There is no scientific proof with which to bolster our claims. Living legend stephen king has published over 60 books during his 50year career and most of them are scary as hell. King evokes the fear of spiders legs crawling up your arm, of a relatively normal appendage of the body but transforming it into something monstrous, which leaves a burning impression on the reader. The institute might be stephen kings scariest novel yet. What books have scared the guy whose novels scare all of us.
The author of fifty novels, nearly two hundred short stories and nine collections of short fiction, he is as productive as he is versatile. But the extremely prolific writer has also written plenty of. King has written over 50 novels, and thats not even counting his short story collections and works of nonfiction. Jul 18, 2019 with well over 50 novels, multiple novellas, short story collections, and works of nonfiction, plus a handful of other releases that defy easy categorization among them, a libretto for a southern gothic musical, stephen king is a literary madman and an insanelyquotable storyteller. Four people try to rid the house of its evil potency with violent consequences.
But however you know him, from the films or his books, there is little doubt that stephen is the king at what he does. This one taps into a phobia thats both very old and very current. As the author of more than 60 globally bestselling books, the mind behind 50 of the scariest scary movies, and both a national medal of honor and national book foundation medal recipient, its an undisputed fact that stephen king is a master of horror fiction. The novel salems lot is what catapulted stephen king into the horror genre, a title of which he has happily taken on his shoulders and produced. Mar 04, 2020 the most disturbing for me was misery. The shawshank redemption, stand by me, dolores claiborne, the green mile, 1922, the running man. If his books werent scary, nobody would buy them, for after all, a good scare is what horror fiction fans demand. Jul 22, 2016 theres a reason it tops this list of stephen king s scariest books.
The author here is stephen king, though, so be prepared for the stories to bring up some strong emotions. Behold, the best, the bloodiest moments from stephen king s body of work. The 10 best nothorror, notscary books by stephen king. Theres no doubt that writer stephen king is best known for the horror novels that haunt his special corner of american literature. May 30, 2017 we count down the 10 best stephen king books of all time, including his scariest and most thrilling novels like carrie, salems lot and pet sematary. A list of stephen king s novels, organized alphabetically. Mar 20, 2019 including the two that will become movies this year. It by stephen king, the shining by stephen king, pet sematary by stephen king, salems lot by stephen king, misery by steph.
Not because i dont appreciate them, but because most. The 10 best stephen king books your picks for the horror masters scariest, most suspenseful pageturners, from it to the dead zone. Although this wasnt the point of the list, its interesting to. His books have sold over 350 million copies since he first published carrie in 1974. Here is a list of 10 horror books that stephen king himself has recommended. Some birds are not meant to be cagedtheir feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild.
Durma key is a lesser known stephen king work but its just as gripping and scary as any mainstream novel. The second most terrifying novel written by stephen king is the authors classic vampire novel, salems lot. A scary, psychological story, we arent going to spoil anything of this one but its scary the same way misery is. Over the years, he has created dozens of tales that frighten his readers and often wind up translated onto the big screen. Aug 24, 2015 you may have heard of a writer named stephen king. But while youve heard of many of the ultimate horror authors tales.
The 10 scariest stephen king books ever terrifying reads. Stephen king, one of the masters of american horror fiction, has an oeuvre of close to 100 books, which includes some of the most. Compilations of his short stories like the creepshow films and cats eye have some winners but. Dec 14, 2012 were devoting the third of our 31 specials for the 31 days of halloween to stephen kings 10 scariest novels. The 10 greatest stephen king horror novels according to.
And while stephen king is often considered, well, the king of the genre, there are so many other horror authors and books out there that will scratch that scary itch. That book wasnt supernatural scary like the others i had read salems lot, the shining, cycle of the werewolf, etc but rather delved into the realms of reality. A marvellous and thoroughly intelligent suspense thriller, hell house concerns just that a house that corrupts and destroys all that enter it. The sheer number of film and television adaptations of stephen kings stories alone 50plus, and countingfrom stanley kubricks thriller, the shining 1980 to rob reiners stand by me 1986 and hbos 2020 miniseries, the outsiderwould have made king the undisputed master of horror. Of the short stories some i think deserve a nod would be. Oh, and stephen king called this book one of the greatest horror novels of the 20th century. Mar 30, 2020 a marvellous and thoroughly intelligent suspense thriller, hell house concerns just that a house that corrupts and destroys all that enter it. In fact, these are the 10 best movie and miniseries adaptations of king stories to date in chronological order. The best stephen king novels 12 mustread stephen king books. Oct 28, 2019 counting down a few of kings scariest books. The titular creature awakens every 27 years to feed off. If you want a novel, salems lot and the shining creeped me out the most.
