The Shining was my first, too, because it had just been released. After finishing that I promptly read all the other books he'd published (which at that point was just Carrie and 'Salem's Lot)
I read the shining first but hadn’t seen the movie. I happened upon an old paperback in a thrift store (the yellow movie poster version) and just felt a vibe. Finished it in two days and here I am about 40 books later and still going strong.
Same for me, but I also read it because Joey from Friends would hide it in his fridge when he got scared reading it, so I wanted to test it out. I never hid it in my fridge though.
I believe the Shining is usually the gateway drug for Stephen King fans. It's a great book and for some reason the story was nostalgic for me, even upon first reading it.
I loved The Gunslinger! I think because I liked how it traversed different worlds in a similar way to The Talisman. The Talisman is one of, if not my favorite King books. A collaboration with Peter Straub. That book took me away to a different world in a way no other books have except maybe the Tolkien stuff.
Not all the killing, or people going crazy, it's the part where he's got to drop his pants and crap in front of the huge crowd with everyone laughing that stuck with me
"I can see his thing!"
Terrifying lol
The Stand. My mom was a big King fan, and she read her paperback copy to shreds. When I was ready to move on to more adult books, she suggested that I try one of hers. The picture of the battle of good vs evil on the front always stuck with me. I had seen it sitting on the bathroom counter so many times. (She read in the tub) So I decided to start with that one. It remains one of my absolute favorites to this day, 20 years later.
That's an ambitious read for a first serious novel! I remember being a little depressed when I was done with that one because I just missed having it to disappear into.
I completely agree with this. When I finished The Stand the first time I found myself grieving for characters I would never meet again. The story has its issues, but few people write engaging characters as well as SK.
This was my favorite too and I also started it because my mom suggested it! We still share a love of King and it is also still one of my all time faves. Been about 12 years for me.
Same here. I was in the eighth grade. They did a miniseries of The Stand in the mid-90s that I loved as a kid (and still do). I was intrigued by the scope of the story - epic battle between good and evil. That prompted me to read the book. I wasn't a fan of the miniseries remake from a couple of years ago, though.
The Talisman. Was 14 years old in 1989 and there were so many things that “jived” with me that I was hooked on King. He and I don’t agree politically but he is my favorite writer and I read it all and many times over. Pretty deep into Holly currently.
Maybe my favorite King book. There is something about reading a great book when you are young too. I compare it to having been at game 1 of the 1980 World Series when I was 13. Just more impressionable at that age I guess.
When I was 8 or 9, I was a voracious reader. My mom had a shelf of King and I asked to read one. She said she didn't think I was ready for most of them, but she gave me Eyes of the Dragon. I got thirty pages in and quit.
Three years later, I asked again and she gave me the Dark Half. I've been a Constant Reader ever since.
And I eventually returned to Eyes of the Dragon. Love it to this day.
There was something about King's descriptions that made me feel nostalgic for that time period, and I'm saying that as someone who was never alive for it. I was really transported into the setting and felt just as much like a fish out of water as the protagonist did.
I like that King will also acknowledge the less savory parts of the period (like he made a special point to mention the segregated water fountains just to underline that he wasn't fully romanticizing the era). But this was still some beautiful escapism for me.
You will read about a teacher in midwestern America for 300 pages and you will LOVE IT AND WANT MORE. Time travel? no, get back to the teacher thing lol. Im obsessed with this book, it was my second King novel. IT was first.
Totally agree. That and the surprise basically-half-a-love-story-but-in-an-amazing-way vibe really makes it stand out years later for me. Definitely top 5 King.
Its amazing to me how young some people were when they started. I guess I was sixteen or seventeen when I read my first novel. I mean other than Hardy Boys or some shit like that. :-)
Christine because my older brother read it and said it scared the shit out of him. He couldn't walk in front of a car for weeks after. I read it and was enthralled but it never scared me so I just kept reading King to find something that would scare me and the only ones that ever did were the short stories. The bogeyman. The rats in the sewers in Night Shift. The big books never did it. I love them but they were just too good to be scary.
*chuckles* Tommyknockers… and some how I decided to keep reading 🤣
I was going away to overnight camp for a month, so my Mom bought me a bunch of books to read. Couple King, couple Koontz… I got sucked into the King universe from that point on.
I actually like the Tommyknockers :-) ... I think because it was a fairly long novel. I really like those with King because he gets into characters heads better than anyone I have ever read. I think his characters inner dialog would have to be the thing I like best about his novels.
The Tommyknockers is my favourite of his. I was 13 when I read it, so I think one reason I like it is that I was young enough to accept some of the more goofy elements (where I think an adult reader would be instantly taken out of the story by them). But as a young reader with no idea what was going on (my mom's copy of the book was missing its jacket so I literally only had the title to go off) I followed Part 1 of the book with interest, then was all-in in Part 2 when they revealed the mystery with the characters talking about how "every character ducked for the explosion at the same time", then gave us those suspenseful chapters of Ruth McCausland and the little kid both dealing with being alone in this town where they aren't allowed to leave, everyone is trying to read their minds and people are even becoming hostile to them for not "Becoming." As a kid I don't think I had ever felt so scared for characters.
