Do you read? Write? Watch movies? Chances are, you’ve heard of Stephen King, one of the most famous names in fiction.
Since his first novel, Carrie, hit the shelves in 1974, King has been a prolific presence in the literary world, first as a master of horror, and later expanding to fantasy, science fiction, and suspense. His books have sold over 400 million copies worldwide.
He’s scared us, endeared us, inspired us, and wowed us with stories that have become all-time classics. (Warning: there are spoilers ahead!)
Stephen King’s Top 10 Books
1. The Shining
“Heeeere’s Johnny!” Does that line strike terror into your heart?
The Shining, King’s best-selling book, has sold over one million copies and was made into a critically acclaimed film starring Jack Nicholson.
A psychological horror story, it follows Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic with anger issues who takes a job as a winter caretaker at an isolated hotel. Hoping to reconnect with his family after losing his job, he drags his wife Wendy and son Danny along, hoping they’ll give him the motivation to work on his writing.
But the rumors about the Overlook Hotel being haunted with a bloody past, coupled with cabin fever, cause Jack to unravel. Danny’s psychic abilities, referred to as “the shining,” reveal strange things are going on.
The demons of the hotel torment Jack, and as he descends into madness, we wonder if they’ll compel him to murder his family like the caretaker before him.
The Shining explores themes of family, alcoholism, psychic abilities, fear, the paranormal, and reality as well as isolation and insanity. The plot works well in weaving these themes together to create a chilling narrative that explores the depths of human nature and the supernatural.
2. IT
Not to be mistaken as Information Technology, IT refers to a shape-shifting entity that preys on children in the town of Derry, Maine. Coulrophobia—the term used to describe the fear of clowns—no doubt arose after reading this tale about IT, an evil force that at times takes on the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
Set in the 1950s, the story focuses on seven children who band together to fight Pennywise, an evil creature who takes on different yet equally terrifying manifestations. Working as a team, the “Losers,” as they call themselves, defeat the monster, or so they hope. They make a pact to return if the entity should come back.
27 years later, teenagers report seeing a clown at the site of a murder, and the adults return to face off against IT. Will they succeed in destroying IT before IT destroys them?
King’s focus on the loss of childhood innocence haunts us not only because of Pennywise but also because of the things in everyday life that terrify us: bullies, abusive relatives, and ostracization.
3. 11/22/63
What would you do if you could go back in time? Jake Epping, an English teacher from Maine, takes up the task of trying to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on that fateful day in Dallas.
His friend Al reveals the presence of a time portal in his diner, one he has been using to try to prevent JFK’s death, but due to terminal cancer, he is unable to complete his mission. He convinces a reluctant Jake to take over, hoping it will prevent the Vietnam War and his cancer.
Jake goes back in time to 1958, taking a job as a teacher and getting involved in a community outside of Dallas, where he hopes to surveil Lee Harvey Oswald and gather enough information to substantiate him as JFK’s shooter. During the ensuing five years, Jake forms meaningful relationships and falls in love with the local librarian.
But Jake realizes that changing the past is not as easy as he thought, and he questions whether altering history will have unintended consequences. It seems as though the past has a mind of its own, challenging his efforts with obstacles and moral dilemmas.
This sci-fi thriller displays King’s brilliant storytelling, exploring themes of morality, fate, love, and the consequences of our actions.
4. Carrie
Stephen King’s first published novel is a paranormal horror story revolving around Carrie White, an isolated teenager, friendless, bullied by her classmates, and abused by her fanatically religious mother. A bullying event at school pushes her to tap into her telekinetic powers, powers which manifest when she is under extreme emotional stress.
One of the popular girls who bullied Carrie feels remorseful and asks her boyfriend Tommy to invite Carrie to the prom. Though she is suspicious, Carrie accepts. Another of the popular girls, Chris, angry at being disciplined over the bullying incident, seeks revenge. She engineers a plan to rig the prom queen election and, along with her boyfriend, gathers two buckets of pig blood.
At the prom, Carrie and Tommy are elected prom queen and king. But at the moment of coronation, Chris dumps the buckets of pig blood onto Carrie and Tommy. The humiliation causes Carrie to unleash a torrent of vengeance using her telekinetic powers, culminating in a deadly confrontation between Carrie and her mother.
