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g0t_hats posted:Deer would definitely be everywhere. Seriously, even without massive depopulation, I had to slow down literally ten times in an hour long drive the other night because it looked like a deer was going to jump in front of me. Deer are to upstate NY/other rural areas (I guess) as rats are to NYC. bobjr posted:The Under the Dome tv show did make me appreciate the book so much more, so it has that going for it. I tried to watch that show but I just couldn't get past episode 2. It might have worked if it was the fun kind of dumb, but it was just plain ol' stupid. I just banged through NOS4A2 in a day, and if I didn't know Joe Hill was King's son I would think it was a pen name. That one really scratched the 80's King itch. E: It could have benefited from having King's physician assisstant editor run through the beginning chapter, though. And EKG measures heart activity, an EEG is for the brain! 
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Jul 16, 2014 01:27
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I've been getting into some Stephen King lately, hadn't read him until just a few months ago. Went through Firestarter, Cujo, and Salem's Lot. Of the three, Firestarter is probably my favorite. Looking for some suggestions. I really enjoy Lovecraft as well as William Gibsion and HG Wells. Any suggestions on further King books I should look into? My gut tells me to check out The Stand, Shining, or Carrie next. Number of pages per book is not an issue.
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Jul 17, 2014 03:59
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If you like Lovecraftian horror, you should check out It.
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Jul 17, 2014 04:17
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If Firestarter was your favorite, you should read The Dead Zone. And even if it wasn't, you should read it anyway. It's one of King's best.
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Jul 17, 2014 04:38
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It was on my list, but I never really liked the movie so I was a bit hesitant. I'll probably check out Dead Zone next. Are there any sequels/other entries, or is it pretty self-contained. I know there was a TV show, that's why I ask.
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Jul 17, 2014 06:00
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Dead Zone is the first(?) of several books set in Castle Rock. It's a contained story, but just about everything King writes has ties to other books. I'd recommend It even if you didn't like the movie version. Same goes for The Shining.
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Jul 17, 2014 15:36
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ProfessorProf posted:Dead Zone is the first(?) of several books set in Castle Rock. It's a contained story, but just about everything King writes has ties to other books. Cujo is more of a spin off, but Deadzone is self contained.
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Jul 17, 2014 19:24
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Nothing is more Lovecraftian than "N."
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Jul 18, 2014 03:17
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I forgot how utterly harrowing the appendicitis scene is in The Stand. Reminds me why if The End ever came I'd eat a bullet faster than you can say no great loss.
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Jul 19, 2014 13:37
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Ugly In The Morning posted:
I'm reading it right now and, yeah, it's like King gave his son a manuscript of his from the 80s to jumpstart his career.
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Jul 20, 2014 04:25
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I thought Hill started out fairly strong with Horns, which was an excellent first novel. Owen's book, Double Feature, was also pretty solid too, if not as horror-based as his dad or brother. Anyway, back to dad: I'm starting the last Dark Tower book. The last three seem a little rushed, but I've enjoyed them this time through. Wolves of the Calla was a good reworking of Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven, and Song of Susannah suffers mostly from being build-up to the last book. I'm still expecting to be let down by the final confrontation with the Crimson King. After this I might look back into DT-related books like Insomnia or Hearts of Atlantis, but I'm also considering The Dead Zone.
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Jul 20, 2014 06:05
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Chamberk posted:I thought Hill started out fairly strong with Horns, which was an excellent first novel. It helps that it wasn't his first novel.
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Jul 20, 2014 06:13
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Ah, right. I was confusing it with Twentieth Century Ghosts, I thought it was a short story collection.
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Jul 20, 2014 07:09
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Watched 'The Stand' on Netflix. Pretty great, actually. I've had 'Don't Dream It's Over' going through my head for a week because of it. As always, I wished it was longer, and some parts of it are kind of hokey. King plays a very minor character and he's pretty goofy in it.
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Jul 20, 2014 21:34
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Apt Pupil got really creepy, really fast. I liked it, though, despite moments of ridiculousness and King's heavy-handed foreshadowing. I'm glad to discover they also made a movie adapted from it. Worth seeing?
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Jul 21, 2014 10:35
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Yes. The death camp commander is played by the same guy who plays a notable death camp survivor in a subsequent Bryan Singer film 
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Jul 21, 2014 13:50
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Octy posted:Apt Pupil got really creepy, really fast. I liked it, though, despite moments of ridiculousness and King's heavy-handed foreshadowing. I'm glad to discover they also made a movie adapted from it. Worth seeing? YES SEE ALL MOVIES WITH GANDALF ASAP. Got to my favorite part of The Stand, which is the rebuilding project in Boulder. wonder if I can just make myself stop reading when mother bullshit returns. I love early Stephen King when it's so obvious he believes every goddamn woo bullshit and conspiracy theory out there.
