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WattsvilleBlues posted:I'd recommend It and The Shining personally, beacuse the books are tremendous. It's definitely worth reading It and The Shining, even after seeing the movie first and having a general idea how it all plays out? I definitely will if that's the case. WattsvilleBlues posted:What are you in the mood for? Honestly, Stephen King building up a small town and then destroying it. Ornamented Death posted:His earlier short story collections (Night Shift, Skeleton Crew) and 'Salem's Lot. I'll look into them, thanks!
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Jan 23, 2018 17:48
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RCarr posted:Honestly, Stephen King building up a small town and then destroying it. Oh then you definitely want Needful Things. The aforementioned 'Salem's Lot fits the bill, too.
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Jan 23, 2018 17:52
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RCarr posted:It's definitely worth reading It and The Shining, even after seeing the movie first and having a general idea how it all plays out? It's worth reading it after you've read It, watched the old tv series and the new movie.
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Jan 23, 2018 18:00
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RCarr posted:It's definitely worth reading It and The Shining, even after seeing the movie first and having a general idea how it all plays out? I definitely will if that's the case. yeah definitely read It, the adaptations are good but the book is king’s masterpiece. and if you want to read about a town getting mega hosed up czech out The Tommyknockers
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Jan 23, 2018 18:32
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Mister Kingdom posted:Large collection of rare King material destroyed by flood
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Jan 23, 2018 18:38
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RCarr posted:So I have read The Dark Tower series in full, The Stand, Misery, Under the Dome, The Long Walk, The Eyes of the Dragon, & Just After Sunset. Pet Semetary.
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Jan 23, 2018 19:23
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Ornamented Death posted:Oh then you definitely want Needful Things. The aforementioned 'Salem's Lot fits the bill, too. It doesn't get a lot of love, but I think Tommyknockers is maybe the most fun example of Stephen King building up and then totally destroying a small New England town. It's 100% pure EC Comics pulp horror.
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Jan 24, 2018 01:43
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RCarr posted:So I have read The Dark Tower series in full, The Stand, Misery, Under the Dome, The Long Walk, The Eyes of the Dragon, & Just After Sunset. As always: 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, Firestarter, The Dead Zone, Night Shift. Also Different Seasons.
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Jan 24, 2018 04:06
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I think Gerald's Game is a must-read.
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Jan 24, 2018 04:12
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it isn't
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Jan 24, 2018 05:02
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RCarr posted:So I have read The Dark Tower series in full, The Stand, Misery, Under the Dome, The Long Walk, The Eyes of the Dragon, & Just After Sunset. Read the Shining. It's similar to the movie but there are some major differences, the book gave me nightmares.
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Jan 24, 2018 12:36
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Zwabu posted:As always: 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, Firestarter, The Dead Zone, Night Shift. Also Different Seasons. Also Pet Sematary and Skeleton Crew
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Jan 24, 2018 13:26
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Some of kings best work is in his short story collections so def check those out.
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Jan 24, 2018 14:58
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RCarr posted:
Salem's Lot, Tommyknockers, The Mist
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Jan 24, 2018 16:29
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Attitude Indicator posted:Some of kings best work is in his short story collections so def check those out. I'll take this a step further and say that the collection you wanna start with is Skeleton Crew. I've read most of his short story collections, but for whatever reason I didn't get around to that one until now. I'm about 3/4 through it and The Jaunt, Word Processor of the Gods, and Survivor Type are probably my three favorite short stories he's ever written. Nightmares and Dreamscapes is also a super good collection and has some moments that creeped me out to the fuckin depths of my soul.
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Jan 25, 2018 22:16
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Karmine posted:Nightmares and Dreamscapes is also a super good collection and has some moments that creeped me out to the fuckin depths of my soul. Sold. Any particular stories to start with?
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Jan 25, 2018 22:30
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WattsvilleBlues posted:Sold. Any particular stories to start with? The End of the Whole Mess, the Moving Finger, Home Delivery, and Rainy Season. Your mileage may vary, but those are the ones that stuck with me. There's also some really fun non-horror mystery/thriller stuff, including a literal Sherlock Holmes story. It's a huge as hell book but I don't remember a single stinker in it. e: you can skip "Head Down" unless you wanna read about his kid's little league season. I remember liking it but it's definitely not for everyone. Karmine fucked around with this message at 22:58 on Jan 25, 2018 |
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Jan 25, 2018 22:55
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The thing to remember about King's short story collections is that, after Skeleton Crew, each subsequent collection has fewer and fewer actual horror stories in it.
