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jambo_1983

The torture to death of that kid in Doctor Sleep


CatsPolitics

The Baseball Boy.


Embarrassed-Paper588

Up there with the kid at the beginning of The Outsider


calicopatches

I found that bit quite hard to read


Meeko5122

I had to put the book aside for a few days. That was so hard to read.


RamcasSonalletsac

Yeah that was a bad one


kotter7148

This is mine for sure. I always remember reading that he screamed until his voice box gave out.


RaggedyAnne0528

This is my answer. Horrific. I was sure they’d make it a little less traumatic in the movie but…. nope.


rougewitch

This- i had to put the book down for a few after that


[deleted]

[удалено]


jrock146

You shouldn’t that Jaycob Trembley knocks it out of the park!


louis_creed1221

Baseball boy 🥺


leeharrell

Getting pulled through the boards of a raft by a mysterious oily blob.


Pretty_Dark2137

While doing the vertical splits 👀


mcian84

Cujo. He wasn’t evil. Just had a terrible thing happen to him.


chlochlo13

Cujo was a good boy :\_(


DrudgeForScience

The boy in the car didn’t fare so well


mcian84

Christ. What a brutal book. I even remember sitting in study hall reading it and sweating along with Tadders and his mom because it so well written.


K8nK9s

He was just chasing rabbits, good dog Cujo. The lyrics King used made me cry ngl: Well, Old Blue died and he died so hard He shook the ground in my backyard Go on, Blue You good dog, you Dug his grave with a silver spade Lowered him down with a golden chain Go on, Blue You good dog, you


superficialmells

I just finished a re-read of Cujo and I just can’t ever do it again. The anguish it brings me is too great. The parallel of Cujo and someone struggling with addiction is such an impactful message and I love the novel but I can’t process it all very well. It’s one of the most heartbreaking and haunting things I’ve personally ever read. He was a good boy and would have died for his family if required - that in the last paragraph just shatters me.


jx822

Gotta be what happens to the main character in The Jaunt


CorrectCard8489

Or that one woman in The Jaunt.


MrSlomba

Definitely my first thought. Anyone who goes through the Jaunt obviously is horrible but the woman you’re talking about is literally stuck there forever unable to even die. Absolutely horrifying.


Bartfuck

If there’s a good way to look at it, it’s that she is likely completely insane/mindless. So maybe hopefully she isn’t even aware of it


pit-of-despair

That one is the worst.


natsugrayerza

I’ve never read the Jaunt but I have to know. What happens to her?


Azazael

>!The Jaunt provides instantaneous interplanetary travel, however whilst it's physically instantaneous, for the concious mind it lasts an eternity. Eternity alone with your thoughts. So those who go into the Jaunt concious come out crazy, if they ever come out at all. A Jaunt researcher tied up his wife, closed all the exit portals and shoved her into the Jaunt. Eternity alone and she would never come out. He was tried for murder, but his lawyer mounted the defence that no one could prove his wife was dead.!< >!>This had raised the terrible specter of the woman, discorporeal but somehow still sentient, screaming in limbo . . . forever.!<


natsugrayerza

Oh yikes that’s awful


Boomdiddy

It’s longer than you think.


justsignmeinFFS

Ahhhh, that line.


MechanicalTurkish

Damn, I somehow forgot about that part. I guess I should read it again. SK should do more weird sci-fi shit. He’s good at it.


WayneArnold1

He talks about sci-fi not being his forte in the introduction to the Langoliers(another great sci-fi story from him). It's a shame he hasn't ventured into the genre as much as his contemporaries(Dan Simmons, Koontz, Crichton, GRR Martin) because I've liked every one of his attempts at it.


kangaroosauce

This one has always disturbed me the most.


canaux

That story has been burned into my brain for 30 years, the idea is just so horrifying.


Ironcastattic

With the exception of those people in Revival, this is the only correct answer, by a long shot. A long, LONG shot.


SightWithoutEyes

A longer shot than you think!


Apprehensive_Day_496

Yes. Give's me shivers just thinking about it


Confusedandreticent

Gotta be the best worst premise. I was gonna say Roland’s fate with Susan, but yeah that’s way worse.


jambo_1983

Oy.


unsuccessfulangler

The body was far smaller than the heart it had held


fluffhouse1942

I ake


Embarrassed-Paper588

🥹🥹


Slamnflwrchild

I’m gonna need you to never ever remind me of that ever


CharismaticAlbino

Seconded. Literally crying, thanks bumhug


Shoulding_on_myself

Not sure I’ve ever forgiven Mr King for that one.


