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list books by stephen king

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The Complete List of Stephen King Books in Order

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If you’re a bookaholic, then you must’ve come across Stephen King’s name at least once or twice. Even if you’re not a fan of the horror genre, it’s almost impossible not to know such a great writer.

So, you prefer movies over books? A lot of well-known movies are based on novels and stories by Stephen King, such as; It, The Shawshank Redemption, Carrie, Dreamcatcher, and the list goes on.

We’ll go through the complete list of Stephen king’s books in order, but first, let’s see who’s Stephen King.

Carrie (1974)

Our #1 Recommended for Stephen King Book..!

This is the Master of Horror’s debut novel that kicked off a career like no other. It follows the story of a tortured teenage outcast who uses her supernatural abilities to enact murderous revenge on her cruel classmates.

*We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Table of Contents

Who is Stephen King?

Stephen King is an American author, born on September 21, 1947. He is among the most famous horror writers. Before writing, he used to work as an English Teacher.

A lot of his novels take place in his hometown, Maine, such as; ‘Salem’s Lot, Pet Sematary, and Carrie. He describes places that he knows, creating a parallel universe of them, which makes the plot interesting.

His first official short story was “The Glass Floor.” It was sold to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Our author married Tabitha Spruce, the famous writer of One on One, in 1971.

What Did Stephen King Write?

Stephen King wrote a total of 63 novels. He also wrote around 120 short stories and 20 novellas. He has 5 published non-fiction books.

7 of his books were published under a pen name, Richard Bachman. The reason for that is that he didn’t want to publish more than one book under the same name. Later, he collected all 7 novels in The Bachman Books.

We’ll see his most popular books first and then we’ll get to the chronological list of his books.

The Chronological List of His Published Books  

  • Carrie, novel, (1974)
  • ‘Salem’s Lot, novel, (1975)
  • The Shining, novel, (1977)
  • Rage, novel, (1977)
  • The Stand, novel, (1978)
  • Night Shift, story collection, (1977)
  • The Long Walk, novel, (1979)
  • The Dead Zone, novel, (1979)
  • The Mist, novella, (1979)
  • Firestarter, novel, (1980)
  • Roadwork, novel, (1981)
  • Danse Macabre, non-fiction, (1981)
  • Cujo, novel, (1981)
  • The Running Man, novel, (1982)
  • The Dark Tower, novel series, (1982 – 2012)
  • Different Seasons, story collection, (1982)
  • Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, novella, (1982)
  • The Body, novella, (1982)
  • Apt Pupil, novella, (1982)
  • The Breathing Method, novella, (1982)
  • Pet Sematary, novel, (1982)
  • Christine, novel, (1983)
  • The Talisman, novel, (1984)
  • Cycle of the Werewolf, novel, (1985)
  • Thinner, novel, (1984)
  • Skeleton Crew, story collection, (1985)
  • The Bachman Books, novel collection, (1985)
  • It, novel, (1986)
  • The Eyes of the Dragon, novel, (1987)
  • Misery, novel, (1987)
  • The Tommyknockers, novel, (1987)
  • Nightmares in The Sky, non-fiction, (1987)
  • The Dark Half, novel, (1989)
  • The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition, novel, (1990)
  • Four Past Midnight, story collection, (1990)
  • The Sun Dog, novella, (1990)
  • Secret Window, Secret Garden, novella, (1990)
  • The Library Policeman, novella, (1990)
  • The Langoliers, novella, (1990)
  • Needful Things, novel, (1991)
  • Gerald’s Game, novel, (1992)
  • Dolores Claiborne, novel, (1992)
  • Nightmares & Dreamscapes, story collection, (1993)
  • Insomnia, novel, (1994)
  • Blind Willie, novella, (1994)
  • Rose Madder, novel, (1995)
  • The Green Mile, novel series, (1996)
  • Desperation, novel, (1996)
  • The Regulators, novel, (1996)
  • Bag of Bones, novel, (1998)
  • The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, novel, (1999)
  • Hearts in Atlantis, story collection, (1999)
  • Why We’re in Vietnam, novella, (1999)
  • Low Men in Yellow Coats, novella, (1999)
  • Hearts in Atlantis, novella, (1999)
  • Stephen King’s N, novella, (1999)
  • Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Craft of Writing, non-fiction, (1999)
  • Elevation, novella, (1999)
  • On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, non-fiction, (1999)
  • Gwendy’s Button Box, novella, (1999)
  • Dreamcatcher, novel, (2001)
  • Black House, novel, (2001)
  • Everything’s Eventual, story collection, (2001)
  • From a Buick 8, novel, (2001)
  • Faithful, non-fiction, (2004)
  • The Colorado Kid, novel, (2005)
  • ‘Salem’s Lot Illustrated Edition, novel, (2005)
  • The Secretary of Dreams: Volume One, novel, (2005)
  • Cell, novel, (2006)
  • Lisey’s Story, novel, (2006)
  • Blaze, novel, (2007)
  • Duma Key, novel, (2008)
  • Just After Sunset, story collection, (2008)
  • Stephen King Goes to the Movies, story collection, (2009)
  • Under the Dome, novel, (2009)
  • The Secretary of Dreams: Volume 2, novel, (2010)
  • Full Dark, No Stars, story collection, (2010)
  • 11/22/63, novel, (2011)
  • GUNS, non-fiction, (2013)
  • Joyland, novel, (2013)
  • Doctor Sleep, novel, (2013)
  • Mr. Mercedes, novel, (2014)
  • Revival, novel, (2014)
  • Finders Keepers, novel, (2015)
  • Joyland Illustrated Edition, novel, (2015)
  • The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, story collection, (2015)
  • Blockade Billy, novella, (2015)
  • UR, novella, (2015)
  • End of Watch, novel, (2016)
  • Charlie the Choo-Choo, children’s book, (2016)
  • Sleeping Beauties, novel, (2017)
  • The Outsider, novel, (2018)
  • The Institute, novel, (2019)
  • If It Bleeds, story collection, (2020)

What Are the Most Popular Stephen King’s Books?

Stephen King has many great writings, but some of them really out-stand. 

1. Carrie (1974)

Carrie is the first novel that introduced King to the world as a published writer, it was even transformed into a movie. The actions take place in the future, in 1979 in a fictional town.

The novel talks about Carrie, a teenager who has telekinetic powers. Her schoolmates bully her and she’s oppressed by a dominant mother. Will she be able to fit in? Or her powers will help her get revenge?

2. ‘Salem’s Lot (1975)

This horror novel talks about Ben Mears, a writer who returns to Jerusalem’s Lot, his hometown, after 25 years of being away. He starts writing a story about Marsten House, an abandoned mansion that’s purchased by an Austrian immigrant, Kurt Barlow.

Suddenly, a little boy in the town dies and his brother becomes a vampire and starts infecting people. A battle starts between the vampires and others, including Ben.

Also Read:- A Full List of Books by Author Bob Goff and Their Reading Order

3. The Shining (1977)

The story takes place in the Overlook Hotel, where Jack Torrence lives with his wife and son Danny. Jack tries to write a play while overcoming his rage issues and alcohol addiction.

The word “Shining” refers to some psychic powers that Danny has. Meanwhile, in the same hotel, there are evil forces trying to possess Danny, when they fail, they possess Jack instead.

How will the evil forces affect Jack’s plan?

The novel was adapted to a movie in 1980.

4. The Stand (1978)

The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic time. After a plague kills most of the population, people split into 2 groups. A battle starts between them, the battle between the good and the bad.

The story goes on. There have been many adaptations of the novel. The most recent one is a mini-series of the same name. It was being filmed in September 2019 by CBS, but it all stopped due to Covid-19.

5. The Long Walk (1979)

Published under his pseudonym, the plot of this book is in the future. It talks about a dystopian America, ruled by a dictator.

The protagonist is Raymond, a 16-year old who has to participate in “The Walk.” It’s a competition held between 100 teenage boys who have to keep walking at a certain speed, the winner is whoever stays alive.

Along “The Walk” we keep discovering more about this society, and the lives of the participants.

6. The Dead Zone (1979)

The book talks about John Smith in 2 different phases. As a kid, he had a skating accident that transferred him to the dead zone. Then as a young man, he goes into a coma for 5 years and wakes up with psychic powers.

He wakes up with some troubles as some of his memories are in a dead zone in his mind. He can now tell some things from the past, and others from the future.

Ever since then, everything starts going downhill for Johnny.

Also Read:- List of Famous Enid Blyton Books for Children

7. Cujo (1981)

Ever heard of a monstrous dog? The protagonist of this story is the dog Cujo. He’s a friendly family dog. Cujo gets bitten by a bat and turns into a killer.

Cujo belongs to the family of Joe Camber, but he doesn’t start attacking before Joe’s wife and their son leave.

Later, out of bad luck, Donna Trenton’s car breaks down, so she takes her son Tad and goes to Joe Camber’s repair shop to fix it, only to find themselves trapped in the car, with Cujo trying to attack.

8. The Running Man (1982)

The story takes place in 2025. It’s published under King’s pseudonym, Richard Bachman. The story takes place in a fictional dystopian America. The protagonist, Ben Richards, is broke and he needs money to treat his ill daughter.

He participates in a game show called “The Running Man” where participants have to keep running from the police for a month They earn money for each surviving hour, and they earn money for killing officers who chase them.

The only problem is that he’s being watched by everyone around the planet, and they might turn him in to win. Is Ben going to win?

9. The Dark Tower Series (1982 – 2012)

The Dark Tower tower series consists of 8 books. The series takes place in a parallel universe, where the Dark Tower connects all the universes. Roland Deschain is the last gunslinger, and he’s on a quest to find the Dark Tower.

Throughout his journey, he meets different people, friends, and enemies. What makes this series stand out is that in a way it connects most of King’s novels. You can find references and elements mentioned from some of his stories like; ‘Salem’s Lot, The Stand, The Talisman, The Eyes of the Dragon, and It.

10. Pet Sematary (1983)

If you have the chance to bring your beloved dead ones back to life, will you take it, regardless of what comes next? Apparently, our protagonist, Louis, will.

The story takes place in Maine, where Louis moves with his wife Rachel, his kids Gage and Ellie, and their cat Church. They meet their neighbor Jud, who takes them on a trip to a pet cemetery.

This trip reveals a lot about Rachel and Louis’s past. Later, when Church dies, Jud takes Louis to a cemetery, behind the pet’s one. Louis follows Jud’s instructions and buries Church, only to find it home alive on the very next day.

The same thing happens when Gage dies, and when Rachel dies too. However, that resurrection has its own consequences, and things will never be the same.

Also Read:- Harry Potter Books In Order: Complete List & Reviews

11. It (1986)

The famous horror movie from 2017 and 2019 is originally a novel by Stephen King, written in 1986. The novel narrates the story of seven kids in a fictional town; they’re followed by “It,” some sort of a monster that has the ability to disguise and change his look.

We see the protagonists as kids, then we see them three decades later as adults, with all the childhood trauma they have from being chased by “It.”

The adults reunite when they find out that innocents are being killed. They think that “It” might be responsible for that. The story depicts their fight against “It,” with some flashbacks of their childhood with him.

12. Misery (1987)

Misery is the name of the heroine of a series of novels, written by the protagonist of this story, Paul Sheldon. He writes about her for years and finally, he kills her in the last book to start a new series, Fast Cars.

Killing Misery will bring Paul some misery of his own, as later, he gets involved in a car accident, and he’s rescued by Annie, a mentally unstable nurse who’s at the same time his number one fan.

Annie is angry at Paul for killing Misery, and she tortures him. She even makes him burn the manuscript of Fast Cars to bring Misery back to life. Will he do as she tells, or will he suffer the consequences?

13. The Green Mile (1996)

The Story takes place in Georgia, in 1932. It narrates the story of John Coffey, a prisoner who’s in jail for killing two young girls. John Coffey has healing powers; he can heal people and even transfer the diseases to others.

Paul, the captain of the prison guards discovers John’s healing powers when he heals a rat. He even heals Paul himself. Later, we find out that John is innocent.

What happens to those who were healed by John’s powers? Will they die? Live for ages? Or have some powers too? That’s what you’ll discover in the story.

Frequently Asked Questions

A: The Stand is the Stephen King’s longest novel. It has 1152 pages in total.

A: Stephen King has written more than 60 books and over 200 short stories. He has also published 5 nonfiction books.  Apart from these, King has published children’s books, graphic novels, and essays. He also writes screenplays.

A: Lisey’s Story is Stephen King’s favorite novel of his own. Other than this, books such as IT, Misery, 11/22/63, The Stand, and Survivor Type are also some of his favorites.

With over 100 published books, we can fairly say that among Stephen King’s books, you’ll find the breathtaking horror stories you’re looking for.

He cultivated genres like; supernatural fiction, gothic drama, dark fantasy, and psychological horror.

What’s your favorite book off the list? And what do you plan on reading next?

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Stephen King Revisited

Essays, memories, and even a little history…, stephen king books in chronological order.

Here is the list of Stephen King’s books we’re reading as part of Stephen King Revisited, along with links to the essays and other content we have posted for each book.

Carrie (1974) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts * Guest Essay by Ray Garton * Richard’s follow-up ‘Salem’s Lot (1975) Historical Essay  *  Richard’s Thoughts  * Guest Essay by Christopher Golden The Shining (1977) Historical Essay  * Richard’s Thoughts *  Guest Essay by Michael Koryta Rage (1977) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts  * Guest Essay by Norman Prentiss Night Shift (1978) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts  * Guest Essay by Brian Keene The Stand (1978) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts * Guest Essay by Josh Boone The Long Walk (1979) [by Richard Bachman] Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts * Guest Essay by Ed Gorman The Dead Zone (1979) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts  * Guest Essay by Chet Williamson Firestarter (1980) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts  * Guest Essay by Ian Rogers Roadwork (1981) [by Richard Bachman] Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts * Guest Essay by JD Barker Danse Macabre (1981) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts  * Guest Essay by Hank Wagner Cujo (1981) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts  * Guest Essay by Kealan Patrick Burke The Running Man (1982) [by Richard Bachman] Historical Essay  * Richard’s Thoughts The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (1982) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts * Guest Essay by Bev Vincent Different Seasons (1982) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts Christine (1983) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts * Guest Essay by James Newman Cycle of the Werewolf (1983) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts Pet Sematary (1983) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts  * Guest Essay by Stewart O’Nan The Eyes of the Dragon (1984) Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts * Guest Essay by Joseph Madden The Talisman (1984) with Peter Straub Historical Essay * Richard’s Thoughts Thinner (1984) [by Richard Bachman] Skeleton Crew (1985) IT (1986) The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three (1987) Misery (1987) The Tommyknockers (1987) The Dark Half (1989) The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition (1990) Four Past Midnight (1990) The Dark Tower: The Waste Lands (1991) Needful Things (1991) Gerald’s Game (1992) Dolores Claiborne (1992) Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993) Insomnia (1994) Rose Madder (1995) The Green Mile (1996) Desperation (1996) The Regulators (1996) [by Richard Bachman] The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass (1997) Bag of Bones (1998) The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999) Hearts in Atlantis (1999) Storm of the Century (1999) On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000) Dreamcatcher (2001) Black House (2001) with Peter Straub Everything’s Eventual (2002) From a Buick 8 (2002) The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla (2003) The Dark Tower: Song of Susannah (2004) The Dark Tower: The Dark Tower (2004) Faithful (2004) with Stewart O’Nan The Colorado Kid (2005) Cell (2006) Lisey’s Story (2006) The Secretary of Dreams: Volume One (2006) Blaze (2007) [by Richard Bachman] Duma Key (2008) Just After Sunset (2008) Under the Dome (2009) Blockade Billy (2010) The Secretary of Dreams: Volume 2 (2010) Full Dark, No Stars (2010) 11/22/63 (2011) The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012) Joyland (2013) The Dark Man (2013) Doctor Sleep (2013) Mr. Mercedes (2014) Revival (2014) Finders Keepers (2015) The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015) End of Watch (2016) Charlie the Choo-Choo (2016) [by Beryl Evans] Six Scary Stories selected by Stephen King (2016) Gwendy’s Button Box (2017) with Richard Chizmar Sleeping Beauties (2017) with Owen King The Outsider (2018) Flight or Fright (2018) coedited with Bev Vincent Elevation (2018) The Institute (2019) If It Bleeds (2020) Later (2021) Billy Summers (2021) Gwendy’s Final Task (2022) with Richard Chizmar Fairy Tale (2022) Holly (2023) You Like it Darker (2024)

** Other Posts of Interest: Richard’s SK Top Ten Novels List (as of the beginning of this re-reading process)

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92 comments

Thanks for the list. I might have to read ahead. I have recently read “Carrie”, “Salem’s Lot” and the “The Shining” but I’ve never read “Rage” so I might start there.

Because of the content of Rage (school shooting), it was taken out of publication and I had a hard time finding it. Finally lucked out when the library had an old edition of the Bachman Books compilation which included it. Just a heads up.

I found that there was an audiobook on YouTube that hadn’t been taken down. It might still be there. The narrator was damn good, but the audio was quiet so I’d recommend wearing earbuds or downloading it and raising the volume using a video editing software.

Rage is not what I expected when hearing it was about a school shooting. Overall it’s one of my favorite books though. Definitely worth the hunt!

Damn impressive list of books.

Thanks for the list. But I thought Eyes of the Dragon was published in 1987, no?

It was first published as a limited edition in 1984 via King’s own Philtrum Press — the Viking trade was Feb ’87.

Yep, we went with the date of the Limited Edition for that one and The Gunslinger since they were published a few years before any trade editions.

Whew! I’m not missing any of his fiction works. I counted The Bachman Books as one and not four novels. I am missing some non-fiction. So, I need to buy those STAT.

Ok, I’m set! I counted the Bachman Books as one, also. I do keep searching the tag and yard sales for those original paperbacks, tho 😉

I read CARRIE on Halloween… I don’t think I had ever read it… What a wonderful book… Beautiful writing… Sue Snell- a name that will haunt the edges of my subconscious for awhile… I can’t say how happy I am to be pushed to revisit all these books in order… apparently making a few new book friends as I go… Time to go through the list you just posted and see what books I’m missing… Thank you for the list!

Check, check, and check. Got em all, including the individual original paperbacks of Bachman. Still waiting for my 1st signature though.

Thanks for the list! Tried to keep up on the Works By SK list from his website, only need to find The Secretary of Dreams Vol.1. May order ebooks for the ease of reading. Looking forward to the upcoming DC Revival book tour trip. Even if I don’t acquire a signed book, I enjoy listening to SK. My husband is more into reading software code, but does appreciate Stephen’s wit and humor. Happy reading!

I did this re-read a couple of years ago; I stopped at The Colorado Kid (that and the rest next year, maybe.) It is/was/will be an amazing journey.

I started reading Stephen King from the beginning. I had to wait for the paperback to come out because I couldn’t afford the hardback. What a long wait each time! Now I have all of them in hardback and my hubby buys me each new book the day it comes out. I still have the old paperback and you can tell they have been read & re-read over and over. My favorite is The Stand. I have both the original release and the extended release. I’m now trying to collect all his movies on DVD. Just love Stephen King!

Jan, I have many Stephen King movies and no longer wish to keep dvd’s. If there are any you need, please contact me and I’ll see if I have them. I would want them to go to someone who will really cherish them. 🙂

Mary [email protected]

I’ll try to get a list together if you want to send me a private message thru email to see if I have anything you need.

Loving the title The Bazaar of Bad Dreams!

Interesting. Both versions of The Stand, but only one version of The Gunslinger (presumably the original)?

We hadn’t yet discussed reading the revised version of The Gunslinger, but it might be added to the list!

Cool. I’ve read the revised version four times, but never read the original. Worth the read, or will it just confuse me? (I think I already know the answer..) 😛

I don’t think the original will confuse you at all. The revised version mostly added some foreshadowing and fixed some cultural references that didn’t work for the series as it developed, if I recall correctly!

my question is, if both versions of the STAND are on the list, does that mean both versions will be read? as Richard is reading THE STAND right now, and from the picture posted, it would be the first edition paperback. This means he is reading the shorter version. when he gets to the publication date of THE STAND uncut, will he be reading that entire version as well?

Haven’t heard of the last two. Finders Keepers and Bazaar of Bad Dreams. Where can I find out out those?

Finders Keepers is the follow-up to Mr. Mercedes and will be published in June 2015. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams is a new short story collection and will be published in the fall of 2015. I believe King has said it collects 20 of his stories, so it should be a pretty big book.

I have a question regarding 2 books I don’t find in this list, 1 that maybe should be and 1 that I’m not sure about. The first is ‘Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Craft of Writing’. This was published in 2000 and says Biok-Of-The-Month-Club at the bottom of the title page so I’m not sure if it belongs here or not. The other is ‘The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer’. This was published in 2001 and was also a made for TV movie. It says nothing about King on it but I had always been led to believe he had something to do with either the book or the movie. Can any one clear that up for me? Thanks. -Lyn

Thanks for asking!

As of right now, Rich isn’t including Secret Windows because it was a Book of the Month Club only title, but that could change if enough readers disagree and think it should be included.

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer was actually written by Ridley Pearson.

Did King have anything to do with either the Diary book or the movie? I remember watching it because somewhere there was an ad stating he was involved. Of course that was a few years ago so maybe I’m just remembering it incorrectly. Thanks for the reply!- Lyn

Other than it being based on Rose Red, I don’t recall him really being involved, but I’m sure someone else will correct me if I’m wrong!

King was only involved insofar as Rose Red was his story and it was his suggestion that fellow Rock Bottom Remainder Ridley Pearson write the tie-in novel when ABC suggested it. Pearson was heavily involved in the movie that was made from the diary, but King had nothing to do with it.

He WAS the pizza delivery guy in Rose Red though…lol

By any chance, will Secretary of Dreams, vols 1 and 2 be rereleased by Cemetery Dance so those of us following along can read them too? 🙂

I’d second that.