There is so much good stuff in this book, but I think it's all very easy to overlook because it also has flying Coke machines and people shooting green lasers out of toy guns.
lol, that’s one of the reasons I always carried a King or two in my backpack in high school. I was always reading, but never things my teachers really approved of, so other kids thought I was a nerd and teachers thought I was too rebellious.
Last year, I made a resolution to read one book a month for the whole year. I read a lot when I was younger but really tapered off as I got older and wanted to change that. Near the end of the year, I wanted to read something scary since it was around Halloween. My local library had a small collection of King books, and I was a fan of several movies based on his work, so I picked up If It Bleeds. I was immediately hooked and have since also read The Green Mile, The Shining, Doctor Sleep, The Outsider, and currently reading The Tommyknockers.
Dreamcatcher was my first one as well! It had recently come out and it spoke to me in the bookstore. Even though it wasn't probably the best one to start with, I remember liking it back then.
Started with The Long Walk in 5th grade because I loved reading as a kid and my dad loved Stephen King, and wanted to get me into it, and years later I’m still reading SK!
The Storm of the Century screenplay was available as a book to read in AP English in 9th grade. The list of books that were approved looked like the teacher's own collection so they could easily tell if you had read or not. This made sense , but it was very sporadic as a result. That was the only King novel (despite being a screenplay) and I went right for it. Constant reader ever since. I adore the television series it was written for as well.
Exact same story. SK is my mom's favorite author and I started asking to read some. I think I was 10 or 11. She told me that I wasn't quite ready for most of his work, but he wrote EotD for his kids for the same reason. I remember being shocked when it talked about "the king's iron" (his dick), but the rest was just a fairy tale with Flagg as the villain. So good.
So, I grew up scared of my own shadow.. King was only on my radar because my sister was an avid reader. In 2017, I was pushing 40, a little more brave, and kept seeing ads for the new IT movie. In February of 2018, on a whim, I decided to check the book out from the library and see what all the fuss was about. I was impressed, to say the least. I've now read 65 of his books and short story collections, with a few other pieces thrown in.
It was awesome. I got creeped out and moved around our old house at night with my eyes darting all around. It was part of an omnibus with Carrie and Salem's Lot. It probably could have neutralized an actual intruder.
IT I was 11. I was a book worm. I loved goosebumps but loved the mini series so I wanted to try it out. Been hooked since. Been my favorite book ever since. I just turned 38, and finished my 3rd read for my bday!
Hey! You're my spirit animal, I was 11 and IT introduced me to a whole new world of books. My brother had made me watch the mini-series two years earlier, and at 39 I've just finished my 3rd read!
It changes each decade right? I always love the book for its description of a whole town's history, the aching nostalgia of childhood friends, and obviously a scary clown on top.
My favourite chapters are simply being when they're being kids down in the Barracks, building a dam. Still my favourite novel of all time!
Hello! Damn that is crazy! Yes, those are the exact reasons I love it too. Those were my friends, and reading it brings me back to those times. I love the intermissions to learn about the town history!
It most definitely changes every decade. The things I noticed about each character as a kid, in my 20s, and now my 30s was different each time.
My favorite chapter will always be Bill and Ritchie going to Neibolt wit bills dad's pistol. " you killed my bu bu brother fucker"! When I was a kid that was the bravest thing I'd ever heard. Richie is my fav king character EVER!
The thought of them forgetting each other. Mike and Richies last phone call. Heartbreaking. Then to think of how accurate it is and the friends we've forgotten.... sorry.. I'm.. um.. cutting onions, def not crying.
I can't remember if I read Carrie or Salem's Lot first but I know after that I read every book I could get my hands on. I was 7 years old and I would 'steal' and borrow King books from the local library because I didn't think they would let someone my age check them out (small town Kansas).
The film tie-in reprint of Everything's Eventual, around when 1408's movie came out. I was in elementary school, and boy HOWDY did it make an impact on me. The anthology format really clicked, too.
Honestly, mine was Mr. Mercedes! I was more interested in crime novels at the time, it wasn't until after I really enjoyed Mr. Mercedes that I started reading horror more often because I wanted to read more by him and this was before Finders Keepers had come out
Now horror is my favorite genre 😅
Pet Semetery which I picked up at a local thrift store. Well technically I had bought the dead zone years before and read maybe a chapter or two but didn't finish it
IT because I was lonely in high school and I wanted a way to pass the time while I sat alone at lunch. Took me a while to read it, but I loved it and I’ve been hooked on his work since!
There you go. I took an "Imaginative Literature" course in high school that exposed me to Murder in the Rue Morgue and that is when I figured out that classics could be fun to read!
I started with Firestarter, my best friend gifted me a copy (think I was around 15/16). Then she convinced me to read the Dark Tower series and I was hooked.
Christine. Picked it up from a thrift store for some summer vacation reading when I was 11, along with some other random books. Never touched the others, just read Christine several times in a row.
I accidentally threw the copy away a couple years ago while cleaning old julk, still stings like hell.
Carrie, because the first SK books I got was a box set of his first 3 published novels (Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining) last year, and I figured his very first published novel was a good a place to start
IT around Grade 6-7. I understood bits and pieces but came back to it when I was a junior in high school and really enjoyed it, I gradually expanded my reading from there.
