Best Stephen King books 2022

The season of long walks has come to an end. The long winter evenings are coming. It is worth thinking about how to spend time in a warm home environment. You can watch an interesting movie or wrap yourself in a warm blanket and read an interesting book. Stephen King's books are a great way to pass the time. The books have a variety of genres, although he is generally considered the "king of horrors". In his works, the writer pays special attention to dialogues, the sharpness of the plot, shows how cruel, inhuman people can be, all this makes him a truly talented writer.

Interesting facts from the writer's life

• Not all written works were published under the author's own name. Some of the works were under the name Richard Bachman. This continued until the fans recognized the style of the real author.
• During the filming of films based on Stephen King novels, the author appeared in the frame about 15 times. He starred in small roles.
• "King of Horrors" is a big fan of baseball, a devoted fan of the Boston Red Sox team. This team is mentioned in his works.
• Stephen King's autograph can only be obtained at an official meeting with fans; when meeting on the street, he does not sign books, does not take pictures together.
• King is not a superstitious person, but the number 13 scares him, he always tries to avoid it;
• The author of books has millions of fans around the world, as evidenced by the number of books sold. According to official figures, more than 350,000,000 copies have been sold worldwide.
• The great writer had a serious addiction to alcohol and drugs. Received children's psychological problems served this. His friends and relatives helped to cope with the problem.
• The author is afraid of the onset of a creative crisis, and he is also afraid to fly on an airplane.
• The film adaptation of The Shining caused King disappointment, although the author's fans liked the film.
• All members of the King family are engaged in writing. The writer's wife became the author of about 10 books, sons write novels and short stories. And one of the sons married a writer.

Best books by Stephen King

Green Mile

The novel was published in 1996, and in 1999 a film of the same name was made based on the book.

The story is told from the perspective of prison warden Paul Edgecomb. And most of the action takes place in block "E", where there are prisoners of the Cold Mountain prison, sentenced to death in the electric chair. The last mile that the prisoner walked before meeting the electric chair was covered with green linoleum, hence the title of the novel.

Paul recounts events that took place in the 1930s in Cold Mountain.Paul also introduces readers to prisoners awaiting their estimated execution, and other guards. For the most part, everyone lives in harmony with each other. The guards try not to overshadow the life of the suicide bombers, and they, in turn, behave well, do not create dangerous situations. But a new employee stands out from the friendly team of overseers, who has relatives among high-ranking officials. Percy is sadistic, cunning, but other than that, he is an unprecedented coward.

Also, soon the Frenchman Delacroix, who was convicted of raping and murdering a girl, as well as the unintentional murder of 6 people, gets into block "E". And then they bring in an all-time big man named John Coffey, who was sentenced to death for raping and killing two little girls.

Paul Edgecomb learns about the miraculous healing power inherent in a dark-skinned big man. After all, he will cure Paul himself, the wife of the head of the prison, and even be able to resurrect the mouse. These actions make the protagonist think about Coffey's innocence. But if not John, then who?

While reading, the reader will not leave the tension. The author creates many tense moments that not only do not let you tear yourself away from the book, but also cause tears.

In 1996, The Green Mile won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.

The average cost is 200 rubles.

• Interesting story;
• Light syllable;
• Best Novel Award 1996.

• No.

Shine

This novel was published in 1977. The Shining became the author's first published bestseller. King came up with the idea for the plot while on holiday with his wife at the Stanley Hotel. Walking around the neighborhood of the "King of Horrors" came up with the idea of ​​​​creating a hotel with ghosts.That same night, he had a dream with his son being chased by a fire hose. Also, the protagonist of the novel is constantly cruel to his own child, with this the author wanted to get rid of his own desire to punish children.

If we talk about the plot of the book, then the author introduces readers to the Torrens family. The head of the family, Jack, lost his job as a teacher for abusing his student. Now the whole family is going to a mountain hotel where Jack will work as a caretaker during the winter period. His son Danny has supernatural powers. Danny can see the future and the past, and also has telepathy.

Danny soon meets a cook who tells him about his abilities. He also tells him not to approach room 217 and in time of danger mentally call him for help.

Meanwhile, the "owner" of the hotel takes over Jack's mind. The "master" makes him do unthinkable things because he wants to get Denny's son, such a boy will allow him to increase his abilities. Jack begins to pursue his wife and son. Will the heroes be able to escape? Will Danny be able to send a telepathic signal to help the cook?

Writing the novel was very easy, everything went like clockwork. Only one scene caused difficulties for the writer. He was afraid to write the scene of the collision of the terrible ghost from room 217 and Danny. Until the chapter was completed, King had a dream every day with a nuclear explosion. After writing the chapter, sleep ceased to bring anxiety.

The Shining was #8 on the New York Times bestseller list. Literary critics believe that this is one of the first works where the problem of domestic violence is clearly shown.

The average cost is 300 rubles.

• Author's first bestseller;
• Tense plot;
• According to literary critics, this is one of King's best books.

• Many consider the book too scary.

Pet cemetery

The novel was published in 1983. Stephen King himself considered the work scary enough, he postponed publication for a long time, but due to financial problems, the novel was nevertheless published.

The reader is introduced to the Creed family, who are moving to Ludlow. The father of the family, Louis, is a doctor and has two children. Luis befriends neighbor Jud, who has been living here for a long time. A neighbor gives them a short tour of the area, shows the pet cemetery, which is located not far from their house. Luis gets a job as a doctor in a hospital where a student is dying. Then the ghost of the student begins to visit the hero, to warn about the cemetery. But Louis does not attach any importance to this.