Examining darker aspects of human nature, King explores themes of ostracism, abuse, vengeance, and isolation, with some describing the novel as a social commentary or a revenge fantasy.
5. Misery
Misery is a psychological thriller about Paul Sheldon, a successful author known for a series of romance novels featuring a character named Misery Chastain, whom he has killed off in his recently completed installment. In a snowstorm, he crashes his car and awakens to find himself in the guest bedroom of Annie Wilkes, a devoted fan of the Misery series.
At first, Paul is relieved, but he soon discovers she is far from benevolent. Annie refuses to take Paul to the hospital, instead using a stash of painkillers to threaten and manipulate him.
When she discovers he has killed off Misery in his latest novel, she holds him captive, subjecting him to extreme abuse and torture, burning the manuscript and forcing him to write a new version in which Misery lives on. Realizing she is mentally unstable, Paul resorts to his own psychological strategies to survive.
In Misery, King explores themes of obsession and control, presenting a suspenseful tale that examines the psychological complexities of both captor and captive.
6. The Stand
An epic post-apocalyptic horror story, The Stand is a classic tale of good versus evil. After the accidental release of a deadly weaponized virus, less than one percent of the world’s population survives.
Amidst the collapse of society, a group of survivors band together with a woman known as “Mother Abagail” as their spiritual leader. The group attempts to build a new society called “The Free Zone,” promoting peace and harmony.
An opposing faction emerges, led by Randall Flagg, a man possessing supernatural abilities who calls people with his visions. He espouses tyranny, chaos, and violence, crucifying undesirables and wreaking destruction to amass power.
The friction between the two groups escalates as Flagg’s desire to destroy the Free Zone intensifies, eventually culminating in the detonation of a nuclear bomb. Good ultimately prevails…or does it?
The Stand explores human nature with themes of morality, redemption, and faith in the face of catastrophe. It was made into a highly acclaimed 1994 TV miniseries.
7. Pet Sematary
Dr. Louis Creed and his family relocate from Chicago to a new home in rural Maine situated along a busy highway.
When his daughter’s beloved cat Church is struck and killed by a car, he buries the animal beyond the pet “sematary” in an ancient burial ground purported to possess supernatural powers. Church returns home the next day, but his personality has transformed from vibrant and playful to violent and evil-natured.
Some months later, Creed’s two-year-old son Gage is killed by a speeding truck. Despite his neighbor Jud’s warning about the evil that resulted from the last human buried there, Creed’s overwhelming grief leads him to inter his son in the burial ground.
A resurrected and malevolent Gage appears, using one of Creed’s scalpels to kill Rachel and Jud. Creed is forced to kill both Gage and Church with morphine before they kill again. The ending leads us to wonder where Creed buried his wife.
King himself has stated that of all his books, Pet Sematary is the one that scares him the most. The supernatural horror story delves into themes of grief and loss and is known for its unsettling atmosphere and psychological depth.
8. The Green Mile
Originally published as a serial novel, The Green Mile is a dark fantasy set in Cold Mountain Penitentiary’s death row, called The Green Mile because of its floor’s linoleum.
Corrections supervisor Paul Edgecombe recounts the story of prisoner John Coffey, a hulking African-American man convicted of raping and murdering two young sisters. Despite his size and the crime he’s accused of, Coffey displays a gentle nature and gets along well with the guards.
Paul and the guards come to realize that Coffey possesses miraculous healing powers, leading them to not only doubt Coffey’s guilt, but also to question the nature of justice. When Paul confirms John’s innocence, he wants to act, but Coffey says he’s ready to die, to escape the world’s cruelty.
For the next 64 years, Paul has had to deal with a parting “gift” from John, that of an unnaturally long life span. Now 104, Paul has outlived everyone he loves. As he reflects on the events of the past, he wonders what he could have done to alter the outcome, and how much longer he will have to live, alone.
King’s extraordinary ability to create evocative characters creates deep human drama filled with poignancy, empathy, injustice, racism, cruelty, and compassion.