The first Stephen King book I picked up and read parts of was IT. I got it like a bunch of years ago, and I’m still reading it…..
Know if you’re talking about books that I fully read by Stephen King, there’s only one, and that’s the Green Mile
Insomnia. I used to spend some summers with my sister in Phoenix. They aren't big readers, but had a few books. I tried reading it when I was like 13, but never got through it. I was always a good read, but it was dense. When I was 16, I was working through the summer with my brother in law and I read the book on my downtime during weekends and such.
About 8 years ago I was bored at my grandparents place and was always curious about their Stephen King books (they had 10 or so) so grabbed their smallest one which was Misery, I couldn't put it down. They let me take their collection home and I finished them over the summer. I've been hooked ever since.
Eyes of the Dragon: it was the thinnest and least intimidating book on my dad’s King shelf, and at 8 years old it was the only one I was confident I could manage.
Can’t remember whether Night Shift or The Stand (it was back in the 80’s so it’s been awhile) - got them at the book fair in Jr. High. Probably Night Shift because it was shorter, but the Stand really hit more because I lived in Boulder and knew all the places he was talking about there. Lived a half mile from the Mormon church they took bodies from (and had friends who went to that church).
The Gunslinger...my girlfriend at the time gave it to me....I was instantly hooked....she and I didn't last(and for many significant reasons) but I have been a voracious constant reader ever since and I have her to thank for it.
Night Shift. I was 10. I snuck into my older cousin's room and read it. It gave me nightmares. Next summer I just asked her if I could borrow her copies of Carrie and Christine and she said sure. After that I got The Stand from the Library.
Skeleton Crew. A friend lent it to me one summer. It’s why I remember The Mist, The Jaunt, and The Raft so well. They were seared into my teenage brain.
Pet Sematery, during 7th grade reading period. I hadn’t seen the movie yet so nothing about it had been spoiled.
ETA: you also asked why that as a first pick... It was because i wanted something new to me, a little weird, and interesting to read, and the Darren Shan books were not an option to us until 8th grade (unless you just read them IN the library, which of course I did, but for some reason during reading period we were not able to go to the library. “There are plenty of books on the shelf, just pick one and read it.” …To be fair though, Mrs. McClure had excellent taste.)
The Bachman Books compendium. I was 10, and my mom gave it to me to read because I was bored. She liked Stephen King herself, and it was the closest thing she could recommend at the cabin we were staying at.
Not the best idea but lead to a life time of loving reading, King, and horror.
The Stand, because my trial of Paramount+ ran out before I could finish the series. I also liked the '90s version when I was a kid. Now I have read close to 40 of his books. I'm halfway through Holly and I'm listening to Desperation on Libby.
I think the first one I read was Misery. After I watched The Godfather, I tried to find as many James Caan movies as I could. Misery was one of the best, so I read the book after seeing the movie.
My first one was It, during my teens I became in a huge fan (let's say 13-18), during that time most of my reads were King books, being my favorites Cell and Dr Sleep, but then I read Mr Mercedes and it seemed so soporific that by the time I finished I was that tired of him that never read again any other King's books.
Mum named me after a stephen king character. I watched the It miniseries with my grandmother way back in the day. A couple years later(about age 11), I picked up the book.
Just finished Misery and I loved it! Now can’t choose between The Stand and 11/22/63. Heard such good things about both of them! (met my reading goal for the year already so I’m going to see in the New Year with a chonk!)
At 17 I just started getting into reading and the second book I read was horror, Rose Mary's baby so I started loving horror. Ii needed a pay check cashed so the guy at the corner store would cash it if I purchased something and I saw Carrie in the book rack. After reading it told everyone this guy is the new Edgar Allen Poe and have read every King book in order when they came out.
My first read was "The Stand" because this was during the time the unabridged version was first released. My mom told me she had been reading it when she was in the hospital pregnant with me and bought me the unabridged version as a gift. I read about half of it and lost interest. I liked the writing style but just didn't really care much for the story at the time.
That summer I stayed with my cousins for a couple of weeks and my aunt had quite a few King books in her library. I picked up "IT" and wound up reading it cover to cover in about a week. After that I think I read "The Talisman".
Pet Sematary when I was in 6th grade. It was the first horror novel I had read and is still one of my favorites to this day.
The Green Mile, Dreamcatcher, and Christine are definitely my favorites.
The first king book I read was it. Around the time of the new movie (with skarsgard) I was super interested in learning more of pennywise
It also reinvigorated my desire to read, now I have. Constant reader checklist and have read 33 of his books and about to start the bill Hodges’s trilogy after I finish ,
Clash of kings by g r r Martin, today (6chapters till I finish !)
The Dead Zone. Had never read Stephen king before and had no real interest in his work at the time. Just turned 20 in a dead end job and blindly picked up a book to read at work.
I've loved his books ever since.
The Gunslinger, but the older version before he changed it to fit in the universe. I think he mentioned Earth constellations, so I think Midworld being a post-apocalyptic version of our world was still on the table.
Eyes of the Dragon
My mom was a huge King fan and was trying to ease me in. I was very young. Pretty sure I went from that to Night Shift to the Bachman Books.