However, I don’t think the books belong on this list. They didn’t contain any new stories by King, so essentially you’d just be reviewing the artwork. Which would be interesting — but surely that would then mean that the project ought to include comics, movies, and other adaptations as well, right?

I, too, would like to be able to buy Secretary of Dreams, vols I and II through Cemetery Dance. My husband and I recently retired, and I have a very full plate for the next few months until we sell the house in the Frozen North and finish moving to sunny Florida. I do plan, however, to start reading along and catch up with Richard and the other Constant Readers as soon as I can!

You know,those of us who have read Mr. King’s short story collections have never been disappointed, so it’s strange that perhaps he hasn’t been recognized enough in this venue. However, when you look at the number of movies that have been made from his short stories, you know his talent is obvious. I LOOK FORWARD to the publication of his The Bazaar of Bad Dreams!!!

No “The Plant”?

The Plant is unfinished.

Yet nevertheless it was published (albeit only online). If King had not yet managed to finish “The Dark Tower” (which, to some degree, he admits he hasn’t), would those books be left off?

I’m definitely willing to listen to the argument for re-reading the eBook of The Plant, even if it was only “Part One” and never finished beyond that point. I shall mention it to Richard during our next meeting. At the very least, it’s an interesting piece of Stephen King history…

To me, it feels like too substantial a work to skip. Plus, it’s pretty good! I keep hoping he’ll turn his eye back toward it one of these days.

While I’m at it, I might as well also make a case for “Silver Bullet.” It’s just a screenplay, sure, but (like “Storm of the Century,” which is on the list) it WAS published as a book.

Read my first Stephen King this year – at age 64! It was 11/233/63. I was 13 at the time. Since then I graduated (?) to the Dome then the Stand, lastly the entire Dark Tower series. Bought each movie after I read the book. All but The Dome were really good. Buying a book then seeing the movie or vice versa, remembering I’ve read A LOT of books up until now, is a quirk I am proud of. I can do this as I am disabled, both social security and veterans, so I have the time to indulge. If anyone would care to comment, I am unsure about collaboration books. I don’t know how that works; how an author does this type writing.

Read the Green Mile, then watch the movie. Almost word for word. I even have a copy of the screenplay awesome adaptation

I’m a constant reader who not only loves Stephen’s stories but his Afterword. I also love his use of music throughout his stories. Stephen writes his beginnings with mounting urge to read more and doesn’t disappoint as the story progresses to its crescendo. I enjoyed the first three of the Dark Tower series. One of my favorites is “Dolores Claiborne.” I also enjoy your short stories and noticed a similarity to some of the Classic Horror stories by Robert Louis Stevenson and Edgar Allan Poe. You outdid your writing with the Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption. One of my favorites is “The Girl who loved Tom Gordon.” One of my favorites was “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.” Will be a Constant Reader for as long as you write. You write as if you are talking directly to me….very private and personal. Thank you for surviving unsurmountable pain and healing to continue your works. See you in the words….Paula Baskette

I, too, have noticed Mr. King’s love for music. I look for literary allusions and outright authors’ names and titles. For me, Mr. King’s books ‘read themselves’. I’ve read authors in this and other genres who take a LONG time, if ever, developing my interest as the way Mr. King does. I have also been to Maine. It was 1970. Maybe not the same as staying in a Motel 6, but close.

is the “The Dark Tower: The Wind thru the keyhole” 2012, the Dark Tower 8?

You might call it that. SK sometimes refers to it as The Dark Tower 4.5, since the contemporary storyline sites between Wizard & Glass and Wolves of the Calla .

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I bought Secretary of Dreams, Vols II — but somehow miss Vol. I. I am quite a hard time finding that volume published by Cemetary Dance. ????? Bummer. Any suggestions? Linda

Save up a couple of thousand dollars and then go to eBay. It’s hella out of print.

found one at a used book store for 30 bucks!!

I think this is an amazing this to do! Being unemployed with health issues right now and having to help my family make it through the holidays, I can’t afford to go out and buy a bunch of SK books. At only 23, my collection right now is kind of small and i would love to take that journey with you. King is one of the reasons i was inspired to self-publish four books and continue to write through my struggles now. But since I can’t read a long, i’ll read and enjoy these posts! It should be an awesome ride.

Hello! I was curious why some novellas and short stories didn’t make the Revisited list? I’m referring to UR, Throttle, Mile 81, In the Tall Grass, and especially A Face in the Crowd. Thank you for your time!

Hi Tara! We’re only covering short stories and novellas that have been collected in King’s collections or published as standalone editions like Blockade Billy. The collaborations with Joe Hill won’t be in the next collection due out in 2015, but some of the others you mention almost certainly will be, so they’ll be covered then. Thanks for asking!

Wasn’t My pretty pony published as a standalone? it is not included. Also I think for sure, Riding the Bullet and the plant need to be added. They were landmark ideas at the time. Displaying King’s foresight of the future of publishing. The revised editions of the Gunslinger and Salem’s Lot need to be included. If storm of the century is included then silver bullet has to be as it was published in book format. It may be hard to find, but so is Rage (as King pulled it from print). Secret Windows needs to be included as well, it is listed in the front of King works. I am assuming we are not including six stories, because it is impossible to get a copy for less than $750. Bottom line we should avoid cutting as many corners as possible.

Also to be considered: American Vampire Vol 1, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, and Stephen King Goes to the Movies. An arguement can be made for each.

Thanks for the feedback, Gary!

you can count CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF as SILVER BULLET, as that is the book the film came from, RAGE is not that hard to find at all, millions of copies of THE BACHMAN BOOKS in its collected form are still easy to find at a used book price ( any more than $20 and you are getting robbed) both STEPHEN KING GOES TO THE MOVIES and SIX STORIES publish previously published material , same to all those who request SECRETARY OF DREAMS 1 and 2. .and RIDING THE BULLET is also in EVERYTHING IS EVENTUAL.

with blockade billy being listed as included in The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, is it going to be dropped from the list?

Might Richard consider recording his readings into audio books?

I kind of love this idea! I’ll pass it along. Thanks!

I love this “Stephen King Revisited” Re-Read Along.These are my guesses: you might not have read “Cycle of the Werewolf” and “Storm of the Century”. I didn’t even try guessing “The Plant”. As it seems, I am also, awaiting, a complete, affordable hardcover. I am loving the revisit of “the darkly frightening “RAGE”;ever more terrifying because of its seemingly; psychic, precognition; of our present exponentially increasing social situations. All The Best Mr. Chizmar, Regards, Ronald Scott Sippel.

Where’s “Thinner” (written as Richard Bachman)?

Hiding in the mid-1980s, between The Talisman and Skeleton Crew.

I have already purchased Finder Keepers and look forward to its release. Is Cemetery Dance handling “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams” too? I want to pre-order that book also. Stephen King Rules!!!!! Many Thanks!

Why was My Pretty Pony not addressed in one of the earlier posts? I have the oversized book and it is really good and should be on the list.

It’s collected in Nightmares and Dreamscapes and will be discussed there.

Is the e-book publication of Riding the Bullet that was published in 2000 different from the version of that story that was in Everything’s Eventual in 2002?

I was at a book signing for ‘Revival” and the guy in line in front of me was chatting everyone up. He turned to me and said, “So which Stephen King books have you read?” Me: “All of them.” What other answer could there be?

I have read all of the Stephen King books in the list except the illustrated ones – The Dark Man and Secretary of Dreams I and II (which are illustrations of existing short stories) – and Faithful (just could never get into it. I have read most of his books more than once. I have also read My Pretty Pony, which is not in the list.

How is Blockade Billy affected now that is it being included in The Bazaar of Bad Dreams? We have not included other books that are included into collections

That’s a good question. The other novellas like My Pretty Pony and Dolan’s Cadillac didn’t have trade editions for the mass market from SK’s New York publisher like Blockade Billy, so it is a little different in that sense, but it is also now in a collection. We’ll probably make a decision when we get closer!

new king book announced The Suicide Prince !

The title is now End of Watch

Please check the link to “Richard’s Thoughts” for Firestarter – it is incorrectly pointing to instead of [www.stephenkinrevisited.com]

Fixed! Thank you!

What happened to Creepshow?

Richard decided to skip it since he doesn’t consider it to be a real SK book.

I have been reading Stephen King’s books since I was 12. Have not missed one of his books !! Would never tell my age, but has been a long journey and have loved everyone !! He has a fantastic mind.

Wow! I love Stephen King and when i bought my first kindle in 2011, i decided to re-read all his books by order! Glad to see others doing and blogging about it! 4 years passed, and i’m still not done 😀

What about the collections in Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight.

They’re on the list. We’ve already covered Different Seasons.

I’ve been loving this. Thanks for all the work you’ve put in here.

Was any thought given to including Nightmares in the Sky? Might be a bit insubstantial, but could make a good inclusion if for no other reason than to highlight the book for people who don’t know about it.

I started a re-read of all his books this past Summer. I am reading The Library Policeman from Four Past Midnight now. I cheated and read some Bazaar of Bad Dreams but who can blame me lol. I read Mr. Mercedes but have resisted Finders Keepers thus far. That will likely change when End of Watch is released as I am going to go see him for the reading, Q&A session in Dayton this Summer. Hoping to be one of the 400 picked for a signed copy. I have an early edition of Pet Sematary I would LOVE to have signed, the first book I read of his and by far my favorite every since. Trying to gather all his DVD’S now. I have Rose Red, IT, The Mist, Children of the Corn, Shawshank Redemption, the Green Mile, Creepshow & Dreamcatcher. Still have a ways to go lol. I have all his paperbacks and about 37 hardcover so that collection is coming on nicely :). Thanks for the comprehensive list and awesome site. Love that others love his work as much as I do to reread them all over again! I’ve read all his works at least once and my favorites at least a dozen times lol. Reading them chronologically makes it feel like a journey though. And like Roland I will probably restart the same journey over and over again for all my days…

The first Stephen King book I read was “Salem’s Lot” in 1975. We were living in Topsham, ME then. As I sat in the house it the evening reading the book I was scared out of my wits as I could picture all those ME sights. From then on, I was hooked. Thanks for all the joy you’ve brought to my reading life, Mr. King.

I am one of your biggest fan I have ever book you have written even the ones under Bachman I have a hard copy and paper back I love all your books that’s all I own I will only read your books thank you for the wonderful books

I have a suggestion for Stephen King.Thinner in reverse entitle it Fatter make it about a gypsy curse making a thin guy fat and have it end with him dying from a heart attack.

I never knew that there was a last book in the dark tower series the wind through the keyhole Wow!!

When are you going to put up more reviews and comments of the books? They are the next best thing to reading King

What about Secret Windows: Essays and fiction on the craft of writing from 2000? Not the usual… I think he did it exclusively for his book club members.

Is there anywhere to see a list in the order books were written, including the Bachman ones, and not the order that they were published? Thanks!

Bev Vincent compiled this list for the early stuff, through 1984. After that, we think it can be assumed things were pretty much in sequence:

1965-1966 Unpublished: The Aftermath 1966-1967 The Long Walk 1968 Unpublished: Sword in the Darkness 1966-1971 Rage 1970-1981 The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger 1972 The Running Man 1973 Carrie 1973 Blaze 1973 ‘Salem’s Lot 1973-1974 Roadwork 1974 The Shining 1975-1976 The Stand 1976 Two incomplete novels: Welcome to Clearwater and The Corner 1977 The Dead Zone 1977 Firestarter September 1977 – March 1981 Cujo February 1979 – December 1982 Pet Sematary 1979 Christine 1979 Danse Macabre September 9th, 1981 -December 28th, 1985 It 1982-1986: The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three 1982-1983 The Talisman 1982 Incomplete: The Cannibals August 19th, 1982 – May 19th, 1987 The Tommyknockers 1983 The Eyes of the Dragon September 23rd 1984 – October 7th 1986: Misery 1984 Thinner

Gwendy’s Magic Feather is missing. Still holding out hope this site will come back, even if it’s picked up by someone else.

Thanks as well to SK for recommending works by John D. McDonald, John Sandford, Elmore Leonard , Robert Parker ,Michael Connelly and C. J. Box over the years. I managed to read all their works with pleasure as well as Stephen’s. I have read many others but these are the outstanding few that make the cut…..Paul.

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When You Write

The Complete List of Stephen King Books In Order

Stephen King is a household name, a legendary American author with more than 50 novels and 200 short stories to his name.

He isn’t new either, he’s been publishing books since1974. His stories are what you read if you are looking for a scare ton of chapters. They’re full of chilling horror, suspense, crime, magical realism, and happenings of the supernatural nature.

It’s no surprise then that his books have sold more than 350 million copies, and most of his literary works have been adapted into television series and films.

And… in 2015, Stephen King was awarded a National Medal of Arts from the United States National Endowment for the Arts, thanking him for all he’s done for literature.

I just had to write a post on this phenomenal writer! So, I compiled a complete list of Stephen King’s Books.

I have added some fun facts and some FAQs, so read on to know about the world’s best horror writer.

Our Top 3 Stephen King Books at a Glance:

  • Carrie (1974)
  • The Shining (1977)

Who is Stephen King?

Stephen Edwin King is an American author who has written horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. He was born on September 21, 1947, and has been publishing bestsellers for over 45 years.

Before his successful writing career, he was an English Teacher, which—presumably—formed strong foundations for his mastery of writing.

He’s used in his hometown, Maine, as the setting for a lot of stories including Pet Sematary and Carrie. He also advises upcoming writers to use things and settings they know to create a relatable world and experience.

His works have earned him a lot of awards and general recognition. He has been awarded World Fantasy Awards, British Fantasy Society Awards, and Bram Stoker Awards. He has also been awarded the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters by the National Book Foundation and a National Medal of Arts from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts. I cannot list all the prizes and honors, but I know his trophy cabinet is full.

Stephen King married Tabitha Spruce—a novelist too—on January 2, 1971, and the couple has three children, a daughter and two sons, and four grandchildren.

What Did Stephen King Write?

Stephen King wrote both fiction and non-fiction books, 7 of which were published under a pen name , Richard Bachman. He used a pen name because he didn’t want to publish more than one book under the same name.

In total, he wrote 63 novels, 20 novellas, around 120 short stories, and there have been 5 published non-fiction books in his name.

The Chronological List of Stephen King’s Published Books

  • Salem’s Lot (1975)
  • Rage (1977)
  • The Stand (1978)
  • Night Shift (1977)
  • The Long Walk (1979)
  • The Dead Zone (1979)
  • The Mist (1979)
  • Firestarter (1980)
  • Roadwork (1981)
  • Danse Macabre, non-fiction, (1981)
  • Cujo (1981)
  • The Running Man (1982)
  • The Dark Tower, novel series, (1982 – 2012)
  • Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (1982)
  • The Body (1982)
  • Apt Pupil (1982)
  • The Breathing Method (1982)
  • Pet Sematary (1982)
  • Christine (1983)
  • The Talisman (1984)
  • Cycle of the Werewolf (1985)
  • Thinner (1984)
  • Skeleton Crew (1985)
  • The Bachman Books, novel collection, (1985)
  • The Eyes of the Dragon (1987)
  • Misery (1987)
  • The Tommyknockers (1987)
  • Nightmares in The Sky, non-fiction, (1987)
  • The Dark Half (1989)
  • The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition (1990)
  • Four Past Midnight (1990)
  • The Sun Dog (1990)
  • Secret Window, Secret Garden (1990)
  • The Library Policeman (1990)
  • The Langoliers (1990)
  • Needful Things (1991)
  • Gerald’s Game (1992)
  • Dolores Claiborne (1992)
  • Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993)
  • Insomnia (1994)
  • Blind Willie (1994)
  • Rose Madder (1995)
  • The Green Mile, novel series, (1996)
  • Desperation (1996)
  • The Regulators (1996)
  • Bag of Bones (1998)
  • The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999)
  • Hearts in Atlantis (1999)
  • Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Craft of Writing, non-fiction, (1999)
  • Elevation (1999)
  • On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, non-fiction, (1999)
  • Gwendy’s Button Box (1999)
  • Dreamcatcher (2001)
  • Black House (2001)
  • Everything’s Eventual (2001)
  • From a Buick 8 (2001)
  • Faithful, non-fiction, (2004)
  • The Colorado Kid (2005)
  • Salem’s Lot Illustrated Edition (2005)
  • The Secretary of Dreams: Volume One (2005)
  • Cell (2006)
  • Lisey’s Story (2006)
  • Blaze (2007)
  • Duma Key (2008)
  • Just After Sunset (2008)
  • Stephen King Goes to the Movies (2009)
  • Under the Dome (2009)
  • The Secretary of Dreams: Volume 2 (2010)
  • Full Dark, No Stars (2010)
  • 11/22/63 (2011)
  • GUNS (2013)
  • Joyland (2013)
  • Doctor Sleep (2013)
  • Mr. Mercedes (2014)
  • Revival (2014)
  • Finders Keepers (2015)
  • Joyland Illustrated Edition (2015)
  • The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015)
  • Blockade Billy (2015)
  • End of Watch (2016)
  • Charlie the Choo-Choo (2016)
  • Sleeping Beauties (2017)
  • The Outsider (2018)
  • The Institute (2019)
  • If It Bleeds (2020)

10 Most Popular Stephen King’s Books?

1. carrie (1974).

This is the very first novel that Stephen King published in 1974. The story is set in the year 1979—which, in 1974 is a future timeline—and follows a telekinetic teenager named Carrie White.

Carrie has had to deal with abuse from high-school bullies and an abusive religious household and decides to use her newly discovered telekinetic powers to take revenge on her tormentors. But, in the process of exacting revenge on her sadistic classmates and Margaret (Carrie’s own mother), she destroys the fictional town of Chamberlain, Maine.

King’s portrayal of violence, underage sex, and inclusion of cursing and negative view of religion made the book one of the most frequently banned books in US schools during the 1990s.

2. It (1986)

The story is set in 1958 and 1985 in the fictional town of Derry, Maine, and follows seven kids who are followed by a monster, which often takes the form of Pennywise the Clown and is called “It.”

3. The Shining (1977)

This Novel made the list effortlessly because it’s also Stephen King’s first-ever bestseller: This horror novel was published in 1977 and was adapted into a movie, which also has a sequel. This paranormal story is about Jack Torrance, a new caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, who is looking forward to spending quality time with his family while focusing on his writing. A winter storm holds Jack hostage at the hotel and hell starts to break loose when evil forces which tried and failed to possess his son, Danny, possess Jack instead.

4. The Stand (1978)

This story is a tale filled with supernatural and fantasy fabrics and sewn into an apocalyptic timeline.

It begins after a plague kills most of the population, and the people split into 2 groups. Then a battle between the two groups ensues, and it’s a battle between the good and the bad.

5. 11/22/63

The story is about a time traveler, a high school English teacher named Jake Epping, who attempts to avert the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. The title is derived from the date of the assassination, which is November 22, 1963. King shifts away from his horror genre and writes a thrilling historical fiction story, in which Epping changes his identity, dances with the time continuum, and sees what may wait in the present timeline if he succeeds.

This novel, which is Stephen King’s 60th book, 49th novel, and the 42nd under his own name, was published on November 8, 2011.

It didn’t take time to become number-one bestseller staying on The New York Times Best Seller list for 16 weeks, winning the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Best Mystery/Thriller) and the 2012 International Thriller Writers Award for Best Novel, and earned nominations for the 2012 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and 2012 British Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

It has also had over 220,000 five-star reviews on Goodreads.

6. Salem’s Lot (1975)

Salem’s Lot is Stephen King’s second published novel, and it revolves around writer Ben Mears who returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot, AKA Salem’s Lot in Maine after 25 years. He discovers that the town’s residents are turning into vampires. A battle ensues between the vampires and others, including Mr. Mears.

The story earned King nominations for the World Fantasy Award and the Locus Award for the All-Time Best Fantasy Novel in 1976 and 1987, respectively.

7. Pet Sematary (1983)

Again using a familiar environment, King sets this story in rural Maine. In this horror classic, a family moves into a nice home, expecting to live a calm, uncomplicated and joyous life. However, they soon discover that this town is haunted by horrors that won’t remain dead and buried all because of the evil pet cemetery.

8. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (1982)

Gunslinger is the first installment of King’s “The Dark Tower” series, which served eight books and a short story much to the satisfaction of his enthusiasts.

In this story, Roland of Deschain is the last gunslinger, who—for many years—has been pursuing an adversary named “the man in black.” The story follows Roland as he treks through a vast desert and beyond in search of his man.

King serves Western fiction fused science fiction, fantasy, and—of course—horror.

9. Under the Dome (2009)

Again set in Maine, this is a story about a town that finds itself trapped under an invisible dome, separating it from the rest of the world.

The story unfolds through multiple perspectives, as the town’s residents come together and try to fight their new enemy: a force field dome.

10. The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands

This is the third book in the “The Dark Tower” series. The entire series takes place in a parallel universe, where the Dark Tower connects all the universes and follows Roland as he tries to reach the Dark Tower.

The success of this third installment of the Dark Tower Series culminated in a nomination for the 1991 Bram Stoker Award for Novel.

Stephen King Fun Facts (Did You Know?)

1. Stephen King uses two pen names: Richard Bachman and John Swithen.

2. Initially, Carrie was plotted as a short story but the first draft was tossed away by King. Tabitha, his wife, found the trashed draft and liked the story. Afterward, King went at it again and the rest is history (Yes, a history that goes like, he sold the rights to Doubleday and pocketed an advance of around $2,500).

3. The Lurker of the Threshold , which is a short story collection by HP Lovecraft is said to be the inspiration behind King’s writing career.

4. Stephen King’s house is a tourist attraction. His home in Bangor, Maine, in which he wrote “It.” draws die-hard fans of the horror king.

5. King prefers to write on paper with a fountain pen. He says that he tries to write a minimum of 2,000 words per day.

6. King loves baseball and is a hardcore Boston Red Sox fan. His love for the MLB baseball team is said to have influenced his story “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.”

7. In 2014, King published his first ‘hard-boiled detective book’ which featured retired detective Bill Hodges. That book earned him an Edgar Award.

