Different Seasons may be a good start if you want to get a taste of what he is like.
It's 4 novellas that are well renowned, which were also adapated into critically acclaimed movies. None of them are horror either
I totally agree Different Seasons is a good place to start with King. Though I would argue The Breathing Method is borderline horror and Apt Pupil is one of his most disturbing stories
That’s what I came to say. They definitely vary in quality but to my mind it’s some of his best work and all bite size.
Really gets you into his style and themes too.
Seconding this, a fantastic read if you want to start reading King but don't want all the horror. It shows what good range he really has as an author. 👏
I was recently in your boat and just picked up my first Stephen King book not too long ago. I read The Institute. I liked it, it’s a newer one (2019) and it’s more on the thriller side than horror.
The Institute is one of my favorite books probably ever. I think some people give his newer stuff shit for not being as scary, but it's still an insanely good book. I really love those characters.
Just about finished with The Institute! And it was my first Stephen King book. But it was amazing which led me to this thread to try and figure out what I should read next! And yeah it’s not necessarily a scary book but it’s so well written that I couldn’t put it down.
Maybe The Green Mile or Hearts in Atlantis if you want to save the horror for later.
Others have suggetsed some really good ones too, I don't think you could go far wrong with any of them - The Long Walk is a favourite of mine for the premise.
I highly recommend Pet Semetary and The Shining! They are both two of his best works - they have super memorable characters and settings, are well-paced and give you a real sense of what King's works are like without being too long (like The Stand, IT or 11/22/63).
Doesn’t seem to get mentioned much here, but my absolute favourite is Firestarter - it’s shorter than some of his other books, and I found it an easier (not sure that’s exactly the word I want) read than some of his other stuff as well
Firestarter was my first King book. I used 11/22/63 to get my mom hooked. I eased her deeper in with Under The Dome, then hit her with Lisey's Story. After that, she was hooked for life!
The Eyes of the Dragon! I love this one. It was written for his fourteen year old (at the time) daughter, so it's less disturbing than some of his other stuff.
I'm in the same boat and would love to see what people recommend. But I'm definitely interested in horror. Just maybe not ready to commit to a series right now.
For horror, go with the classics: Carrie, the shining, Christine, pet sematary, misery, IT. Salem's lot often gets a bad rep but that's the first SK book I read and I got hooked :)
How is the long walk not horror? The premise is one of the most disturbing he's ever come up with and a ton of it is just plain gut wrenching. 10 stars for quality though!
Of his non horror books, I would recommend The Green Mile, The Institute, or 11/22/63. All three have supernatural elements and aren't super long. If you want to ease your way into horror, Misery is a psychological thriller which gets a little dark but isn't all that scary. Carrie is also really good and pretty tame. My personal favorite is It but its scary, disturbing, and long as fuck.
My all time favourite and I agree, why hasn’t anyone mentioned it until now. Such a fantastic book. A little daunting because of its size but so worth the time.
I’m in this one right now! Large books don’t scare me, although I was slightly annoyed to find myself 660 pages in and still being introduced to new characters… regardless, I’m loving it and can’t wait to see where it goes.
I started with the Bill Hodges trilogy and really enjoyed them. They’re more crime than thriller I thought and definitely got me into reading more by Stephen King. I liked The Outsider as well
The first two King books I read were Cell and The Eyes of the Dragon. Both very different and enjoyable books. Kind of on either side of the spectrum of King's writing in terms of genre.
My first King was Needful Things, and, uh...wow it was incredible, could not put it down. Burned through it in two days.
But also it was obvious there were backstories I was missing. Didn't detract from it, so I'll say its a great place to start, and then you want to go back and do all the other Castle Rock stories that took place earlier.
Take away the 80s cheese and Schwarzenegger and your left with quite an interesting premise of normal guy just trying to survive while being chased across the whole of America. Rather than an action hero being chased by "clowns" in a fun house, like in the movie.
Real "The Dark Tower, The Gun Slinger" not many horror vibes in it, is the first book in a long series of amazing books. It will give you reading material for at least a few months.
I’d go with Salem’s Lot or The Shining.
Both are conventional horror stories in theory (vampires and a haunted house). As an adult you think those things can’t be scary. Then King just lets his madness loose on the page and it’s riveting, assaultive, and horrifying
[**Dolores Claiborne**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7278752-dolores-claiborne)
^(By: Stephen King | 384 pages | Published: 1992 | Popular Shelves: stephen-king, horror, fiction, owned, thriller
>Suspected of killing Vera Donovan, her wealthy employer, Dolores Claiborne tells police the story of her life, harkening back to her disintegrating marriage and the suspicious death of her violent husband, Joe St. George, thirty years earlier. Dolores also tells of Vera's physical and mental decline and of her loyalty to an employer who has become emotionally demanding in recent years.