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Jul 21, 2014 14:02
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So I just picked up Duma Key and Black House. Which one should I read first?
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Jul 21, 2014 16:21
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Did anyone ever read Nightmare and Dreamscapes? I'm trying to get through this short story collection but most of these stories are just... blugh.
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Jul 21, 2014 16:45
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BiggerBoat posted:So I just picked up Duma Key and Black House. Which one should I read first? Hm, it's summer, go for Duma Key. I enjoyed the heck out of that one. It's one of my favorite "new King" books, though I read it right after Cell and there's really nowhere to go but up after that mess of a book.
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Jul 22, 2014 03:08
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Doltos posted:Did anyone ever read Nightmare and Dreamscapes? I'm trying to get through this short story collection but most of these stories are just... blugh. Yes and I enjoyed a good amount of them. Do you have any specific complaints or just not feeling any of them in general?
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Jul 22, 2014 05:12
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Blade_of_tyshalle posted:Yes. Watching it now. I felt slightly uncomfortable with the nude shower scene after all the recent allegations against Bryan Singer. Also, I knew I recognised Todd's friend. Joshua Jackson has barely changed.
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Jul 22, 2014 07:39
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Doltos posted:Did anyone ever read Nightmare and Dreamscapes? I'm trying to get through this short story collection but most of these stories are just... blugh. I enjoyed it, especially "A Very Tight Place".
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Jul 22, 2014 15:20
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^^^ I'm pretty sure "A Very Tight Place" was in Just After Sunset, but yes, read that story. It will make you laugh and gross you the hell out all at the same time.
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Jul 22, 2014 16:25
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Dolan's Cadillac and The Moving Finger are both pretty good from that collection. Ten O'Clock People is also alright. Nightmares is not his best collection though.
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Jul 22, 2014 17:01
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oldpainless posted:Yes and I enjoyed a good amount of them. Do you have any specific complaints or just not feeling any of them in general? I've read the first five stories so far and I couldn't really get into any of them. Popsy was ok then he went into Night Flier and I was like, okay, two vampires back to back. It Grows on You didn't go anywhere and the End of the Whole Mess could have been developed more. Dolan's Cadillac stretched for 50 pages too many, I think, and was a bit boring. I dunno, I think I have to stop reading his short story collections and go back to his novels. I've yet to start the Dark Tower series so I should probably finally dive into those since I enjoyed most of his novels I read.
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Jul 22, 2014 17:30
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I'm thoroughly enjoying The Body. It took me a while to realise it was Stand By Me. We watched that movie in class once as an end of year treat when I was a kid. I think it was one of the few movies we all genuinely liked. That might have been because we didn't have to study it, or maybe because we were in fact all 12 or 13 and we could identify with it, even though the world of a 12 year old in 2004 was vastly different to that of one in 1960.
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Jul 22, 2014 23:42
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wow did they literally let 12 year olds watch an R-rated moviefilm
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Jul 23, 2014 13:19
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I can't stand to watch the puke scene in Stand By Me. I can't stand puke scenes in any movie to be honest.
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Jul 23, 2014 16:12
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Ein cooler Typ posted:wow did they literally let 12 year olds watch an R-rated moviefilm Oh no, a movie about boys cursing, talking about getting laid, and hanging out. This is sure to corrupt the moral fibre of our youth 
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Jul 23, 2014 16:19
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My sister was in high school in the 80's, and Stand by Me was one of her favorite movies at the time. I still remember getting freaked out by the scene with the leeches. I read "The Body" last year, though, and thought it was really good. Actually, I've read everything in Different Seasons except that one that isn't a movie.
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Jul 23, 2014 17:44
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Ein cooler Typ posted:wow did they literally let 12 year olds watch an R-rated moviefilm It's rated R? I have no idea why. Actually, it's rated M here so that's alright then!
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Jul 23, 2014 23:13
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Do we have a Joe Hill thread? I know others have posted about his writing earlier in the thread but I just finished N0S4A2 and really enjoyed it. Are Horns and Heart Shaped Box pretty similar? He really hits the same chords for me as the Talisman and 'Salem's Lot. At the same time He definitely has his own voice and doesn't feel like I'm reading a King knockoff.
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Jul 25, 2014 04:55
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rypakal posted:YES SEE ALL MOVIES WITH GANDALF ASAP. I think that's definitely a product of the times. Consider when The Stand was actually written, then the student protest groups etc. actually make sense. It's kind of funny watching Dean Koontz go through that phase in the 90s.