8. Stephen and Tabitha King own a classic rock station called WKIT which proudly calls itself “Stephen King’s Rock Station.” In fact, the Kings own Zone Radio, a company that runs Stephen and Tabitha’s three radio stations in Maine including WKIT.

9. In 1999, King was hit by a van, an accident that left him in a hospital with a big cut in the head, a collapsed lung, and multiple fractures to his hip and leg. Later, King bought the van for $1500.

10. King played rhythm guitar for a band called The Rock Bottom Remainders. The band was made up of successful writers and it toured about once a year from 1992 to 2012.

Stephen King FAQs

Does he have a haunted house.

No. He certainly thinks Halloween is fun and has seen about a thousand people show up for candy and treats at his home but is not looking forward to another frenzied Halloween.

What is Stephen King’s Religion?

Stephen was a Methodist and regularly attended church early in life. However, King no longer goes to church, but still believes in God and reads the Bible.

When is Stephen King’s birthday?

September 21st, 1947.

Why did Stephen King become a writer?

King says that “there was nothing else he was made to do.” He loves writing stories “can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Is Stephen King alive or dead?

Stephen King is alive.

Has Stephen King retired?

Not yet. Obviously, he has slowed down in terms of publishing, maybe because of age or family commitments, but he still writes.

Is there a Stephen King fan club?

There is no official Stephen King fan club. The closest things to that are Stephen King’s newsletter and Twitter Feeds.

Where does King get his ideas?

His answer is a simple, “everywhere.”

He obviously draws his inspiration from real life, but it is his ingenuity when mixing such real-life events with other interesting nonexistent scenarios that shines. He says he always adds the question ‘What if?’ to his story ideas and comes up with the stories.

Final Words

Having published over 90 books, I can boldly say that Stephen King has written at least one story for every avid reader.

He is known as the “King of Horror,” but—on many occasions—he has transcended that title to write stories in unrelated genres.

He is, simply, a genius!

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list books by stephen king

Stephen King Books In Order

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Stephen King is a prolific American author who is known for his suspense and fantasy novels. King has written several novels since his first short story sale in 1967 that have become pop cultural signposts. Every Stephen King reader has a favorite tale or series, from Christine to Cujo.

His works have sold more than 350 million copies. Many of these have been adapted into movies or series for television. He has written many books, including non-fiction and over 200 short stories. King also has an alias named Richard Bachman. Stephen King was born September 21, 1947 in Portland, Maine. He has an older brother, David. His parents Donald and Nellie Ruth divorced when he was young.

When he was eleven they moved from Indiana to Durham, Maine. King went to elementary school in Durham and graduated in 1966 from Lisbon Falls High School. He attended the University of Maine at Orono where he wrote for the school’s newspaper.

He also was active in Student Senate and supported the anti-war movement at UMO. He graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor of the Arts in English. His daughter Naomi Rose was born the same year. Following graduation, King failed a draft board examination for service and was not drafted to participate in the War. He married Tabitha King in 1971.

He had met Tabitha when they were students in the library stacks where they both worked. King worked as an industrial laundry laborer as a result of not being able to find a teaching position right away. He sold several short stories to magazines and finally found a job teaching English at Hampden Academy in the fall of 1971. He continued to write in his spare time while teaching.

Stephen King’s first novel Carrie was accepted for publication in 1973 by Doubleday & Co. In between the Kings moved to southern Maine due to the poor health of Stephen’s mother. King wrote what would become Salem’s Lot while the family stayed at the summer cottage.

His mother died the same year from cancer at the age of 59. Carrie was published in the spring of 1974. The Kings moved to Colorado for what would ultimately be a year, during which time Stephen King wrote The Shining, which is set in the same state.

Carrie was made in to a feature film starring Sissy Spacek as an outcast high school girl who discovers she has mental powers. It is being made into a 2013 revision starring Chloe Moretz. The Shining was made into a full-length movie in 1980 starring Jack Nicholson and directed by Stanley Kubrick. Jack Nicholson won an Oscar for Best Actor for the role.

The Kings bought a home in western Maine near the lakes and returned there to live for some time. During this period, King wrote The Stand, set in Colorado, and The Dead Zone. The Shining was published in 1977 and The Stand was published the next year.

After spending some time in England, the Kings returned to Maine and bought a house in Center Lovell. They then moved closer to Bangor for a position Stephen had been offered at the University of Maine Orono teaching Creative Writing. In 1979 they returned to Center Lovell, then bought a home in Bangor. King wrote a number of additional novels from 1977 to 1980 as well.

He finished Rage, Night Shift, a collection of stories, The Long Walk, and Firestarter. Cujo was published in 1981. The book would be made into a feature-length film the same year that gave hundreds of children nightmares about a terrifying, crazed rabid dog.

King has little to no memory of writing it. It was during this time period that King’s family staged an intervention for his drug and alcohol addiction. Confronted with the numerous substances he abused, King quit all drugs and alcohol in the late 1980s. He debuted as a director with an adaptation of his short story “Trucks”, called “Maximum Overdrive”.

King published the first of his Dark Tower series in 1982. The novel was called The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. It would be followed by six more books through the years and is King’s own stated magnum opus. The story spans two worlds that are strangely connected and may be in more ways than one. Roland is The Gunslinger, a courageous man of honor with a storied past.

He is pursuing the mysterious Man In Black, and meets a child named Jake who hails from Manhattan. Part John Wayne, part archetype, the series is inspired by a number of things dear to King, including spaghetti western movies and Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai”.

The second story in the Dark Tower series is called The Drawing of the Three”. It was published in 1987. Roland is in a bind once again, waking up on a beach filled with hungry carnivorous lobsters. Three doors appear to him that are linked to different worlds.

They take him to meet different people. These include a dangerous sociopath named Jack Mort, a woman with multiple personalities named Odetta, and Eddie Dean, who is desperately addicted to heroin. Roland must navigate his way through the various timelines and worlds on Earth while just maybe being able to act in them to save a life.

Multiple Stephen King novels have been adapted for television or made into movies over the years. Along the way, they’ve become pop culture icons. Christine, a movie about a car come to life, was made in 1983. The Dead Zone, starring Christopher Walken, also came out that year about a man developing the power to see the future after waking from a coma.

Children of the Corn debuted in 1984 and led to an impressive seven sequels. Firestarter also became a feature film starring Drew Barrymore in 1984 and later became a tv series. Stand By Me was made into a movie in 1986 and enjoyed wide critical success.

King’s Running Man was made into a 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a contestant in a dystopian television game show where the winners regain their freedom. Other notable movies include Pet Sematary, a spooky thriller about dead pets come to life, and 1990’s Misery, which Kathy Bates won an Oscar for as the kidnapper of a famous author.

Shawshank Redemption earned rave reviews and The Green Mile grossed over $135 million at the box office alone featuring Michael Clarke Douglas as a doomed inmate with special abilities.

9 Responses to “Stephen King”

I had no idea you had this many publications!

I’m keeping this list as there are many titles I had no idea you had written!!

Please keep writing – your novels are always spectacular!!!

Shannon Dixon Lake City, MN

I have two comments, one general, and one specific. I’m using Your Stephen King section as an example. When you list anthologies for an author, does that mean that all of them have a story in them by the author? If so, are these stories also listed separately or did Stephen King acually write something for an anthology that was never published separatly. I’m asking this because my local library facility is not big on buying anthologies for some reason. A specific question. You have a book listed for Patricia Cornwell called “Chasing the Ripper” with a date of 2014. I can find this book nowhere, and my local library says there is no such book. When you look at the list of an author’s books in one of her efforts, you never see this book listed. Can you give me any information on this effort of hers.

Thanking you for all you do for us readers.

For sure – happy to answer 🙂

In regards to anthologies – right now they’re a bit of a mess. Whether they edited it or wrote a story in it – they’re all added to that section. Occasionally, we may list the short story separately and link to the anthology but that is usually only if the short story won or was nominated for an award.

At one point I would love to organize that section better, list if they are an editor, or list the short story title within the anthology. It’s on my “wishlist”. Sadly, it seems most people just don’t care about anthologies ha, so it’s really low on the priority list.

Chasing the Ripper is available on Amazon. I just checked and see it on there. It’s an ebook only.

Thanks for the feedback much appreciated.

Was there a book written for Maximum Overdrive, if so, is it under another title.

Yep it was based off Trucks which is a short story inside Night Shift .

Can’t get enough love to pieces other than the short story in one of your collection books is there an actual book for 1408

Where’s ‘Cycle of the Werewolf’?

Under the dome parts 1 and 2 are two more of his books that can be added to the list

Hi Tiffany,

Under the Dome is just one novel, which is already on the list under the standalones. I know that some stores list both Part 1 & 2 – what the publishers did is take the original novel, and then split it into 2 later on for additional sales. However it was originally published as one big novel.

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Stephen King Books in Order: The Complete Guide

Stephen king books in order.

Are you ready to delve into the captivating world of American author Stephen King ‘s supernatural fiction novels? If you’re a fan or just starting out, knowing the chronological order of his books is essential for an immersive reading experience . From his first novella to his latest release, this writer has crafted a vast collection that spans multiple genres and explores diverse themes. With each turn of the page, you’ll witness his mastery as a storyteller unfolds before your eyes.

Known for his ability to keep readers on the edge of their seats, Stephen King has become synonymous with thrilling and chilling tales that leave a lasting impact. So, grab your favorite bookmark and get ready to embark on an unforgettable journey through the pages of this American author’s extraordinary literary universe.

Complete List of Stephen King Books

If you’re a fan of Stephen King and want to keep track of his extensive collection of story collections, look no further! We have compiled a comprehensive PDF list of all Stephen King’s books for your easy reference. With this complete list , you can stay updated with the latest releases, get a glimpse into the vast collection of horror, suspense, and supernatural tales written by the writer, and organize your reading journey.

Accessing this full list of Stephen King’s popular fiction books allows you to explore the breadth and depth of the writer’s literary universe. From his early works like “ Carrie ” and “The Shining” to his recent novels such as “The Institute” and “If It Bleeds,” each book offers a unique experience that showcases King’s mastery of storytelling. Whether you’re a seasoned reader or new to his works, having this updated list ensures that you won’t miss any hidden gems or exciting releases in his writing career.

By utilizing this complete list of Stephen King’s story collection, publication, bestselling, and first novel, you can easily keep track of which books you’ve read and which ones are still on your reading list. It serves as a valuable tool for avid fans who want to delve into King’s bibliography chronologically or explore specific genres within his body of work. With just a glance at the PDF, you’ll know exactly where to start or continue your Stephen King journey.

Not only does this comprehensive list of Stephen King’s story collection provide convenience for readers, but it also highlights the sheer volume of his creativity. The bestselling author has penned numerous novels, novellas, short stories , and even nonfiction works throughout his career. Having access to this organized compilation ensures that no book goes unnoticed or overlooked amidst such an impressive repertoire of publications.

To give you an idea of what awaits within this complete list of Stephen King’s works , here are some notable examples from various stages in his career, including his first book, a horror story collection, and a chilling novella.

  • The Shining
  • Pet Sematary
  • The Dark Tower series
  • Doctor Sleep

These are just a few examples from the extensive collection of Stephen King’s nonfiction books that you’ll find in the PDF. Each title, including novella and limited edition, offers its own unique blend of horror, suspense, and supernatural elements, captivating readers with King’s signature storytelling style. Check out the full list for more.

So, whether you’re a die-hard fan of Stephen King’s horror story collection or someone looking to explore his nonfiction novella for the first time, this complete list is an invaluable resource. It allows you to stay up-to-date with the latest releases while providing a roadmap to navigate through his vast body of work. Get ready to immerse yourself in chilling tales and unforgettable characters as you embark on your Stephen King reading adventure!

Chronological Order of Stephen King Novels:

Stephen King, the master of horror, has captivated readers for decades with his novels and novellas. One fascinating aspect of his work is the way in which he weaves together a complex universe through his books. By following the chronological order of Stephen King’s novels, readers can delve into the timeline of events, witness the evolution of characters and storylines, and experience the growth of King’s writing style. Whether it’s in October or November, King’s horror stories are sure to leave you on the edge of your seat.

Follow the timeline of events in Stephen King’s universe through his novels.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Stephen King’s novels is how they interconnect within a shared universe. By reading his story collection in chronological order, readers can follow the progression of events that unfold across different novellas. For example, his horror novels are perfect for a chilling read in the month of November.

  • Begin with Stephen King’s first book, “Carrie” (1974), where readers are introduced to telekinetic abilities. This story collection includes a novella showcasing King’s talent for crafting thrilling narratives.
  • Move on to “The Shining” (1977), one of Stephen King’s popular books, which explores supernatural occurrences at the Overlook Hotel. This story collection is a must-read for fans of King’s work, including his Bachman novel and novella.
  • Continue with “It” (1986), a Stephen King book, where Pennywise terrorizes the town of Derry in October.
  • Progress to reading Stephen King books, including “ The Dark Tower ” series (1982-2012), an epic story collection that ties together multiple dimensions and characters from various novels.

By immersing oneself in this chronological journey, readers gain a deeper understanding of how each Stephen King book contributes to an expansive narrative tapestry. This story of books, from novella to full-length novels, is a captivating exploration that can be enjoyed during the month of December.

Understand how characters and storylines intertwine across different books.

As readers progress through Stephen King’s novels in chronological order, they will notice recurring characters and interconnected storylines . Characters who appeared as children in one novella may resurface as adults in another, providing a sense of continuity throughout King’s works. This is particularly evident in the months of November, September, and December.

  • The character Randall Flagg appears as both a villainous figure in Stephen King’s “The Stand” (1978) and as an enigmatic sorcerer known as Walter O’Dim or The Man in Black in “The Dark Tower” series. These Stephen King books tell a captivating story.
  • The town of Castle Rock serves as a backdrop for numerous Stephen King books, including the novella “Cujo” (1981), “The Dead Zone” (1979), and “Needful Things” (1991). These books were published between September and December.

By reading the novella books in chronological order from September to December, readers can fully appreciate the limited edition intricate web of connections between characters and storylines.

Experience the evolution of Stephen King’s writing style throughout his career.

Stephen King’s writing style has evolved over the course of his prolific career, including his novellas. Reading his novels in chronological order allows readers to witness this evolution firsthand, from limited edition releases in September to December.

  • In his earlier works like “Carrie,” King employs a more straightforward narrative style with a focus on building tension and suspense. However, in his limited edition novella set to be released in September, he explores a different writing approach. The novella promises to captivate readers with its unique narrative style and immersive storytelling. Fans can look forward to getting their hands on this highly anticipated release in December.
  • As he delves into epic sagas like “The Dark Tower” series, King demonstrates a mastery of world-building and intricate plot construction. Whether it’s a limited edition novella released in December or a captivating novel published in September, King’s storytelling skills are unparalleled.

By experiencing these changes in writing style, readers gain insight into King’s growth as an author and how he continually pushes the boundaries of storytelling. This is particularly evident in his limited edition novella released in December and his September release that showcases his evolving writing style.

Dive into each book knowing its place within the larger narrative.

When reading Stephen King’s novels out of order, it is easy to miss subtle references or connections that contribute to the larger narrative. By following the chronological order, readers can fully immerse themselves in each novella while understanding its place within the broader tapestry of King’s universe. Whether it’s December or September, diving into King’s works in sequence ensures a comprehensive reading experience.

The Dark Tower Series: A Multiverse Journey

Embark on an epic adventure with Roland Deschain in The Dark Tower series, one of the most popular Stephen King books. This captivating novel takes readers on a journey through multiple dimensions and parallel worlds, blending elements of science fiction and fantasy into a seamless narrative. The protagonist, Roland, a gunslinger from another world, sets out to reach the enigmatic Dark Tower—a structure that holds the key to saving his dying world. Don’t miss out on this limited edition release in December.

Within The Dark Tower series, Stephen King masterfully weaves together limited edition elements from his other novels. Fans will delight in discovering how characters and events from different books intertwine within this multiverse. For example, Randall Flagg—the dark man who appears as the primary antagonist—has also been featured in other King works such as “The Stand” and “Eyes of the Dragon.” These connections create a sense of continuity throughout King’s vast literary universe in December.

As readers delve deeper into The Dark Tower novel series, they will uncover hidden references and limited edition Easter eggs scattered throughout the narrative. King expertly embeds these nods into his other works, rewarding attentive fans with delightful surprises. From mentions of Derry—the town featured prominently in “IT”—to subtle allusions to “The Shining,” these December references add depth and richness to the reading experience.

Moreover, The Dark Tower series, one of Stephen King’s most popular novels, has not only captivated readers but has also attracted attention in other media forms. In December 2017, a limited edition film adaptation of the series was released, starring Idris Elba as Roland Deschain and Matthew McConaughey as Walter Padick (the main antagonist). While opinions may vary on its success as a film adaptation, it introduced even more people to this extraordinary story.

For those who are new to The Dark Tower series or wish to revisit it, there are several ways to embark on this multiverse journey. Starting with “The Gunslinger,” readers can follow Roland’s quest across seven main books, including “The Drawing of the Three,” “The Waste Lands,” and “Wizard and Glass.” There are limited edition tie-in novels and short stories that further expand upon the world of The Dark Tower. Some notable entries include “The Wind Through the Keyhole” and “Little Sisters of Eluria.” In December, don’t miss out on these limited-edition additions to the series.

Collectors may also be interested in seeking out limited edition versions of The Dark Tower novel. These special releases, available in December, often feature unique artwork, additional content, or signed copies that enhance the reading experience. Such editions can become prized possessions for avid fans and collectors alike.

Richard Bachman’s Works: Exploring Stephen King’s Pseudonym

In conclusion, Richard Bachman’s novels provide a fascinating exploration into Stephen King’s pseudonym. Through this alter ego, King was able to experiment with different genres and styles, showcasing his versatility as a writer. The existence of Richard Bachman also highlights the creative process and the desire for authors to push their boundaries in the month of December. By delving into Richard Bachman’s limited edition novels in December, readers can discover hidden gems that may not have received the same recognition under King’s name alone.

These books offer a unique perspective on King’s storytelling abilities and allow fans to appreciate his diverse range of writing. If you are a fan of Stephen King and want to explore his works in chronological order, including both his main body of work and the intriguing novels published under the name Richard Bachman, refer to the complete list of Stephen King books (PDF) provided. This resource will help you navigate through his extensive bibliography and ensure you don’t miss any of his captivating stories.

If you are particularly interested in embarking on an epic multiverse journey, make sure to check out The Dark Tower series. This interconnected saga brings together elements from various Stephen King novels and offers a truly immersive reading experience. The Dark Tower series is a limited edition collection that is perfect for December. To fully enjoy Stephen King’s limited edition books in December, consider joining online communities or forums where fellow fans discuss their favorite novels.

Engaging with like-minded individuals can enhance your reading experience by providing insights, recommendations, and lively discussions about each book by Richard Bachman. So why wait? Dive into the world of Stephen King’s limited edition novel and discover the thrilling tales that have captivated millions around the globe.  Whether it’s through his main body of work or exploring the enigmatic writings under Richard Bachman, there is always something new to uncover within these pages. Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity in December.

How many books did Richard Bachman write?

Richard Bachman, later revealed to be Stephen King, wrote four novels in December. These books, “Rage,” “The Long Walk,” “Roadwork,” and “The Running Man,” were his work.

Are Richard Bachman’s books similar to Stephen King’s style?

Yes, Richard Bachman’s novel books share similarities with Stephen King’s writing style. However, they often have a darker and grittier tone compared to King’s more supernatural-based works in December.

Why did Stephen King use the pseudonym Richard Bachman?

In December, Stephen King, a renowned novelist, decided to use the pseudonym Richard Bachman as an experiment. He wanted to see if his success was solely based on his name recognition or if his writing could stand on its own merit. King aimed to challenge himself and explore different genres without being constrained by his established reputation.

Are Richard Bachman’s books worth reading?

Absolutely! Richard Bachman’s novels in December offer a unique perspective on Stephen King’s storytelling abilities and provide an opportunity to discover lesser-known works that may not have received as much attention under King’s name alone. They are definitely worth exploring for any fan of Stephen King in December.

Can I read Richard Bachman’s books out of order?

While each Stephen King book can be enjoyed as a standalone novel, reading them in order allows you to witness the evolution of Richard Bachman as a writer. It also provides a deeper understanding of the themes he explores throughout his works. Therefore, it is recommended to read Stephen King’s books in chronological order if possible.

How do I differentiate between Stephen King’s and Richard Bachman’s novels?

In most cases, it is fairly easy to distinguish between Stephen King’s and Richard Bachman’s novels, especially when examining their publishing history in December. However, some readers may find similarities in writing style or themes that hint at the true authorship. Ultimately, knowing about the pseudonym adds another layer of intrigue when reading these captivating stories during the month of December.

Will there be more books published under the name Richard Bachman in the future?

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All 80+ Stephen King Books in Order | Ultimate Guide

Whether you’re new to Stephen King or have been a dedicated fan for years, these lists offer a definitive guide on how to read the Stephen King books in order.

Stephen King has become synonymous with writing and has an impressive oeuvre to match his fame.

Even if you haven’t read a book by him, or watched one of the many adaptions of his novels, it is nearly impossible not to recognize the name and for very good reason.

Who is Stephen King?

Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine and he currently lives between Maine and Florida with his wife Tabitha. Before he became a bestselling author he was an English teacher.

During the last five decades, King has accumulated a dedicated base of fans . As well, many of his popular books have been adapted for the screen, both films and TV shows.

To the delight of fans King has appeared on screen in several adaptions of his works. For example, King’s latest cameo appearance is in the 2019 adaption of his classic novel IT.

His latest cameo role is widely regarded as his best by fans. In the film, King appears as the proprietor of a pawn shop with a tongue-in-cheek quip about not liking the ending to the protagonist’s latest bestselling book.

Stephen King Books in Order

Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. He has published dozens of books and more than a hundred short stories, dominating the horror genre. In addition to penning incredibly popular novels, King’s writing also veers into the genres of supernatural fiction; gothic drama; dark fantasy; and, of course, psychological horror.