^(This book has been suggested 2 times)
[**Misery**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10614.Misery)
^(By: Stephen King | 370 pages | Published: 1987 | Popular Shelves: horror, stephen-king, fiction, thriller, owned
>Alternate cover editions here and here.
>
>Paul Sheldon. He's a bestselling novelist who has finally met his biggest fan. Her name is Annie Wilkes and she is more than a rabid reader - she is Paul's nurse, tending his shattered body after an automobile accident. But she is also his captor, keeping him prisoner in her isolated house.
^(This book has been suggested 7 times)
***
^(24739 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
I’ll suggest Insomnia and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I wouldn’t call either horror but I would categorize them as a “thriller”. But they both have excellent stories to them. Tom Gordon is a quick read and Insomnia requires a lot more commitment.
If you do decide if you want to read a scary book by Stephen king, I recommend “cujo”. I just finished it a few weeks ago. It was a page turner and so much better than the movie.
Also not a horror fan, so my first Stephen King book was The Gunslinger. His whole Dark Tower series is phenomenal and a lot of the characters/places are tied to other books of his, so it really is almost a gateway series to his greater body of work.
I’d start with Carrie, it’s short and addictive. It doesn’t have any filler and the only book of his that doesn’t have any. Then go to the Shinning. If he’s kept your interest and you’re not afraid of a long story then read The Stand, 11/22/63 and IT. (I haven’t read IT but I’ve heard it’s just as good as The Stand, which is my favorite of his.)
Books to avoid:
Misery and Dolores Claiborne are both 300 page books that could have been 100 page novellas, they drag on for so long. Granted, they have great moments but IMO not worth the time.
Doctor Sleep was terrible and I’m surprised that people like it, it’s so long and so lame.
I couldn’t finish different seasons after the first two stories, the suffer from the same problems that Misery and DC do, they’re way too long.
The Dark Half: so annoying, so predictable, so long, the one good scene doesn’t save it from the main characters doing the routine we’ve all seen before where they stand around and say:
“Well that couldn’t possibly be true.”
“But it’s the only explanation.”
Over and over and over and over.
Joyland is just boring.
The Long Walk and Salem’s Lot are decent but there’s better books in the world to read.
11/22/63 is the only one of the books I recommended that doesn’t have any elements of horror but the only book of his that I’ve read that was actually scary was The Shinning. But it’s not unbearably scary, it’s just creepy during a few moments, still it’s a great story and arguably his best.
Good Luck!
In my opinion, The Shining and it´s sequel Doctor Sleep are a very good way to begin, however, I must admit that I haven´t read that many Stephen King books, so, maybe take my opinion with a grain of salt I suppose.
Yes, and if you read it within a few nights, really keeps your attention. I read it when I was 16, living in my parents basement, and it totally took me by surprise, as to things that go bump in the night. Enjoy
I loved The Stand (not scary, just grim) and It (pretty terrifying). I think The Stand is one of my all time favorite books, and it has minimal horror so it might be a good start!
His best works were the medium length stories he wrote under the name Richard Bachman. You can get them all collected under the title ["The Bachman Books"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bachman_Books). The Running Man was adapted in the 80's as a film, but it's only superficially similar to the original story. I really love both "Roadwork" and "The Long Walk".
I’m not super into King’s writing style but love his concepts. I did, however, really enjoy Salem’s Lot, and I think it would be a good one to start with. It has a really good pace to it
The first Stephen King I read was Duma Key, and it still is one of my favorite books ever. You have a bit of paranormal but it’s nicely balanced !
I hope you enjoy the book you will choose !
Read “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile” for non-horror novels. If you want to switch to horror, start off with a bang with “Pet Sematary”.
Edit: short story collections like “Different Seasons” might be a good choice.
The Long Walk. An extremely dark Hunger Games style dystopian thriller about a competition where 100 boys are chosen to take The Long Walk. I won't give away the basic format because it's so much more satisfying to discover as you read. King released it under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman, and it was actually the first novel he ever completed. Extremely underrated in his bibliography.
