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My favorite is Dead Zone which I read many years ago. One summer I read "IT" and it was pure escapism. All of his books are not horror. Shawshank is another favorite. Stephen and Tabitha live a few blocks from me. We used to see him around much more than we do now, out walking or at a restaurtant, but now they spend the colder months at their place in Florida. My husband most recently saw him in a line buying lunch at a local place here near us. Now we know he likes "coconut cream pie" lol
It's really hard to recommend just one. If you like real horror, then Salem's Lot, The Shining, and Christine will scare the pants off you. If you want more psychological thrills, Misery, Gerald's Game, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon are good choices. Bag of Bones is one of my favorites, a true ghost story. Apocalyptic stories include The Stand, Cell, and Under the Dome.
Tough call! Try short stories or novellas first. Many of King's books are long, but he can weave a story like no other writer.
Sometimes, I'll be in the middle of a Stephen King book, and I'll think "how is it possible
to dream this stuff up?" His imagination is fantastic. The Green Mile was a good book made
into a great film. It held me from start to finish. Every performance was good, but the great
Tom Hanks was best of all.
The first King novel I read was 'Salem's Lot. It's about vampires. I read it years ago and it scared the daylights out of me. The next one I read was Carrie. I found it to be horribly sad but it's a good book.
My fav has to be The Stand. It's long and worth the time. It is basically the story of good vs evil. The character development is full. His characters are always so clear the the reader feels he/she knows them personally.
Many of King's short stories are wonderful. The one that stays with me is titled The Body and it was made into a movie titled "Stand By Me" with a kickin' cast.
You might want to start with a book of his short stories.
'Salem's Lot' was my first one too and after reading it, it scared me so bad my husband was out of town and I had every light in the house on at night.
I liked 'Cujo' ... the movie didn't do justice to the dog. The book was able to convey what the dog was thinking. 'The Stand' was great and I liked 'Christine' and 'Pet Sematary' ... then when he wrote 'The Green Mile' the book was released in continuing editions one a month in 1996. That was the first time he put out a book like that. I couldn't wait for the next one to get in the stores.
1.) His early stuff, of which a favorite is hard to choose. 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Dead Zone, and The Stand are all classics.
2.) The drunk stuff, when King was writing heavily under the influence more often than not. He still managed to pound out some good work, but there was also a lot of "What was he thinking?" stuff starting to creep in. My favorite from this era is Firestarter, which isn't really a Horror story so much as a Science-Fiction Thriller.
3.) The sober post-King-almost-died era. In this time, King not only got clean, but nearly died in a horrific accident. My favorites from this era are Bag of Bones (one of the best ghost stories I've ever read), Dreamcatcher (a great SF novel that was unfortunately turned into a horrible movie), and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, a fantastic Horror story that toes the line between Horror and Psychological Adventure story and never really tips the cards either way.
I like the way you break it down. My favorite is Bag of Bones and I re-gained my respect for his talent after reading it. I was disappointed by Duma Key and Buick 8.
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