Can we talk about.....?

Sneaky Devil · Jan 19, 2009

Can we talk about Stephen King for a moment or is he all played out by now here?

I'm just curious as to whether or not he really creeps anyone else out. Sometimes he does to me and that's not an easy thing to do. I don't scare easily. I've been watching horror flicks since I was six years old and most of them don't give me the creeps.

But when I read SK's books, not see the movies people, when I read his books it's something totally different. Sometimes he can babble on a bit (like I'm one to talk!) but for the most part his books give me goose bumps. I find myself like pretty much everything he's ever written, though of course I like some more than others. But even books like Rose Madder, which didn't do so well for him, I found myself liking. (That was maybe because it was loosely Dark Tower related though.)

So, tell me what you think!

Kathleen42 · Jan 19, 2009

“I’m scared of closed shower curtains,” I admitted, looking behind me as though I expected one to suddenly materialize.

“Because of Psycho?” my boyfriend asked.

“Because of Stephen King,” I replied.

The above is from a blog entry I wrote about the life-long effects of too much Stephen King on a thirteen year-old's mind.

To be honest, I don't know if he would creep me out today. Hard to say.

HeronW · Jan 19, 2009

Depends on the book. Insomnia was nicely creepy, Needful Things I loved, most weren't scary but they were entertaining.

CACTUSWENDY · Jan 19, 2009

Poor King. Seems like there is always something about his work. Twisted....strange....interesting concept. That is what I usually find I get from his work. I think he did better work when he was on drugs and booze....a little farther off the deep end ... so to speak. Not much left to creep me out now that I am an old lady. Shoot...just get up in the morning and one look in the mirror is enough to spook me out.

nkkingston · Jan 19, 2009

I usually find the first few chapters creepy, but by the plot kicks in it's more thriller than horror to me. I don't know if it was just the selection I read, but they started getting very predictable very quickly (saintly kids, saintly disabled people, writers with block). I found that the shorter the novel the better I enjoyed it; I like his novellas collections and books like Thinner much more than things like The Stand.

David McAfee · Jan 19, 2009

Well, that IS why King is regarded as the #1 contemporary horror writer; his ability to creep people out. Some of his early works scared the #@%* out of me, to be honest.

Most of his later works just don't have that same shrivel the skin factor.

Sneaky Devil · Jan 19, 2009

ever tried his Dark Tower series? it's not creepy but man i love it!

nkkingston said:
I usually find the first few chapters creepy, but by the plot kicks in it's more thriller than horror to me. I don't know if it was just the selection I read, but they started getting very predictable very quickly (saintly kids, saintly disabled people, writers with block). I found that the shorter the novel the better I enjoyed it; I like his novellas collections and books like Thinner much more than things like The Stand.

nkkingston · Jan 19, 2009

I've heard a lot of good things about the Dark Tower (I have a friend who adores it, and has several editions of each book), but I haven't had the time to put aside for it yet.

I still pick up books like Four Minutes to Midnight from time to time, but I'm going to avoid the doorstoppers from now on. I think it was Dreamcatcher than killed King for me; it was just a terrible story.

scarletpeaches · Jan 19, 2009

I've read a few of his books and never been scared though sometimes entertained. With his longer novels it can feel like I'm trudging through pages to get to the end.

To be honest I prefer the movies of his novels to the novels themselves; they don't take so long to get through and there's less waffle. A lot of his books feel padded, to me.

Sneaky Devil · Jan 19, 2009

<covers her eyes and pretends she didn't see that part>

jk, but I loved that book, I thought Duddits was one of his best characters he'd ever written...plus Beaver was hilarious, i loved all his "Beaverisms"

as far as DT goes, I think it was some of his best work, you should try and read them, they're good.....especially Jake, outside of Roland he's my fav

nkkingston said:
I think it was Dreamcatcher than killed King for me; it was just a terrible story.

scarletpeaches · Jan 19, 2009

Just don't diss the shitweasels.

nkkingston · Jan 19, 2009

I liked the shitweasels!

It was the last chapter or so that killed it for me. It was the closest to a cop-out I'd seen in King so far.