His first novel, Carrie , captivated audiences and subsequently launched King to fame. His publication frequency is inspiring with a new work published almost every year since his writing career began more than 45 years ago.

King has also published 7 books under the alias Richard Bachman .

Collectively, his books have sold more than 350 million copies and dominated bestseller lists.

Complete List of Stephen King Books in Order of Publication

Stephen King has an impressive collection of works to read, and all in quick succession of one another. But with dozens and dozens of titles it can easily be overwhelming.

Below are all of the novels and novellas King has published since the beginning of his career as an author in the mid-1970s.

If you’re just starting your King reading journey, reading the Stephen King books in order of publication will introduce you to some of his most famous titles.

In the above list, all titles marked with an asterisk are published under Stephen King’s alias of Richard Bachman. Further detail on this moniker is below.

  • Carrie (1974)
  • ‘Salem’s Lot (1975)
  • Rage (1976) *
  • The Shining (1977)
  • The Stand (1978)
  • The Long Walk (1978) *
  • Night Shift (1978) (Short Story Collection)
  • The Dead Zone (1979)
  • Firestarter (1980)
  • Roadwork (1980) *
  • Cujo (1981)
  • The Running Man (1981) *
  • The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (1982)
  • Apt Pupil (1982)
  • The Breathing Method (1982)
  • Different Seasons (1982) (Short Story Collection)
  • Christine (1983)
  • Pet Sematary (1983)
  • Cycle of the Werewolf (1983)
  • The Talisman (1984)
  • Thinner (1984) *
  • Skeleton Crew (1985) (Short Story Collection)
  • The Eyes of the Dragon (1987)
  • The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
  • Misery (1987)
  • The Tommyknockers (1987)
  • The Dark Half (1989)
  • Four Past Midnight (1990) (Short Story Collection)
  • The Dark Tower: The Waste Lands (1991)
  • Needful Things (1991)
  • Gerald’s Game (1992)
  • Dolores Claiborne (1993)
  • Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993) (Short Story Collection)
  • Insomnia (1994)
  • Rose Madder (1995)
  • The Regulators (1995) *
  • The Green Mile (1996)
  • Desperation (1996)
  • The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass (1997)
  • Bag of Bones (1998)
  • Storm of the Century (1999) (Original Screenplay)
  • The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999)
  • Hearts in Atlantis (1999) (Short Story Collection)
  • Dreamcatcher (2001)
  • Black House (2001)
  • From A Buick 8 (2002)
  • Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales (2002) (Short Story Collection)
  • The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla (2003)
  • The Dark Tower: Song of Susannah (2004)
  • The Dark Tower VII (2004)
  • The Colorado Kid (2005)
  • Cell (2006)
  • Lisey’s Story (2006)
  • Blaze (2006) *
  • The Secretary of Dreams, Vol. 1 (2006) (Short Story Collection)
  • Duma Key (2008)
  • Just After Sunset (2008) (Short Story Collection)
  • Under the Dome (2009)
  • Stephen King Goes to the Movies (2009) (Short Story Collection)
  • Blockade Billy (2010)
  • Full Dark, No Stars (2010) (Short Story Collection)
  • The Secretary of Dreams, Vol. 2 (2010)
  • 11/22/63 (2011)
  • The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)
  • Joyland (2013)
  • Doctor Sleep (2013)
  • Mr. Mercedes (2014)
  • Revival (2014)
  • Finders Keepers (2015)
  • The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015) (Short Story Collection)
  • End of Watch (2016)
  • Sleeping Beauties (2017)
  • Gwendy’s Button Box (2017) (Novella)
  • The Outsider (2018)
  • Elevation (2018)
  • The Institute (2019)
  • Gwendy’s Magic Feather (2020)
  • If It Bleeds (2020) (Short Story Collection)
  • Later (2021)
  • Billy Summers (2021)
  • Gwendy’s Final Task (2022)
  • Fairy Tale (2022)
  • Holly (2023)
  • You Like It Darker (Expected: May 21, 2024) (Short Story Collection)

Stephen King Books as Richard Bachman

Stephen King used the alias of Richard Bachman primarily at the outset of his writing career, although he has used it within the last few decades as well.

He has explained that he chose to publish under a different name in order to avoid oversaturating the market with his works while maintaining his impressive publication pace.

All of King’s works published under the Richard Bachman alias are standalones.

  • Rage (1976)
  • The Long Walk (1978)
  • Roadwork (1980)
  • The Running Man (1981)
  • Thinner (1984)
  • The Regulators (1995)
  • Blaze (2006)

Stephen King Standalone Books in Order

While Stephen King has multiple popular series, his standalones are arguably the titles he is most known for.

Below the Stephen King books in order are organized by publication. While the books can be read in any order, reading the standalone books in order of publication can provide insight into King’s progression as an author and how he came to dominate the horror genre.

In other words, if you’ve already read a handful of books by Stephen King and are looking for a new way to experience his writing, reading his standalone books in order of publication will offer insight into the nuances of his career growth.

  • ‘Salem’s Lot (1975)
  • The Mist (1980)
  • Dolores Claiborne (1992)

Stephen King Books in Order of Series

As mentioned, in addition to his bestselling standalones Stephen King has also written numerous bestselling series.

Below the series are organized by the order in which King began writing the first book to the series.

However, the series can be read in whichever order most intrigues you, as the variety of King’s writing is well-demonstrated through his series.

For example, while The Shining series is a horror thriller, the Dark Tower books venture into the fantasy genre, and The Green Mile series is a riveting exploration of psychological horror.

The Shining Books

Dark tower books.

  • The Gunslinger (1982)
  • The Drawing of the Three (1987)
  • The Waste Lands (1991)
  • Wizard and Glass (1997)
  • Wolves of the Calla (2003)
  • Song of Susannah (2004)
  • The Dark Tower (2004)
  • The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)

For an alternative way to read, check out my list of The Dark Tower books in order .

Talisman Books

Bill hodges books, gwendy’s button box, stephen king books in order: non-fiction.

In addition to his popular horror books, Stephen King has also written non-fiction. For instance, King has become incredibly well-known within the writing community for his advice surrounding the craft, as noted in his very popular 2002 book: On Writing.

  • Danse Macabre (1981)
  • Nightmares in the Sky (1988)
  • Mid-Life Confidential (1994)
  • On Writing (2000)
  • Faithful (2004)
  • Hard Listening: The Greatest Rock Band Ever (of Authors) Tells All (2013)
  • Hearts in Suspension (2016)

Stephen King’s Other Written Works

If you’re looking for something a bit shorter to sink your teeth into, but still captivating and gripping, Stephen King’s short stories are a great option. King has written more than 100 short stories, published short story collections, and written graphic novels. The below lists will offer you a glimpse into King’s writing style, but at a length that will allow you to speed through his works.

Short Stories in Publication Order

  • Battleground (1977)
  • The Boogeyman (1977)
  • Children of the Corn (1977)
  • Graveyard shift (1977)
  • Grey Matter (1977)
  • I Am the Doorway (1977)
  • I Know What You Need (1977)
  • Jerusalem’s Lot (1977)
  • The Last Rung on the Ladder (1977)
  • The Lawnmower Man (1977)
  • The Ledge (1977)
  • The Man Who Loved Flowers (1977)
  • The Mangler (1977)
  • Night Surf (1977)
  • One for the Road (1977)
  • Quitters Inc. (1977)
  • Sometimes They Come Back (1977)
  • Strawberry Spring (1977)
  • Trucks (1977)
  • The Woman in the Room (1977)
  • The Night of the Tiger (1978)
  • The Crate (1980)
  • The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet (1985)
  • Beachworld (1985)
  • Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2) (1985)
  • Cain Rose Up (1985)
  • Gramma (1985)
  • Here There Be Tygers (1985)
  • The Jaunt (1985)
  • The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands (1985)
  • The Monkey (1985)
  • Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1) (1985)
  • Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut (1985)
  • Nona (1985)
  • The Raft (1985)
  • The Reach (1985)
  • The Reaper’s Image (1985)
  • Survivor Type (1985)
  • Uncle Otto’s Truck (1985)
  • The Wedding Gig (1985)
  • Word Processor of the Gods (1985)
  • The Reploids (1987)
  • The Revelations of ‘Becka Paulson (1990)
  • Chattery Teeth (1993)
  • Crouch End (1993)
  • Dedication (1993)
  • The Doctor’s Case (1993)
  • Dolan’s Cadillac (1993)
  • The End of the Whole Mess (1993)
  • The Fifth Quarter (1993)
  • Home Delivery (1993)
  • The House on Maple Street (1993)
  • It Grows on You (1993)
  • The Moving Finger (1993)
  • My Pretty Pony (1993)
  • The Night Flier (1993)
  • Popsy (1993)
  • Rainy Season (1993)
  • Sneakers (1993)
  • Suffer the Little Children (1993)
  • The Ten O’Clock People (1993)
  • Umney’s Last Case (1993)
  • You Know They Got a Hell of a Band (1993)
  • Rush Call (1999)
  • 1402 (2002)
  • All That You Love Will Be Carried Away (2002)
  • Autopsy Room Four (2002)
  • The Death of Jack Hamilton (2002)
  • Everything’s Eventual (2002)
  • In the Deathroom (2002)
  • L.T.’s Theory of Pets (2002)
  • The Little Sisters of Eluria (2002)
  • Luckey Quarter (2002)
  • Lunch at the Gotham Café (2002)
  • The Man in the Black Suit (2002)
  • Riding the Bullet (2002)
  • The Road Virus Heads North (2002)
  • That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French (2002)
  • The Tale of Gray Dick (2003)
  • Ayana (2008)
  • The Cat from Hell (2008)
  • The Gingerbread Girl (2008)
  • Graduation Afternoon (2008)
  • Harvey’s Dream (2008)
  • Mute (2008)
  • The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates (2008)
  • Rest Stop (2008)
  • Stationary Bike (2008)
  • The Things They Left Behind (2008)
  • Willa (2008)
  • Throttle (2009)
  • 1922 (2010)
  • A Good Marriage (2010)
  • Big Driver (2010)
  • Fair Extension (2010)
  • Weeds (2014)
  • Bad Little Kid (2015)
  • Batman and Robin Have an Altercation (2015)
  • Drunken Fireworks (2015)
  • The Dune (2015)
  • Herman Wouk is Still Alive (2015)
  • Little Green God of Agony (2015)
  • Mile 81 (2015)
  • Mister Yummy (2015)
  • Morality (2015)
  • Obits (2015)
  • Premium Harmony (2015)
  • Summer Thunder (2015)
  • Under the Weather (2015)
  • The Music Room (2016)
  • The Blue Air Compressor (2018)
  • The Turbulence (2018)

Short Story Collections in Publication Order

  • Night Shift (1978)
  • Different Seasons (1982)
  • Skeleton Crew (1985)
  • Four Past Midnight (1990)
  • Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993)
  • Hearts in Atlantis (1999)
  • Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales (2002)
  • The Secretary of Dreams, Vol. 1 (2006)
  • Just After Sunset (2008)
  • Stephen King Goes to the Movies (2009)
  • Full Dark, No Stars (2010)
  • The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015)
  • If It Bleeds (2020)
  • You Like It Darker (Expected: May 21, 2024)

Stephen King’s Screen Adaptions

If you’ve never picked up one of Stephen King’s books or pieces of writing, the chances are still high that you’ve at least seen the hype surrounding some of his screen adaptions. Many King books have been adapted for movie and television screens during the last several decades.

Some of King’s most popular adaptions have attracted recognizable Hollywood names, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Running Man, which premiered in 1987. Likewise, Misery premiered in 1980 and stars Kathy Bates. The Shining adaption also premiered in 1980. While King has said he is not a fan of the adaption, it stars Jack Nicholson and is produced by Stanley Kubrick.

Most recently James McAvoy starred in the 2019 adaption of IT: Chapter Two, in which King has his memorable and lengthy cameo as a pawn shop owner.

The Best Stephen King Books

Listing the best books by any author will always be subjective to the individual reader. So if you’re a dedicated fan, it’s likely that you might have your own top ten Stephen King books. Moreover, that list might look different to the one included here.

In addition to being subjective, the precise number of books sold isn’t available. However, the below list of books in order of publication have inarguably made an impact on both King’s writing career and the respective genres.

Many of these titles have also been adapted into movies or TV shows which gives a nod to their popularity within society.

Carrie Stephen King Books in Order

Stephen King’s debut novel Carrie cemented his voice in the horror genre. The book is about the misunderstood high school student Carrie White, who is bullied relentlessly. Subsequently, when Carrie discovers she has telekinetic powers, she proceeds to go on a violent rampage of revenge against those who tormented her. As a result, this modern classic remains one of the most barrier-breaking and shocking novels of King’s career.

Salem’s Lot Best Stephen King Books

2. ‘Salem’s Lot

In this popular novel, the horror of ‘Salem’s Lot permeates even thousands of miles away. Firstly we are introduced to a man and a boy, both terrified of the small town of ‘Salem’s Lot. While they are miles away they share their secrets of the tree-lined streets that still haunt them. However, they soon realize they must return to ‘Salem’s Lot for a final confrontation with the unspeakable evil that lives on in the town.

The Shining

3. The Shining

The chance to become an off-season caretaker at an atmospheric old hotel seems like the perfect new job for Jack Torrance in The Shining. At first it seems to be his chance at a fresh start. He imagines he will have plenty of time to reconnect with his family and also work on his writing. But as winter settles in with its harsh weather, the idyllic location grows more remote and sinister as the days pass. It is only Jack’s gifted five-year-old who notices the strange and terrible forces that are gathering around this old hotel.

The Stand Stephen King

4. The Stand

The Stand begins with a man escaping from a biological testing facility and spreading a mutated strain of the flu that will wipe out 99 per cent of humanity within a few weeks. After that horrible sequence of events, those who survive are scared and in desperate need of a leader. Then, two forces emerge. One is Mother Abagail, who is a benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges all to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado. But the other is Randall Flagg, who delights in chaos and violence. He is also ominously known as the nefarious “Dark Man.” As the two gather power and supporters, who the survivors choose to follow in this post-apocalyptic world will decide the fate of humanity.

Misery Book

In this horror fantasy novel Paul Sheldon is a bestselling novelist who finally meets his biggest fan. Annie Wilkes is a rabid reader of his works, but she is also Paul’s nurse and captor. She tends to his shattered body after a car accident, while keeping him prisoner in her isolated house.

IT Stephen King Books in Order

A modern horror classic, IT begins in Derry, Maine. It is a town that feels hauntingly familiar, but the hauntings in this town are real. Years ago, seven teenagers first stumbled across the horror, but they thought they had grown up and moved on since then. However, none of them can withstand the inexplicable force that is driving them back to Derry. Once they are back within town lines they must once again face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name.

Pet Sematary Best Stephen King Books

7. Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary introduces the Creeds as the perfect idyllic family. As they move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, their picture-perfect image seems to be complete. The father is a physician, the wife is beautiful, the daughter is charming, and the newborn son is adorable. But the nearby woods are hiding a blood-chilling truth that is more terrifying and powerful than death itself. Terror lurks around the corner of their perfect home, and the Creeds will soon learn that sometimes dead is better.

The Gunslinger Dark Tower

8. The Gunslinger

The first book in The Dark Tower series introduces readers to Roland of Gilead: The Last Gunslinger. Referred to as one of Stephen King’s most enigmatic heroes, Roland is a haunting figure on a spellbinding journey of good and evil. In a world that frighteningly mirrors our own, Roland pursues The Man in Black. Along his journey he also encounters an alluring woman named Alice and begins a friendship with the Kid from Earth called Jake. This fantasy horror novel is both grippingly realistic and eerily dreamlike.

The Green Mile

9. The Green Mile

The first novel in The Green Mile books introduces readers to Cold Mountain Penitentiary. The men of E Block are all convicted killers waiting their turn to walk the Green Mile. There they will meet with Cold Mountain’s electric chair: “Old Sparky.” Prison guard Paul Edgecombe has seen his share of oddities while working the Mile, but he’s never seen anyone like John Coffey. This man with the body of a giant and the mind of a child was condemned for a shockingly violent crime. Edgecombe will soon discover a terrible, wondrous truth about Coffey that will challenge his most cherished beliefs.

11/22/63 Stephen King Books in Order

10. 11/22/63

In 11/22/63 Stephen King creates an alternate reality history surrounding the assassination of JFK. In this novel Jake Epping is a high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine. While marking papers he finds something shockingly eerie and quickly discovers that his friend’s local diner contains an incredible secret. The storeroom is a portal to 1958. Epping then creates a new identity and embarks on an insane mission to travel back in time to prevent the Kennedy assassination. King’s novel is evocative in its world-building of a bygone era as Epping’s new life transgresses all the normal rules of time in the attempt to stop the assassination of the President.

Looking for more books in order?

Check out this list of Karin Slaughter books in order .

13 thoughts on “ All 80+ Stephen King Books in Order | Ultimate Guide ”

What about the body by stephen king what nuber is it?

That story is a part of the Different Seasons collection which is on the list.

There is quite a few that were left out.. the langoliers.. Sorry Right number.. the lonesome death of Jordi Verrill

One of my dreams is to get a signed hardcover of every SK book in my collection. lol I’ll bet no one in the world has that, not even Steven King himself…lol

Are there any updates to the list? i.e. After Gwendy’s Final Task? I have it and Fairy Tale. BTW, best list of Stephen’s I’ve ever seen. Thanks for the hard work. I’m going back through all of my Stephen King books and taking inventory starting with my original Carrie and two Salem Lots versions.

I check pretty regularly. As soon as I see a new book available for preorder I’ll add it here. Glad my list was helpful!

This is a really well-researched list! I’m wondering about Storm of the Century (1999), his original screenplay, and the illustrated and graphic adaptations of his short stories in The Secretary of Dreams Vol. 1 & 2. Do these need their own category?

Thank you for this. I added all three of these to the list. I simply marked them to identify the type of “book” it is.

This list is extremely helpful, but I noticed you’re missing Ur and Charlie the Choo Choo (Written as Beryl Evans). Other than that the list is perfect

Love Stephen King have almost all of his books. Got hooked in 1978 when The Stand came out. Been reading them ever since. Still have a few to get and read to get caught up but I know he has one coming out soon.Thank you for this list I went through all mine to make sure what I need and put them in dated order.

I watched a movie by Stephen King called Rose Red or Red Rose a long time ago and I have been trying to find the movie again but no luck. I did have it on VHS and I wish I didn’t get rid of it. There were 2 tapes that were 2 hours each. I did not seen this one on the list of movies that he has done. Why is that and where can I get it?

Rose Madder- the second one I read!

I KNOW exactly what movie you are talking about!! I can’t remember which is first either name wise. Unfortunately, I don’t know where my VHS versions are either!! That was such a scary movie!!!

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Stephen King Bibliography

The master list of works by the Master of Horror

Warner Bros / Getty Images

  • B.A. in English, Duke University

Stephen King is one of the most prolific authors alive, known for writing horror, fantasy, and psychological thrillers. His books have sold more than 350 million copies. Here's some background on the Maine-based writer and a bibliography , featuring details about some of his most notable works.

From 'Carrie' to 'Misery' (1960–1985)

King graduated from the University of Maine in 1970 but did not sell his first novel, "Carrie," until 1974. Here's a look at his work both before and during college.