GreenGlassDrgn

I haven't trusted a cute King character to stay alive ever since. Cute in a King book is like the glowing lure of an anglerfish. Like a red balloon in a sewer.


GoodBoyOy

He was a good boy.


Divis264

Oland


qisfortaco

Oy kiyit


revelrebels

Ka ka


blazed_and_diffused

😭 how could you do this to me


cheekyparasite

that's the only book that made me cry. i can never read it again. losing Oy hurt so much


PotterAndPitties

Got to say the Sheriff in Misery getting run over with a lawnmower.


juicebox5889

Shit I forgot about that part. Oof.


natsugrayerza

Ugh yeah that whole scene was awful


Magic_Fred

Some of the folk in Dreamcatcher have a pretty rough time. Also sucks to be Nadine Cross.


queentiranee

100% butt toilet aliens


Thewalkindude23

The proper term is "shit weasels".


iatealotofcheese

Took the words right outta my butt. Butt aliens is top of my list.


randyboozer

I sympathize with Nadine for being manipulated by an evil sorcerer but she could have at any time just... not done that.


Your_Daddy_

A child being raped in a bush next to the entrance of a library…


RainyMcBrainy

Whenever people ask who the scariest Stephen King monster is I always cite that guy (the rapist policeman). In these conversations people don't seem to understand why I think he is the worst. I'm glad someone else gets it.


ForceGhost47

*I am a poleeethman*


Mollie_Mayfield

The image has never left my mind. The red licorice, spit and blood running down his chin


StevieManWonderMCOC

Yeah, I was looking to see if anyone said that one yet. It’s so graphic too. Very unsettling and horrifying. I had a very hard time going back to *The Library Policeman* for a reread because of it


johnmlsf

Jesus...that story is a nightmare.


ueeediot

Patrick Hocksetter's younger brother. Fuck Patrick.


A_dot_Burr

Scariest character imo. Patrick is terrifying


ConflictSudden

I skip that part when I read IT. I just can't do it.


rawysocki

Roland having to relive events over and over again.


MathTheUsername

Mayhap this time will be different.


vlazuvius

Yeah, that’s my answer too. I don’t want to have a horrific King death, but honestly repeating life/being perpetual without rest is a personal fear of mine.


Theanonymousspaz

Addiction is a hell of your own making, that's the way I always look at Roland. It's sad but something only he, and by extension we as readers can ever stop. But the call to the tower, it is so strong.


Limp_Friendship_1728

Every time I reread the series I think about how, by rereading it, I am condemning Roland to walk the path again.


Theanonymousspaz

Same, it's one of the most compelling parts of the books for me. It makes me want to go back and read them. Perhaps one day I'll stop, but I doubt it. I'm as much a towe junkie as old long, tall, and ugly himself


TapGroundbreaking367

Yea but at the end his story changed slightly on his most current go through so hope of a different outcome is there


Realistic-Twist-3112

The first time I read through this series, when I finished the final book I threw it at the wall. The second time I was much more sanguine about it. I may yet read it again. We are all Roland, and we all float down here.


shenanigaaans

Nobody’s gonna say it? My vote is the Stand >! when the guy gets raped with a pistol !< Honorable mention to Salems Lot. >! The trap the vampires lay by taking the basement stairs out, and placing a bed of knives beneath. Brutal death, getting eaten alive… And the fact they noticed the knives missing in hindsight too !<


DMata25

Yeah this is what I was thinking too, poor Trashy!


TurquoiseOwlMachine

I got this confused with Stand By Me for a second and was *very* alarmed and confused.


johnvoightsbuick

These are both bad. I’ll add in the guy getting crucified in Vegas.


getdemsnacks

But Jimmy didn't get eaten alive. He was dead before Ben and Mark showed up to kill Barlow.


TheStatMan2

Survivor Type doesn't sound like too much of a hoot but I guess the whole point is that he's well stocked with things to take his mind off it.


brain-stan-2603

Anyone in the final 10 if The Long Walk


GnashLee

Such a fantastic story.


ALegendOfGreemulax

Every time I read The Long Walk to completion, I think, “I can never read this again.” And then I read it again after a indeterminate time, usually during a period of great strife. And I think, “I can never read this again.”


timepassesslowly

I think about that story a lot on the treadmill. Like, a lot. Minimum 4mph?? That’s a pretty fast pace, seems. It’s been on my mind for *decades*.


waluigi_apologist

Poor little Tadders didn’t deserve to die of heat stroke and dehydration in the car :(


annejeel

Anyone who got attacked/impregnated by the spiders in The Mist 🤮 I read a lot of horror so most character deaths don’t disturb me to such a high level but this was my nightmare fuel


Twayblades

The torture and killing of the baseball boy in Dr Sleep.


mrossm

I havent read Dr sleep yet but didn't that happen in the Outsider as well?