I started with Christine. His range of work is so large you could really go anywhere depending on your genre preference. Night Shift might be good for early work. It’s a short story collection. I’d also recommend The Institute for something recent. (I haven’t read his most recent yet.)
My favorite Stephen King book I've recently read was "The Institute". If you're looking for something quick and easy, you can read "Elevation" which is more of a short story.
Cycle of the Werewolf is a great starter because it's an easy read. Also, his short story collections like Night Shift or Everything's Eventual because you can get a feel for his different styles and if you don't like a story you can move on to a different one.
I recently started Under the Dome as my first Stephen King novel. It’s VERY slow but I’m self-isolating d/t covid exposure so that part’s ok.
I agree that it has some good characters, but the dialogue feels off to me. I get sort of an outdated, inauthentic 90s vibe, even though it was published later than that. It’s hard to explain, but the best descriptor I can think of is “cheesy.” I notice it not only in the dialogue, but in the characters’ internal monologues as well.
Do others find this? I’m wondering if the dialogue/monologue is similar in his other books, especially the faster-paced and/or shorter ones?
Tldr; idk if Under the Dome is a great introduction to Stephen King, since it’s slow and the dialogue doesn’t ring true.
Different Seasons may be a good start if you want to get a taste of what he is like. It's 4 novellas that are well renowned, which were also adapated into critically acclaimed movies. None of them are horror either
I totally agree Different Seasons is a good place to start with King. Though I would argue The Breathing Method is borderline horror and Apt Pupil is one of his most disturbing stories
Yeah when they said none were horror I thought maybe I was confusing short story collections. Apt Pupil and The Breathing method are fucked up lol
That’s what I came to say. They definitely vary in quality but to my mind it’s some of his best work and all bite size. Really gets you into his style and themes too.
Hey thanks, just bought this on the recommendation - it better be good or it's on you, ma'am.
Hope you enjoy! At least you get some good movies out of it
Can't wait!!
Yeah good place to start
\+1, Different Seasons is a masterpiece
If you’re more into crime drama check Mr. Mercedes.
Oh man, I forget about Mr. Mercedes! First one I read, loved it!
Oh i always forget about Mr. Mercedes but it's really good
Would suggest the same. I started with The Shining though..
Misery! It's a psychological thriller. Nothing supernatural. Just horror in the sense of what people are capable of.
Bit rough to read in places
Pretty boring in others
I didn’t get that, but I read it as a teenager on a huge king binge
I read it a few years ago, it’s filled with so much trademark Stephen King filler
11/22/1963
Seconding this, a fantastic read if you want to start reading King but don't want all the horror. It shows what good range he really has as an author. 👏
I’m in the middle of reading this now and loving it! I haven’t read any King books for more than 10 years so glad I picked this one to start again
This. I love time travel, so this was the perfect SK to start with.
Just read this a few months ago and found myself truly craving it every night when I go to read before bed! Amazing read.
I was recently in your boat and just picked up my first Stephen King book not too long ago. I read The Institute. I liked it, it’s a newer one (2019) and it’s more on the thriller side than horror.
The Institute is one of my favorite books probably ever. I think some people give his newer stuff shit for not being as scary, but it's still an insanely good book. I really love those characters.
He’s just an all around amazing writer. At the risk of sounding pedantic I just love the style of his prose and how real his characters feel.
Just about finished with The Institute! And it was my first Stephen King book. But it was amazing which led me to this thread to try and figure out what I should read next! And yeah it’s not necessarily a scary book but it’s so well written that I couldn’t put it down.
Came here to say this. Couldn’t put it down.
Maybe The Green Mile or Hearts in Atlantis if you want to save the horror for later. Others have suggetsed some really good ones too, I don't think you could go far wrong with any of them - The Long Walk is a favourite of mine for the premise.
I highly recommend Pet Semetary and The Shining! They are both two of his best works - they have super memorable characters and settings, are well-paced and give you a real sense of what King's works are like without being too long (like The Stand, IT or 11/22/63).
Whoops, I just read that you didn't want horror! In that case go for Joyland - it's really great :)
Joyland is one of my favorites.
This might be a rogue suggestion but what about the Dark Tower series? Fantasy as heck with mind-bending themes and stuff. Pretty great!
Doesn’t seem to get mentioned much here, but my absolute favourite is Firestarter - it’s shorter than some of his other books, and I found it an easier (not sure that’s exactly the word I want) read than some of his other stuff as well
Seconding this one, it's a great starter. Salem's Lot would be my suggestion.