Sneaky Devil · Jan 19, 2009

scarletpeaches said:
Just don't diss the shitweasels.

StevenJ · Jan 19, 2009

I'm just not sure about King. For years, I've enjoyed many of his books (and many of the tv/film adaptations) but am still seeking anything profound within them. So much of his work makes me think: 'These are comics, but for grown-ups...'

Jcomp · Jan 19, 2009

Salem's Lot is an all time favorite.

Strangely, as much as I like King's novels, the one story of his that freaked me out the most was his short story The Bogeyman. That did a number on me for a while...

And the general concept of a superflu all but destroying humankind as presented in The Stand still makes me a bit edgy if I dwell on it for too long.

StevenJ · Jan 19, 2009

Jcomp said:
Strangely, as much as I like King's novels, the one story of his that freaked me out the most was his short story The Bogeyman. That did a number on me for a while...

God, wasn't the main character (the father) awful in that story, JC? While reading, I wanted to shout "For God's sake, take the kid into your room!"

Great voice & a very unsympathetic character, I thought.

The Stand is one of my favourite novels, so I'm not as biased against King as my previous post might suggest.

Sneaky Devil · Jan 19, 2009

have any of you read the Dark Half?

that's the one i'm reading right now

Jcomp · Jan 19, 2009

Read and own The Dark Half. While I enjoyed it, part of me thought certain elements of it were sort of wasted. I liked the idea of merging hard-boiled crime and horror--in fact it partially inspired me to do a similar merge for my current WIP--but after a while it starts trying to do a few too many things at once, in my opinion. Still a good read though.

nkkingston · Jan 19, 2009

Jcomp said:
And the general concept of a superflu all but destroying humankind as presented in The Stand still makes me a bit edgy if I dwell on it for too long.

That was the bit of The Stand that genuinely scared me. Once the rest of the plot kicked in and the flu got left behind I just found it to be a slightly supernatural thriller. King seems to be much sharper and creepier on realistic threats compared with his supernatural ouvre.

Jcomp · Jan 19, 2009

nkkingston said:
That was the bit of The Stand that genuinely scared me. Once the rest of the plot kicked in and the flu got left behind I just found it to be a slightly supernatural thriller. King seems to be much sharper and creepier on realistic threats compared with his supernatural ouvre.

I agree. While I still enjoyed the rest of The Stand, the "Captain Tripps" segment is what truly gripped me.

Sneaky Devil · Jan 19, 2009

is it just me or are too many of his stories about heroic kids? don't get me wrong i think it's pretty cool...for example Jack Sawyer in The Talisman (and the sequel, though he's and adult there) but there's also It, part of DT series (Jake), Cujo, and how many others?......

nkkingston · Jan 19, 2009

I got pretty sick of the heoric kids. Especially kids with supernatural or miraculous powers. The problem is not that they're badly written - King's prose is always good - but that it becomes easy to predict the plot, and nothing takes the horror out of a novel like being able to guess the ending.

Several people have mentioned they got into King in their teens. I did as well, about thirteen or so. Did anyone here first read him as an adult, or does he have a strong teen hook?

Inarticulate Babbler · Jan 19, 2009

Sneaky Devil said:
have any of you read the Dark Half?

that's the one i'm reading right now

Yeah, The Dark Half had an effect on me. I read it when I was younger, and it took me a while. When the relevance of the prolgue came in, it gave me one of those moments.

Sneaky Devil · Jan 19, 2009

I didn't pick up a King book until I was 22, but I've loved him since. Well, maybe I picked one up before that but I just couldn't get into them. Sometimes it's still hard, like when he writes about writers with block, but I don't give up cause they usually get better (Bag of Bones).

nkkingston said:
Did anyone here first read him as an adult, or does he have a strong teen hook?

A.L. Wright · Jan 19, 2009

I haven't read a large number of King's books, but I have enjoyed most of his books that I've read. The Stand remains one of my favorite books, although the ending seemed like a cop-out to me. I agree, Captain Tripps was the creepiest part. I was also creeped out by Pet Semetary.

The only book of King's that I found disappointing was Dreamcatcher. The shit weasels just grossed me out and the rest of it made very little sense.

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