One day, when the children and their mother are leaving to visit their grandparents, the family's pet is hit by a car. Then a kind neighbor shows Louis another cemetery, which is located behind the one where the heroes were already on the tour. The cemetery belongs to an Indian tribe. The protagonist buries the pet according to all the instructions of the neighbor, but the next morning the cat returns home. But the pet was not the same as before. The cat became cruel, not friendly and smelled disgusting.

After a while, the little son of Louis suffers the same fate as the cat. During the funeral, Louis decides to resurrect the boy. A neighbor, guessing Louis's thoughts, warns him by telling a story that happened during the war.

Will Luis be stopped by the old neighbor's warnings? And what will happen to the heroes if the boy is still resurrected? This can be found out by reading one of the most terrible books of the "King of Horrors".

Pet Sematary won both the Locus Award and the World Fantasy Award. In 1983, it became the best-selling hardcover novel.

The average cost is 300 rubles.

• The main idea was that horror can come when you do not expect it, to have any guise;
• The work was filmed in 1989 and 2022;
• Critics consider the work to be the most terrible written by King.

• The author himself does not like the novel, and now he would not publish it.

It

The novel was first published in 1986. Here the author touches on such important topics as cohesion, childhood trauma and memory.

The reader is transported to 1958. Here there are mysterious murders of children, which are carried out with particular cruelty. The seven friends team up to confront the evil that the comrades call "It". Each of the group of guys individually faces him, and evil can take on any guise. In addition, a bully begins to pursue the company, but this only has a positive effect on the attitude of friends.

A close-knit team of friends gathers all their strength, repels evil. Friends inflict wounds on him that do not kill the villain, but send him into hibernation. After that, the comrades conclude an agreement that when the evil returns, they will gather again and destroy it.

After 27 years, evil returns again. The team of friends has already grown, dispersed to different cities. But one of the comrades still remained, and by a series of murders he recognized the enemy. The team reassembles, with the exception of one member who committed suicide immediately after hearing the news.

Will the friends be able to fight back against evil again or will they perish? What other trouble will the enemy cause in a Maine town? And what will be the cost of getting rid of evil?

The idea of ​​writing a novel first came to King in Boulder while walking across an old bridge. He decided to create an evil hero who would live under the bridge. He had to embody a troll, a vampire, a werewolf and have something from aliens. Children's images are based on memories from the author's childhood.

The work takes 144th place in the ranking of "200 best books according to the BBC". Critics' opinions about the novel were divided. Part considers this a worthy work of the author, and the second half that the level of King's writing has declined.

The average cost is 600 rubles.

• It speaks of friendship and solidarity;
• Has the Auguste Derleth Prize;
• Included in the ratings of the best novels.

• Too large (more than 1000 pages);
• The high cost of the book.

11/22/63

The science fiction novel 11/22/63 was published in November 2011.

The main character Jacob is an adult teacher. One of the assignments was to write an essay about the day that changed my life. One student in a wheelchair shared a story about his father's abuse, which left him disabled and killed the rest of the family. For his work, the student receives the highest score, and this story touched Jacob deeply.

Later, the teacher receives an invitation to a meeting from an acquaintance. He shows him a portal that takes him to 1958, asking for help to save the life of President Kennedy. The portal has its own characteristics. For example, once in the past, there is an opportunity to change it, but the past will fight back and interfere in every possible way to make changes.You also always get there at the same time, and upon returning, only 2 minutes will pass in the present.

So, the main character sets off. First of all, Jacob wants to save his student's family and see how it will affect the present. It was not possible to completely save the family, some of them were injured, but the student did not become disabled. Returning, Jacob found that the student had long died in the war. And the friend who showed the portal could not stand the pain caused by cancer and committed suicide. But before that, he writes a note asking him to save the president's life and a plan to earn money through bookmakers.

Jacob saves Kennedy's life, but what will be the payoff for this salvation? Was it worth the changes that overtook the world in the future?

This work by Stephen King was included in the bestseller list in 2011. And in 2016, a TV series based on the novel "11/22/63" was released.

The average cost is 500 rubles.

• Addictive plot;
• Good reviews from fans of the writer and literary critics.

• It is better to read the work before watching the film adaptation.

Dead zone

This work of the author belongs to the genre of political thriller, which also contains elements of horror and detective story. The novel was published in 1979. According to the author himself, this is his first serious work.

The reader is introduced to the main character, whose name is Johnny Smith. Soon the hero gets into a severe accident, after which he falls into a coma for several years. Only Smith's mother believes that her son will wake up. After a long sleep, Johnny discovers that he has a gift for foresight. This feature helps him to help people. But reporters call Johnny's gift a hoax.

Later, the main character becomes an assistant to a rich man. As a result, he develops an interest in politics. In this regard, Smith meets two people and sees their future through a handshake. One of them should become president, and the other is preparing to unleash the Third World War.

After reading the book, it will be possible to find out if Smith will save the future from another war and what it will cost him.

King in this work supports the idea that the killer can be right, one death can save more than a dozen innocent people. The work was released on TV screens in 1983, and in 2002-2007 it was broadcast in the series of the same name.

The average cost of a work is 250 rubles.

• According to critics, one of the best works;
• Ranked number one on the New York Times bestseller list.

• The novel was written during a severe alcohol and drug addiction of the author. Therefore, in the course of the plot, there is confusion with the names of the characters and the events taking place.

Where to begin?

Stephen King is truly one of the most productive authors. Moreover, the works of the writer have different genres. Most of his works have been filmed, but not all films exactly match the plot of the book.

Most fans recommend starting with The Shining. The work is small in volume and has an interesting plot. Science fiction fans will love 11/22/63.

Since King is very attentive to detail, the work "It" turned out to be too long and drawn out, this novel is better to be postponed for later.

But no matter what novel or story you start your acquaintance with, you will definitely fall in love with The King of Horrors and replenish your home library with his books.