The musings of a former office worker stuck in his house applying for jobs, when he would rather be out on the water.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Stephen King

I feel as though I haven't written any book review posts lately. So, after realizing how many people read Stephen King, I have decided to put up a Stephen King post.

Stephen King has written some pretty famous stories. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Cujo, It, Pet Semetary, Salem's Lot, Carrie, The Body(Stand By Me). The list goes on. But in my opinion, some of his best stories are his short stories. In anthologies such as Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Stephen King writes some of his most suspenseful work, and many of these tales only last 8 pages.

A prime example is the short story, The Ledge. In the 8 page Ledge, Stephen King puts as much suspense and fear in your mind as he does in the biblically long Salem's Lot. And in Nightshift, a short story about cleaning an abandoned warehouse, Stephen King strikes terror into your heart in 10 pages. It took 100 pages of Pet Semetary to start getting scared.

And not all of his short stories are scary. The Body, though tense at parts, is not scary. Neither is The Green Mile, and yet both of these stories sold well as books, and went on to be turned into classic movies.

So if I can offer a piece of reading advice, go read some Stephen King. And if you don't want to read a terribly long book, or get scared, there are still options for you.

Enjoy, and as always, have fun getting scared.

12 comments:

  1. yeah Stephen king's book are pretty awesome

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  2. Gunslinger is my favourite. Kinda stopped reading him after the terrible Under the Dome, though.

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  3. King is a great author. It's not that he inspires fear, it's the suspense and tense feeling in your throat that makes him amazing!

    Following and supporting!

    Yorkie Love

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  4. My mom reads these books all the time. Maybe i should try them.

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  5. King is awsome and what I like about him is that he csn be flexible only in one theme.

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  6. One of my favs. I have a little problems with his endings but for the most part I love him

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  7. If you like King's work you have to give The Dark Tower a try, from the beginning. It gets slow at couple points (hell its 7 books long, it can't all be fast pace) but is well worth it to stick it out to the finish.

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  8. the shining is one of my favorite books. right now i'm reading the stand and will follow that up with needful things.

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  9. The NightShift was definatly terrifying about that stupid machine. I remember the first time I read it was when I was working the graveyard shift at a lumber mill and I was the only one there and decided I'd give one of my favorite authors a try. Basically a bad idea!

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  10. Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. Carrie was super scary.

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  11. Great author.
    First book was Eye of the Dragon and eventually moved onto the Dark Tower series.

    The Talisman is one of my favorites however.
    Following!

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