stephen king's best novel?

[sam1995]

hello there i am quite new to the forums, and this is my first post! :D i was wondering, what is stephen kings best novel he has written? i have just finished the running man and i thought it was fantastic, also i finished the dead zone a couple of weeks ago, i enjoy his books and would love to know what is his best one? in your opinion, also can you recommend any other books that fit in to the horror/terror genre? i would be really grateful :D

thanks :)

[Calidore]

Horror is a huge genre. To make it easier to recommend stuff, are there any subsets of horror (ghosts, monsters, vampires, zombies, body horror, nature run amok, etc.) you especially like?

Re. King: The Stand and The Shining are my favorites, but really, his first dozen years or so have hardly a misstep (coughCujocough).

It to me marks the beginning of his downslide. It was a terrific read most of the way, and then that revelation; I hurt my eyes I rolled them so hard. Tommyknockers also started well and ended badly, Needful Things actually reused the ending of an earlier book, The Dark Half was just godawful, Gerald's Game was another Cujo but even more tedious, and Insomnia actually had old people shooting energy beams out of their hands like Ultraman.

He recovered a bit with Rose Madder, Green Mile, and the Desperation/Regulators tag-team (though honestly I couldn't tell you why I like that last twofer, but I do). I finally ended up giving up on him after that, though.

It's such a loss, too, because King's style and writer's voice are aces, but I think his years of substance abuse have just left him incapable of reaching his former all-around greatness.

I should also say that, although I haven't checked out his story/novella collections in many years, I did continue to like his shorter works after I stopped liking his novels.

[Pensive]

I personally liked The Long Walk.

[Bustrofedon]

It's been a long time but Salem's Lot is my favorite maybe because I read it first. 2nd and 3rd are The Stand and The Shining.

[The Atheist]

While it's not strictly a novel, having been released in six parts, The Green Mile is his best by a long margin by my reckoning.

Note that I rate King and much of his work very highly.

[sam1995]

thanks guys, i really appreciate your help, i think i may read the shining next as most of you have suggested it and have said it is a good book, thank you all for your help :D

[coeus]

"The Stand" is by far my favorite, although I also really enjoyed "The Green Mile", "Misery", and "The Shining". "The Dark Tower" series is also very good.

[Kyriakos]

I haven't read any of his novels, and have read just a small number of short stories from the collection "Night Shift" (which i heard people claim as being his best anyway).

My favorite story there is probably the one about the girl which fell from the ladder. Also the Gray Matter, since it is very close to Machen's White Powder (the title seems to suggest it was consciously related to that older story). Pretty good work in those stories, but i did not like most of the few others i read of his...

[Jassy Melson]

Everyone has their own opinion, and mine is that The Stand is his best work.

[papayahed]

.... actually had old people shooting energy beams out of their hands like Ultraman....



Holy Carp!! I had forgotten all about Ultraman until just now.



I haven't read any Stephen King in a long while but It, The Stand, The Talisman stand out for me.

I also really enjoyed some of the short stories, especially the one about the guy that gets shipwrecked with morphine.

*off to youtube Ultraman

[Calidore]

Holy Carp!! I had forgotten all about Ultraman until just now.


I had, too, until I read the book and the visual sprang right out. Back when I was in grade school, Channel 44 for a time had a two-hour block of Ultraman, Johnny Sokko, and Space Giants. Which is why I really need to go see Pacific Rim before it disappears.

[papayahed]

It was channel 20 for me, Ultraman then Johnny Sokko and an occasional Godzilla movie on the weekends. Good Times, Good Times.

I totally forgot about Johnny until I saw the robot, don't remember the space giants though.

[Calidore]

It was channel 20 for me, Ultraman then Johnny Sokko and an occasional Godzilla movie on the weekends. Good Times, Good Times.

I totally forgot about Johnny until I saw the robot, don't remember the space giants though.

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2007/08/27/the-space-giants-series-guide/