I really enjoyed "SALEM'S LOT"( which is still crying out for a sequel), "IT (love it-seem's Pennywise might still be around) and "THE STAND".
Worst?
"TOMMYKNOCKERS" which appears to by King's own version of a low budget remake of Nigel Kneale's excellent "QUATERMASS AND THE PIT" (US: "FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH").
Would love to see Jack encounter someone from King's universe!

I liked it. Nice tribute Paul. Wouldn't it be something if he's asked to do one on you someday?

Mr. King says he is the President of the Repairman Jack Fan Club. It doesn't get any better than that.

Jeez Eye Cry, am I the only person around here who absolutely can't stand King? I tried, honest. Way back when, I read Carrie. It sucked, I'd read better along the same line. (Saw the movie, it sucked too). A few years later, my co-husband insisted that Salem's Lot was worth a shot. It wasn't. (Nor was the mini-series starring Starsky or Hutch, I couldn't tell them apart, not into cop shows). A decade and some later La Esposa (well, she wasn't yet, we were still just living in sin) pushed the "unabridged" version of The Stand on me. And a bit later that miniseries. I'm sorry. I'd rather read a bar tab from Heinlein (if one showed up on eBay) or a bar tab of my own (if any bartender would stupidly let me run one again) than anything King inflicts on previously innocent paper. I'm sure King is a great guy (never met anybody from Maine that wasn't) but I can't read or watch his crap. La Esposa loves it. But on "literature" and cuisine we we have a few differences. We're both fans of FPW, though she's into the medical thrillers (well, she's an RN) and I prefer the LaNague stuff (SF geek and anarchist) and we're both into Jack. (Let's not discuss the cuisine part -- her immediate ancestry is Baltic so the chili I make at home is bland compared to what I make for normal people and let's not discuss what I do to my own few living taste buds, though I live in Jersey I grew up in Los Angeles).

A good number of King's books I disliked because they were way too draggy and boring to me. I "read" the Stand, but probably skimmed as much as I actually took in. Too much character self-reflection gets old fast, and some of his latest books seem like a mashup of earlier plotlines from his older novels (Buick 8, Cell, Lisey's Story and Duma Key all reminded me too much of earlier books). But some key works of his like Misery and Firestarter are among my fav books ever.

I'm not much of a King fan, with the notable exceptions of Salem's Lot and Firestarter. I really enjoyed The Stand, but wasn't able to get into it again. The others I read didn't grab me the same way, though, and more than a few I returned to the library unread. I've noticed that he does a lot of "recycling," too (much like Dean Koontz, where it gets downright predictable).

Oddly, I saw the first Salem's Lot movie when I was 10, IIRC. I found it pretty dull and fell asleep during it. That same month I also saw Return to Oz which scared the heck out of me and gave me nightmares of all the heads shrieking at me while the headless witch chased me.

Having had a bad experience reading a short horror story for adults at about that age, I decided to try again with Salem's Lot, since I was curious about the parts I missed having slept through it (and was having nightmares of vampires anyway). The book was much more scary to me. To this days I still have nightmares that I can attribute to that novel.

And the particular odd bit was after I saw the remake of the Salem's Lot (which I liked well enough), I resaw the first version and found it much more interesting now, with moments that were definitely creepy. Out of curiosity I went and rented Return to Oz and found it more silly than scary (even if there was a tiny bit of being creeped out with the headless witch scene again).

One last thing is that I read SK short story The Mist before I read Nightworld. I don't know how much it would've reminded me of FPW novel had I read it first, but when I saw the movie I was definitely thinking of Nightworld. I could see this easily being adapted into a story happening around one of those pits in some small town.

King's short works are always amazing: more atmosphere in three pages than many get in 300. His periodic column in Entertainment Weekly (The Pop of King) is read alout to the family -- it's got a pace and a rhythm nobody else can match, because he is that kind of mutant, that lover of pop and shlock.

I thought his mid-period stuff is what dragged -- his works up until the van accident in 1999. He pretty much gave up writing for a while, until the muse came back, and I think he's sharper than he was before. Perhaps not as wide an imagination, but the prose is back to being tight. The "Dark Tower" later books are different kinds of stories all told in the same cycle, and it works.

But if you want to see what excess can do, go back to the end of "IT" and tell me he wasn't daring an editor to say, "Hey, Stevie, baby, you just can't do that with kids."

I just find King's earlier works to be better than the later works... I like the abridged version of the Stand far better than the unabridged. I just think he's an author who benefits from tighter editing than he may have recieved in some of the mid period works. "Christine" was the first King novel I read, and "Salem's Lot" is still my favorite King story.

I too love his articles in Entertainment Weekly.

And I guess, hello all, this is my first post on the boards here after reading around for a bit.

I just find King's earlier works to be better than the later works... I like the abridged version of the Stand far better than the unabridged.

I agree about The Stand. The story flowed better.

I just think he's an author who benefits from tighter editing than he may have recieved in some of the mid period works.

He can drone on and on at times.

"Christine" was the first King novel I read, and "Salem's Lot" is still my favorite King story.

My favorite was It. Love that book.

And I guess, hello all, this is my first post on the boards here after reading around for a bit.

Welcome.

The whole Dark Tower series is amazing. It and The Bachman Books are also among some of my favorites of King's that I've read.

The Stand Uncut and standard: Loved the book, hated the movie with a passion. Though I might have liked it a little better without Stephen King's cameo.

A Buick 8: It was obvious he actually researched some things. Also liked it because it tied in very slightly with a co-write he did with Straub.

The original Bachman books: I could read them again if I wanted to.

Gunslinger series: Liked it up until the last 2 books. Picked up the last one, turned to the last chapter, and said to myself that it was a standard Stephen King "haha fooled you. And you thought the ending would have a point" ending.

The Shining: liked the book. hated the original The Shining movie and the remakes.

stopped trying his books after reading the "haha" ending

I also read many of King novels. The one I enjoyed most was "The Shining" That one jumps to mind when Stephen King's name is mentioned. However, I do feel that "The Green Mile" was one of his most powerful novels.

I read many of the Dark Tower series but I grew tired of them.

There are so many other of his works I enjoyed it would be difficult to chose from
them.

The link below will show all of Stephen King's works. Perhaps some of you would name your favorites from this list.

http://www.horrorking.com/books.html