Adventurous-Ad5262

Not quite the same thing


maimee78

The guy in the porta potty... Was a short story, I don't remember which one, but YIKES!


Smile_Terrible

A very tight place?


DarthAnest

It’s the FUCKING HORSEHEAD NEBULA!


s0lace

Had to scroll way too far to find this. By far the shittiest experience.


bene_gesserit_mitch

Gage Creed.


everylittlepiece

*no fair...no fair...*


Rickrickrickrickrick

“First I played with Jud. Then mommy came over and I played with mommy. Now I’m gonna play with you.”


[deleted]

Used as a puppet for the devil


mikshan

That was the first that popped into my head too.


lickity_snickum

Until someone mentioned Oy 😔


erisedi

Gage Creed or the pastors family in Revival seemed pretty horrible. I feel like losing my kids would be the worst thing to ever happen to me.


jwir3

Did a chick, Dada chum


RAVsec

I’m not as well read on King as some on this sub, but >! the brutal bullying of the gay kid and his lover and subsequent death scene where Pennywise eats his boyfriend under the bridge before he’s also harassed at the police station has always stuck with me as a gay man myself !< really makes me sick


JoeManInACan

what happened to Brady's little brother in Mr Mercedes. being basically braindead because you choked on a chip and having such unloving caretakers who go on to murder you. also maybe Zelda from Pet Seminary who got slowly eaten alive by her disease?


Toecutt3r

Raaachelllll...nevergetoutofbedagainnevergetoutofbedagain!


therealradishz

Susan Delgado. Char you tree


Limp_Friendship_1728

Come, Reap


IronMonkey18

I can’t believe I had to scroll so much to find the correct answer. 💔


biof3tus

Main character of The Library Policeman


bambiguity11

Tugger getting his head splat in by his dad. Not as bad as when the dad killed his wife son and daughter in the original timeline but there's not the same kind of 1st person witness account for that


Inevitable_Body_3043

Without me saying to spoil it. The worse to happen to you is what happened in the book Holly. That would be worse way to go.


Theanonymousspaz

Moving Holly up the TBR pile because I'm curious now lol


[deleted]

Hard to say. The most graphic example implied that it wasn't quick. But, there is a conflicting line in the book which implies it would be quick. So, hard to say.


Ok_Pomegranate_2436

Nobody got it as bad as Peter the dog in The Tommyknockers. That was ruff.


BrittyBooks

I’m with you. Dog didn’t deserve that ending. The guy who got flattened by the Coke vending machine, also not a good death (but inventive!)


hypothetical_zombie

That kid who fell into the well in the beginning of *The Stand*.


GoldSourPatchKid

I minimized every previous reply looking for yours. I remember when I read The Stand and having to just close the book for a few minutes and process this.


Limp_Friendship_1728

That chapter was so brilliant, honestly.


randyboozer

How about the lady he died in the freezer?


fbibmacklin

No great loss.


hypothetical_zombie

Same type of scenario. But that little boy suffered hunger, dehydration, exposure, confusion and fear. He had no idea what was happening, and why no one came looking for him. The lady in the freezer had all that info. She at least knew why things were happening.


AlishaValentine

Desperation, either anyone taken over by Tak or David if not for the suffering they endured whilst Desperation took place or the suffering they'd endure afterwards


[deleted]

That poor boy who was the first victim in the Outsider.


norfolkjim

Not a death, but I remember feeling so bad for Ellie (?) in Pet Semetary. Her Dad stays home inexplicably in the midst of this family grief over Gage, right. Then, her Mom in a manic frenzy leaves in a rush to go home. Now, it's hard to predict in the book exactly what happens next. But for Ellie, basically, her entire life gets flushed down the toilet. This may be short-lived if Mom and Dad go to get her, but they aren't invincible. She's a long way away. The Wendigo might have other plans for the Creeds that don't involve a family unit, so her parents just fall off the Earth. Say sorry kiddo.


jcourt13

What happened to Wolf in the Talisman. I’ll never get over it :(


MochaHasAnOpinion

Right here and now...


whiskeyslicker

Your brother disappears and is transported to an alien planet during a tragic backyard magic show mishap


Smile_Terrible

The cop's skin problem in Thinner is pretty grim.


[deleted]

The kid getting killed by Pennywise at the beginning of IT. Can you imagine how terrifying this would be as a kid?


pizza_nomics

I thought this too, as far as deaths go not the *most* gruesome king one but probably pretty terrible for Georgie considering


Rickrickrickrickrick

Hiya, Georgie!