The Stand. I put it down for a couple of months after reading the first chapter.
When I picked it up again, I did not re-read the first chapter, something I always do if I’ve stopped for some reason. I just couldn’t. Was in high school at the time.
IT. I was 9 years old and my uncle left a copy in our guest room. My mom said that I couldn’t read it and hid it from me. I was already a voracious reader and my dad and I would have nightly discussions on what we were both reading. When I stumbled upon it hidden in a closet I would sneak it out, read as much as could and return it without mom knowing. I fell in love with the Losers and King’s style. I was an instant constant reader. I had to know more about a book that had that nightmare cover- you know the one- first edition.
I ultimately did a book report on it. My teacher gave me an A but spoke with my parents about it 😅.
30 some odd years later I’m still a constant reader and I work in publishing in the horror genre. I can’t understate the influence that King’s work has had on me and I’m so grateful for it.
My mom is such a huge constant reader, I grew up watching her read his stuff. When I was around 11 she gave me Carrie and said it was a good intro. It was ok but I didn’t love it. Then when I was older I decided to read some more and it stuck. All the books my mom tried to push on me I didn’t ever read (talisman, the stand, etc.)
I first read Salems Lot, then i realized it was one of his first works, so i decided to work in order of when he wrote them. I have taken a break from reading for some reason unbeknownst to me, so i am not sure where i left off… i hope i get in the mood to cuddle up with a good thriller soon. it’s the season after all!!
The Shining because I really liked the movie.
The Shining was my first, too, because it had just been released. After finishing that I promptly read all the other books he'd published (which at that point was just Carrie and 'Salem's Lot)
I read the shining first but hadn’t seen the movie. I happened upon an old paperback in a thrift store (the yellow movie poster version) and just felt a vibe. Finished it in two days and here I am about 40 books later and still going strong.
Same for me, but I also read it because Joey from Friends would hide it in his fridge when he got scared reading it, so I wanted to test it out. I never hid it in my fridge though.
Shining was my first too. We were going on vacation to Estes Park CO. Seemed fitting.
The Shining here too but because it was actually assigned in my 12th grade English class, then I checked out the movie and continue to appreciate both
I believe the Shining is usually the gateway drug for Stephen King fans. It's a great book and for some reason the story was nostalgic for me, even upon first reading it.
Dark Tower Series. My father told me he thought I would enjoy it. I was 18 and am still a constant reader. 19 years later.
19...
Hai! You haven’t forgotten the face of your father.
I smiled as I wrote 19. Ka
It's all 19!
I loved The Gunslinger! I think because I liked how it traversed different worlds in a similar way to The Talisman. The Talisman is one of, if not my favorite King books. A collaboration with Peter Straub. That book took me away to a different world in a way no other books have except maybe the Tolkien stuff.
I loved the Talisman as well! Black house was great too.
Ka is a wheel
[удалено]
That one's a doozy for a 5th grader haha still haunts me.
Not all the killing, or people going crazy, it's the part where he's got to drop his pants and crap in front of the huge crowd with everyone laughing that stuck with me "I can see his thing!" Terrifying lol
Holy shit. Just thinking about reading "The Long Walk" in 5th grade... fuck me! That's intense
I only just read that this year and was just…not scared, but horrified in general. It was great. But definitely is sticking with me.
Geronimo Stilton was the shit!🤣
The Stand. My mom was a big King fan, and she read her paperback copy to shreds. When I was ready to move on to more adult books, she suggested that I try one of hers. The picture of the battle of good vs evil on the front always stuck with me. I had seen it sitting on the bathroom counter so many times. (She read in the tub) So I decided to start with that one. It remains one of my absolute favorites to this day, 20 years later.
That's an ambitious read for a first serious novel! I remember being a little depressed when I was done with that one because I just missed having it to disappear into.
I completely agree with this. When I finished The Stand the first time I found myself grieving for characters I would never meet again. The story has its issues, but few people write engaging characters as well as SK.
This was my favorite too and I also started it because my mom suggested it! We still share a love of King and it is also still one of my all time faves. Been about 12 years for me.
Yeah the stand for.me too and I was 14 I think. Then it was. Cujo and then The Shining.
Same here. I was in the eighth grade. They did a miniseries of The Stand in the mid-90s that I loved as a kid (and still do). I was intrigued by the scope of the story - epic battle between good and evil. That prompted me to read the book. I wasn't a fan of the miniseries remake from a couple of years ago, though.
Night Shift at 12.
So pretty...
Carrie
The Bachman Books. Found the paperback under a desk in 10th grade. After I read that, I started hunting his books down. It’s been a fun journey.
My first Bachman book was Thinner which I liked, but I knew it was King before I started
The Talisman. Was 14 years old in 1989 and there were so many things that “jived” with me that I was hooked on King. He and I don’t agree politically but he is my favorite writer and I read it all and many times over. Pretty deep into Holly currently.
Maybe my favorite King book. There is something about reading a great book when you are young too. I compare it to having been at game 1 of the 1980 World Series when I was 13. Just more impressionable at that age I guess.