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Jan 25, 2018 23:17
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Karmine posted:The Moving Finger, That story creeped me right the gently caress out. Best thing about the short story collections is that you don't have to slog and wait for King to dream up a stupid and ridiculous ending with a supernatural dream sequence with demonic aliens or awkwardly write himself out of a self made corner with completely crazy bullshit. By the time you decide the story is not for you, it's over and you're eager for the next one. If you like it, you're still eager for the next one. I think that's why so many people like the short story volumes so much. Often he doesn't even bother much with a conclusive ending and the work almost always is better for it because his actual writing, by itself, is normally quite stellar and has a way of keeping you invested as a reader. Might be what his economy of language, which he touched on a lot in "On Writing". Something I've never mastered. King is usually the very definition of what makes a page turning writer.
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Jan 26, 2018 02:25
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i agree that king is a much better "writer" than a "plotter," if that makes sense. But when you're talking about horror stories, the less information you have the more creepy it is, which is why the genre works so well in short stories since there really isn't time for all that.
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Jan 26, 2018 02:43
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Ornamented Death posted:The thing to remember about King's short story collections is that, after Skeleton Crew, each subsequent collection has fewer and fewer actual horror stories in it. and, starting with Everything's Eventual, fewer and fewer stories worth reading (except N. N. is fuckin great)
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Jan 26, 2018 05:54
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Karmine posted:Gunslinger is a bit of a slog, but it's short and gives a lot of essential background/world building stuff. Drawing of the Three and Waste Lands are some of the most riveting things I've ever read. Wizard and Glass is great and gives a ton more background on who Roland is. Wolves of the Calla and Song of Susannah aren't great, but they keep the story moving and they definitely held my attention. DT7 kinda tries to do too much, but I thought it was a really satisfying ending. Bit late, but just wanted to say this is a very short and precise description about how I felt when I read the books. I also want to read the books again now (thanks), if only to see if years later they hold up and if my opinion changed.
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Jan 27, 2018 15:32
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Rev. Bleech_ posted:and, starting with Everything's Eventual, fewer and fewer stories worth reading (except N. N. is fuckin great)
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Jan 28, 2018 05:16
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Dr. Faustus posted:"N." is loving great. I love it so much, because it's just so relentlessly horrifying (not just the nature of the threat, but what happens to the people attracted to it. So hopeless. Like Revival!") One of his best short stories IMO
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Jan 28, 2018 05:31
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Aside from one, less good story, I think FULL DARK, NO STARS is a great collection.
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Jan 30, 2018 23:32
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DrVenkman posted:Aside from one, less good story, I think FULL DARK, NO STARS is a great collection. I'm with you on that one. I actually went out and found the Korean translation for my wife, who doesn't read at all, and she liked it so much that she asked me to get her another King book.
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Jan 31, 2018 03:26
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I just finished It and I have concerns. Is there another related book that explains Robert Gray's deal, the Other, why/how It was laying eggs when it was terrified of company, or why there was a goddamn space turtle? There also seems to have been a huge swath of book left out, specifically regarding the parallel of the Other acting as a benefactor of the Losers. Mike calls attention to their wealth and prosperity at the Chinese restaraunt scene, which is echoed in the final It confrontation, and the book consistently hints at Turtle being a thing akin to It - but then it's like the last act was written by a totally different person. So I guess what I'm asking is if the other half of the story is out there anywhere.
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Jan 31, 2018 18:06
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moths posted:I just finished It and I have concerns. It's explained in the text. For the first time ever It is made to feel fear for it's own mortality and knowing that it can be killed makes it desire to have progeny to carry on after it
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Jan 31, 2018 18:15
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moths posted:I just finished It and I have concerns. those are some of the least interesting parts of the book
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Jan 31, 2018 18:19
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chernobyl kinsman posted:those are some of the least interesting parts of the book That too
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Jan 31, 2018 18:34
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I thought it was really interesting that there was all this behind- the- scenes backstory alluded to throughout. But then it collapses if you try to add any of it together. I must have missed the part about progeny, thanks.
