What is your favorite Stephen King novel?

It’s hard to choose, though today I would say it’s “The Stand”. It’s hard to beat the destruction of civilization and the ultimate battle between good and evil.

The Stand, uneditted or It.

Salem’s Lot and On Writing

Hard to pick just one…I love IT a lot. It’s cool how many of the characters in that book is somebody I know, haha. Plus the whole mythology around Pennywise is really interesting. (there’s more than one of those things? Man…) Like most SK books, it also has an underlying theme, this one about how growing up sucks. I love this one because I got attached to all the Loser’s Club characters, and enjoyed seeing them go through their life and putting up with IT…then you see everything decline as they grow up and are forced to tackle IT again. King sure knows how to smack you around with dread.
Plus, the Henry Bowers from the movie is a sweetheart compared to the book version. O_o

Pet Sematary and Misery are two other favorites. PS is great for exploring the concept of death while using some cheesy idea to go with it. So it’s got everything you need; some deep thoughts, and some undead animals/folks, running around, causing shit. Incidentally I always wondered what would happen if you buried a fly in the Micmac burial ground. Would some nasty zombie fly come buzzing back to you lol?

And Misery is great, because it’s one of the few SK books that isn’t about anything supernatural, yet I believe it’s one of the scariest ones. It’s got real edge of your seat tension haha, I couldn’t put it down. Even if I had seen the movie before, the book was really gripping. The Dragonlady is freakin nuts bro.

I’ve not read them all but I liked ‘The Mist’.

IT

The Stand is my all time favorite.

Hard to choose between “It” and “The Shining”.

The Gunslinger, yup.

Salem’s Lot of course. The atmosphere, the clueless mundane folks there, the Evil approaching, encroaching in secret, the window visit, undead at the morgue! Wish I could produce and direct a remake! Lol.

It’s unbeatable when it comes to King’s horrifying moments. To me, nothing comes close.

The Stand. it had plot and a real story. It didn’t have gratuitous horror.

Second would probably be Shawshank Redemption (which wasn’t a full length book, but a novella.)

Salem’s Lot was the first Steven King book I ever read and it scared the bejeezus out of me. None of the others have managed to do that, so it’s still my favourite.

I want to say The Tommyknockers, really I do, but there’s this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that tells me it was shite!
So instead I shall say Pet Sematary, because it was the best see.

@mazingerz88 Hear, hear! : )

@ucme The Tommyknockers was just beyond bizarre.

@DominicX You got that right.

Pet Sematary made made my stomach ache with distress. I finishd it, but I’ve been afraid to go back.

The first 75–80% of any Stephen King novel is fantastic. Sadly he can’t write an ending to save his life.

I haven’t read any of his newer works but of the books I have read The Stand is my favourite.

I’m reading 11–22-63 It is much better than king’s latest books.

@Lightlyseared I think 11/22/63’s ending was really good. Not a horror story though. : )

The Stand, hands down.

I have four.

1. Eyes of the Dragon
2. Desperation
3. The Stand
4. IT

I simply can’t choose between them. :)

Gah, I don’t think I can choose a favorite. 11/22/63 is fantastic. In my opinion, his very best work can be found in his short story collections.

I liked him in the beginning and then he got just too weird for me. But now he seems to be coming back a bit closer to reality and I am enjoying his writing again. I thought The Dome was good but didn’t have to be that long. I am working on 11/22/63 right now and it seems like it will be another good one. I like them to be just on the edge of unbelievable, sort of not likely to happen but you have to wonder if…......

@augustlan Short stories like The Body and The Breathing Method were very good. If I’m not mistaken about its title, I think The Body became the film, Stand By Me. The written work and the film were both unforgettable.

@mazingerz88 Yes, The Body became Stand By Me. And Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption became just The Shawshank Redemption, on film. Love his short works the best!

My favourite, without a doubt, is ‘The Stand’.
I would hope to be on the ‘good’ side, but no-one knows how they would act in the situation of the terrible super-flu getting ‘out’.
I have re-read the book several times and find bits I have missed each time.

Christine.

@SomeoneElse I love re-reading books. When the unabridged “The Stand” came out, I was amazed at the characters (albeit them bit players) that didn’t even make an appearance in the original book, let alone the movie.

I find something new everytime I pick this book up. And there are lots of little nuances that I pick up differently everytime I read it, which has been at least 6–7 times. Usually, I’m reading so fast that I miss something.

@laurenkem I have read it many times also and like you, pick up something new each time. I loved the unabridged version, but it didn’t really add or take away from the original book, in my opinion.