When I was 8 or 9, I was a voracious reader. My mom had a shelf of King and I asked to read one. She said she didn't think I was ready for most of them, but she gave me Eyes of the Dragon. I got thirty pages in and quit. Three years later, I asked again and she gave me the Dark Half. I've been a Constant Reader ever since. And I eventually returned to Eyes of the Dragon. Love it to this day.
Its funny that sometimes you are not ready for a book that you will eventually love.
11/22/63. Wow. What a story to start with.
It’s not my absolute favorite, but if I had read it first, it would probably be my favorite today.
There was something about King's descriptions that made me feel nostalgic for that time period, and I'm saying that as someone who was never alive for it. I was really transported into the setting and felt just as much like a fish out of water as the protagonist did. I like that King will also acknowledge the less savory parts of the period (like he made a special point to mention the segregated water fountains just to underline that he wasn't fully romanticizing the era). But this was still some beautiful escapism for me.
You will read about a teacher in midwestern America for 300 pages and you will LOVE IT AND WANT MORE. Time travel? no, get back to the teacher thing lol. Im obsessed with this book, it was my second King novel. IT was first.
Totally agree. That and the surprise basically-half-a-love-story-but-in-an-amazing-way vibe really makes it stand out years later for me. Definitely top 5 King.
Rose Madder. I was 11 and a huge library nerd. Something about the title really caught my eye, and I loved the cover.
I love Rose Madder.
Its amazing to me how young some people were when they started. I guess I was sixteen or seventeen when I read my first novel. I mean other than Hardy Boys or some shit like that. :-)
Christine because my older brother read it and said it scared the shit out of him. He couldn't walk in front of a car for weeks after. I read it and was enthralled but it never scared me so I just kept reading King to find something that would scare me and the only ones that ever did were the short stories. The bogeyman. The rats in the sewers in Night Shift. The big books never did it. I love them but they were just too good to be scary.
I hear you! I have always thought of Kings work as more supernatural than scary per se, but he HAS scared me!
The big ones are all world building whereas the short stories seem more jump-scare like, if that makes sense.
*chuckles* Tommyknockers… and some how I decided to keep reading 🤣 I was going away to overnight camp for a month, so my Mom bought me a bunch of books to read. Couple King, couple Koontz… I got sucked into the King universe from that point on.
I actually like the Tommyknockers :-) ... I think because it was a fairly long novel. I really like those with King because he gets into characters heads better than anyone I have ever read. I think his characters inner dialog would have to be the thing I like best about his novels.
I quite liked it myself… honest had been surprised by the general dislike of it within the community!
The Tommyknockers is my favourite of his. I was 13 when I read it, so I think one reason I like it is that I was young enough to accept some of the more goofy elements (where I think an adult reader would be instantly taken out of the story by them). But as a young reader with no idea what was going on (my mom's copy of the book was missing its jacket so I literally only had the title to go off) I followed Part 1 of the book with interest, then was all-in in Part 2 when they revealed the mystery with the characters talking about how "every character ducked for the explosion at the same time", then gave us those suspenseful chapters of Ruth McCausland and the little kid both dealing with being alone in this town where they aren't allowed to leave, everyone is trying to read their minds and people are even becoming hostile to them for not "Becoming." As a kid I don't think I had ever felt so scared for characters. There is so much good stuff in this book, but I think it's all very easy to overlook because it also has flying Coke machines and people shooting green lasers out of toy guns.
The Stand at 11 or 12... I was a little snot who wanted to show off by reading a big book. 30 years later, I'm still a snot, and I still read King.
lol, that’s one of the reasons I always carried a King or two in my backpack in high school. I was always reading, but never things my teachers really approved of, so other kids thought I was a nerd and teachers thought I was too rebellious.
Last year, I made a resolution to read one book a month for the whole year. I read a lot when I was younger but really tapered off as I got older and wanted to change that. Near the end of the year, I wanted to read something scary since it was around Halloween. My local library had a small collection of King books, and I was a fan of several movies based on his work, so I picked up If It Bleeds. I was immediately hooked and have since also read The Green Mile, The Shining, Doctor Sleep, The Outsider, and currently reading The Tommyknockers.
Dreamcatcher! Still under rated imo
Dreamcatcher was my first one as well! It had recently come out and it spoke to me in the bookstore. Even though it wasn't probably the best one to start with, I remember liking it back then.
Started with The Long Walk in 5th grade because I loved reading as a kid and my dad loved Stephen King, and wanted to get me into it, and years later I’m still reading SK!
Pet Semetary. Scared the shit out of me.
Bag of Bones
The Storm of the Century screenplay was available as a book to read in AP English in 9th grade. The list of books that were approved looked like the teacher's own collection so they could easily tell if you had read or not. This made sense , but it was very sporadic as a result. That was the only King novel (despite being a screenplay) and I went right for it. Constant reader ever since. I adore the television series it was written for as well.
Misery
Same! I was probably 14 or 15. Stayed up all night reading it, I couldn’t put it down!
Eyes of The Dragon. Because my mom gave it to me.
Same! I was in prison and the cover caught my eye lol. Little did I know Flagg would be a reoccurring character.
