have you read any off stephen kings books?

Question

could you tell me what the cell, and the shining were about, and the pieces you got scared,
please tell me what they were about?
and even thought the shining is really old, is it still worth me buying it,
and whats the best one that left you mentally messed up, or any books where you were scared to breakdown or turn off the light

Answer 1

Cell is about people going crazy after talking on their cell phones - they kind of turn into zombies and run around killing everyone they can find. Don't want to give away much more than that, as it was a good read. I didn't get scared reading it though.

The Shining is outstanding, and one of my very favorite books. The movie scared the crud out of me and the book is 10x better. It's about a family that goes to be caretakers at a hotel in Colorado when it closes for the winter. A previous caretaker had gone crazy and killed his family, and there are ghosts and such left in the hotel. Again, don't want to give away too much but I highly suggest it.

Answer 2

Most of Stephen King's books are standard American schlock, you know, taking 5,000 words instead to explain what can be better described in 500. The one period of true inventiveness from the King stable though was when he wanted to see if people would buy his work on their literary worth, rather than because his name was attached. To this end he wrote 4 short stories, one of which was the Running Man (much darker than the Schwarzegger movie rubbish).

Using the pen name Richard Bachman, these short stories did sell but, by the time the last one had been written (Running Man) people had begun to suspect it was him and he wrote no more under that name, though you can still buy all of these stories in a single volume called 'The Bachman Collection'.

Why do I mention this? Only so I can mention one of the other stories in this collection, 'The Long Walk'. You start a fair way into a journey and, as the story unfolds, you come to a slow realisation of why the hero of the story is walking. The horror creeps up on you, as it were, and King's inventiveness and creative use of story narrative keeps you guessing to the very last paragraph. If you do decide to read Stephen King, start with The Long Walk.

Answer 3

I've read almost all of his books, and The Shining is a definite favourite. I thought it was scary, and I'm usually ok with things like that. Definitely buy it. Then, see the film by Kubrick with Jack Nicholson - it's great, but make sure you read the book first!

'It' was also scary - to this day, I'm scared of clowns, and cringe if one comes near me. If you're just getting into King, then I'd recommend you try some of his short stories first as a taster. There's a few collections, but my favourite is Skeleton Crew - there's something for everyone!

Answer 4

I'm a huge Stephen King fan but actually don't find his books scary!
I read them for the brilliant characters and style of his writing.
I think it's almost a shame that people pigeonhole him into the horror genre when many of his greatest books have little or no 'horror' in them- Green Mile, Dolores Claiborne, Shawshank Redemption...
I would say though that for pure creepy factor and the scariness that can come from genuinely disturbing circumstances and characters rather that big monsters- i would highly recommend 'Desperation' and Richard Bachmans 'Regulators' (which links).
Tak! Tak a la!

Has anyone seen the family guy episode where they show Stephen King as a hack who picks the first thing he sees, makes it a monster, then writes about it?
"It's a lamp monster!"
Funny but SO unfair!

Answer 5

Yes I've read lots of Stephen King, I've read the books you mentioned and they were very good. A really scary one by Stephen King is "Needless things", it's a really good read if you like horror. You can also get collections of short stories by Stephen King, I have a compilation and they're really good and all very different types of horror stories. Try looking in you local charity shops they usually have lots of Stephen King second hand books for sale and for under a quid sometimes, I get lots of my books there and just donate them back when I've read them, your library will have most of his books in stock too, cheaper than buying new ones.
If you like good Horror try reading James Herbert he's one of the best horror writers there is, I just read "The Secret of Crickley Hall" and it scared me that much I wouldn't read it at night downstairs on my own, I'm not usually such a wimp but it certainly scared me, it really gets your imagination going. Well hope you find something you enjoy reading, I'm going to read James Herbert's "The Cottage" tonight, I'll be afraid to shut the light off again!!

Answer 6

Let's see --

The Shining is a GREAT book. I think it's wonderfully scary and absolutely worth you buying it. You'll never stay at an old hotel in the mountains after reading it lol.

As for the scariest, as someone said -- It and Pet Semetary are the scariest. *I* personally wouldn't recommend them, because I'm a scaredy-cat. And if you are a scaredy-cat, perhaps you shouldn't read them. WOW it's been a while but even know thinking about either of these books is giving me chills!!!

Answer 7

Misery really gave me the creeps! Carrie is a good read too. Why not go to your library and borrow a range of his books to get a feel for him? If they aren't on the shelves just ask and they will reserve them for you!

The Green Mile is an amazing book by Stephen King and one of the only books around that I have read more than 3 times! It is as good as the film and the execution bits are gross. He can be a gentle writer too.

The Shawshank Redemption is a good read too, a short novella.

I can only read one of his books every few months as they are pretty disturbing!

Answer 8

The Shining is about a young couple with child that agrees to caretake a Hotel over the winter months. The Hotel is haunted and starts to takeover the husbands mind and pits him against the wife and child. Very Spooky.
Cell is about Cell phone transmissions that take over peoples minds and turn them into Zombies that turn on the normal people left alive and kills them. Very Scary.
The synopsis given is very brief. The Books are terrific and you shoud read them.

Answer 9

I've also watched movies based on SK work.
The ones I've read (by Stephen King):
"The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger" - creepy, but there's six other parts, it's looong....
"Everything's eventual" - good, but can't say I was scared later...
"From Buick 8" - some scary parts, but not too much
"Nightmares and Dreamscapes" would be my favourite so far. It's a story collection, it send shivers.

Answer 10

I've read most of his books - I'd say they're all great. The Shining is definately worth a read. My favourite is The Stand.