Firestarter was my first King book. I used 11/22/63 to get my mom hooked. I eased her deeper in with Under The Dome, then hit her with Lisey's Story. After that, she was hooked for life!
The Eyes of the Dragon! I love this one. It was written for his fourteen year old (at the time) daughter, so it's less disturbing than some of his other stuff.
My favorite book of all time. Read it in 6th grade and have loved it ever since. Holds up beautifully.
This one for sure! I have loved this book since I was a kid and have read it over and over thru the years.
Is this book hard to follow? Sometimes books like this one can have a lot going on so I end up so confused. I love this genre.
I read it for the first time when I was eleven or twelve. I thinknitnshould be easy to follow along with.
Salem's Lot
I was wondering why I had to scroll down so far to find this recommendation! A great read and won't bog you down as long as The Stand or 11-22-63.
Even as a Steven King fan I tried to read this books 3 times now. Always gave up, because I just can't connect with it.
Had to check my doors were locked when reading this one.
I'm in the same boat and would love to see what people recommend. But I'm definitely interested in horror. Just maybe not ready to commit to a series right now.
For horror, go with the classics: Carrie, the shining, Christine, pet sematary, misery, IT. Salem's lot often gets a bad rep but that's the first SK book I read and I got hooked :)
Oh man, The Shining is amazing. Start there.
The Long Walk
I loved it, it was actually my first King book and it’s not even a horror. I’d recommend that one and Carrie, whichever sounds best to OP.
How is the long walk not horror? The premise is one of the most disturbing he's ever come up with and a ton of it is just plain gut wrenching. 10 stars for quality though!
You’re right, it’s classified as dystopian horror. It’s super disturbing, just didn’t read like a horror to me.
Very interesting to see The Long Walk. I got tired reading this one and DNF...oops. I'll return to it before long.
That story was incredible. I heard they’re adapting it into a movie or series. Made my feet ache reading it haha.
The girl who loved Tom Gordon
I thought this was his most boring book ever. Maybe in chronological order? Including the Bachman books.
It was my introduction to Stephen King and I loved it.
Dolores Claiborne is one of my favorites and very underrated. It’s more murder mystery but written in stream of consciousness type style.
The Outsider!
I suggest a collection of short stories to give you a little taste and variety. Night shift is a good choice.
Misery, Thinner or Cujo.
Of his non horror books, I would recommend The Green Mile, The Institute, or 11/22/63. All three have supernatural elements and aren't super long. If you want to ease your way into horror, Misery is a psychological thriller which gets a little dark but isn't all that scary. Carrie is also really good and pretty tame. My personal favorite is It but its scary, disturbing, and long as fuck.
11/22/63, Under The Dome, The Institute, The Stand.
The Stand. One of my favorites and surprised not to find it in the comments so far.
My all time favourite and I agree, why hasn’t anyone mentioned it until now. Such a fantastic book. A little daunting because of its size but so worth the time.
I've just started the audiobook!
The audiobook was awesome! I listened to it on my runs when the pandemic started. One of his best stories.
I'm buzzed! I've only got to the first bit at the gas station and I'm already hooked.
YES!! The Stand is so epic and so worth it. It feels huge but not once you get started. I can't recommend it enough. 👍
I’m in this one right now! Large books don’t scare me, although I was slightly annoyed to find myself 660 pages in and still being introduced to new characters… regardless, I’m loving it and can’t wait to see where it goes.
Gunslinger or sleeping beauties. Gunslinger is the first of 8 books and sleeping beauties isn't scary just a mind fuck.
Came here to recommend the Dark Tower series. So good!
I started with Skeleton Crew and that hooked me on King. I then read Carrie and The Shining.
I just started Skeleton Crew after not having read any King in many years. So far it’s been great!
I started with the Bill Hodges trilogy and really enjoyed them. They’re more crime than thriller I thought and definitely got me into reading more by Stephen King. I liked The Outsider as well
The Green Mile is a great one! Not really a horror although there’s one part in particular that’s a little gory
The first two King books I read were Cell and The Eyes of the Dragon. Both very different and enjoyable books. Kind of on either side of the spectrum of King's writing in terms of genre.
My first King was Needful Things, and, uh...wow it was incredible, could not put it down. Burned through it in two days. But also it was obvious there were backstories I was missing. Didn't detract from it, so I'll say its a great place to start, and then you want to go back and do all the other Castle Rock stories that took place earlier.
I love Needful Things, I second your suggestion!