Halloween would not be complete without some scary quotes from the master. It was still hard to narrow down the 10 scariest stephen king movie adaptations. What do you consider the scariest stephen king book. Generally the most highly regarded of the five novels king published under the pen name richard bachman, the long walk is a young adult dystopia, the first novel king ever began writing, and. The 10 scariest, best stephen king books you have to read. Its one of my favorite king novels, but its not scary, and barely qualifies as horror. Every single stephen king book, ranked from worst to best. Consider that the best stephen king movies arent even horror movies. Since 1974, king has published over sixty novels, a handful of nonfiction books, and countless short stories, as well as penned graphic novels, a screenplay, a musical libretto, and a childrens book straight out of his own dark tower universe. Its an interesting examination, as each novel does indeed have a film counterpart. Another one of kings earlier works that makes our top 5 scariest stephen king books list is the shining.
Stephen king is a household name when it comes to both fiction and horror. Each is accompanied by a synopsis directly from the stephen king web presence. Weve seen lists of the scariest movies based on the works of stephen king, but what are the authors scariest novels. In other words, not only has stephen king written some genius novels and short stories, novellas, essays, and works of criticism, but hes written a lot of them51 novels to date, in fact, with number 52 coming up shortly. Theres a reason it tops this list of stephen kings scariest books. Its about the perils of creativity, the mysteries of ones past, and with a touch of supernatural to add some. This book was heavily influenced by stephen kings 1974 visit to the stanley hotel, as well as his long recovery from alcoholism. King wasnt going for horrorits a coming of age novel with a strong sense of place and vivid characters. Inappropriate the list including its title or description facilitates illegal activity, or contains hate speech or ad hominem attacks on a fellow goodreads member or author.
Chapter two pick their favorite stephen king books besides it it was still hard to narrow down the 10 scariest stephen king movie adaptations. Sep 03, 2019 theres no doubt that writer stephen king is best known for the horror novels that haunt his special corner of american literature. If you really want to not be able to put a book down, go back to the earliest books written by king. Oct 14, 2019 and while stephen king is often considered, well, the king of the genre, there are so many other horror authors and books out there that will scratch that scary itch. It is from start to finish one of the creepiest, coolest, scariest and most intriguing books youll ever read. Even though it is 1,300 pages and i only read it before going to sleep at night, i finished it in under two weeks because i. Stephen kings protagonists have been hunted by all sorts of malevolent beings, from the demonic clown of it to the fiendish cowboy randall flagg in the. The 100 scariest horror novels of all time page 10. The folks at whatculture have just released the video below. But to this day, hes still the king of scaring readersand even his nonhorror books pack in plenty of chilling moments.
Stephen king remains horror fictions most popular and celebrated writer. Stephen kings 10 scariest books, because sleeping is overrated. It looms over the rest the way the mountains loom over the foothills. And, as stephen king commented, hell house is the scariest haunted house novel ever written.
Prolific author stephen king is widely regarded as the master of horror. The titular creature awakens every 27 years to feed off of the residents of derry, maine, and it. These forms of lists are comprised of books that leave a burning trail of fear in our hearts. No less an authority than stephen king declared hell house to be the scariest haunted house novel ever written. The stand and under the dome arent uniformly horrific, but they have one absolutely terrifying sequence apiece people who know, im thinking of. Isolating the 10 scariest novels of all time is essentially impossible. Salems lot is a 1975 horror novel by american author stephen king. A list of stephen kings novels, organized alphabetically. Lets take a look at seven of his scariest works of fiction.