  • 1960: "People, Places, And Things" (limited edition collection of short stories, published with Chris Chelsey)
  • 1964: "The Star Invaders" (limited edition)
  • 1967 via Startling Stories Magazine: "The Glass Floor"
  • 1974: " Carrie ." This was the book that put King on the map; the story of a telekinetic girl and her abusive mother, Carrie goes berserk, killing her classmates after a cruel prank at the prom.
  • 1975: "Salem's Lot"
  • 1977: "The Shining" This book was made into an iconic 1980 film by Stanley Kubrick, which King reportedly didn't like.
  • 1978: "Night Shift" (collection of short stories)
  • 1978: " The Stand "
  • 1979: "The Dead Zone"
  • 1980: "Firestarter"
  • 1981: "Cujo"
  • 1981: "Danse Macabre" (nonfiction book about horror)
  • 1982: " Creepshow " (comic book, illustrated by Bernie Wrightson)
  • 1982: "The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger"
  • 1982: "Different Seasons" (collection of novellas)
  • 1983: "Christine"
  • 1983: "Pet Sematary"
  • 1983: "Cycle of the Werewolf"
  • 1984: "The Talisman" (written with Peter Straub)
  • 1985: "Skeleton Crew" (collection of short stories, poems, and a novella titled "The Mist" )
  • 1985: "The Bachman Books" (collection of short novels)
  • 1986: " It "
  • 1987: "The Eyes of the Dragon"

From 'Misery' to 'The Green Mile' (1987–1995)

  • 1987: "Misery" is the story of a homicidal nurse who takes an injured writer hostage, was turned into a critically acclaimed movie. Kathy Bates, who played Annie Wilkes, won the 1990 Oscar for Best Actress.
  • 1987: "The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three"
  • 1987: "The Tommyknockers"
  • 1988: "Nightmares in the Sky" (photo book with text by King)
  • 1989: "Dark Visions" (collection of short stories)
  • 1989: "The Dark Half"
  • 1989: "Dolan's Cadillac" (novella originally published in monthly installments in King's official newsletter)
  • 1989: "My Pretty Pony" (short story)
  • 1990: "The Stand" ("Complete & Uncut" edition)
  • 1990: "Four Past Midnight" (collection of novellas)
  • 1991: "Needful Things"
  • 1991: "The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands"
  • 1992: "Gerald's Game"
  • 1992: "Dolores Claiborne"
  • 1993: "Nightmares & Dreamscapes" (collection of short stories )
  • 1994: " Insomnia "
  • 1995: " Rose Madder "
  • 1995: "Umney's Last Case" (short story)

From 'The Green Mile' and Beyond

  • 1996: " The Green Mile " was originally published as a monthly serial consisting of six parts: "The Two Dead Girls , " "The Mouse on the Mile , " "Coffey's Hands , " "The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix , " "Night Journey , " and "Coffey on the Mile . " In 2000, "The Green Mile" was adapted into a film starring Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan. The film was nominated for Best Picture, and Duncan was nominated Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of doomed but gentle psychic John Coffey.
  • 1996: "Desperation"
  • 1997: "Six Stories" (collection of stories)
  • 1997: "The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass"
  • 1998: "Bag of Bones"
  • 1999: "Storm of the Century" (television miniseries written by King)
  • 1999: "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon"
  • 1999: "The New Lieutenant's Rap" (limited edition short story)
  • 1999: "Hearts in Atlantis" (collection of novellas and short stories)
  • 1999: "Blood and Smoke" (audiobook of three short stories narrated by King)
  • 2000: "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" (memoir)
  • 2001: "Dreamcatcher"
  • 2001: "Black House" (written with Peter Straub)
  • 2002: "From a Buick 8"
  • 2002: "Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales" (collection of short stories)
  • 2003: "The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger" (revised edition)
  • 2003: "The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla"
  • 2004: "The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah"
  • 2004: "The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower"
  • 2004: "Faithful." King and co-author Stewart O'Nan began writing their book with no inkling that the long-suffering Red Sox would finally win the World Series after an 86-year drought. It changed the ending they had originally planned.
  • 2005: "The Colorado Kid"
  • 2006: "The Secretary of Dreams" (series of graphic short story collections authored by King)
  • 2006: "Cell"
  • 2006: "Lisey's Story"
  • 2007: "The Mist" (republished)
  • 2008: "Duma Key"
  • 2009: "Stephen King Goes to the Movies" (collection of short stories)
  • 2009: The Little Sisters of Eluria (limited edition in connection with "The Dark Tower" series)
  • 2009: "Graduation Afternoon" (short story published in the magazine "PostScripts")
  • 2009: "Throttle" (novella written with King's son, Joe Hill)
  • 2009: "Under the Dome." A television show based on the book ran from 2013–2015.
  • 2010: Full Dark, No Stars (collection of novellas including "1922," "Big Driver," "Fair Extension," and "A Good Marriage." )
  • 2011: "The Dune" (short story published in the magazine "Granta")
  • 2011: "11/22/63"
  • 2012: " The Dark Tower VIII: The Wind Through the Keyhole"
  • 2013: "Hard Listening: The Greatest Rock Band Ever (of Authors) Tells All" (co-written with other authors in King's "author rock band")
  • 2013: "Joyland"
  • 2013: " The Dark Man" (poem)
  • 2013: "Doctor Sleep"
  • 2014:  "Revival"
  • 2014:  "Mr. Mercedes"
  • 2015:  "The Bazaar of Bad Dreams" (collection of short stories)
  • 2015:  "Finders Keepers"
  • 2016: "End of Watch"
  • 2017: "Sleeping Beauties" (co-written with King's son, Owen King)
  • 2018: "The Outsider"
  • 2018: "Elevation" (novella)
  • 2019: "The Institute"

More of King's Short Stories, Essays, Online Publications, and Novellas

  • 2000: "Riding the Bullet" (electronically published novella)
  • 2000: "The Plant" (unfinished serial novel published electronically)
  • 2009: "UR" (novella available only on Amazon's Kindle)
  • 2011: "Mile 81" (novella published electronically)
  • 2012: "In the Tall Grass" (e-novella written with King's son, Joe Hill)
  • 2012: "A Face in the Crowd" (novella published electronically, written with Stewart O'Nan)
  • 2013: " Guns" (essay available on Kindle)
  • 2015 short stories: " The Dune," "That Bus Is Another World," "Bad Little Kid," "A Death," "Afterlife," "Batman and Robin Have An Altercation," "Summer Thunder," "Drunken Fireworks," "Obits," "Premium Harmony," "Under the Weather," "Morality," "Mister Yummy," "Herman Wouk is Still Alive," "Mile 81."
  • 2015 novellas: "Blockade Billy," "UR"
  • 2015 poems: "The Bone Church," "Tommy"
  • 2015 television: "11/22/63"
  • 2016 anthologies: "Hearts in Suspension," "In Sunlight or in Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper," "Killer Crimes"
  • 2016 short stories: "Man with a Belly," "The Music Room"
  • 2016 essay: "Five to One, One in Five"
  • 2017 film and television: "My Pretty Pony," "The Mist," "The Dark Tower," "Mr. Mercedes," "IT - Part 1: The Loser's Club," "Gerald's Game," "1922."
  • 2018 short stories: "The Blue Air Compressor," "The Turbulence Expert."
  • 2019 film: "Pet Sematary," "IT: Chapter Two," "Doctor Sleep."

Richard Bachman's Published Books

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, King wanted to write more than one book per year, but his publishers were concerned about over-saturating the market. He also wanted to know if his books were successful only because he had achieved some level of fame; that is, were they best-sellers because they were high-quality books or only because people wanted to read the latest "Stephen King?"

So King invented the alter-ego of Richard Bachman and released four works under that pseudonym: "Rage" (1977), "The Long Walk" (1979), "Roadwork" (1981), and "The Running Man" (1982) before he was discovered. He wrote several additional works as Bachman though, including "Thinner" (1984), "The Regulators" (1996), and "Blaze" (2007).

Stephen King's Unpublished Books and Stories

  • 1959: "Charlie" (short story)
  • 1963: "The Aftermath" (novella)
  • 1970: "Sword in the Darkness" (novel)
  • 1974: "The House on Value Street" (unfinished)
  • 1976: "Welcome to Clearwater" (unfinished)
  • 1976: "The Corner" (unfinished)
  • 1977: "Wimsey" (unfinished)
  • 1983: "The Leprechaun" (unfinished)
  • 1983: "The Cannibals" (eventually developed into King's "Under the Dome" [2009])
  • 1984: "Keyholes" (unfinished)
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Books by Stephen King

Stephen King

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All Stephen King Books In Order + By Genre (Reading Guide)

Stephen King is one of literature’s best-known writers. Over the course of his career, King’s name has become synonymous with the horror genre due to his countless, critically acclaimed contributions to the genre. King has over fifty books to his name, which is undeniably impressive but can leave new readers unsure of where to start delving into his suspenseful, skin-crawling world of horror. Read on to learn the best reading order for King’s novel, both by individual series and genre. 

When asked why he chose to start writing, King famously stated that it was what he was made to do and that he could never imagine any other career path. It’s hard to argue with him, given that he’s sold over 350 million copies of his novels worldwide and is the most adapted writer in history. Over the years, sixty of King’s novels and short stories have been adapted into films, becoming some of the most culturally beloved horror films to date. 

In addition to penning horror novels, King has also written hundreds of short stories and has recently started to write crime thrillers as well. Praised for his ability to immerse readers in truly unique and terrifying worlds whilst keeping them on the edge of their seats, King has become a staple of modern literature. His talent was recognized in 2015 when he was awarded the National Medal of the Arts from the United States National Endowment of the Arts. 

To delve into the captivating narratives of King’s various series, it is best to read them in the publication order, however, when it comes to King’s standalone novels, readers have the freedom to choose whichever novel interests them the most!

All Stephen King Books in Order – Reading Guide

Standalone novels, carrie (1974).

A legendary debut, King’s first novel follows Carrie White, a girl who succumbs to the call of her deadly powers after being pushed to the extreme by the unthinkable cruelty of her classmates.

Her extraordinary gift becomes a tool for revenge and destruction in the heart-pounding plot of Carrie .

‘Salem’s Lot (1975)

Ben Mears returns to ‘Salem’s Lot in the hopes of investigating Marsten House and finding inspiration for his next novel. But when a young boy dies after venturing into the local woods, Ben realizes there are sinister forces converging on his beloved hometown. 

Rage (1977)

Originally published under the pen name Richard Bachman, R age follows Charlie as he holds his algebra class at gunpoint after shooting his teacher. 

A deeply unsettling tale that fell out of publication due to its controversial subject matter, Rage only recently became available again as part of a collection of the Bachman stories.

The Stand (1978)

After a patient escapes a biological testing facility carrying a mutated strain of a deadly super-flu, the world falls into chaos as 99% of the population is killed in a matter of weeks. Following the original fallout, two leaders emerge promoting drastically different ideologies. 

The Stand reveals the fate of the human race in its final days as it chooses between the two leaders. 

The Long Walk (1979)

In this deeply insightful commentary on American society and the value attributed to teenage life, King introduces readers to a grueling competition that decides the fate of a hundred teenagers. With the promise of whatever they want for the rest of their lives, the boys must commit to The Long Walk , only stopping when they physically can’t go on. 

The Dead Zone (1979)

Upon waking from a five-year coma, Johnny discovers that he can see people’s pasts and futures simply by touching them. Considered by many to be a gift, Johnny feels cursed as he is burdened with unspeakable knowledge. 

When he shakes the hand of an amoral politician, Johnny must make a drastic decision that could alter the future of the world in the tense plot of The Dead Zone .

 Firestarter (1980)

Partaking in the experiments of a clandestine government organization known as The Shop, Andy and Vicky unlock their psychic talents. However, neither The Shop nor its test subjects predicted that Andy and Vicky would fall in love and have a child with her own extraordinary powers. 

When Charlie is revealed to have pyrokinetic abilities, The Shop is desperate to get her in their grasp to discover the genetic secrets behind her powers. But their pursuit will only lead to destruction as Charlie unlocks the full potential of her abilities in the unforgettable narrative of Firestarter .

  •   Roadwork (1981)

When Bart’s hometown is scheduled to be destroyed to pave way for the city’s Highway 784 extension, something starts to happen in Bart’s head. Unable to watch the hometown and the life he’d built within it be destroyed, Bart formulates a plot that sees him turning to increasingly violent means in Roadwork .

  •   Cujo (1981)

Cujo, a two-hundred-pound Saint Bernard, was the best friend Brett Camber could ever ask for. Until he chased a rabbit into a bat-infested cave and emerged as an entirely different beast. Cujo begins to hunt the locals, dismantling the newly built life of the Trentons and rapidly devolving from man’s best friend into a savage monster. 

Cujo will make even the most devoted dog lover nervous as they get lost in King’s nail-biting horror.

  •   The Running Man (1982)

In this dark vision of the future, civilians can earn millions of dollars by partaking in the sadistic entertainment of the rich and famous. Consumed by the desperation that any parent will recognize, Ben decides to participate in the nation’s most dangerous game, The Running Man . For thirty days, Ben must survive life on the run as the nation’s most wanted man to win a billion dollars. More than enough money to save the life of his critically ill daughter. 

  •   Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (1982)

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is the best-selling novella that inspired the Academy Award-winning film starring Morgan Freeman. The narrative details convict Andy Dufresne’s hunger for revenge after he has been unjustly imprisoned.

  •   Christine (1983)

A 1958 Plymouth Fury whose history is littered with corpses and a nerdy teenager who falls in love with his most recent purchase is a combination fated for disaster. Dennis strives to save Arnold’s life from his bloodthirsty new car in the twisted plot of Christine . 

  •   Pet Sematary (1983)

The Creeds’ move to the rural town of Ludlow seems too good to be true until Louis Creed starts to peer beneath the surface of Ludlow’s picturesque image. As Louis receives warnings in both the waking world and his dreams, he quickly realizes that some things are better off dead. 

Pet Sematary will have readers on the edge of their seats as Louis’ world is unraveled by an unbearable haunting.

  •   Thinner (1984)

Attorney Billy Halleck is an affluent man who rarely has to face the consequences of his actions. But he finds himself scrambling for redemption when he rapidly begins to waste away after being cursed by the relative of his latest victim. Thinner follows a man driven to extremes by his own folly.

  •   It (1986)

One of King’s best-known novels and the inspiration for the acclaimed film of the same name, It follows the lives of seven adults who must return to their hometown to face the terrifying creature from their youth before it can claim the lives of more children.

  •   The Eyes of the Dragon (1987)

In this fantasy tale, the destinies of the two royal brothers are forever altered as the struggle for absolute power and dark magic claims control of their lives. The Eyes of the Dragon is a thrilling story of deception, sorcery, and the deadly cost of secrets. 

  •   Misery (1987)

Outraged by the death of her favorite character in Paul Sheldon’s latest novel, Annie kidnaps Sheldon and holds him as her captive. She is determined to persuade Sheldon to rewrite Misery’s fate by any means necessary. Misery reveals the dangers of obsession.

The Tommyknockers (1987)

In The Tommyknockers , a chance discovery unleashes inhuman powers and devastation on the small town of Haven. This otherworldly force is devoid of mercy and sense, leaving the fate of Haven in its bloodthirsty hands.

The Langoliers (1989)

An ordinary flight goes drastically wrong when ten passengers wake up only to find that everyone else has disappeared, including the pilots. When they reach safety, they discover a world in which nothing is as it should be.

Originally a short story, The Langoliers was rereleased as a novella that readers won’t be able to put down.

  •   The Dark Half (1989)

After years of publishing violent thrillers under the name George Stark, Thad is happy to retire the pseudonym and start writing under his own name. But a string of murders in the local area force Thad to question his innocence and the presence of The Dark Half of his mind.

  •   Needful Things (1991)

When Needful Things opens in Castle Rock, every resident can buy their heart’s desire from the curio shop. But while the items do not bear price tags, they come at an extreme cost. All ignoring the warning that buyers should beware when they are tempted to make a purchase, the town’s folk trade away more than they bargained for.

  •   Gerald’s Game (1992)

After a thrilling sexual tryst with her husband goes wrong, Jessie finds herself trapped in their summer home as she is haunted by the voices that plague her mind. 

Gerald’s Game is King at his darkest as he forces readers to question Jessie’s sanity as well as their own.

  •   Dolores Claiborne (1992)

The death of Vera Donovan sees Dolores Claiborne accused of murder for the second time in her life. Unwilling to be cowed by small-town gossip and abuse, Dolores Claiborne unravels the twisted, harrowing tale of her life.

   Insomnia (1994)

As the months following his wife’s death pass him by in a blur, Ralph finds himself sleeping less and less. His late-night walks reveal a world of supernatural horror as he desperately attempts to distinguish between reality and hallucinations in Insomnia .

  •   Rose Madder (1995)

Fleeing her abusive husband and his unhinged obsessions, Rose escapes to a nearby city. But when her husband pursues her and devolves into a rageful murderer, Rose must undergo her own transformation for the sake of her survival in Rose Madder . 

  •   Desperation (1996)

The small town of Desperation is cut off from the rest of the world, allowing strange occurrences and otherworldly beings to go unnoticed.

  •   The Regulators (1996)

Possessed by a supernatural force of evil, the once-innocent Seth Garin becomes a puppet for destruction. The tranquil suburbia of Popular Street will never be the same again as King unravels the thrilling plot of The Regulators .

 The Green Mile (1996)

Originally published as a monthly serial, The Green Mile recounts the heartbreaking relationship between prison guard, Paul Edgecombe, and inmate John Coffey. After years of working on the mile, Edgecombe thought he’d seen everything, but as he learns more about Coffey his beliefs are repeatedly challenged.

  •   Bag of Bones (1998)

Returning to King’s Castle Rock, Bag of Bones chronicles Mike’s struggles to battle his inner demons as he becomes embroiled in the lives of a young mother and her daughter. Other forces at play have their own interest in Mike. 

  •   The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999)

When a young girl gets lost in the woods, she only has the voice of her favorite pitcher to see her through the night. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a truly unique novel that will set readers on edge from the first page.

  •   Dreamcatcher (2001)

As young boys, four friends committed an act that forever changed them in ways they could not quite understand. In Dreamcatcher , their annual return to their hometown sees a stranger wandering into their tradition and drastically changing the stakes of the game.

  •   From a Buick 8 (2002)

Consumed by a burning curiosity about the mysterious, seemingly deadly car that sits in Shed B, both Curt and his son, Ned, will stop at nothing to find answers. King explores the extremes of human curiosity in From a Buick 8 as he reveals that some questions are better left unanswered.

  •   The Colorado Kid (2005)

The Colorado Kid follows the investigation into the identity and murder of a body that washes up on an island off the coast of Maine in a deeply twisted and gruesome plot.

  Cell (2006)

Things seem to be looking up for Clay until he becomes one of the few humans on the planet not affected by the devastating phenomenon known as The Pulse. Cell follows Clay and a band of desperate survivors as they fight against humanity’s evolution into a deadly horror.

  •   Lisey’s Story (2006)

Following the death of her husband, Lisey tries to document and understand the world he disappeared into to fuel the plots of his critically acclaimed novels. A complicated tale of grief, Lisey’s Story is unlike any other King novel. 

  •   Blaze (2007)

A thrilling story about a crime gone wrong and its deadly consequences, readers won’t be able to put Blaze down.

  •   Duma Key (2008)

Discovering a new talent for painting after moving to Duma Key , Edgar begins to peel back the secrets of the town and unravel a history that is eager to claim the present for itself. Haunted by the idea the town has been waiting for him, Edgar can only dig deeper into its twisted history.

  •   Under the Dome (2009)

The town of Chester’s Mill is sealed off from the rest of civilization when it is inexplicably trapped Under the Dome . As a politician battles to retain power and his son withholds a dark secret, ordinary citizens must fight for the survival of their town.

  11/23/63 (2011)

In this tale of alternate history, Jake is sent back in time to prevent the tragic events of 11/23/63 and forever change the course of life as we know it.

  •   Joyland (2013)

Working as a carny at Joyland , Devin’s life is changed forever when he is forced to confront the legacy of a brutal murder and the death of a young child.

  •   Revival (2014)

Revival spans five decades as it chronicles the tragedy that befell the Jacobs family and Jamie Morton’s twisted, fanatical relationship with Reverend Charles Jacobs.

  •   Sleeping Beauties (2017)

The world descends into savage chaos when women are transported to a harmonious, otherworldly place while men succumb to their violent, primal urges. Written in collaboration with King’s son, Sleeping Beauties is a hauntingly relevant tale.

  •   The Outsider (2018)

In a narrative that questions if you can ever really trust appearances, The Outsider follows the investigation into a child’s murder. As the police gather more evidence, the town’s local hero and beloved father, Terry Maitland is slowly unmasked. 

  •   The Institute (2019)

As more and more children are stolen from their homes by The Institute , a sinister organization dedicated to extracting the children’s powers, Luke is desperate to escape and liberate his fellow captives.

  Later (2021)

Cautioned by his mother to conceal his supernatural abilities, when Jamie ignores her urges he finds himself drawn into the pursuit of a killer. Later explores the unavoidable loss of childhood innocence and the wavering boundaries of morality.

  •   Billy Summers (2021)

A hitman eager to seek redemption after completing his last job, Billy Summers finds himself on a mission in which everything goes wrong. Battling against losing odds, Summers works to avenge the crimes of an unthinkingly evil man.

  Fairy Tale (2022)

Upon inheriting a key that opens a door to a parallel dimension, Charlie finds himself caught in a war between good and evil. Returning to the violence and gore of the Grimm tales, Fairy Tale is a legend for the modern ages. 

  •   Holly (2023)

In King’s latest novel, Holly is pitted against her most ruthless adversaries yet as she tries to locate Penny Dahl’s missing daughter. With a child’s fate in her hands, Holly must use every skill and piece of experience she has amassed to reveal the truth behind this shocking crime.

The Dark Tower Series 

  •   The Gunslinger (1982)

The Gunslinger is the first installment in King’s thrilling fantasy series. It follows Roland of Gilead on his spellbinding journey through a world caught between the powers of good and evil.

  The Drawing of Three (1987)

In The Drawing of Three , Roland is drawn into the twentieth century and finds himself thrust into a society consumed by drugs and crime.

  •   The Waste Lands (1991)

Along with his companions, Susannah and Eddie, Roland must cross the desert of damnation. As they venture through The Waste Lands , they put themselves in the sights of their foes in the Dark Tower.

  •   Wizard and Glass (1997)

Roland unveils the secrets of his youth and the tragic loss of his first love in Wizard and Glass .

  •   The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)

A thrilling narrative that recounts a story within a story, King returns readers to the days of Roland’s youth and his first mission in The Wind Through the Keyhole .

  Wolves of the Calla (2003)

Traveling closer to the Dark Tower, King’s team of rogues must prepare for battle against the infamous Wolves of the Calla .

  •   Songs of Susannah (2004)

As Jake struggles to free Susannah from demonic possession with the assistance of Father Callahan and Oy, Roland and Eddie are transported to Maine in the summer of 1977. The sixth installment of the Dark Tower series, Songs of Susannah is unmissable. 

  The Dark Tower (2004)

The final confrontation with Roland’s adversaries forces him to bear unprecedented losses as he finally faces the evil forces within The Dark Tower .

The Shining Series 

  •   The Shining (1977)

With a new job and a chance to spend more time with his family, Jack Torrance thinks he’s found the perfect opportunity for a fresh start. But as the winter weather makes the hotel ever more remote, five-year-old Danny begins to notice the odd and horrifying forces that collect in the Overlook.

The Shining is one of King’s best-known works and for good reason.

  •   Doctor Sleep (2013)

After years of struggling to hold his sanity together, Dan Torrance has finally found some peace working in a hospice and easing patients through their last days. Until he meets Abra Stone, a child with gifts that surpass his own. Together they must survive the pursuit of the ruthless True Knot tribe in Doctor Sleep .

The Talisman Series 

  •   The Talisman (1984)

The Talisman is a thrilling collaboration between King and Peter Straub that follows Jack Sawyer as he embarks on an epic quest into other dimensions to save his mother’s life.

  •   Black House (2001)

Twenty years after he first ventured into another dimension, King and Straub reintroduce readers to Jack after he has retired from a successful career in the police force. As a brutal killer begins to amass a terrifying body count, Jack is drawn back into the world of homicide and is compelled to question whether there are other forces at play in the murders.

Black House will grip readers from the first page as they are pulled into Jack’s world for the second time.

The Bill Hodges Trilogy 

  •   Mr. Mercedes (2014)

Haunted by a horrific unsolved crime, Bill Hodges wakes from his slump when the killer sends him a crazed letter warning of another attack. Partnering with two unlikely allies, Hodges must race against time to uncover the unhinged Mr. Mercedes before he can kill again.

