Stephen King is a master of horror, fantasy, supernatural, fiction, drama, gothic, dark fantasy, post-apocalyptic fiction, crime fiction, and suspense-thriller. His exquisite use of epistolary writing gives his books realism. Being the author of 200 short stories, he has earned his place as one of the best writers on the planet. Stephen King’s books like The Shining, The Dark Tower Series, and Carrie gave the author massive popularity as they were adapted into films.
The Stand
The Stand is one of Stephen King’s best-selling books. It is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel that focuses on the story of a weaponized strain of the influenza virus that kills almost all of the entire population on Earth after it was released. With only a small number of humans left, the last of the survivors form new social factions in groups and fight each other.
The Stand was a great success as in 1979, it was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Stephen King was able to create a realistic element of a post-apocalyptic world focusing on the human side of his story interaction, this made the novel interesting, earning him a bestseller.
It
Turning a clown to an agent of terror, Stephen King’s novel It was a hit and a bestseller. It tells the story of the fight between a group of seven children called the Losers club and an ancient evil entity shape-shifting they called It. Awakening after 27 years and going on a killing spree, the group of 11-year-olds take on the monster and defeat it, sending it to sleep. Twenty-seven years down the line, IT awakens and the group of children, now adults, face It in one final attempt to kill it forever.
It was a massive success due to its elements of horror, fear, revenge, and coming of age. Though the book is Stephen’s second-longest book, it still stands as one of his best.
The Shining
The Shining is Stephen King’s first best-selling hardback book. The story of the horror novel reflected Stephen King’s struggle with alcoholism and his 1974 stay at The Stanley Hotel.
The story of The Shining is about the character of a struggling writer, Jack Torrance, who is an alcoholic. Jack accepts a position as a caretaker in the Overlook Hotel. Accompanied by his family, including his younger son, Danny, who had psychic abilities, events begin to unfold, and soon, Danny sees the hotel’s horrible past. After a winter storm that left them snowbound, Danny’s sanity deteriorates as the supernatural forces inhabiting the hotel awaken. Danny tries to warn everyone of impending doom but is too late as his father dies in an explosion.
Carrie
Carrie is a horror book that defined what horror feels like for some teenagers in high school. The story of Carrie is about a young girl who comes from a religiously dysfunctional family. The character of Carrie faces bullying and loneliness as she has no friends. As the bullying intensifies, Carrie discovers she has telekinetic powers but tries her best to hide them. After her bullying reaches a point she could no longer take, she flips out and gets revenge on all her bullies leading to a disaster worth remembering.
Salem’s Lot
In the 1980’s Stephen King professed Salem’s Lot as his favorite book. Salem’s Lot is a horror story of vampires and death. It tells the story of Ben Mears, who returns to Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine, after 25 years to write his novel. Soon, Ben discovers that the people of the town are turning into vampires. To end what was happening, Ben faces Barlow, an ancient vampire, who was responsible for turning people into vampires. Ben successfully kills Barlow but leaves Jerusalem’s Lot, and after a year, he returns and meets up with Mark, with who he had to fight Barlow. They decide to end the tyranny of vampires in the city once and for all.
Misery
Misery is a novel so dark; it makes one shiver. It’s a novel about Stephen King’s addiction to cocaine portrayed in the image of Annie Wilkes, one of the book’s main characters. Misery tells the story of a famous author Paul Sheldon, who is held hostage by a psychotic fan Annie Wilkes after she rescued him from an accident, Annie refuses to let Paul get medical attention. She forces him to write a sequel to her favorite story. Paul successfully kills Annie after a confrontation but is left with the scars of his encounter with the psychopath.
11/22/63
11/22/63 is a novel about time travel. The story focuses on a divorced High School English teacher, Jake Epping, who decides to try and prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the president of the United States of America by traveling back in time.
Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption
Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank redemption is a novel adapted from Stephen King’s 1982 novella collection, Different Seasons. The story follows the life of a banker, Andy Dufresne, who is tried and sentenced to a double life sentence for the murder of his wife and her lover, a crime he never committed.
The Dark Tower IV: Tower and Glass
The Dark Tower IV is the best of the eight series book of Stephen King. The book focuses on Roland’s love affair with Susan Delgado in his teenage years, which did not end well. It was Stephen King’s final Dark Tower book written before he had an accident. He rushed the release of the immediate sequels.