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Jul 25, 2014 05:41
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So, I'm reading NOS4A2, and it's alright, I guess. I haven't read his other work, but it feels like a stylistic parody of his father's stuff. But I'm like 280 pages in and the book seems like it should be wrapping up soon... but there are over 400 pages left. This book is about to go from a poorly written but fun read into a slog, isn't it?
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Jul 25, 2014 06:02
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Chance II posted:Do we have a Joe Hill thread? I know others have posted about his writing earlier in the thread but I just finished N0S4A2 and really enjoyed it. Are Horns and Heart Shaped Box pretty similar? He really hits the same chords for me as the Talisman and 'Salem's Lot. At the same time He definitely has his own voice and doesn't feel like I'm reading a King knockoff. I ended up not being too happy about NOS4A2 as a whole, but I did enjoy certain parts of the book. While I liked Horns (my favorite novel of his), Heart Shaped Box, and his comic writing (Locke & Key has been a fun series to read) I'm still unsure how I truly feel about Joe Hill. I think it comes down to 'his voice' (as you call it) and style is not exactly for me. What I am trying to say is hard to put into words, because I do/want to like Joe Hill. I don't know if this will make sense, but I would have preferred to see what Joe Hill would of done with a more straight forward vampire story (go more for the horror than the fantastical). I guess I want Joe Hill to write a novel that I actually find scary and he hasn't yet (in a fairness he hasn't tried to). Yes NOS4A2 had some creepiness to it, but I agree it is closer to the Talisman (I wished this book scratched my 'salem's Lot itch). Timeless Appeal posted:So, I'm reading NOS4A2, and it's alright, I guess. I haven't read his other work, but it feels like a stylistic parody of his father's stuff. But I'm like 280 pages in and the book seems like it should be wrapping up soon... but there are over 400 pages left. This book is about to go from a poorly written but fun read into a slog, isn't it? Despite my own misgivings about Joe Hill I never once felt his works are a parody of this father's stuff, and I would never call any of them 'poorly written'.
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Jul 25, 2014 13:40
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I agree that N0S42 has some problems and I felt it had some pacing issues but it has a lot of great characters like I would expect from a King book without some of the other things I've come to expect from King books. Nary a mention of arc sodiums, no magic retards (just really broken people), and no, or at least very little, "and that's the last anyone would see of her." Where SK does the 60s-70s beautifully, Joe did a great job of telling a story that moves through the 80s up to the present without getting too caught up dropping pop culture on me. A lot of the wrecked characters really felt real to me since you see them earlier with their youth and energy then come back to them after life and a long line of bad decisions have taken their toll. That being said, I don't think I would have liked the book so much if I had gone in really expecting a vampire book. It feels like a weird mix of a King short story, an episode of Fringe, and a dash of Criminal Minds. I think that if he didn't have a lot of promise as a writer, it would have been a complete train wreck of a a novel.
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Jul 25, 2014 17:13
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Does Duma Key pick up eventually? I'm enjoying the style, the mood and the writing of it, and can sense a payoff building, but it's a little slow (250 pages in) and I'm worried I won't get the "holy poo poo" moments the story is hinting at.
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Jul 25, 2014 19:10
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BiggerBoat posted:Does Duma Key pick up eventually? I'm enjoying the style, the mood and the writing of it, and can sense a payoff building, but it's a little slow (250 pages in) and I'm worried I won't get the "holy poo poo" moments the story is hinting at. IIRC, Duma Key does start out with a lot of back story and set-up, but then starts filling in the blanks pretty rapidly. It almost went too fast towards the end. It's a fairly creepy story once he gets going. For some reason after I read it I had to wait a long time before feeling like I wanted to read it again (like four years), but finally I did, and the second time through I found it more enjoyable. I almost always want to read new novels by authors that I like within a year or two, but Duma Key really put me off for a while and I'm still not sure why.
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Jul 25, 2014 19:22
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BiggerBoat posted:Does Duma Key pick up eventually? I'm enjoying the style, the mood and the writing of it, and can sense a payoff building, but it's a little slow (250 pages in) and I'm worried I won't get the "holy poo poo" moments the story is hinting at. You should enjoy the style, mood, and writing, because they're the best parts. The payoff is fine, but pay close attention - honestly I just read the wikipedia summary of the final parts of the book and I'm pretty sure I picked up on approximately none of the important details while I was reading the book itself, so probably best not to skim. It's a really low key kind of story, kind of like Bag of Bones. Very introspective and probably my favorite post-van King book.
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Jul 26, 2014 00:13
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