  •   Finders Keepers (2015)

Returning to the notion of readers and their deadly obsessions King first explored in Misery , Finders Keepers chronicles Hodges’ battle against a deranged criminal who’s seeking revenge against a teenage boy.

  •   End of Watch (2016)

Hodges finds himself at the center of Mr. Mercedes’s plot for revenge as the killer wreaks havoc from his hospital bed. Everyone might think the murderer is in a vegetative state, but the experimental drugs he’s been pumped full of have unlocked new powers and the opportunity for even more chaos in End of Watch .

The Button Box Series 

Gwendy’s button box (2017).

Collaborating with Richard Chizmar, King returns to Castle Rock to chronicle Gwendy’s strange introduction to a man who will come to haunt her dreams. Gwendy’s Button Box is a chilling novella that will grip readers from start to finish.

  •   Gwendy’s Magic Feather (2019)

Set nearly thirty years after Gwendy was handed the button box that would later become her best-kept secret, Gwendy’s Magic Feather follows Gwendy as she is drawn back to Castle Rock after the disappearance of two young girls.

  •   Gwendy’s Final Task (2022)

Now a successful senator, Gwendy must keep the button box, growing ever more dangerous and tempting, from the clutches of evil. Battling otherworldly forces and the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease, Gwendy’s Final Task is the thrilling conclusion to King and Chizmar’s trilogy.

All Stephen King Books by Genre

Many of King’s novels sit across several genres, with nearly all of them consisting of some horror tropes, but if you’re eager to dive into a particular genre, the following list broadly outlines King’s work genre by genre. 

Alternate History

  •   11/22/63 (2011 )

Science Fiction

  •  The Drawing of Three (1987)
  •   The Tommyknockers (1987)
  •   The Langoliers (1989)
  •   Wolves of Calla (2003)
  •  The Dark Tower (2004)
  •   Later (2021)  

Crime Fiction/Mystery

  •   The Green Mile (1996)
  •   Carrie (1974)
  •   Firestarter (1980)
  •   Insomnia (1994)
  •   Gwendy’s Button Box (2017)

Dystopian Fiction

  •   The Stand (1978)
  •   The Long Walk (1979)
  •   Cell (2016)
  •  Fairy Tale (2022)

Gothic Fiction

  •   ‘Salem’s Lot (1975)

Psychological Horror

  •   Rage (1977)
  •   The Dead Zone (1979)

Final Thoughts

From cult classics to lesser-known tales, King is undeniably a master storyteller. He has been keeping readers hooked on his narratives of supernatural horrors and the disturbing depths of human depravity for decades with no sign of stopping anytime soon. Whether you want to delve into a world of science fiction populated by gunslingers and alternate realities or explore the human psyche, King has a novel for you.  

Frequently Asked Questions

What is stephen king’s longest novel.

When the unabridged edition of The Stand was released in 1990 as The Complete and Uncut Edition, it became King’s lengthiest novel to date. This version of The Stand is an impressive 1,152 pages.

What made Stephen King famous?

Accredited with reviving the horror genre after decades of decay, King gained notoriety in the late twentieth century after publishing novels including Carrie , The Shining , and Cujo .

What is the best Stephen King book for new readers?

While the best King novel to introduce readers to his work is widely debated, the common contenders include Carrie , The Shining , Pet Sematary , Misery , and ‘Salem’s Lot .

Is every Stephen King book connected?

Many of King’s novels are set in the now-famous towns of Derry and Castle Rock. There are also countless references to the events of other novels in King’s narratives, however, the plots themselves are rarely connected and it is not necessary for readers to have knowledge of the other books.

What is the best Stephen King adaptation?

Another widely debated topic, most fans agree that the 1976 version of Carrie and the 1994 film adaptation of Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption are among the best adaptations of King’s work. Recent works such as the 2017 film version of It have also become favorites among fans.

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Order of Books

Order of Stephen King Books

list books by stephen king

Stephen King’s first true novel was also one of his best known works, Carrie , which was published in 1974. He has been writing ever since. Below is a list of Stephen King’s books in order of when they were originally published:

Get notified when Stephen King releases a new book at BookNotification.com .

Publication Order of Bill Hodges Trilogy Books

Publication order of the button box books, publication order of the dark tower books, publication order of the dark tower: beginnings books, publication order of the dark tower: the drawing of the three books, (with robin furth, peter david), publication order of the dark tower: the gunslinger books, publication order of green mile books, publication order of the outsider books, publication order of secretary of dreams books, publication order of the shining books, publication order of talisman books, (with peter straub), publication order of standalone novels, publication order of short stories/novellas, publication order of short story collections, publication order of graphic novels, publication order of non-fiction books, publication order of transgressions books, publication order of plays, publication order of the stand: graphic novels books, publication order of beryl evans picture books, (as beryl evans), publication order of shivers books, (with bev vincent, brian hodge, al sarrantonio, lisa tuttle, glen hirshberg, richard t. chizmar, peter straub, blake crouch, richard thomas, wayne allen sallee, david b. silva, melanie tem, robert morrish, brian james freeman, scott nicholson, brian keene, kealan patrick burke, nate southard, norman prentiss, jay bonansinga, jack kilborn, alan ryan), publication order of american vampire books, publication order of club destiny books, (with nicole edwards), publication order of anthologies.

Notes: The novels Rage , The Long Walk , Roadwork , The Running Man , Thinner , The Regulators and Blaze were originally written under the pen name of Richard Bachman. The Talisman series is co-authored by Peter Straub. Road Rage is co-authored with Joe Hill and Richard Matheson . Throttle and In the Tall Grass are co-authored with Joe Hill. A Face in the Crowd and Faithful are co-authored with Stewart O’Nan. Gwendy’s Button Box was written with Richard T. Chizmar.

Hard Listening is written with fellow Rock Bottom Remainders band members Mitch Albom , Dave Barry , Sam Barry, Matt Groening, Roy Blount Jr., James McBride, Ridley Pearson , Scott Turow and Amy Tan . Sleeping Beauties was written with Owen King. Flight or Fright is edited with Bev Vincent.

If You Like Stephen King Books, You’ll Love…

  • Dean Koontz
  • Stieg Larsson

Stephen King Synopses: The Shining is the a psychological horror novel about an alcoholic author (Jack Torrance) who moves his family to a hotel in Colorado. Soon afterward, Jack’s son Danny begins to experience supernatural phenomenons. The Shining was famously made into a movie by director Stanley Kubrick in 1980. It starred Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall.

In Misery , author Paul Sheldon finds himself in the middle of a snowstorm while driving through the mountains. When he wakes up, he is in the home of Annie Wilkes – an ex-nurse and avid reader of Sheldon’s work. Annie is able to nurse the injured author back to health, but she begins to show herself as something other than just a good Samaritan. Misery was adapted into a film directed by Rob Reiner and starred James Caan and Kathy Bates.

16 Responses to “Order of Stephen King Books”

this is helpful, but what i am really trying to find is a list of all his fiction in order of when they are supposed to happen, not the order that he wrote them. like for instance The Body takes place in 1960 and It starts in 1958, so the Novel It would be before The Body on the list. anyone have a list like that?

Love seeing a complete listing of Stephen King books. Now I can check off the ones I have read, and start the newer ones. Thanks so much for putting this all together!

You’re welcome 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to say that.

Also, Awaken and Descendants are missing.

Update: These two books are NOT by the Stephen King listed above. They are super misleading. Both covers just say Stephen King. But they are from an author named Stephen R. King. Pretty shady…

Hey just wanted to say thanks for doing the follow up comment. Appreciate that and saved me some time 🙂

What about the Richard Bachman stuff?

Ahhh, I missed the notes. Got it. 🙂

I just pre ordered Stephen King’s new book “The Institute: A Novel” on Amazon it has a release date of 09/10/19.

what about the cycle of the werewolf?

It looks like they have it listed under short stories as Silver Bullet. That was the film title, didn’t think it was published as such. At any rate, mine is Cycle of the Werewolf too!

Big driver is missing 😂

Big Driver is listed under the Short Stories category. Thanks, I hadn’t seen it before!

The Dark Tower series list is missing Book 7 (The Dark Tower VII) – The Dark Tower.

Thanks for pointing that out!

I’m reading The Dark Half. The last time I read it was probably 15 years ago and it’s surprising to me just how good it is. It’s so well done, in particular the writing style between chapters to capture the personality of whomever the focus is.

Leave a Reply

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list books by stephen king

BIBLIOLIFESTYLE

Bibliolifestyle, stephen king books in order (updated 2024).

Take a trip through time and check out every book from one of the greatest authors.

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Stephen King Books in Order

Are you an avid Stephen King fan?  If so, then you’re in the right place!  In this article, I’m sharing a list of all of Stephen King’s books in order.  Whether you love horror classics like IT and The Shining or more recent works such as The Outsider and Doctor Sleep, here you will find them all listed chronologically by date of publication.  Get ready to take a trip through time – from Carrie, published back in 1974, to his latest collection coming out in 2024. Plus, you’ll see first-hand how masterful one of the greatest authors has been for now almost 5 decades.

But first, who is Stephen King?

Stephen King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy.  He has published over 60 novels and over 200 short stories throughout his career, many of which have been adapted into films or TV series.  Stephen King’s books often focus on themes such as alienation, violence, and the struggle between good and evil.

What should be the first Stephen King book to read?

I personally recommend that you start with Salem’s Lot ( Amazon or  Bookshop ) — In the novel, Ben Mears has returned to Jerusalem’s Lot in hopes that exploring the history of the Marsten House, an old mansion long the subject of rumor and speculation, will help him cast out his personal devils and provide inspiration for his new book.

For beginners, I think it’s a great place to start, and it’s also a personal favorite. If you’re looking for more options, I highly recommend you check out my: 8 Must-Read Stephen King Books and Where To Start article because Stephen King has written so many books and narrowing down the ones worth your time as a beginner can get overwhelming.

What is Stephen King’s longest book?

The longest Stephen King book is The Stand, which was first published in 1978 and has since gone through several editions. This classic post-apocalyptic novel follows a group of survivors who set off on a journey to rebuild the world after a devastating plague ravages the planet. Clocking in at 1,154 pages (in its uncut form), The Stand is a must read for any Stephen King fan. In addition to The Stand, other long novels by Stephen King include IT and Under the Dome, both of which contain over 1,000 pages. If you’re looking for something longer than 1,000 pages but shorter than The Stand, try 11/22/63 or Bag of Bones. These two books have around 800-900 pages each and are filled with King’s trademark suspense and horror.

What is Stephen King’s newest book?

You Like It Darker

Stephen King’s newest book is a story collection entitled YOU LIKE IT DARKER ( Amazon or Bookshop ) which will be released in May 2024.  In this new collection of twelve short stories, Stephen King takes readers on a journey into the darker realms of life.  From exploring hidden secrets and unexpected inheritances to delving into the mysteries of the universe with themes of fate, mortality, and the unknown.  So prepare to be thrilled and chilled as you delve into the depths of darkness with “You Like It Darker.”

Holly by Stephen King

Stephen King’s latest novel is entitled HOLLY ( Amazon or Bookshop ) which was released in September 2023.  Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town. Personally, I love the character Holly, so I was really excited to see her front and center in this one.

Stephen King Books in Order of Publication

This list of Stephen King books includes his: novels, novellas, nonfiction, and short story collections.  This does not include all his individual short stories, essays, anthologies, and other unpublished works.

STEPHEN KING BOOKS IN ORDER FROM 1974 – 1980

  • Carrie (Novel: 1974)
  • ‘Salem’s Lot (Novel: 1975)
  • Rage (Bachman Novel: 1976)
  • The Shining (Novel: 1977)
  • Night Shift (Story Collection: 1977)
  • The Stand (Novel: 1978)
  • The Long Walk (Bachman Novel: 1978)
  • The Dead Zone (Novel: 1979)
  • Firestarter (Novel: 1979)
  • The Mist (Novella: 1980)
  • Danse Macabre (Nonfiction: 1980)
  • Roadwork (Bachman Novel: 1980)

STEPHEN KING BOOKS IN ORDER FROM 1981 – 1990

  • Cujo (Novel: 1981)
  • The Dark Tower (Novel: 1981)
  • The Running Man (Bachman Novel: 1981)
  • Apt Pupil (Novella: 1982)
  • The Body (Novella: 1982)
  • The Breathing Method (Novella: 1982)
  • Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (Novella: 1982)
  • Different Seasons (Story Collection: 1982)
  • The Plant [Installment One] (Epistolary Novel: 1982)
  • Christine (Novel: 1982)
  • Cycle of the Werewolf (Novel: 1982)
  • The Plant [Installment Two] (Epistolary Novel: 1982)
  • Pet Sematary (Novel: 1983)
  • The Eyes of the Dragon (Novel: 1983)
  • The Talisman (Novel: 1983)
  • Thinner (Bachman Novel: 1984)
  • The Plant [Installment Three] (Epistolary Novel: 1984)
  • Skeleton Crew (Story Collection: 1984)
  • Cycle of the Werewolf (Novel: 1985)
  • IT (Novel; September 1986)
  • The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three (Novel: 1986)
  • The Eyes of the Dragon (Novel: 1987)
  • Misery (Novel: 1987)
  • The Tommyknockers (Novel: 1987)
  • My Pretty Pony (Novel: 1987)
  • Nightmares in the Sky (Nonfiction: 1987)
  • Letters from Hell (Novel: 1988)
  • Dolan’s Cadillac (Novel: 1988)
  • The Dark Half (Novel: 1989)
  • The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition (Novel: 1989)
  • The Langoliers (Novella: 1990)
  • The Library Policeman (Novella: 1990)
  • Secret Window, Secret Garden (Novella: 1990)
  • The Sun Dog (Novella: 1990)
  • Four Past Midnight (Story Collection: 1990)
  • The Dark Tower: The Waste Lands (Novel: 1990)

STEPHEN KING BOOKS IN ORDER FROM 1991 – 2000

  • Needful Things (Novel; October 1991)
  • Gerald’s Game (Novel; May 1992)
  • Nightmares & Dreamscapes (Story Collection: 1993)
  • Dolores Claiborne (Novel: 1993)
  • Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America With Three Chords and an Attitude (Nonfiction: 1993)
  • Insomnia (Novel: 1994)
  • Blind Willie (Novella: 1994)
  • Rose Madder (Novel: 1994)
  • Desperation (Novel: 1995)
  • The Regulators (Bachman Novel: 1995)
  • The Green Mile: The Two Dead Girls (Novel: 1996)
  • The Green Mile: The Mouse on the Mile (Novel: 1996)
  • The Green Mile: Coffey’s Hands (Novel: 1996)
  • The Green Mile: The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix (Novel: 1996)
  • The Green Mile: Night Journey (Novel: 1996)
  • The Green Mile: Coffey on the Mile (Novel: 1996)
  • The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass (Novel: 1996)
  • Six Stories (Novel: 1996)
  • Bag of Bones (Novel: 1998)
  • The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (Novel: 1999)
  • The New Lieutenant’s Rap (Novel: 1999)
  • Hearts in Atlantis (Novella: 1999)
  • Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling (Novella: 1999)
  • Low Men in Yellow Coats (Novella: 1999)
  • Why We’re in Vietnam (Novella: 1999)
  • Hearts in Atlantis (Story Collection: 1999)
  • On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (Nonfiction: 1999)
  • Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Craft of Writing (Nonfiction: 1999)
  • The Green Mile: The Complete Serial Novel (Novel: 2000)

STEPHEN KING BOOKS IN ORDER FROM 2001 – 2010

  • Dreamcatcher (Novel: 2001)
  • Black House (Novel: 2001)
  • From a Buick 8 (Novel: 2001)
  • Everything’s Eventual (Story Collection: 2002)
  • The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla (Novel: 2002)
  • The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (Revised Novel: 2003)
  • The Dark Tower: Song of Susannah (Novel: 2003)
  • The Dark Tower (Novel: 2004)
  • Faithful (Nonfiction: 2005)
  • The Colorado Kid (Novel: 2005)
  • The Secretary of Dreams, Vol. 1 (Novel: 2005)
  • Cell (Novel: 2006)
  • Lisey’s Story (Novel: 2006)
  • Blaze (Bachman Novel: 2006)
  • The Colorado Kid (Chadbourne) (Novel: 2006)
  • The Colorado Kid (Miller) (Novel: 2006)
  • The Colorado Kid (Potter) (Novel: 2006)
  • Duma Key (Novel: 2008)
  • A Very Tight Place (Novella: 2008)
  • N (Novella: 2008)
  • Just After Sunset (Story Collection: 2008)
  • The Little Sisters of Eluria (Novel: 2009)
  • Stephen King Goes to the Movies (Story Collection: 2009)
  • UR (Novella: 2009)
  • Under the Dome (Novel: 2009)
  • Blockade Billy (Novella: 2009)
  • The Secretary of Dreams, Vol. 2 (Novel: 2010)

STEPHEN KING BOOKS IN ORDER FROM 2011 – 2020

  • 11/22/63 (Novel: 2011)
  • The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole (Novel: 2012)
  • GUNS (Nonfiction: 2013)
  • Joyland (Novel: 2013)
  • The Dark Man (Novel: 2013)
  • Doctor Sleep (Novel: 2013)
  • Mr. Mercedes (Novel: 2014)
  • Revival (Novel: 2014)
  • Finders Keepers (Novel: 2015)
  • The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (Story Collection: 2015)
  • End of Watch (Novel: 2016)
  • Gwendy’s Button Box (Novella: 2017)
  • Sleeping Beauties (Novel: 2017)
  • The Outsider (Novel: 2018)
  • Elevation (Novella: 2018)
  • The Institute (Novel: 2019)
  • If It Bleeds (Novella: 2020)
  • The Life of Chuck (Novella: 2020)
  • Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (Novella: 2020)
  • Rat (Novella: 2020)

STEPHEN KING BOOKS IN ORDER FROM 2021 – 2024

  • Later (Novella: 2021)
  • Billy Summers (Novel: 2021)
  • Gwendy’s Final Task (Novel: 2022)
  • Fairy Tale (Novel: 2022)
  • Holly (Novel: 2023)
  • You Like It Darker (Story Collection: 2024)

Should Stephen King be read in order?

While Stephen King’s books don’t have to be read in order, fans of his work often prefer to do so. Reading the books in chronological order allows readers to experience King’s works as they were intended and appreciate the references made throughout his works. That said, while reading Stephen King in order is not essential, it can help enhance your overall reading experience. I also recommend you check out my: 8 Must-Read Stephen King Books and Where To Start article to help narrow down the books your need to add to your reading list.

What do you think about this list of Stephen King books in order of publication?

Have you read any of these Stephen King books?  Are any of these books or his other works on your TBR?   What book by Stephen King is your favorite?  Let us talk all about Stephen King books in the comments below.

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  • 8 Must-Read Stephen King Books: Where to Start

List of Stephen King Books in Order

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Read most of the books on the list, though I’ve struggled with his later books.

Hi W, thanks for sharing your thoughts! Your sentiment is a common one I’ve heard from readers but I still read them all as I’m a die hard fan.

I’ve only read 112263 and I loved the writing style and the narrative. This book makes me feel like I need to read all of Stephen King but Jesus! There’s more books that I expected. I’ll start with your 8 must. Thank you for guidance and taking the time to order them.

Hi Tyna, thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts! I absolutely loved 11/22/63, so we have that in common. But yes, there are soooo many books and it can get overwhelming. The eight books I recommended will give you a taste of his range over the years. I also recommend his story collections because they don’t require the same commitment as his novels. Happy reading!

Thank you for making this available. It let’s me see what I’ve missed. I read my favorite author in order and try to be patient for the new releases. Saving and printing.

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All 75 Stephen King Books, Ranked

We're sorting through the exhilarating highs, bewildering lows, and many unexpected diversions.

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There will probably never be another author like Stephen King. I’m not sure there ever could be.

Since the publication of his first novel Carrie , just shy of fifty years ago, King has held dominion over the landscape of horror. He arrived during a resurgent interest in all things frightening–following the success of Ira Levin's Rosemary’s Baby (1967) and William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist (1971)—and quickly set about reshaping the genre in his own image. King has regularly published two or three books per year, a stream of words that flows incessantly west towards Hollywood. Almost everything he has ever written has been optioned or adapted for the screen, in some cases several times.

Such prolificacy has often led to sniffing criticism from those who consider him “merely” a horror writer (as if horror is anything “mere”). But for millions of readers and writers, he is our North Star, our Southern Cross. We navigate by him. I have interviewed hundreds of horror writers from all across the genre’s wide spectrum, and when asked for their inspirations and their gateways to fearful fiction, so many leap immediately to King. Nat Cassidy, author of this year’s Mary: An Awakening of Terror , put it best, describing King as his “mother tongue.” He is not just a writer; he is an industry, an aesthetic, a genre of one.

Of course, in so long and varied a career, there are exhilarating highs, a few bewildering lows, and many unexpected diversions. The following list is an attempt to rank King’s published work in all its darkness, weatherworn beauty, and surprising weirdness. The man has written over seventy books, so some nod to brevity is required. Any published stories compiled within a larger collection will not be ranked singularly. That still leaves over sixty novels and more than a dozen collections of tales. Together, they form a dark constellation of stories that generations have traced, in wonder and fear and hope.

Below, I've ranked King's books in order from worst to best. Let’s get started.

That Faithful has made this list at all is a sign of my obsessive completionism. This chronicle of the Boston Red Sox’s 2004 season is almost unreadable to anyone who isn’t an aficionado of baseball. Early passages in which King and fellow uber-fan O’Nan head to off-season training in Florida do capture something of the enthusiasm and nostalgia for the Great American Pastime. Beyond that, Faithful is a series of stats and fixtures as obscure as King’s most convoluted mythologies. A book for baseball fans only.

Hard Case Crime The Colorado Kid

King’s first venture with the Hard Case Crime imprint is the most minor of novellas. The Colorado Kid is a half-baked tale of small-town journalism and an unsolved crime. For two-hundred pages King teases us with the ingenuity of the mystery—seemingly inspired by the case of the Somerton Man—before… simply leaving it unresolved. Though the point is that some things can never be adequately explained, such a philosophy feels like a breach in the contract between reader and mystery writer.