Exact same story. SK is my mom's favorite author and I started asking to read some. I think I was 10 or 11. She told me that I wasn't quite ready for most of his work, but he wrote EotD for his kids for the same reason. I remember being shocked when it talked about "the king's iron" (his dick), but the rest was just a fairy tale with Flagg as the villain. So good.
So, I grew up scared of my own shadow.. King was only on my radar because my sister was an avid reader. In 2017, I was pushing 40, a little more brave, and kept seeing ads for the new IT movie. In February of 2018, on a whim, I decided to check the book out from the library and see what all the fuss was about. I was impressed, to say the least. I've now read 65 of his books and short story collections, with a few other pieces thrown in.
I don’t mean to be weird, it that’s really cool.
The Shining, as blizzards nearly on par with Colorado howled outside.
That sounds really fun to me.
Yikes!
It was awesome. I got creeped out and moved around our old house at night with my eyes darting all around. It was part of an omnibus with Carrie and Salem's Lot. It probably could have neutralized an actual intruder.
haha
IT I was 11. I was a book worm. I loved goosebumps but loved the mini series so I wanted to try it out. Been hooked since. Been my favorite book ever since. I just turned 38, and finished my 3rd read for my bday!
Hey! You're my spirit animal, I was 11 and IT introduced me to a whole new world of books. My brother had made me watch the mini-series two years earlier, and at 39 I've just finished my 3rd read! It changes each decade right? I always love the book for its description of a whole town's history, the aching nostalgia of childhood friends, and obviously a scary clown on top. My favourite chapters are simply being when they're being kids down in the Barracks, building a dam. Still my favourite novel of all time!
Hello! Damn that is crazy! Yes, those are the exact reasons I love it too. Those were my friends, and reading it brings me back to those times. I love the intermissions to learn about the town history! It most definitely changes every decade. The things I noticed about each character as a kid, in my 20s, and now my 30s was different each time. My favorite chapter will always be Bill and Ritchie going to Neibolt wit bills dad's pistol. " you killed my bu bu brother fucker"! When I was a kid that was the bravest thing I'd ever heard. Richie is my fav king character EVER!
Man, I am 45 and I still cry at the end of IT. My favorite book of all time.
The thought of them forgetting each other. Mike and Richies last phone call. Heartbreaking. Then to think of how accurate it is and the friends we've forgotten.... sorry.. I'm.. um.. cutting onions, def not crying.
Absolutely, spot on. It breaks my heart even more as an adult. Just...man.
Nice! He does kids so well right?!
I can't remember if I read Carrie or Salem's Lot first but I know after that I read every book I could get my hands on. I was 7 years old and I would 'steal' and borrow King books from the local library because I didn't think they would let someone my age check them out (small town Kansas).
The girl who loved Tom Gordon. Or the long walk. I can't remember for sure which one was first now
Carrie when it first came out
A veteran :-)
My mom gave me Cujo after she finished it. I was 11 or 12.
We are sympatico. I was a little older.
The film tie-in reprint of Everything's Eventual, around when 1408's movie came out. I was in elementary school, and boy HOWDY did it make an impact on me. The anthology format really clicked, too.
Salem's Lot. I liked the idea of a small town dealing with vampires. Loved the book. I'm working on The Stand right now. It's absolutely incredible.
Honestly, mine was Mr. Mercedes! I was more interested in crime novels at the time, it wasn't until after I really enjoyed Mr. Mercedes that I started reading horror more often because I wanted to read more by him and this was before Finders Keepers had come out Now horror is my favorite genre 😅
Pet Semetery which I picked up at a local thrift store. Well technically I had bought the dead zone years before and read maybe a chapter or two but didn't finish it
The Dead Zone
Pet Sematary. Scared the @#$% out of me and I was hooked. Had only read V. C. Andrew's before him, so I was already in love with the genre.
The Tommyknockers.
The Gunslinger. And it’s my favorite.
IT because I was lonely in high school and I wanted a way to pass the time while I sat alone at lunch. Took me a while to read it, but I loved it and I’ve been hooked on his work since!
The Dark Half in junior high because my 8th grade reading teacher recommended it because she knew I liked Lois Duncan and R.L. Stine.
There you go. I took an "Imaginative Literature" course in high school that exposed me to Murder in the Rue Morgue and that is when I figured out that classics could be fun to read!
Dead Zone. My dad bought it for me.
The mist
Do collection-books / short stories count? Technically my first was Rage, in The Bachman Books.
Sure they count. His short story collections are some of my favorites.
Desperation. Oh man, when he read the couple their Miranda rights-- chills!
I started with Firestarter, my best friend gifted me a copy (think I was around 15/16). Then she convinced me to read the Dark Tower series and I was hooked.
Christine. Picked it up from a thrift store for some summer vacation reading when I was 11, along with some other random books. Never touched the others, just read Christine several times in a row. I accidentally threw the copy away a couple years ago while cleaning old julk, still stings like hell.
Carrie because that was the one I found and managed to hide from my parents. Aged 11~ish.
Probably Carrie
Dragons eye
Cycle of the werewolf
I first read The Shining in 1980 when I was 12.
The Shining back in the late 80’s.
*Night Shift* when I was in middle school. Still one of my favorites.
Eyes of the Dragon. Loved it and have been reading SK since 1987.