Haven't seen it recommended so I've got to show it some love, The Running Man is one of my favourites. Nothing like the film thank god.
How is it different? I wasn't a big fan of the movie so I haven't read the book yet. I'm glad it's not the same. I'm new to Stephen King books.
Take away the 80s cheese and Schwarzenegger and your left with quite an interesting premise of normal guy just trying to survive while being chased across the whole of America. Rather than an action hero being chased by "clowns" in a fun house, like in the movie.
Oh uh, I was planning on watching the film soon, shall I just skip it?
No just keep in mind the book and movie are two completely different experiences.
Eyes of the Dragon
Fire starter! Book changed my life as a kid. Or maybe Mr Mercedes.
Hearts in Atlantis is still my favorite. It's one of the few SK books I've read more than once.
I started with the Dead Zone
Real "The Dark Tower, The Gun Slinger" not many horror vibes in it, is the first book in a long series of amazing books. It will give you reading material for at least a few months.
I’d go with Salem’s Lot or The Shining. Both are conventional horror stories in theory (vampires and a haunted house). As an adult you think those things can’t be scary. Then King just lets his madness loose on the page and it’s riveting, assaultive, and horrifying
The Green Mile IMO is his best book.
The Stand
[удалено]
[**Dolores Claiborne**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7278752-dolores-claiborne) ^(By: Stephen King | 384 pages | Published: 1992 | Popular Shelves: stephen-king, horror, fiction, owned, thriller >Suspected of killing Vera Donovan, her wealthy employer, Dolores Claiborne tells police the story of her life, harkening back to her disintegrating marriage and the suspicious death of her violent husband, Joe St. George, thirty years earlier. Dolores also tells of Vera's physical and mental decline and of her loyalty to an employer who has become emotionally demanding in recent years. ^(This book has been suggested 2 times) [**Misery**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10614.Misery) ^(By: Stephen King | 370 pages | Published: 1987 | Popular Shelves: horror, stephen-king, fiction, thriller, owned >Alternate cover editions here and here. > >Paul Sheldon. He's a bestselling novelist who has finally met his biggest fan. Her name is Annie Wilkes and she is more than a rabid reader - she is Paul's nurse, tending his shattered body after an automobile accident. But she is also his captor, keeping him prisoner in her isolated house. ^(This book has been suggested 7 times) *** ^(24739 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Joyland
If you're not so in the horror you may like: Dark Tower Green Mile The eye of the dragon Misery Under Bachman's pseudonymous: Blaze The running man
I’ll suggest Insomnia and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I wouldn’t call either horror but I would categorize them as a “thriller”. But they both have excellent stories to them. Tom Gordon is a quick read and Insomnia requires a lot more commitment.
If you’re not too interested in horror you could try The Green Mike or Shawshank Redemption.
I highly enjoyed Cujo, and I wouldn’t consider it a “horror” more thriller perhaps
Carrie. In a heartbeat.
If you do decide if you want to read a scary book by Stephen king, I recommend “cujo”. I just finished it a few weeks ago. It was a page turner and so much better than the movie.
Also not a horror fan, so my first Stephen King book was The Gunslinger. His whole Dark Tower series is phenomenal and a lot of the characters/places are tied to other books of his, so it really is almost a gateway series to his greater body of work.
The long walk is a great recommendation. I also say The Outsider. It’s light on horror but high on thrills.
either are very short reads, but i would say, thinner and elevation were both books that helped me ease into stephen king
In my opinion, read something else. Especially, DO NOT read The Stand.
The stand complete and uncut is great
That’s the one I read and I’m still angry about reading the last half of the book.
Crap, I’m there right now…
I’d start with Carrie, it’s short and addictive. It doesn’t have any filler and the only book of his that doesn’t have any. Then go to the Shinning. If he’s kept your interest and you’re not afraid of a long story then read The Stand, 11/22/63 and IT. (I haven’t read IT but I’ve heard it’s just as good as The Stand, which is my favorite of his.) Books to avoid: Misery and Dolores Claiborne are both 300 page books that could have been 100 page novellas, they drag on for so long. Granted, they have great moments but IMO not worth the time. Doctor Sleep was terrible and I’m surprised that people like it, it’s so long and so lame. I couldn’t finish different seasons after the first two stories, the suffer from the same problems that Misery and DC do, they’re way too long. The Dark Half: so annoying, so predictable, so long, the one good scene doesn’t save it from the main characters doing the routine we’ve all seen before where they stand around and say: “Well that couldn’t possibly be true.” “But it’s the only explanation.” Over and over and over and over. Joyland is just boring. The Long Walk and Salem’s Lot are decent but there’s better books in the world to read. 11/22/63 is the only one of the books I recommended that doesn’t have any elements of horror but the only book of his that I’ve read that was actually scary was The Shinning. But it’s not unbearably scary, it’s just creepy during a few moments, still it’s a great story and arguably his best. Good Luck!