Stephen king is wellknown for his terrifying novels and short stories. What is the most disturbing stephen king novel you have. Danielewski put simply, house of leaves is one of the most frightening books ever written. Yes, its another stephen king bookno surprise that he makes the list of scariest books more than once. Stephen king was an english professor as a young man, and spent his sparetime writing short stories and novels. Author stephen king is well known for his horror stories. May 20, 2017 stephen king writes great fiction of all lengths. The surprise for nonking readers will be that those emotions may include wonder, amusement, tenderness, admiration, hope, nostalgia, awe, wistfulness, and joy. From a fairly standard horror premise a house is revealed to be slightly larger on the inside than is strictly possible danielewski spins out a dizzying tale involving multiple unreliable narrators, typographic mysteries, and looping footnotes that manage to drag the reader. So, with the newest release of one of his novels in movie form, the mist, i present you with the top fifteen of his novels. Apr 02, 2014 the author here is stephen king, though, so be prepared for the stories to bring up some strong emotions. Scariest novel for me has to be pet sematary, multiple times during the final third or so i had to put it down due to how scary it was and how much i sympathized with louis creed. See where misery, the shining, pet sematary, and the dark tower land and which horror gem takes the top spot. Jan 16, 2020 prolific author stephen king is widely regarded as the master of horror.
There are many great writers i could have included, people like shirley jackson or stephen king or h. Reddits largest community of stephen kings avid fans. Even though it is 1,300 pages and i only read it before going to sleep at night, i finished it in under two weeks because i couldnt put it down at. The 10 scariest stephen king novels horror freak news. Jan 12, 2018 stephen king is a literary icon, a status hes achieved by a defining a genre. We count down the 10 best stephen king books of all time, including his scariest and most thrilling novels like carrie, salems lot and pet sematary. With well over 50 novels, multiple novellas, short story collections, and works of nonfiction, plus a handful of other releases that defy easy categorization among them, a libretto for a southern gothic musical, stephen king is a literary madman and an insanelyquotable storyteller. Stephen kings uk editor philippa pride picks out some of stephen kings scariest quotes. Spam or selfpromotional the list is spam or selfpromotional. Havent read pet sematary, but salems lot was honestly pretty scary to me when i read. Stephen king is the undisputed king of modern horror literature, but when it comes to movies based on his writings, the level of success both commercially and artistically becomes more erratic. Were devoting the third of our 31 specials for the 31 days of halloween to stephen kings 10 scariest novels. And thats why it takes the top spot of scariest story. From a story about a demonic clown to a haunted hotel, these are the 10 stephen king horror novels you cant miss.
Aug 20, 2018 another one of kings earlier works that makes our top 5 scariest stephen king books list is the shining. Including the two that will become movies this year. Behold, the best, the bloodiest moments from stephen kings body of work. From his first novel, carrie, to 2019s the institute, king conjures tales. And before you leap on us for not including your favorite book, rememberwere not claiming these are the 10 best stephen king novels, just the ones most likeliest to keep you up at night check back tomorrow at noon for the greatest toys based on h. Stephen kings 10 scariest books, because sleeping is. The mist, the monkey, the jaunt, and survivor type are fantastic, fantastic stuff. The 10 scariest stephen king books ever terrifying reads word. Incorrect book the list contains an incorrect book please specify the title of the book.
With more than 50 books in print, king is insanely prolific. The novel focuses on the town of jerusalems lot, otherwise known as salems lot, where a writer discovers the town is slowly but surely being taken over by a powerful vampire master. Lets get into the specific literature published by both stephen king and his the works under his pen name, author richard bachman. From the shining to cujo and more, here are the scariest stephen king books that have terrified us the most over the years. The story involves a writer named ben mears who returns to the town of jerusalems lot or salems lot for short in maine, where he had lived from the age of five through nine. Apr 12, 2018 weve seen lists of the scariest movies based on the works of stephen king, but what are the authors scariest novels. His first official novel that was published was carrie, and has since had over 250 nove. How many times have you put down one of his novels in the middle of reading it and found yourself just a little bit too scared to venture. But how do you decide which ones are the scariest stephen king covers. I havent managed to read all of stephen kings novels yet im still working on that but i have read all of his short stories.