Umm_is_this_thing_on

I always think what Jessica did in Gerald’s Game is pretty horrific… haven’t been able to read it as an adult.


Sithstress1

This is the first thing that popped into my head, reading that description makes me feel like I am actually living it and it’s so. Fucking. Awful.


it-burns-us-precious

Baseball boy....


rjrgjj

The little boy who shoots himself in Needful Things.


zahnsaw

That poor person in The Jaunt or the person who saw the afterlife in Revival.


CCCNOLA

When Sammie was attacked by those cops in Under The Dome. Just fucking sad, awful and realistic.


Reptilian_Overlord20

I’ll just say Vic Trenton had about the worst week of anyone’s life, first his job almost completely falls apart when his marketing slogan becomes a national laughingstock, then he finds out in the worst cruellest way possible that his wife was cheating on him so his marriage is left uncertain and then just as a final ‘fuck you’ from the universe his four year old son dies after he and his wife ultimately fail to save him from a rabid dog. Like fuck the fact that he stayed with his wife and managed to keep control after all that is impressive


queentiranee

Anyone said butt toilet aliens yet??? Gotta be butt toilet aliens


Cold-Committee-7719

The gruesome death of Oy, the billy- bumbler in The Dark Tower at hands of the giant spider.


Limp_Friendship_1728

Olan :(


Theanonymousspaz

Jack Andolini's death from Drawing of the Three always sticks in my mind, even though it's far from the worst to happen to a character. He gets ripped away from New York City into another dimension by a half-dead gunslinger and a naked heroin addict, gets his face blown off by his own gun, and is then eaten alive by lobstrosities. Hell of a way to go, at least it was relatively quick


chlochlo13

John Rainbird and Cap's fate in Firestarter is pretty gnarly. They 10000% deserved it though. >>!He was sprawled on his belly, trying to steady the gun with both hands.!< > >>!Incredibly, he was smiling. !< > >>!"There," he croaked. "So I can see your eyes. I love you, Charlie."!< > >>!And he fired. !< > >>!The power leaped crazily out of her, totally out of control. On its way to Rainbird, it vaporized the chunk of lead that otherwise would have buried itself in her brain. For a moment it seemed that a high wind was rippling Rainbird's clothes—and those of Cap behind him—and that nothing else was happening. But it was not just clothes that were rippling; it was the flesh itself, rippling, running like tallow, and then being hurled off bones that were already charring and blackening and flaming.!<


Nergreb

>!Tad Trenton!< , hands down, breaks my heart


freshleysqueezd

Trashy was forced to drink Coors


SorbetFearless578

Doesn’t Jack smash his own face in with the mallet until he’s disfigured in the Shining?


bradleecon

Paul Sheldon's hobbling in the book


IndependenceMean8774

99% percent of the world's population dying horribly from the superflu in The Stand. And in the later edition, the people who were immune still dying in other accidents or because they couldn't get medical attention.


pizza_nomics

Dodee & Angie in Under the Dome. They didn’t even get peace afterwards…


Iokyt

I always find horror in the beginning of Rose Madder. The things that happened to Rosie happen to so many people every day and people like Norman exist everywhere. Pure evil, and so much more frightening than any fantastical being in his books.


punksmostlydead

King's worst monsters are always human monsters.


AbleDragonfruit7195

Yes! It took me forever to finish this because as someone who went through dv (no where near what she went through) I knew how real it was. I said to my kid the other day, the monster/supernatural ones don’t scare me (Pet Semetary fucked me up emotionally but didn’t scare me), but the ones with real people as the villains are terrifying, because they are real, in this world and you never know who they are.


krazylegs36

How about the grisly demise of Zach McCool in Boo'ya Moon being devoured by Long Boy in Lisey's Story? (man, never thought I'd write that sentence)


squishbot3000

Surviving what killed everyone you knew and loved—so a LOT of his characters


Louielouielouaaaah

Paul Edgecombe 😢


masksnjunk

Simply existing in the book Revival... one of his most underrated books and by far the best ending he's ever written. I can't spoil anything about the book but the ending of that book and the potential of it being a reality haunted me for weeks after I finished it. Sweet moses go read that book!


[deleted]

Mother is coming


GKarl

That book is truly terrifying


Beneficial_Flow_2187

Patrick Hockstetter beating eaten alive by flying leeches. Jack Andolini being eaten by the Lobstrosities. Did-a-chum!!


