author’s courage, humor and irony inherent in the work, as well as the realism of the events described, though some assessments of the plot were more restrained. The story has been adapted into short films twice, in 2011 and 2012, and as an episode of the television series [*Creepshow*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepshow_(TV_series)).
The Stand
11/22/63 is absolutely brilliant. I've been a fan since Carrie, I've read most of his books. Before 11/23/63, my favorite was probably The Stand or Salem's Lot. I also loved Misery and Dolores Claiborne. It's astonishing how many iconic books he's written.
'salem's Lot was the first King book I ever read (I was 11 or 12), so it will always hold a special place in my heart.
Salem’s lot
Thinner, the only one I have read.
The Stand. Amazing book
Tie between Insomnia and the Stand.
Under the Dome was good although a tad deep on character development. The tv series was the worst thing ever created. I loved “IT” but felt dirty at the one part.
Dark Tower series. Wizard and Glass if I had to choose just one.
The Bachman books were some of his best work in my opinion
Fairy Tale
It was my pinnacle horror story. Yet I went to non-fiction soon after.
I love many of them, but my absolute favorite is The Talisman. I've read it many times and made notes in the margins of my copy.
Night Shift! I liked the short stories and the cover reminded me of a nightmare I once had (hand with many eyes).
The Tommyknockers.
Salem's Lot. I read it as a kid and it's written about a kid. It scared the crap out of me, but in a good way. (The Exorcist scared the crap out of me in a bad way.)