Worst of Stephen King - Worst books or stories

[eternal dog mongler]

As has been said by literally everyone else in this thread, he's good at getting a big story going and not very good at wrapping it up.

In retrospect I kinda find the ending of It pretty hilarious

Spoiler

Ignoring the weird child orgy shit, we've got a creature that control time and space and It is literally defeated by punching the fucking thing to death.

 

[Fortunato Brown]

I like the big epics: The Uncut Stand, It, Needful Things. The little nasties are also good: The Shining, Misery, Pet Semetery.

As has been said by literally everyone else in this thread, he's good at getting a big story going and not very good at wrapping it up.

The three big epics that I like, I enjoy despite the deus ex machina nature of the endings.

I'm thinking out loud here but part of what makes a book like The Shining or Misery work is that there's a very limited cast (four people and two people, respectively) and a very limited set (Annie's house and The Overlook). So at the end, either they're going to die or they're not and either they're going to escape or they're not and either the place gets destroyed or it doesn't. King works well inside that box.

A little known fact about King is that when he was little he went to play at a friend's house and there was a train track in the back yard and he saw his friend get absolutely creamed by the train. That would fuck a person up.

Oh, and nobody has mentioned Eyes of the Dragon. That book is tits.

Is there other King books with a similarly limited cast and setting like Misery? I can't find any others of his books that are as good as Misery. (also shockingly little political sperging from King in that one, the movie actually added Annie being a Nixon supporter)

 

[Pig Boss]

Is there other King books with a similarly limited cast and setting like Misery? I can't find any others of his books that are as good as Misery. (also shockingly little political sperging from King in that one, the movie actually added Annie being a Nixon supporter)

Gerald's Game

 

[CreamyHerman’s]

I'm going to put down doctor sleep for me, it was interesting as first but it drags on

 

[McMitch]

I'm going to put down doctor sleep for me, it was interesting as first but it drags on

When the plot synopsis brought up 9/11, I knew it was going to be hot garbage from the start.

 

[Jason Wynn]

Is there other King books with a similarly limited cast and setting like Misery? I can't find any others of his books that are as good as Misery. (also shockingly little political sperging from King in that one, the movie actually added Annie being a Nixon supporter)

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon 95% focuses on a single girl lost in the woods. Pretty short novella but worth a read

 

[Anonymus Fluhre]

I've always found it odd that Steven King could give writers really good advice in their career as well as writing yet he could never take his own advice.

 

[eternal dog mongler]

I've always found it odd that Steven King could give writers really good advice in their career as well as writing yet he could never take his own advice.

Honestly I think his writing advice was a bunch of platitudes that don't mean much.

The Stephen King method where he produced his best books was basically just like think of some cool scenes and then drink mouthwash and just write filler linking those scenes together. I don't think he could actually come out and say that but, well...

 

[KiwiFuzz]

Honestly I think his writing advice was a bunch of platitudes that don't mean much.

I think the advice of putting your butt in the chair from 8 AM to noon, and from 1 PM to 5 PM, or whatever, is great advice.

One of the great myths about creativity is that the artist sits there and waits for the muse to strike, and then spends 12 straight hours pouring out their genius onto the page.

That's a rookie move.

Me, I keep to a strict schedule for my shitposting. If you don't have a dedicated time block for heckling trannies online, you're never going to be one of the greats.

 

[Massive Dynamic]

I read my first King book in the mid 80's. It was Carrie and I really enjoyed the epistolary style of it. I've since read most of his output from the 70's, 80's and 90's but then got out of the reading habit for a while and haven't read much of his more recent work. I recently read Under the Dome with the expectation that I'd hate it but I thought it was pretty good (except for the ending of course). Cell is the only book of his that I've ever given away after finishing it - I knew that I'd never want to read it again and Bag of Bones is the only book that I haven't been able to finish. I couldn't relate to either of the main characters - I hated them in fact and didn't care what happened to them. The only reason I didn't get rid of it is that it's a signed copy.

I've got a massive King collection, some of which I haven't got round to reading yet but I'm going through a phase of reading stuff with a view to getting rid of it afterwards to clear some shelf space and I'm going to have a King binge which might involve that "Extended Dark Tower reading list" which includes all the books that are connected (however vaguely) with The Dark Tower series. Sadly, this means I'll have to rebuy Cell. Not having re-read many of his books since originally reading them back in the 80's and 90's, I'll be interested to see whether the me of today will enjoy them as much as the me of 30+ years ago.

Yeah, there's something about the way he writes, I love his prose. Even when he's sperging on about nothing much it's great.