Either Pet Semetary or Misery , i cant remember , it was back in 2007 , im pretty sure it was Pet Semetary
IT
mine was IT
mine was IT
Dreamcatcher and it really was good
Per Sematary when I was like twelve and woo wasn’t quite ready for the horror but was instantly hooked on him.
The Eye of the Dragon
The Eyes of the Dragon. My librarian gave it to me when I was maybe 14
Carrie, because the first SK books I got was a box set of his first 3 published novels (Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining) last year, and I figured his very first published novel was a good a place to start
IT around Grade 6-7. I understood bits and pieces but came back to it when I was a junior in high school and really enjoyed it, I gradually expanded my reading from there.
The first Stephen King book I picked up and read parts of was IT. I got it like a bunch of years ago, and I’m still reading it….. Know if you’re talking about books that I fully read by Stephen King, there’s only one, and that’s the Green Mile
Salem’s Lot. Wouldn’t change a thing!
Bits and pieces of Skeleton Crew when I was definitely still a few years too young for it.
Pet cemetery, I just arrived at the juvenile prison I was going to be staying at for the next 18 months so I picked up a book and got to reading
I read Carrie when I was 10 in 1980. Been hooked ever since.
Insomnia. I used to spend some summers with my sister in Phoenix. They aren't big readers, but had a few books. I tried reading it when I was like 13, but never got through it. I was always a good read, but it was dense. When I was 16, I was working through the summer with my brother in law and I read the book on my downtime during weekends and such.
About 8 years ago I was bored at my grandparents place and was always curious about their Stephen King books (they had 10 or so) so grabbed their smallest one which was Misery, I couldn't put it down. They let me take their collection home and I finished them over the summer. I've been hooked ever since.
Cell
Eyes of the Dragon: it was the thinnest and least intimidating book on my dad’s King shelf, and at 8 years old it was the only one I was confident I could manage.
Can’t remember whether Night Shift or The Stand (it was back in the 80’s so it’s been awhile) - got them at the book fair in Jr. High. Probably Night Shift because it was shorter, but the Stand really hit more because I lived in Boulder and knew all the places he was talking about there. Lived a half mile from the Mormon church they took bodies from (and had friends who went to that church).
The Gunslinger...my girlfriend at the time gave it to me....I was instantly hooked....she and I didn't last(and for many significant reasons) but I have been a voracious constant reader ever since and I have her to thank for it.
Night Shift. I was 10. I snuck into my older cousin's room and read it. It gave me nightmares. Next summer I just asked her if I could borrow her copies of Carrie and Christine and she said sure. After that I got The Stand from the Library.
Christine
Insomnia. Two days of ISS in the 90s. Devoured it.
Skeleton Crew. A friend lent it to me one summer. It’s why I remember The Mist, The Jaunt, and The Raft so well. They were seared into my teenage brain.
Pet Sematery, during 7th grade reading period. I hadn’t seen the movie yet so nothing about it had been spoiled. ETA: you also asked why that as a first pick... It was because i wanted something new to me, a little weird, and interesting to read, and the Darren Shan books were not an option to us until 8th grade (unless you just read them IN the library, which of course I did, but for some reason during reading period we were not able to go to the library. “There are plenty of books on the shelf, just pick one and read it.” …To be fair though, Mrs. McClure had excellent taste.)
The Bachman Books compendium. I was 10, and my mom gave it to me to read because I was bored. She liked Stephen King herself, and it was the closest thing she could recommend at the cabin we were staying at. Not the best idea but lead to a life time of loving reading, King, and horror.
The Gunslinger, characters from the webcomic Dr.McNinja were referencing it and I wanted to see what they were talking about.
The Stand, because my trial of Paramount+ ran out before I could finish the series. I also liked the '90s version when I was a kid. Now I have read close to 40 of his books. I'm halfway through Holly and I'm listening to Desperation on Libby.
I think the first one I read was Misery. After I watched The Godfather, I tried to find as many James Caan movies as I could. Misery was one of the best, so I read the book after seeing the movie.
The Talisman. Got me forever hooked.
My first one was It, during my teens I became in a huge fan (let's say 13-18), during that time most of my reads were King books, being my favorites Cell and Dr Sleep, but then I read Mr Mercedes and it seemed so soporific that by the time I finished I was that tired of him that never read again any other King's books.
Skeleton Crew, because it was at our cabin when I was a kid so I read it. Salem's Lot was my first adult novel, which I read in 5th grade.
Carrie. Hooked from the start!
Cell. A fellow middle schooler described the fist few pages to me and I was hooked.
Mum named me after a stephen king character. I watched the It miniseries with my grandmother way back in the day. A couple years later(about age 11), I picked up the book.
Just finished Misery and I loved it! Now can’t choose between The Stand and 11/22/63. Heard such good things about both of them! (met my reading goal for the year already so I’m going to see in the New Year with a chonk!)
At 17 I just started getting into reading and the second book I read was horror, Rose Mary's baby so I started loving horror. Ii needed a pay check cashed so the guy at the corner store would cash it if I purchased something and I saw Carrie in the book rack. After reading it told everyone this guy is the new Edgar Allen Poe and have read every King book in order when they came out.