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Jan 31, 2018 18:35
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backstory is boring. answers are boring. worldbuilding is insanely boring. horror's effectiveness is inversely proportional to how much is known and understood about the thing feared
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Feb 1, 2018 00:43
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chernobyl kinsman posted:backstory is boring. answers are boring. worldbuilding is insanely boring. horror's effectiveness is inversely proportional to how much is known and understood about the thing feared My bro
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Feb 1, 2018 00:45
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Yeah, horror is best when it's all ambiguous clues that point to nothing.
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Feb 1, 2018 00:49
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the cosmic poo poo was actually insanely cool
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Feb 1, 2018 00:51
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chernobyl kinsman posted:backstory is boring. answers are boring. worldbuilding is insanely boring. horror's effectiveness is inversely proportional to how much is known and understood about the thing feared Man is this ever wrong. All of it. Horror's effectiveness is in making the fear believable and relatable - putting the reader in the shoes of the protagonist - and its effectiveness is almost down to the level of what personally frightens the reader. King flails at that a lot but he nails it a lot too. The things you listed are not at all mutually exclusive to what makes something "scary". Some people think the Exorcist is silly. Some think it's the greatest horror movie of all time. I could list numerous examples of good scary stories that fly in the face of everything you wrote. Horror, much like comedy, is subjective and what scares one person (ghosts, monsters, vampires) might not scare the next person and what one person finds funny doesn't reach someone else. You're applying your personal subjective taste and positing it as objective. There's nothing wrong with world building (Stranger Things, The Mist, Lovecraft, Carrie), backstory (Salem's Lot, Frankenstein, Psycho, Dead Zone) or knowing the thing to be feared (Dracula, Cujo, JAWS, Jurassic Park). Different things scare different people. There's no formula to it. Personally, I'm most frightened when I can put myself in in the situation (The Strangers, Halloween, Paranormal Activity) and can relate somehow. Along those lines, I usually find that the least scary King stories are the ones that fun off the rails and challenge my suspension of disbelief.
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Feb 1, 2018 01:18
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BiggerBoat posted:You're applying your personal subjective taste and positing it as objective. There's nothing wrong with world building (Stranger Things, The Mist, Lovecraft, Carrie), backstory (Salem's Lot, Frankenstein, Psycho, Dead Zone) or knowing the thing to be feared (Dracula, Cujo, JAWS, Jurassic Park). Most of that stuff is not scary
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Feb 1, 2018 01:24
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it is a much scarier novel when you know that Pennywise the Dancing Clown is actually a big spider from Todash Space, the nothingness that exists between worlds, and is opposed by Maturin, one of the Twelve Animal Guardians of the Beams, the six magic struts that hold up the Dark Tower, the linchpin of existence which manifests in our world as a rose in a vacant lot on the corner of 2nd and 46th street which was briefly the object of a bidding war between several corporations,
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Feb 1, 2018 01:26
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BiggerBoat posted:Stranger Things, not scary quote:The Mist almost no worldbuilding, all you know is "monsters for some reason" and some vague handwaving about "maybe science did it" quote:Lovecraft At the Mountains of Madness is 100 pages of pure worldbuilding and is among the least scary things lovecraft ever wrote. also, lovecraft isn't scary quote:Carrie i'm not sure you know what worldbuilding is quote:backstory (Salem's Lot have you read jurasalem's lot, where king explains the full lovecraftian backstory about why the marsten house is evil? it's not scary. backstory on the town and characters is fine, backstory on how exactly vampires came into being and work (see the DT) is insanely boring and not scary quote:Frankenstein, not scary quote:Psycho, same as 'salem's lot quote:Dead Zone) not scary quote:or knowing the thing to be feared (Dracula, Cujo, JAWS, Jurassic Park). i think you are confused about the difference between horror and tension chernobyl kinsman fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Feb 1, 2018 |
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Feb 1, 2018 01:34
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chernobyl kinsman posted:it is a much scarier novel when you know that Pennywise the Dancing Clown is actually a big spider from Todash Space, the nothingness that exists between worlds, and is opposed by Maturin, one of the Twelve Animal Guardians of the Beams, the six magic struts that hold up the Dark Tower, the linchpin of existence which manifests in our world as a rose in a vacant lot on the corner of 2nd and 46th street which was briefly the object of a bidding war between several corporations, Mel Mudkiper posted:Most of that stuff is not scary
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Feb 1, 2018 01:34
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