9. Salem’s Lot
Short for Jerusalem’s Lot, Salem’s Lot is a small town, outwardly idyllic but filled with its share of corruption.
Successful author Ben Mears has come back to the town where he lived as a child, interested in writing about an old house. He’s surprised to learn it has just been sold after 20 years on the market to a creepy Austrian immigrant with a partner who turns out to be a vampire.
After learning about the death of two young brothers and other locals, Ben realizes that vampires are real, and he bands together with a few other townspeople to combat the malevolent forces threatening to overtake the town. Eventually killing the leader of the vampires, they realize they must destroy the town to prevent the spread of new vampires.
King paints a masterful portrait of a chilling setting with memorable characters, exploring themes of mortality and the threat of death, the supernatural, the corruption of small-town life, and above all, the battle between good and evil.
10. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
It would be remiss to omit this entry, a novella made into one of the most celebrated films of all time. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption differs a bit from the film but retains the powerful story of hope and perseverance in the face of adversity.
The setting is Shawshank State Penitentiary. The narrator is prisoner Red Redding, known for his ability to smuggle contraband of any kind into the prison, for a price. He strikes up a friendship with new arrival Andy Dufresne, a banker who is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, when Andy asks him to procure a rock hammer and a poster of Rita Hayworth.
Over the years, Andy faces violence from fellow prisoners and corruption from the warden and guards. Despite these hardships, he maintains his dignity and inspires hope in others, working to expand the prison library and helping other inmates with their education. He uses his financial expertise to give tax advice to the guards and eventually becomes the warden’s personal consultant.
One morning at roll call, Andy’s cell is empty. Behind the poster, the warden discovers a hole. Andy has been chipping at the wall for 20 years and has escaped, leaving behind a tale of corruption that exposes the warden and his cronies. Red gains parole and joins his friend in Mexico, where they embark on a new life forged in friendship and freedom.
It’s an incredible story exhibiting King’s skill in portraying multi-dimensional characters and exploring themes of friendship and loyalty, corruption and integrity, and above all, hope.
Best Stephen King Sci-fi Books
Although he’s known mostly for horror, King has several notable science fiction works. Along with 11/22/23, they include:
The Dark Tower Series
Starting with The Gunslinger and ending with The Dark Tower, this series spans eight books following Roland Deschain, a member of a knightly order known as gunslingers.
As he treks across a desert of damnation known as Mid-World, he seeks the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to be the nexus of all universes. Along with a diverse group of companions, he battles enemies, encounters strange creatures, and confronts his enemies: The Man in Black, Mordred, and The Crimson King.
King intricately weaves the themes of good versus evil and the ambiguity involved in intent and action in goodness and evil, as well as fate, redemption, and sacrifice.
The Institute
Twelve-year-old Luke Ellis possesses telekinetic powers. One night, Luke’s parents are murdered, and he is kidnapped. He wakes up in a copy of his room, but it is inside “The Institute,” a facility that houses kidnapped children with talents like his. The Institute’s staff conducts experiments and tortures the children to enhance their abilities and weaponize them.
The children bond and exhibit courage, determination, and unity, but they need the help of at least one adult. Luke escapes and meets police officer Tim, who just may be what they need to defy the odds and defeat the corruption of The Institute.
Like any of King’s books, The Institute delves into themes of good versus evil, resilience and hope, abuse of power, determination, and survival.
The Tommyknockers
Set in small town Maine, writer Bobbi Anderson stumbles upon a long-buried alien spacecraft which begins to release an invisible gas into the atmosphere, transforming people into beings like the aliens who once inhabited the ship.
As their bodies change physically and mentally, they become technically inventive but without insight into their creations, and their sanity ebbs as they are taken over by malevolent thoughts and actions.
Bobbi’s boyfriend, Gard, is seemingly immune to the ship’s effects due to a steel plate installed in his head after an accident. As he watches Bobbi deteriorate and sees the evil start to take over the town, Gard decides to take action. Will he save himself and the town from the Tommyknockers?
Themes explored in The Tommyknockers include isolation, obsession, and the double-edged sword of technology and progress. It’s a cautionary tale that blends science fiction, horror, and social commentary.