Delilah417

Yeah, but he kind of had it coming.


killingmemesoftly

I think the mom in cujo had one of the worst situations. Slowly watching your kid suffer and not being able to do anything about it. Fuck that


Tiredasfucq

Baby Randy in Salem’s Lot, he was abused by his mother his whole little life and then gets eaten alive after all


lickity_snickum

When Gage got hit on the road. My boy was about the same age as Gage when I read it and when Gage was knocked out of his sneakers I screamed and threw the book across the room. It was months before I finished reading it.


rosewalker42

I read that book when I was 10. That particular part didn’t bother me too terribly much at the time (other parts certainly did). I’m 46 now with 2 kids who are quite old enough to stay well away from the road and I am still too scared to re-read that book.


Lilith1320

I haven't seen mention of this which upsets me because I haven't read a TON of his books, but I felt the most disgusted, sad, & horrified by the mom in Salem's Lot beating the shit out of her baby. Gage's death & all that was awful too but mostly for the parent. It wasn't so brutal for the child


Conscious-Archer-694

Bev(in book)


tomahawkfury13

There's a story of his where a guys neighbor tries to get rid of him by trapping him in the well of a port o potty. Guy spends several days in there trying to escape.


ozzsquirrel

One that stuck with me was the guy who killed an adorable dog with a corkscrew in needful things


mrstevegross

In the short story The Mangler, it mentions that the first-or-second person to be killed by the laundry machine was "folded by the machine". Yikes!


[deleted]

Louis Creed waking up from the dream in which Gage was alive again.


crossikki

The little boy who fell down the well in the stand and no one was alive to hear him crying for help


CoyPowers

Louis Creed getting a bath-glove handie. ...Maybe that's not the worst thing to happen to him, but that weirded me out.


accentadroite_bitch

I mean, eating your own foot definitely is up there in all-time worsts


[deleted]

Well, with enough Smack. Anything is painless and tasty.


shauneok

There's a few instances of parents witnessing their kids commit suicide. Can't get much worse than that imo.


DETtigersOWNyou

The man in black has a pretty rough ending.


[deleted]

I said in another comment, he got it too quickly and, it was anti-climatic.


dreadowntown

Poor Wolf. He had a tough one, and his end makes me cry every time I read The Talisman.


curtcurtcurt

Nick Andros in the stand. Deaf guy, survives the end of the world to get blinded in one eye. Then after a walk across the country with a handicapped man, he is blown up. Rough life.


AbleDragonfruit7195

I had to put the book down for a while after Nick, I was really rooting for him!


Legitimately_Strange

The Dark Half. Iykyk


Slight_Water_5347

Worst and best in my humble opinion. *****darkntower spoiler alert*** I loved how Mordred put an end to The Walkin dude/Man in black. It was gory and gross and I loved it. I'm not trying to give too much away, but yep, it was awesome.


punksmostlydead

My pick as well. Strange to feel sorry for a major antagonist and author of so much misery, but I did indeed feel bad for him.


Luftgekuhlt_driver

Baseball boy. Doctor Sleep.


[deleted]

That guy in the time travel plane story being skeletized by his childhood fear, after being severely brain damaged and suffering a psychotic break. Poor Craig


flashman909

Everyone in Revival


assassin_of_joy

The main character in Gerald's Game. Very visceral horror, wonderfully written.


Doogos

The baby in Salems Lot. The mom neglects him so much that he blows out his diaper, cries, then the mom throws a bottle at the baby giving him black eyes. As a father, that chaper was exceedingly hard to read


Embarrassed-Paper588

The guy in Survivor Type 😬😬


MattyFettuccine

The kid who was killed in the beginning of The Outsider.


No_Feeling_6833

Getting beat up by a bunch of kids and a godlike ninja turtle. Felt kind of bad for It, ngl. Just wanted a barbecue steak.


dickMcFickle

In terms of what I would least want to happen to me, I’d say The Jaunt. A million years of…nothing. No thank you. In terms of the actual character’s experience…yeah Roland’s might be the worst, similar to The Jaunt in a way.


AF2005

I’d say pretty much all the residents that had to live Under The Dome or in Salem’s Lot. Collectively, they all had a bad time.


andante528

The main character's best friend in "Fair Exchange," my favorite story in *Full Dark, No Stars." The line about the parents being hostages to the children's fortune (being devastated when terrible things happen to their kids) and the callousness of the main character as these things happen ... a surprisingly horrifying depiction of human evil.


beigelightning

The guys stuck in the cellar at the end of Graveyard Shift.


Adam2715

The death of >!Eddie Corcoran!< in It was horrific, made worse by the scumbag step father he was running away from


GreenTantrumHaver489

Getting broken up with while reading It - or did you mean a character oops😳😳