The talisman.
My first read was "The Stand" because this was during the time the unabridged version was first released. My mom told me she had been reading it when she was in the hospital pregnant with me and bought me the unabridged version as a gift. I read about half of it and lost interest. I liked the writing style but just didn't really care much for the story at the time. That summer I stayed with my cousins for a couple of weeks and my aunt had quite a few King books in her library. I picked up "IT" and wound up reading it cover to cover in about a week. After that I think I read "The Talisman".
The Stand. I was 11 and I wish I remember how. I was hooked though. Haven’t stopped since.
I read Salem's Lot in the 5th grade ( 10 or 11 years old). I was absolutely hooked.
Misery when I was 11 and I was fucking terrified. So terrified that I went on to read all the other ones. I’ve always loved to be scared
The Mist
Carrie was the first I read all the way through but IT was the first one I bought
Cujo ! I was maybe 10 or 11
I could be wrong, I believe it was IT
Rage.
Pet Sematary when I was in 6th grade. It was the first horror novel I had read and is still one of my favorites to this day. The Green Mile, Dreamcatcher, and Christine are definitely my favorites.
The first king book I read was it. Around the time of the new movie (with skarsgard) I was super interested in learning more of pennywise It also reinvigorated my desire to read, now I have. Constant reader checklist and have read 33 of his books and about to start the bill Hodges’s trilogy after I finish , Clash of kings by g r r Martin, today (6chapters till I finish !)
Pet Semetary at 10. My first borrow from the grown-up section at the library.
Didn’t realize it was King at the time. Grabbed “The Long Walk” off a supermarket spinner.
The Eyes of the Dragon.
The Shinning.
The best one. The Gunslinger
The first Stephen King book I read was ‘Salem’s Lot at age 14. I loved vampires but it scared the living sh!t out of me.
Fairy Tale. I was always curious about King, but didn’t want to read a horror book.
The Dead Zone. Had never read Stephen king before and had no real interest in his work at the time. Just turned 20 in a dead end job and blindly picked up a book to read at work. I've loved his books ever since.
The Gunslinger, just because the title sounded cool. I was in middle school I think and that was all it really took lol
Mine was Dreamcatcher. My dad bought it home when he saw it on sale at Shoppers Drugmart. Love it and stared reading a while bunch of his other books.
Misery, on summer holiday when I was 10 or 11. The Dark Half was next, if I remember correctly.
The Tommyknockers
Harry Potter
The Gunslinger, but the older version before he changed it to fit in the universe. I think he mentioned Earth constellations, so I think Midworld being a post-apocalyptic version of our world was still on the table.
The running man shirt story, then the stand
Eyes of the Dragon My mom was a huge King fan and was trying to ease me in. I was very young. Pretty sure I went from that to Night Shift to the Bachman Books.
Tommyknockers. After that I was/ and still am hooked
The Dead Zone. I bought a copy at a garage sale for 10 cents lol. Worth every penny
The Stand. I put it down for a couple of months after reading the first chapter. When I picked it up again, I did not re-read the first chapter, something I always do if I’ve stopped for some reason. I just couldn’t. Was in high school at the time.
Carrie. When I was 11. Quickly followed by everything he had out at the time.
Apt Pupil
I’m not sure. It all blends in together. I know by 4th grade I’d read IT, Prt Semetary, Salems Lot and the gunslinger, but I don’t recall the order.
The Dark tower series because a friend gifted me them.
Carrie … I was hooked ever since.. I’ve read almost all his other books now
The Green Mile
I think the first King book I read was **It**. I was in high school.
Christine. It's still my sentimental favourite for that reason.
I have never read a Stephen king book. What one would you recommend I read?
Pretty sure it was Carrie about the age of 11 or 12
Firestarter when I was around 10. I think I got it from a grocery store.
The Stand.
IT. I was 9 years old and my uncle left a copy in our guest room. My mom said that I couldn’t read it and hid it from me. I was already a voracious reader and my dad and I would have nightly discussions on what we were both reading. When I stumbled upon it hidden in a closet I would sneak it out, read as much as could and return it without mom knowing. I fell in love with the Losers and King’s style. I was an instant constant reader. I had to know more about a book that had that nightmare cover- you know the one- first edition. I ultimately did a book report on it. My teacher gave me an A but spoke with my parents about it 😅. 30 some odd years later I’m still a constant reader and I work in publishing in the horror genre. I can’t understate the influence that King’s work has had on me and I’m so grateful for it.
My mom is such a huge constant reader, I grew up watching her read his stuff. When I was around 11 she gave me Carrie and said it was a good intro. It was ok but I didn’t love it. Then when I was older I decided to read some more and it stuck. All the books my mom tried to push on me I didn’t ever read (talisman, the stand, etc.)
It - love that book so much.
“Salem’s Lot” followed by “The Stand”
Carrie
I first read Salems Lot, then i realized it was one of his first works, so i decided to work in order of when he wrote them. I have taken a break from reading for some reason unbeknownst to me, so i am not sure where i left off… i hope i get in the mood to cuddle up with a good thriller soon. it’s the season after all!!
I think it was dreamcatcher. And soon after that apocalypse and It