Scribner Sleeping Beauties

Around the world a sleeping sickness plunges women into a strange, cocooned state. If awakened, they turn homicidal. King and his son screw this global story down to a small town and its prison, where the plague is revealed to be something far odder and more mystical. It’s a bold attempt to tell a large-scale, female-focused story, but the politics, the metaphysics, and the characters never feel fully developed. It has all the hallmarks of classic King, but it’s his most unengaging novel.

The early-to-mid noughties saw the zombie shamble back to the forefront of the horror scene. At the same time, ‘90s technophobia got a new burst of digital energy. Cell brings the two together, with a malicious cell phone signal turning the populace into the very-next-thing-to-undead. Despite its barnstorming first chapter and a moving, uncharacteristically ambiguous ending, Cell is often considered the “worst” Stephen King novel. It’s hard to argue. Characters are flatter than usual, King has done the dream-invading antagonist far better elsewhere, and rather ironically for a story structured around a single-minded road trip, the book never feels like it has any particular destination in mind.

Dreamcatcher

This oh-so-weird tale of “shit weasels” and aliens made of cancer is the other candidate for King’s least-loved novel. In this case, it’s an opinion that the author largely shares. There is some justification here; King wrote the book while recovering from his life-threatening car accident, and he confesses that the book was written under the influence of Oxycontin. It shows. A superbly graphic opening (I repeat: SHIT WEASELS) is stretched too far and too thin. The final third is a confusion of italicized fragments as the heroes fight the alien foe on a psychological battlefield. Kudos for taking us back to Derry, where it is hinted that a great villain still slumbers, but it’s not enough to save this scatological misfire.

Scribner If It Bleeds

Roughly once a decade, King releases a collection of novellas that show his gift for building character and worlds on a smaller scale. His most recent offering is the weakest, relying too often on rehashed themes. The title story is an entirely unnecessary sequel to The Outsider (2017), led by a character King loves, but who leaves me cold. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is a campfire tale of friendship between a teenage boy and an old man, featuring King’s patented Haunted Technology™. Rat is a Poe-esque story of madness and creative isolation that he’s already done so much more effectively several times before. Only The Life of Chuck swings for greatness. An elegiac experiment about the difference a single life can make, it’s genuinely lovely, but it doesn’t save the collection from feeling a little disposable.

Gallery 13 Cycle of the Werewolf

Cycle of the Werewolf began as an idea for a spooky calendar before King expanded it into an illustrated novella, organized around the monthly lycanthropic attacks on the town of Tarker’s Mills. As the bodies mount up, Marty Coslaw, a ten-year-old wheelchair user, investigates which of the townsfolk howl with the moon. Cycle is King’s slightest book; despite the pulpy gorgeousness of Bernie Wrightson’s illustrations, the format is unavoidably superficial. Perhaps the greatest shame is that it means we never got a full-blooded werewolf novel from King.

Hard Case Crime Later

If King occasionally repeats himself, well, it’s partly due to his obsession with certain themes, and partly because… c’mon… after fifty years and seventy-five books, how could there not be retrodden ground? It’s exceedingly rare that King fails to bring something new to the mix, however, and Later does offer a particularly malicious ghost and a thrilling link to one of King’s truly great novels. But otherwise it’s a strangely enervated trip to King’s school of supernaturally gifted children. Like The Colorado Kid , it's published under the Hard Case Crime imprint, but whereas that book had a damp squib of an ending, Later closes with one of the most astonishingly batshit answers to a question that no one was really asking.

Gallery Books Finders Keepers

Though he’s written over fifty standalone novels, several loose sequels, and developed a whole multiverse connecting his fictional worlds, it took King forty years to try his hand at straightforward series fiction. The Bill Hodges Trilogy follows a middle-aged detective and his neurodivergent sidekick as they solve crimes. This, the middle volume, is easily the least engaging. As a crime story, Finders Keepers is… fine, one of King’s many explorations of the twisted relationship between writer and reader. In this case though, he has nothing particularly new to say on the subject.

Gallery Books Gwendy's Button Box

Gwendy’s Button Box is a belated return to Castle Rock, the fictional Maine town that we shall visit many times in the following entries. It also features a villain with the initials R.F. For the initiated, this anchors the story firmly in King’s wider mythology. For everyone else, it’s a simple Faustian bargain between the darkly-becloaked fellow and twelve-year-old Gwendy, for whom the titular box brings both personal reward and broader tragedy. I asked Richard Chizmar what it was like to collaborate with King. His answer: “Sheer terror and a wonderful experience.” Though the terror doesn’t manifest on the page, some of the wonder does, resulting in a book that’s closer to Ray Bradbury’s idyllic American fables than horror. It’s a lightweight start to a trilogy that grows in grandeur.

Scribner The Wind Through the Keyhole

Nearly a decade after the conclusion of the epic Dark Tower series, King returned to Mid-World for this inessential yet enjoyable addendum to the story. It falls somewhere in the middle of the overall saga as Roland and his Ka-Tet (this will all make sense later, I promise) weather a brutal storm telling stories. What follows is a pair of nested tales featuring dragons, wizards, and the fearsome Skin-Man. The Wind Through the Keyhole is only a minor extension of the vast world-spanning series that preceded it, but it does add flesh to the skeleton in Roland’s oedipal closet.

Scribner The Institute

I was so excited when news of The Institute broke. Gifted children, a creepy facility deep in the Maine woods, massive page length, and early comparisons to IT : the stars seemed aligned for a return to the classic King of the paperback racks. In reality, The Institute is a solid novel, though only in its gasping escape sequence does it ever become more than that. It suffers a little from similarity to Stranger Things , and the orphaned Luke doesn’t quite capture the heart like other King children. But no one else writes adult fare from a child’s perspective so well, or so terrifyingly, and there are moments when the cold apathy of the Institute’s staff is more disturbing than any kiddie-devouring entity could hope to be.

Gallery Books Black House: A Novel

Black House: A Novel

Black House is King’s first direct sequel, continuing the story he and Peter Straub began in The Talisman . Jack Sawyer the boy-hero has grown up to become a police-officer in pursuit of the child-killing “Fisherman.” It’s only fair, one supposes, that after setting the first book in King’s New England, the sequel should relocate to Straub’s Wisconsin. That’s seemingly as far as Straub’s influence goes, however, as Black House essentially serves as a satellite text to King’s increasingly engulfing Dark Tower mythos. Black House is a fun read with a memorably awful villain, based on the unmentionable crimes of real-life killer Albert Fish. However, I wonder if in forcing the book to serve the beam, it doesn’t squander some of the unique magic that King and Straub bottled the first time around.

Scribner The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah

It’s almost impossible to convey the complexity of the Dark Tower series, even if you proceed in book order. So what chance is there when starting with the sixth book of seven? Especially when that book is a metafictional experiment connecting not only our world and the world of The Tower, but also all the worlds created by Stephen King. Oh, and King… he’s a character in this one—a sort of literary MacGuffin whose survival is key to saving existence. It’s a testament to King’s character that he somehow pulls this off with humility and self-deprecation. Song of Susannah is not a bad book, just one that’s forced to do a lot of heavy metaphysical lifting in a series already weighted with mad ambition. By this point, though, you’re already in all the way.

Gallery Books Christine

The first of King’s big ‘80s bestsellers to feature on this list, Christine is beloved by many. To me, it’s the King book that comes closest to hubris (and yes, that includes the previous entry in which King himself is a nexus of all realities). This story of a possessed 1958 Plymouth Fury and the twisted love triangle between the car, the boy, and his girl has plenty of rockabilly B-movie appeal, but not enough to warrant nearly 600 pages. It’s clearly a labor of love, as the effort of obtaining rights to a long list of ‘50s lyrics shows, but it’s the least successful book of King’s early prime.

Scribner Elevation, by Stephen King

Another recent novella set in Castle Rock, Elevation is at once a tragicomic fairy tale and a critique of the petty prejudice of small New England communities. Scott Carey is losing weight by the day, though his mass and appearance remain unchanged. At the same time, he comes into the orbit of a beleaguered lesbian couple. Frustratingly, Scott’s condition is never explained, nor does that speculative aspect of the plot entwine satisfactorily with King’s well-meaning but naive take on LGBTQ+ issues. Nonetheless, the climax is a small moment of bittersweet joy, most reminiscent of my favorite short story, “Pop Art,” written by King’s son, Joe Hill.

Pocket Books End of Watch

The concluding chapter of the Bill Hodges Trilogy is better than the second and slightly inferior to the first. There is a sense that King has either lost confidence in the gritty crime aspect of the series or that he’s just bored. Either way, he can’t resist injecting some supernatural shenanigans into the mix. The concept of a bed-bound villain with the ability to drive his victims to suicide is potentially chilling, but when King introduces a mesmeric mobile phone app, things take a turn for the silly. End of Watch refines the central pairing of Bill and Holly to great emotional effect and more than earns the pathos of its ending, but I was glad to move on from the series. The book itself suggests that King felt the same, but no! He’s since given us another two Holly-centric stories, with yet another, the unambiguously titled Holly , coming next year.

Gallery Books The Tommyknockers

What is it about being high that gets King thinking about aliens? Dreamcatcher was written on painkillers and The Tommyknockers was created with King’s “heart running at one hundred and thirty beats a minute and cotton swabs stuck up my nose to stem the coke-induced bleeding.” This story of extra-terrestrial ghosts and their weird technological influence is often considered to be the nadir of King’s fiction, so readers may be annoyed to find it ranked above Christine . However, despite the ridiculousness of the premise and an anticlimactic ending, the book has an endearing, freewheeling whimsy. And an early section, in which the alcoholic James Gardener drunkenly navigates the cocktail party from hell, is a great example of how sometimes King’s character-building diversions can be the real treasure buried in the story.

Gallery Books The Regulators

1996 was the year that Stephen King seemed to grow bored of the standard approach to novel writing. Not only did he opt to write The Green Mile in Dickensian installments, but he also wrote Desperation and The Regulators as a pair of “sister” novels with the same characters, though in very different universes. The former was credited to King whilst The Regulators, the more off-kilter of the pair, was posed as a posthumous release by Richard Bachman (King's pseudonym). In The Regulators , the demonic Tak possesses an autistic child and leverages the boy’s obsession with TV shows to transform a suburban street into a lurid pastiche of the Old West. It’s a bizarre, often nasty variation on the community spirit that is so often the warm heart of King’s fiction.

Gallery Books Thinner

Thinner was the last novel published under the Bachman alias before King’s alter-ego died of “cancer of the pseudonym” in 1985. It’s a simple morality tale about a man cursed to lose weight regardless of how much he eats, but it has all the Bachman hallmarks—a streamlined narrative, amoral characterization, and an ending that is pure, cruel comedy. Thinner is one of a series of morsels served between the grand feasts of The Talisman and IT , but it leaves a delightfully nasty taste.

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50 Must-Read Books Recommended by Stephen King (Plus a Few Extra Recommendations From Me)

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Katie McLain

Katie's parents never told her "no" when she asked for a book, which was the start of most of her problems. She has a BA in Creative Writing from Lake Forest College and is working towards a master's degree in library science at U of I. She works full time at a public library reference desk in northern IL, specializing in readers’ advisory and general book enthusiasm, and she has a deep-rooted love of all things disturbing, twisted, and terrifying. (She takes enormous pleasure in creeping out her coworkers.) When she's not spending every waking hour at the library, she's at home watching Cubs baseball with her cats and her cardigan collection, and when she's not at home, she's spending too much money on concert tickets. Her hobbies include debating the finer points of Harry Potter canon, hitting people upside the head who haven’t read The Martian, and convincing her boyfriend that she can, in fact, fit more books onto her shelves. Twitter: @kt_librarylady

View All posts by Katie McLain

Stephen King is one of the most prolific authors of the modern age whose last name isn’t “Patterson.” He’s written 60+ books in his career, and doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. Dozens of his stories have been adapted for film & TV, and even that number has been increasing over the last couple years. And even with all of these obligations, Stephen King is also an avid reader ( he reads about 80 books per year ), and as he famously says in his memoir  On Writing , “ If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

Someone who reads this much must have a few reading recommendations floating around, and thankfully, the King of Horror is exceptionally generous with his book suggestions. Here are 50 must-read books recommended by Stephen King over the years, and if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the list, I’ve made a few of my own book suggestions for the King as well.

50 must-read books recommended by Stephen King. There's something here for every kind of reader and lots for readers who love horror to enjoy! book lists | book recommendations | books recommended by Stephen King | horror books | what should I read next?

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

“Born in the dark heart of India, Balram gets a break when he is hired as a driver for his village’s wealthiest man, two house Pomeranians (Puddles and Cuddles), and the rich man’s (very unlucky) son. From behind the wheel of their Honda City car, Balram’s new world is a revelation. While his peers flip through the pages of Murder Weekly (“Love — Rape — Revenge!”), barter for girls, drink liquor (Thunderbolt), and perpetuate the Great Rooster Coop of Indian society, Balram watches his employers bribe foreign ministers for tax breaks, barter for girls, drink liquor (single-malt whiskey), and play their own role in the Rooster Coop. Balram learns how to siphon gas, deal with corrupt mechanics, and refill and resell Johnnie Walker Black Label bottles (all but one). He also finds a way out of the Coop that no one else inside it can perceive.”

**Included in Stephen King’s updated reading list for On Writing .

The Blind Man’s Garden by Nadeem Aslam

“Jeo and Mikal are foster brothers from a small town in Pakistan. Though they were inseparable as children, their adult lives have diverged: Jeo is a dedicated medical student, married a year; Mikal has been a vagabond since he was fifteen, in love with a woman he can’t have. But when Jeo decides to sneak across the border into Afghanistan—not to fight with the Taliban against the Americans, rather to help care for wounded civilians—Mikal determines to go with him, to protect him. Yet Jeo’s and Mikal’s good intentions cannot keep them out of harm’s way. As the narrative takes us from the wilds of Afghanistan to the heart of the family left behind, we see all of these lives upended by the turmoil of war.”

**Stephen King says: “An eye-opening, heartbreaking novel of the war in Afghanistan. Reminded me of Conrad’s  Nostromo .”

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

“Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake–through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride.”

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

“Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future. Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens on to other times. At the urging of the House, Harper inserts himself into the lives of the shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He’s the ultimate hunter, vanishing into another time after each murder, untraceable-until one of his victims survives.

Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the ex-homicide reporter, Dan Velasquez, who covered her case. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on the impossible truth.”

**Stephen King says: “No, not the twins from the Kubrick movie, but the targets of a serial killer who finds a time portal in Chicago during the Depression and jackrabbits his way through recent American history, killing women and taking trophies. Until, that is, he encounters a tuff girl who’s not so easy to do away with. It’s the black-hole version of The Time Traveler’s Wife .”

2666 by Robert BolaÑo

“Composed in the last two years of Bolaño’s life, 2666 has been greeted as his greatest achievement, surpassing even his previous work in its strangeness, beauty, and scope. Its throng of unforgettable characters include academics and convicts, an American sportswriter, an elusive German novelist, and a teenage student caring for her widowed, mentally unstable father. Their lives intersect in the desert sprawl of Santa Teresa–a fictional Juárez–on the US-Mexico border, where hundreds of young factory workers, in the novel as in life, have disappeared.”

**Stephen King says, “This surreal novel can’t be described; it has to be experienced in all its crazed glory.”

A Walk in the Woods   by Bill Bryson

“The Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America–majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaining guide you’ll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets along the way–and a couple of bears.”

**Included in SK’s reading list for On Writing .

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon

“For sixty years, Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a “temporary” safe haven created in the wake of revelations of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. Proud, grateful, and longing to be American, the Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant, gritty, soulful, and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. Now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end: once again the tides of history threaten to sweep them up and carry them off into the unknown. But homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. And in a cheap hotel, someone has just committed a murder—right under Landsman’s nose.”

**Included in SK’s updated reading list for On Writing .

The Troop by Nick Cutter

“Once a year, scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for a three-day camping trip—a tradition as comforting and reliable as a good ghost story and a roaring bonfire. But when an unexpected intruder—shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry—stumbles upon their campsite, Tim and the boys are exposed to something far more frightening than any tale of terror. The human carrier of a bioengineered nightmare. An inexplicable horror that spreads faster than fear. A harrowing struggle for survival that will pit the troop against the elements, the infected…and one another.”

**Stephen King says, “ The Troop scared the hell out of me, and I couldn’t put it down. This is old-school horror at its best.”

My SOul to Keep by Tananarive Due

“When Jessica marries David, he is everything she wants in a family man: brilliant, attentive, ever youthful. Yet she still feels something about him is just out of reach. Soon, as people close to Jessica begin to meet violent, mysterious deaths, David makes an unimaginable confession: More than 400 years ago, he and other members of an Ethiopian sect traded their humanity so they would never die, a secret he must protect at any cost. Now, his immortal brethren have decided David must return and leave his family in Miami. Instead, David vows to invoke a forbidden ritual to keep Jessica and his daughter with him forever.”

**Stephen King says, “Ms. Due accomplishes the hardest thing of all with deceptive ease, creating characters we care about on their most human level.”

Sharp Objects   byGillian Flynn

“Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.”

**Stephen King says, “I found myself dreading the last thirty pages or so but was helpless to stop turning them. Then, after the lights were out, the story just stayed there in my head, coiled and hissing, like a snake in a cave. An admirably nasty piece of work, elevated by sharp writing and sharper insights.”

The Secret Place   by Tana French

“A year ago a boy was found murdered at a girlsʼ boarding school, and the case was never solved. Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to join Dublin’s Murder Squad when sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey arrives in his office with a photo of the boy with the caption: “I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM.” Stephen joins with Detective Antoinette Conway to reopen the case—beneath the watchful eye of Holly’s father, fellow detective Frank Mackey. With the clues leading back to Holly’s close-knit group of friends, to their rival clique, and to the tangle of relationships that bound them all to the murdered boy, the private underworld of teenage girls turns out to be more mysterious and more dangerous than the detectives imagined.”

**Stephen King says, “Read The Secret Place , by Tana French, when it comes out. You’ll understand then. Great book.”

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

“Days before his release from prison, Shadow’s wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.”

**Included in SK’s updated reading list for On Writing.

Deception on His Mind by Elizabeth George

“Balford-le-Nez is a dying seatown on the coast of Essex. But when a member of the town’s small but growing Asian community, a Pakistani named Haytham Querashi, is found dead near its beach, his neck broken, sleepy Balford-le-Nez ignites. And working solo, without her long-time partner Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, Sergeant Barbara Havers must probe not only the mind of a murderer and a case very close to her own heart, but the terrible price people pay for deceiving others…and themselves.”

**Included in SK’s reading list for On Writing.

Gravity by Tess Gerritsen

“An experiment on micro-organisms conducted in space goes wrong. The cells begin to infect the crew with deadly results. Emma Watson struggles to contain the deadly microbe while her husband and NASA try to retrieve her from space, before it’s too late.”

**Stephen King says, “She is better than Palmer, better than Cook…yes, even better than Crichton.”

The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber

“After his December 2003 arrest, registered nurse Charlie Cullen was quickly dubbed ‘The Angel of Death’ by the media. But Cullen was no mercy killer, nor was he a simple monster. He was a favorite son, husband, beloved father, best friend, and celebrated caregiver. Implicated in the deaths of as many as 300 patients, he was also perhaps the most prolific serial killer in American history.”

**Stephen King says, “You think Annie Wilkes was bad? Check out this chilling nonfiction account of Charlie Cullen, a friendly nurse who may have killed several hundred patients before he was caught. Now, there’s a real cockadoodie brat.”

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

“When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.”

**Stephen King says, “For pure story, this colorful, headlong tale of a Depression-era circus simply can’t be beat. Heroes, villains, romance, a wild-animal stampede! Big fun from page 1.”

Hex   by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

“Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a 17th century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters your homes at will. She stands next to your bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened. The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated with being kept in lockdown, the town’s teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting, but in so doing send the town spiraling into the dark, medieval practices of the past.”

**Stephen King says, “A wicked witch holds an upstate New York town prisoner. This is totally, brilliantly original.”

Paul Simon: The Life by Robert Hilburn

“For more than fifty years, Paul Simon has spoken to us in songs about alienation, doubt, resilience, and empathy in ways that have established him as one of the most beloved artists in American pop music history. Songs like “The Sound of Silence,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Still Crazy After All These Years,” and “Graceland” have moved beyond the sales charts and into our cultural consciousness. But Simon is a deeply private person who has resisted speaking to us outside of his music. He has said he will not write an autobiography or memoir, and he has refused to talk to previous biographers. Finally, Simon has opened up—for more than one hundred hours of interviews—to Robert Hilburn, whose biography of Johnny Cash was named by Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times as one of her ten favorite books of 2013. The result is a landmark book that will take its place as the defining biography of one of America’s greatest artists.”

**Stephen King says, “Every now and then—rarely!—a book casts a little light on the creative development of a gifted artist. Paul Simon: The Life  is one of those few. Read it if you like Simon; read it if you want to discover how talent unfolds itself.”

The Nix   by Nathan Hill

“Meet Samuel Andresen-Anderson: stalled writer, bored teacher at a local college, obsessive player of an online video game. He hasn’t seen his mother, Faye, since she walked out when he was a child. But then one day there she is, all over the news, throwing rocks at a presidential candidate. The media paints Faye as a militant radical with a sordid past, but as far as Samuel knows, his mother never left her small Iowa town. Which version of his mother is the true one? Determined to solve the puzzle–and finally have something to deliver to his publisher–Samuel decides to capitalize on his mother’s new fame by writing a tell-all biography, a book that will savage her intimately, publicly. But first, he has to locate her.”

**Stephen King says, “I’m reading The Nix by Nathan Hill. Just started, but so far it’s got me laughing hysterically. First 50 pages are worth the price.”

Magpie Murders   by Anthony Horowitz

“When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job. Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder.”