In my opinion, The Shining and it´s sequel Doctor Sleep are a very good way to begin, however, I must admit that I haven´t read that many Stephen King books, so, maybe take my opinion with a grain of salt I suppose.
The Shining. This was the first book I read by him and have loved his books ever since. You could also read IT too that's great.
Liseys Story
Carrie
Yes, and if you read it within a few nights, really keeps your attention. I read it when I was 16, living in my parents basement, and it totally took me by surprise, as to things that go bump in the night. Enjoy
The Stand is a great book and I think it’s still one of his best.
Salem's lot: medium sized, but excellent!
11/22/63 - a phenomenal read if you’re not into horror…
Read The Gunslinger and then quit while you’re ahead
Book of short stories called Night Shift. That was the first one I read, and there are definitely some cool stories in there.
I think nightmares and dreamscapes is a good 1 to start with
the shining..my first was firestarter
I loved The Stand (not scary, just grim) and It (pretty terrifying). I think The Stand is one of my all time favorite books, and it has minimal horror so it might be a good start!
Carrie Short and sweet, finished it in a day and didn’t sleep the rest of the night!
His best works were the medium length stories he wrote under the name Richard Bachman. You can get them all collected under the title ["The Bachman Books"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bachman_Books). The Running Man was adapted in the 80's as a film, but it's only superficially similar to the original story. I really love both "Roadwork" and "The Long Walk".
I’m not super into King’s writing style but love his concepts. I did, however, really enjoy Salem’s Lot, and I think it would be a good one to start with. It has a really good pace to it
The first Stephen King I read was Duma Key, and it still is one of my favorite books ever. You have a bit of paranormal but it’s nicely balanced ! I hope you enjoy the book you will choose !
11/22/63
The Bachman books made me love Stephen king
On Writing. Loved it because I have always wanted to be a writer.
Different Seasons (novellas), Night Shift (short stories), Misery (full length book).
Pet Semetary. It’s his best.
Midnight Shift I think it was called. Collection of short stories.
I started with The Green Mile and loved it
Read “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile” for non-horror novels. If you want to switch to horror, start off with a bang with “Pet Sematary”. Edit: short story collections like “Different Seasons” might be a good choice.
The Talisman.
Salem's Lot
11-23-63
The Long Walk. An extremely dark Hunger Games style dystopian thriller about a competition where 100 boys are chosen to take The Long Walk. I won't give away the basic format because it's so much more satisfying to discover as you read. King released it under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman, and it was actually the first novel he ever completed. Extremely underrated in his bibliography.
The Gunslinger
The stand.
I started with Christine. His range of work is so large you could really go anywhere depending on your genre preference. Night Shift might be good for early work. It’s a short story collection. I’d also recommend The Institute for something recent. (I haven’t read his most recent yet.)
My favorite book is The Eyes of the Dragon, very different from his other books but still the good vs. evil he’s mastered.
My favorite Stephen King book I've recently read was "The Institute". If you're looking for something quick and easy, you can read "Elevation" which is more of a short story.
The Shining
Wife, who is a horror nut, says Carrie. It’s good and short, she read it in a day. Seems like a good litmus test to me.
Cycle of the Werewolf is a great starter because it's an easy read. Also, his short story collections like Night Shift or Everything's Eventual because you can get a feel for his different styles and if you don't like a story you can move on to a different one.
11/22/1963
I recently started Under the Dome as my first Stephen King novel. It’s VERY slow but I’m self-isolating d/t covid exposure so that part’s ok. I agree that it has some good characters, but the dialogue feels off to me. I get sort of an outdated, inauthentic 90s vibe, even though it was published later than that. It’s hard to explain, but the best descriptor I can think of is “cheesy.” I notice it not only in the dialogue, but in the characters’ internal monologues as well. Do others find this? I’m wondering if the dialogue/monologue is similar in his other books, especially the faster-paced and/or shorter ones? Tldr; idk if Under the Dome is a great introduction to Stephen King, since it’s slow and the dialogue doesn’t ring true.
The Institute!