I feel the same way. I used to say that I loved his work so much I'd buy and read his shopping list. I also love(d) his pop culture references. As a citizen of Britbongistan I liked to read about stores and products that weren't available to me and remember wishing so badly to be able to peruse an L.L. Bean catalog.

 

[Elbow Greased Strength]

Oh, and nobody has mentioned Eyes of the Dragon. That book is tits.

It is and it's important if you read the Dark Tower series.

My favorite Stephen King short story collection of all time is Skeleton Crew. My favorite King short story of all time is Mrs. Todd's Shortcut which is in that collection and the rest of them are incredible...The Jaunt, Beachworld, The Monkey, Word Processor of the Gods are other favorites.

I feel the same way. I used to say that I loved his work so much I'd buy and read his shopping list. I also love(d) his pop culture references. As a citizen of Britbongistan I liked to read about stores and products that weren't available to me and remember wishing so badly to be able to peruse an L.L. Bean catalog.

His writing is just on point, I don't know how else to put it. The only other horror authors I like as much are Peter Straub and Clive Barker.

One of my favorite parts of The Stand Uncut is where he spends a chapter writing about all the people who survived the superflu but then died due to mistakes and human error. It has nothing to do with advancing the story but is just a piece of worldbuilding.

 

[Constellationzero]

It is and it's important if you read the Dark Tower series.

I've got and read The Gunslinger and I have The Drawing of the Three, but I stopped with The Gunslinger. Just can't get into even trying the other book. I kind of feel like the one was enough.

Two days ago I picked up a copy of On Writing I found at the local Salvation Army. Figured I've got so many Stephen King books I'd add it to the pile in case I get tired of them all and want to flip them later. Things look better in large groups.

 

[Elbow Greased Strength]

I've got and read The Gunslinger and I have The Drawing of the Three, but I stopped with The Gunslinger. Just can't get into even trying the other book. I kind of feel like the one was enough.

I'd honestly say dig in and plow through TDotT because the story that expands in The Waste Lands and Wizard and Glass makes it all worthwhile. The Waste Lands is so good I think you are missing out on some of King's best work if you don't read it. Make sure you find a version with the artwork that was in the original print version as well.

Two days ago I picked up a copy of On Writing I found at the local Salvation Army. Figured I've got so many Stephen King books I'd add it to the pile in case I get tired of them all and want to flip them later. Things look better in large groups.

On Writing is one of my favorite King books and provides a lot of information on his approach to the craft, I'd recommend it wholeheartedly for any fan.

 

[Fortunato Brown]

Thoughts on the Bachman books? I'm reading Blaze right now and enjoying it. Going to find a copy of Rage and read that next. Kind of wish he was never revealed so he could keep writing the non supernatural stuff as Bachman.

 

[Jason Wynn]

Thoughts on the Bachman books? I'm reading Blaze right now and enjoying it. Going to find a copy of Rage and read that next. Kind of wish he was never revealed so he could keep writing the non supernatural stuff as Bachman.

A lot of people love The Long Walk, and while I do recommend it highly, give Roadwork a read. Nothing supernatural but I still think it is one of, if not the bleakest thing King/Bachman ever wrote. That novella is like a punch to the gut

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

I don't like King very much. Salem's Lot and Carrie are probably his most deccent imo. The Shining was a a pretty good movie for a very meh book.

 

[Lurkin' 'n' Jerkin']

Let us not forget this boring 50 page product placement that made it's way into an otherwise decent collection, Bazzar of Bad Dreams.
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Bazzar also had a DeathNote ripoff that I can't remember the name of but other than those two, it was alright.

I'm glad you mentioned this story because it drove home for me how boring King can be. For those unfamiliar with it, the story involves a scene where a man in a coffee stop discovers his Kindle can read local newspapers from the future, and then looks out the window to see his girlfriend, who coaches a basketball team, passing by on the team bus heading to a tournament. You instantly know that he will use the Kindle look up the results of the tournament, only to find out instead that the bus will crash, killing everybody. Stories need to be somewhat predictable to be intelligible (motivations, causality, etc. need to make sense), but if you can immediately guess the outcome from the premise, what's the point in reading it? Sometimes predicting the plot can fun, but oftentimes it's just tedious if the plot is dead simple.

 

[eternal dog mongler]

Thoughts on the Bachman books? I'm reading Blaze right now and enjoying it. Going to find a copy of Rage and read that next. Kind of wish he was never revealed so he could keep writing the non supernatural stuff as Bachman.

Rage gets a little bit weirder when you start to consider King was a high school English teacher

 

[Quijibo69]

The Shining was a a pretty good movie for a very meh book.

The book is almost a different story all together.

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

The book is almost a different story all together.

I remember something like Danny being chased by a haunted firehose. Theres is a lot more wacky supernatural stuff in the book.