Under the Dome
King’s 48th novel takes place over the course of 8 days in the small Maine town of Chester’s Mill, which has been cut off from the outside world by an invisible barrier, trapping everyone inside.
The protagonist, former Army Captain Dale “Barbie” Barbara, butts heads with corrupt used car salesman and politician “Big Jim” Rennie, who uses the opportunity to seize control.
After determining that the dome has been put in place by aliens they call “leatherheads,” the town dissolves into chaos as Big Jim names his cronies to positions of authority and frames Barbie for multiple murders. The explosion of a meth lab results in mass destruction and death and leaves only a few left to save what’s left of the town.
King blends elements of suspense, the supernatural, and morality, while portraying the resilience of the human spirit.
Best Stephen King Fantasy Books
King has also written highly acclaimed books in the fantasy genre.
The Talisman
Co-written by Peter Straub, this saga features 12-year-old Jack Sawyer, who sets out to find a magical item called the Talisman, in hopes that it can save his mother, who has terminal cancer.
During his journey, Jack finds “the Territories,” a magical land set in a parallel universe. In this world, he encounters “twinners,” individuals who mirror those on earth.
Eventually, the evil Morgan Sloat and his twinner pursue Jack in hopes of gaining the Talisman for their own nefarious purposes. Jack faces a final showdown with the two, succeeds in obtaining the Talisman and uses it to save both his mother and her twinner, Queen Laura.
The Talisman blends elements of fantasy, horror, and adventure, exploring themes including coming of age, the corrupting nature of power, resilience, duality, friendship, and loyalty.
Black House
The sequel to The Talisman, Black House follows an adult Jack Sawyer, now a retired police detective who has suppressed the memory of his adventures as a young boy. His quiet life in Wisconsin is interrupted by a series of child murders attributed to a sinister force called the Fisherman.
When he discovers the Fisherman is not just a serial killer but an agent of the Crimson King, Jack embraces his past and revisits the Territories to save not only his small town, but the entire world.
Black House explores the eternal struggle between good and evil, themes of redemption, heroism, childhood, and innocence.
Elevation
Scott Carey is mysteriously losing weight. Every day. But his size isn’t changing. His doctor is baffled and has no scientific explanation for it. No matter how much he eats, Scott’s weight keeps dropping without him becoming smaller.
Facing mortality, Scott embraces life. He enters the annual Thanksgiving 12K run and ends up helping one of his lesbian neighbors near the finish line. His act of kindness results in friendship between him and the couple and fuels a sense of compassion and understanding through the town.
As he nears the inevitable conclusion, Scott has peacefully accepted his fate, and his actions towards others have impacted the prejudiced townspeople, causing them to mend relationships and helping the town find common ground.
This tale of magical realism explores human connection with themes of acceptance, tolerance, personal transformation, empathy, hope, and resilience.
How We Picked Stephen King’s Best Books
It is a daunting task to choose from the 65 novels and 20 novellas Stephen King has written, many of which have been adapted into feature films, TV miniseries, and comic books, although some are easily recognized as standouts.
The process included examining sales figures, professional reviews, and reader ratings, considering the popularity of screen adaptations, and even noting the frequency of discussion of books in online chats and social media.
Your choices may vary and everyone has a favorite, but it’s easy to agree that Stephen King has produced works that have caught the world’s attention.
Why Stephen King’s Books are Popular
While he is known for writing horror, Stephen King’s works often blend genres. He is masterful at building suspense and tension by dropping subtle hints, creating unease that escalates into fear. His dialogue reflects the humor or tension of the scene and feels authentic.
He builds wonderful, richly drawn settings that firmly anchor readers in those places. King’s characters are complex, compelling, and relatable, with distinct personalities that are revealed through internal dialogues and rich backstory. He fills his sentences with a wide variety of words, and he employs allusions, metaphors, and similes to intensify emotion.
His stories often explore themes of hope, perseverance, trauma, and the human condition, making them resonate with readers across all demographics.
No matter what genre you prefer, there’s bound to be a work by Stephen King that you’ve enjoyed. His influence on literature and popular culture has cemented his status as one of the most successful and popular authors of our time.
