r/stephenking

Just went on a trip to visit family in Maine, and I figured it would be the perfect chance to finally read my first Stephen King book at 25 years old (I read the first third of Long Walk when I was 14 but I don't count that). I picked Needful Things on a whim and ended up loving it. Now I'm hoping to get a little guidance on where to go next.

Things I liked about Needful things:

- Small town setting with average everyday people as characters

- Intricate plotting & character dynamics

- Variety of POV characters and voices

I definitely plan to read IT and The Stand, but for now I'm looking for something a little shorter after Needful Things lol. My top two potentials as of now are Cujo since it also takes place in Castle Rock, and Pet Semetary, but I'd love to hear other suggestions.

So the first time I read The Shining I got how the Torrences being isolated in the Overlook Hotel during the winter season is scary. I got that being trapped in a haunted hotel is scary. I got that Jack turning violent on Danny and Wendy is scary. But, for how much praise this book gets as being one of the scariest stories to have ever been written, I didn't really see how isolation, ghosts and violence equates to the book having as huge a reputation as it does so I felt a reread was necessary.

From my second reading of The Shining I think I understand a little bit more now. Jack is a recovering alcoholic. He quit drinking because he was afraid Wendy would take Danny and leave him because of what happened when Danny got into his papers one night as well as getting into a fight with one of his students which is why they moved to Colorado so Jack could find a new job. Since quitting, Jack feels he's slowly mending bridges with Wendy and Danny, trying to be the father and husband they deserve. Then they arrive at the Overlook.

The Overlook can sense Jack is in a vulnerable mental state. It's able to get inside his head, weaponizing his insecurities of being a bad father to Danny and a bad husband to Wendy. The more they are at the Overlook, the more it preys on Jack until Jack finally snaps and succumbs to the Overlook’s power. He is now fully under the hotel's control and becomes the thing he is most afraid of: the version of himself when he drank, leading Jack to attack his family.

My second time reading it and this is what came of it: what makes The Shining one of the scariest books ever written is the idea that we can lose ourselves to evil, causing us to hurt the people we care about. For all that Jack tries his best to be better for Wendy and Danny and prove to them he's changed or is actively taking the steps to change, the Overlook’s hold on him becomes too strong and his greatest fear comes true which is hurting his family all over again. On top of that, Jack truly never had a fair chance to prove to his family he changed and Wendy especially will only remember him as this violent monster, unaware it was actually the hotel.

I think most people would agree that hurting people we care about is scary. Losing trust in people that we are close to is scary. Trying to rebuild that trust only to fail is scary. Being remembered as the worst version of ourselves by the people important to us is scary. Our loved ones leaving us because of the mistakes we've made is scary. These things for some might be the scariest things imaginable, and these are all fears Jack wrestles with for the duration of the story and the worst part is they all come true. He was doomed to go from one demon to another and his greatest fears came of it.

Just read both books for the first time this past month. I don’t know what happened but I could not stand The Talisman like live read 60+ of SK’s books and this is bottom 5 for me. So long and felt like nothing was ever happening. Dreaded that there were two more books in the series but then read Black House and that went super quick and easy. Black house that like top 5 for me. And now I can’t wait for the new book this fall.

Was wondering if anyone else had an experience like this?

My guess is that the Dark tower universe hadn’t been built out yet and they didn’t have the technology to work in the tower in the first book. But when they wrote the second book they were shoving that tower wherever possible, and the constant reader followed.

This book has been on the back burner for years, I honestly never thought it get to it but I started the audiobook today and I haven’t been able to turn it off. I’ve never gotten 75% of the way through an audiobook in one half day before.

I know the essential premise and knew a few plot beats and it always just seemed like it would be boring… after listening to a podcast where it’s mentioned how amazing she is written as a character I gave it a shot… how does king write a female character at 2 very different stages of her life so fuckin well? Even the “gimmick” of it being in straight vernacular I thought was gonna get old but I am so pulled into the story.

Sorry no questions but really need to share the love I have for this book

I just got to the explosion in The Stand and was completely blindsided. I expected a death or two. I had hoped Fran had reacted in time. I never thought we’d lose Nick. Utterly heartbroken. The next 250 pages better get me some revenge.