**Stephen King says, “Want to read a great whodunnit? Anthony Horowitz has one for you: Magpie Murders . It’s as good as an Agatha Christie. Better, in some ways. Cleverer.”

Natchez Burning   by Greg Iles

“Growing up in the rural Southern hamlet of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn Cage learned everything he knows about honor and duty from his father, Tom Cage. But now the beloved family doctor is accused of murdering Viola Turner, the beautiful nurse with whom he worked in the early 1960s. A fighter who has always stood for justice, Penn is determined to save his father. The quest for answers sends Penn deep into the past—into the heart of a conspiracy of greed and murder involving the Double Eagles, a vicious KKK crew headed by one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the state. Now Penn must follow a bloody trail that stretches back forty years, to one undeniable fact: no one—black or white, young or old, brave or not—is ever truly safe.”

**Stephen King says, “Grab all 3 volumes of Greg Iles’s Natchez Burning trilogy. Pure suspense, pure backroads Americana.”

The Liars Club   by Mary Karr

“When it was published in 1995, Mary Karr’s The Liars Club took the world by storm and raised the art of the memoir to an entirely new level, as well as bringing about a dramatic revival of the form. Karr’s comic childhood in an east Texas oil town brings us characters as darkly hilarious as any of J. D. Salinger’s—a hard-drinking daddy, a sister who can talk down the sheriff at twelve, and an oft-married mother whose accumulated secrets threaten to destroy them all.”

**Stephen King says, “This is what the memoir is supposed to be.”

The Hunger   by Alma Katsu

“Tamsen Donner must be a witch. That is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the wagon train known as the Donner Party. Depleted rations, bitter quarrels, and the mysterious death of a little boy have driven the pioneers to the brink of madness. They cannot escape the feeling that someone–or something–is stalking them. Whether it was a curse from the beautiful Tamsen, the choice to follow a disastrous experimental route West, or just plain bad luck–the 90 men, women, and children of the Donner Party are at the brink of one of the deadliest and most disastrous western adventures in American history. While the ill-fated group struggles to survive in the treacherous mountain conditions–searing heat that turns the sand into bubbling stew; snows that freeze the oxen where they stand–evil begins to grow around them, and within them. As members of the party begin to disappear, they must ask themselves ‘What if there is something waiting in the mountains? Something disturbing and diseased…and very hungry?’”

**Stephen King says, “Deeply, deeply disturbing, hard to put down, not recommended reading after dark.”

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

“Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily’s fierce-hearted black “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina–a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.”

The Poisonwood Bible   by BARBARA KINGSOLVER

“ The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it — from garden seeds to Scripture — is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.”

THE MARS ROOM by RACHEL KUSHNER

“It’s 2003 and Romy Hall is at the start of two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility, deep in California’s Central Valley. Outside is the world from which she has been severed: the San Francisco of her youth and her young son, Jackson. Inside is a new reality: thousands of women hustling for the bare essentials needed to survive; the bluffing and pageantry and casual acts of violence by guards and prisoners alike; and the deadpan absurdities of institutional living, which Kushner evokes with great humor and precision.”

**Stephen King says, “Most literary fiction doesn’t last very long. This is going to be around. It’s the real deal. Jarring, horrible, compassionate, funny. BTW, Kushner reads the audio, and knocks it out of the park.”

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

“One of the most cherished stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father—a crusading local lawyer—risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.”

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin

“A groundbreaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants can choose -and change – their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters.”

* *Stephen King says, “Ursula K. Le Guin, one of the greats, has passed. Not just a science fiction writer; a literary icon. Godspeed into the galaxy.”

Sunburn by Laura Lippman

“They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he’s also passing through. Yet she stays and he stays—drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other—dangerous, even lethal, secrets that begin to accumulate as autumn approaches, feeding the growing doubts they conceal. Then someone dies. Was it an accident, or part of a plan? By now, Adam and Polly are so ensnared in each other’s lives and lies that neither one knows how to get away—or even if they want to. Is their love strong enough to withstand the truth, or will it ultimately destroy them?”

**Stephen King says, “Suspenseful as hell, and [Lippman] writes like a dream…Lippman’s always good, but this is a cut above.”

One Hundred Years of Solitude   by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

“The brilliant, bestselling, landmark novel that tells the story of the Buendia family, and chronicles the irreconcilable conflict between the desire for solitude and the need for love—in rich, imaginative prose that has come to define an entire genre known as magical realism.”

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

“For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area. Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called “the Golden State Killer.” Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark —the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind.”

**Stephen King says, “It appears police have caught the Golden State Killer. Go get Michelle McNamara’s excellent book about the case, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark.”

Slade House by David Mitchell

“Down the road from a working-class British pub, along the brick wall of a narrow alley, if the conditions are exactly right, you’ll find the entrance to Slade House. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. At first, you won’t want to leave. Later, you’ll find that you can’t. Every nine years, the house’s residents — an odd brother and sister — extend a unique invitation to someone who’s different or lonely: a precocious teenager, a recently divorced policeman, a shy college student. But what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it’s already too late…”

**Stephen King says, “Hard to imagine a more finely wrought and chilling tale of the supernatural. One of the rare great ones.”

Darktown by Thomas Mullen

“Responding from pressure on high, the Atlanta police department is forced to hire its first black officers in 1948. The newly minted policemen are met with deep hostility by their white peers and their authority is limited: They can’t arrest white suspects; they can’t drive a squad car; they can’t even use the police headquarters and must instead operate out of the basement of a gym. When a black woman who was last seen in a car driven by a white man turns up fatally beaten, no one seems to care except for Boggs and Smith, two black cops from vastly different backgrounds. Pressured from all sides, they will risk their jobs, the trust the community has put in them, and even their own safety to investigate her death. Their efforts bring them up against an old-school cop, Dunlow, who has long run the neighborhood like his own, and Dunlow’s young partner, Rakestraw, a young progressive who may or may not be willing to make allies across color lines”

**Stephen King says, “A brilliant blending of crime, mystery, and American history (Atlanta, just after WWII). Terrific entertainment.”

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

“When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her London apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These two American girls never met their English aunt, only knew that their mother, too, was a twin, and Elspeth her sister. Julia and Valentina are semi-normal American teenagers–with seemingly little interest in college, finding jobs, or anything outside their cozy home in the suburbs of Chicago, and with an abnormally intense attachment to one another. The girls move to Elspeth’s flat, which borders Highgate Cemetery in London. They come to know the building’s other residents. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword puzzle setter suffering from crippling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Marjike, Martin’s devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth’s elusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt’s neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including–perhaps–their aunt, who can’t seem to leave her old apartment and life behind.”

Doing Harm  by Kelly Parsons

“Steve Mitchell, happily married with a wife and two kids, is in line for a coveted position at Boston’s University Hospital when his world goes awry. His over-reaching ambition causes him to botch a major surgery, and another of his patients mysteriously dies. Steve’s nightmare goes from bad to worse when he learns that the mysterious death was no accident but the act of a sociopath. A sociopath he knows and who has information that could destroy Steve’s career and marriage. A sociopath for whom killing is more than a means to an end: it’s a game. Because he is under a cloud of suspicion and has no evidence, he knows that any accusations he makes won’t be believed. So he must struggle to turn the tables, even as the killer skillfully blocks his every move.”

**Stephen King says, “ Doing Harm , by Kelly Parsons: best damn medical thriller I’ve read in 25 years. Terrifying OR scenes, characters with real texture.”

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

“As Dr. Marina Singh embarks upon an uncertain odyssey into the insect-infested Amazon, she will be forced to surrender herself to the lush but forbidding world that awaits within the jungle. Charged with finding her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson, a researcher who has disappeared while working on a valuable new drug, she will have to confront her own memories of tragedy and sacrifice as she journeys into the unforgiving heart of darkness.”

**Stephen King says, “ State of Wonder , by Ann Patchett: took me awhile to get around to it, but boy, was it worth it. Highest recommendation.”

Red Moon by Benjamin Percy

“When government agents kick down Claire Forrester’s front door and murder her parents, Claire realizes just how different she is. Patrick Gamble was nothing special until the day he got on a plane and hours later stepped off it, the only passenger left alive, a hero. Chase Williams has sworn to protect the people of the United States from the menace in their midst, but he is becoming the very thing he has promised to destroy. So far, the threat has been controlled by laws and violence and drugs. But the night of the red moon is coming, when an unrecognizable world will emerge…and the battle for humanity will begin.”

**Stephen King says, “Finished Red Moon , by Benjamin Percy. A werewolf epic. Can’t stop thinking about it.”

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

“Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens — until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermath, the town’s residents must not only seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in the tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state’s best witness, but she can’t remember what happened in front of her own eyes. And as the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show, destroying the closest of friendships and families.”

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

“Louise is a single mom, a secretary, stuck in a modern-day rut. On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar and sparks fly. Though he leaves after they kiss, she’s thrilled she finally connected with someone. When Louise arrives at work on Monday, she meets her new boss, David. The man from the bar. The very married man from the bar…who says the kiss was a terrible mistake but who still can’t keep his eyes off Louise. And then Louise bumps into Adele, who’s new to town and in need of a friend, but she also just happens to be married to David. David and Adele look like the picture-perfect husband and wife, but then why is David so controlling, and why is Adele so scared of him? As Louise is drawn into David and Adele’s orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong, but Louise can’t guess how wrong―and how far a person might go to protect their marriage’s secrets.”

**Stephen King says, “Spent most of the day reading the second half of Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough. What the Brits call ‘a thumping good read.’ Bravo!”

A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell

“ A Sight for Sore Eyes tells three stories, and for the longest time, the reader has no inkling of how they will come together. The first is a story of a little girl who has been scolded and sent to her room when her mother is brutally murdered; as Francine grows up, she is haunted by the experience, and it is years before she even speaks. Secondly, we become privy to the life of a young man, Teddy, born of unthinking young parents, who grows up almost completely ignored. Free of societal mores, he becomes a sociopath, who eventually discovers that killing can be an effective way to get what he wants. Thirdly, we meet Harriet, who from an early age has learned to use her beauty to make her way in the world. Bored by marriage to a wealthy, much older man, she scans the local newspapers for handymen to perform odd jobs around the house, including services in the bedroom. When these three plots strands finally converge, the result is harrowing and unforgettable.”

Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

“Saleem Sinai was born at midnight, the midnight of India’s independence, and found himself mysteriously “handcuffed to history” by the coincidence. He is one of 1,001 children born at the midnight hour, each of them endowed with an extraordinary talent – and whose privilege and curse it is to be both master and victims of their times. Through Saleem’s gifts – inner ear and wildly sensitive sense of smell – we are drawn into a fascinating family saga set against the vast, colourful background of the India of the 20th century.”

**Stephen King says, “1,001 children are born in India at midnight on Aug. 15, 1947; this epic social comedy follows one of them through a lifetime of adventures worthy of Dickens.”

Final Girls by  Riley Sager

“Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet. Now, Quincy is doing well. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night…That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.”

**Stephen King says, “The first great thriller of 2017 is almost here: Final Girls by Riley Sager. If you liked Gone Girl , you’ll like this.”

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

“Lata and her mother, Mrs. Rupa Mehra, are both trying to find—through love or through exacting maternal appraisal—a suitable boy for Lata to marry. Set in the early 1950s, in an India newly independent and struggling through a time of crisis, A Suitable Boy takes us into the richly imagined world of four large extended families and spins a compulsively readable tale of their lives and loves.”

The Terror by Dan Simmons

“The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of triumph. As part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage, they are as scientifically supported an enterprise as has ever set forth. As they enter a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, though, they are stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, with diminishing rations, 126 men fight to survive with poisonous food, a dwindling supply of coal, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is far more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror constantly clawing to get in.When the expedition’s leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. With them travels an Inuit woman who cannot speak and who may be the key to survival, or the harbinger of their deaths. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear that there is no escape.”

**Stephen King says, “A brilliant, massive combination of history and supernatural horror.”

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

“Koushun Takami’s notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan – where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller – Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world.”

**Stephen King says, “An insanely entertaining pulp riff that combines Survivor with World Wrestling Entertainment. Or maybe Royale is just insane.”

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

“It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don’t know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art. As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.”

**Stephen King says, “Tartt proves that the Dickensian novel—expansive and bursting with incident—is alive and well.”

Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer

“Area X—a remote and lush terrain—has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; all the members of the second expedition committed suicide; the third expedition died in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another; the members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within months of their return, all had died of aggressive cancer. This is the twelfth expedition.”

**Stephen King says, “I’m loving The Southern Reach Trilogy, by Jeff Vandermeer. Recommended by an indie bookseller. Creepy and fascinating.”

The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J. Walker

“When the world ends and you find yourself forsaken, every second counts. No one knows this more than Edgar Hill. Stranded on the other side of the country from his wife and children, Ed must push himself across a devastated wasteland to get back to them. With the clock ticking and hundreds of miles between them, his best hope is to run — or risk losing what he loves forever.”

**Stephen King says, “This one’s a real find.”

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

“One postwar summer in his home of rural Warwickshire, Dr. Faraday, the son of a maid who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country physician, is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once impressive and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine. Its owners—mother, son, and daughter—are struggling to keep pace with a changing society, as well as with conflicts of their own. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr. Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become intimately entwined with his.”

**Stephen King says, “This is a terrifying, engrossing ghost story set in the English countryside not long after World War II, but it’s so much more…Although told in straightforward prose, this is a deeply textured and thoughtful piece of work. Several sleepless nights are guaranteed.”

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

“Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hellish for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood—where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned and, though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted. In Whitehead’s ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor—engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar’s first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven—but the city’s placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. Even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom.”

**Stephen King says, “Terrific novel of escape, sacrifice, and redemption.”

Now, when I was putting this list together, I had a harder time finding authors of color than I expected. Stephen King is a big fan of “good stories,” so naturally I had to wonder a little about what constitutes a “good story,” for him, and what types of stories most frequently end up on his bookshelf. Since reading books written by authors from different races, ethnicities, and cultures is one of the best ways to enhance your reading experience, I wanted to pass along a few suggestions of my own that I thought the King might appreciate, so Stephen, if you happen to have your eyeballs on this post, here are a few titles you might enjoy, from one Constant Reader to another!

My Sister, the Serial Killer   by Oyinkan Braithwaite

“When Korede’s dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what’s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This’ll be the third boyfriend Ayoola’s dispatched in “self-defence” and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating a doctor at the hospital where Korede works as a nurse. Korede’s long been in love with him, and isn’t prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other…”

**Katie says, “A blistering, multi-layered satirical gut punch of a novel that is both darkly humorous and deeply disturbing.”

IQ  by Joe Ide

“East Long Beach. The LAPD is barely keeping up with the neighborhood’s high crime rate. Murders go unsolved, lost children unrecovered. But someone from the neighborhood has taken it upon himself to help solve the cases the police can’t or won’t touch. They call him IQ. He’s a loner and a high school dropout, his unassuming nature disguising a relentless determination and a fierce intelligence. He charges his clients whatever they can afford, which might be a set of tires or a homemade casserole. To get by, he’s forced to take on clients that can pay. This time, it’s a rap mogul whose life is in danger. As Isaiah investigates, he encounters a vengeful ex-wife, a crew of notorious cutthroats, a monstrous attack dog, and a hit man who even other hit men say is a lunatic. The deeper Isaiah digs, the more far reaching and dangerous the case becomes.”

**Katie says, “A gritty crime series that’s like if Sherlock Holmes grew up in the projects.”

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

“When it comes to law and order, East Texas plays by its own rules–a fact that Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger, knows all too well. Deeply ambivalent about growing up black in the lone star state, he was the first in his family to get as far away from Texas as he could. Until duty called him home. When his allegiance to his roots puts his job in jeopardy, he travels up Highway 59 to the small town of Lark, where two murders–a black lawyer from Chicago and a local white woman–have stirred up a hornet’s nest of resentment. Darren must solve the crimes–and save himself in the process–before Lark’s long-simmering racial fault lines erupt. ”

**Katie says, “Attica Locke’s writing completely transports you to this tiny, dusty Texas town, where racial relations have been simmering menacingly for decades. It’s a complicated mystery, with an even more complicated story behind, and it’s absolutely brilliant.”

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

“ Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.  So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos.”

**Katie says, “This book is a beautiful look at family, cultural expectations, fitting in, and what happens when the family dynamic is shattered forever. The writing is lyrical, yet razor sharp, and it’s incredible on audio.”

There There by Tommy Orange

“ There There  is a relentlessly paced multigenerational story about violence and recovery, memory and identity, and the beauty and despair woven into the history of a nation and its people. It tells the story of twelve characters, each of whom have private reasons for traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow. Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death and has come to work at the powwow to honor his uncle’s memory. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil, who has taught himself traditional Indian dance through YouTube videos and has come to the powwow to dance in public for the very first time. There will be glorious communion, and a spectacle of sacred tradition and pageantry. And there will be sacrifice, and heroism, and unspeakable loss.”

**Katie says, “An unflinching look at urban Native American life and the way that heritage and memory get passed down through the generations. It’s a book that deserves to be read multiple times.”

Want more Stephen King? Check out some of these other books he’s recommended over the years , or bask in the wisdom he’s shared with 70 Stephen King quotes to commemorate his 70th birthday.

list books by stephen king

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  • Stephen King is an author famous for his suspenseful horror novels.
  • Some of his books have been turned into movies like " The Shining " and " It ."
  • We used Goodreads to rank his most popular novels.

Insider Today

While some readers gravitate toward heartwarming love stories or informative nonfiction, others love the wide-eyed suspense and fear of a great horror story or thrilling mystery novel . Stephen King has become a legendary writer since his first book was published in 1974 and has garnered worldwide fans, earned countless awards, and topped bestseller lists with his horror, thriller, science-fiction, and crime reads.  

King has received nearly 17 million ratings from Goodreads reviewers across dozens of novels, so we turned to them to rank his best books. Goodreads is the world's largest platform for readers to rate, review, and recommend books so whether you love a great horror novel or crave a suspenseful book that keeps you up at night, here are the most popular Stephen King novels, as ranked by Goodreads reviewers.

The 20 best Stephen King books, according to Goodreads:

20. a supernatural, science fiction horror story.

list books by stephen king

"The Institute," available on Amazon and Bookshop , from $13.79

This 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards winner for Best Horror follows Luke Ellis as he wakes up in The Institute after his parents are murdered and he's taken from his home. At The Institute, Luke finds other kids with extranormal gifts like his own and a staff determined to extract them, with brutal punishment waiting for those who disobey. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 85,109

19. The third novel in a thrilling series

list books by stephen king

"The Waste Lands," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $12.98

In " The Dark Tower " series, readers follow Roland, the last in a knightly order, on his quest to reach the Dark Tower — the only hope for his world. This is the third book, where Roland experiences double memories as a result of saving a boy who had already died in a parallel universe. Roland and his new gang of fellow gunslingers must draw the boy into their world in order to reach the Dark Tower. This novel is full of important character development and genuine entertainment from the plot, one that solidifies readers' necessity to continue the series. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 91,599

18. A thrilling fantasy tale of a mysterious store

list books by stephen king

"Needful Things" available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $15.19

In his shop, Needful Things, Leland Gaunt knows that every customer will find the object of their heart's deepest desire. In exchange, Leland asks for a small prank to be carried out on his behalf, generating a novel of chaos in a small town. This story is fascinating as the characters are tempted and lured into complete obsession over possessions, blinded by greed and willing to do anything for the object they want — even murder. It's an intense novel, a thriller and fantasy that swirls with mayhem while still being the small-town horror that King writes so well.

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 77,940

17. An anticipated sequel to a modern classic

list books by stephen king

"Doctor Sleep," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $10.22

In this sequel, readers reunite with Dan Torrance, once the young boy from " The Shining ," but now a middle-aged man drifting through life. When Dan settles into a job at a nursing home in New Hampshire, he's coined "Doctor Sleep," using his paranormal abilities to help and comfort the dying. But there is a group of traveling, murderous paranormals who are deriving their energy from the "steam" given off by paranormal children as they're tortured and killed. When Dan meets 12-year-old Abra with the same gift he has, he knows he must try to save her. This is a psychological and gory sequel, hugely satisfying to readers who adored "The Shining." 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 90,138

16. A not-so-sweet story about a Saint Bernard

list books by stephen king

"Cujo," available on Amazon and Bookshop , from $14.97

" Cujo " is a 1981 psychological horror read about a Saint Bernard named Cujo who gets bitten by a bat while chasing a rabbit and is quickly overcome by a sickness that has turned him uncontrollably towards murder. As Cujo creates a flurry of fear and madness, everyone in their small town fears for their safety in this gruesome and nail-biting read. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 71,244

15. A new suspenseful and haunting horror novel

list books by stephen king

"The Outsider," available on Amazon and Bookshop , from $8.16

This bone-chilling Stephen King horror won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Mystery & Thriller in 2018 for its unsettling plot and page-turning investigation. When a young boy's body is found in a park, copious DNA evidence immediately points investigators towards Terry Maitland, a local Little League coach and teacher. Yet after a swift arrest, their investigation slowly brings new and horrifying answers to light.  

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 78,651

14. The second installment of a beloved series

list books by stephen king

"The Drawing of the Three," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $12.99

This is the second book of " The Dark Tower " series, which follows Roland, The Last Gunslinger, on his quest to reach the Dark Tower, the nexus of all universes that his world desperately needs to survive. In this sequel, Roland navigates a world that is a nightmarish mirror of our own to encounter a beach with three doors. Each is a gateway to a person living in New York with whom Roland must collaborate to fight evil forces. This book is a plot-driven horror story mixed with magical realism, a page-turning novel that demonstrates some of the best of King's cross-genre writing. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 106,370

13. A psychological sci-fi novel

list books by stephen king

"Under the Dome," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $13.42

On an otherwise normal day, the residents in Chester's Mill, Maine find themselves trapped under an invisible dome, a forcefield separating them from the rest of the world. Told through multiple perspectives, a group of citizens comes together to fight their new enemies in this strange and unprecedented dystopia. There is a large cast of characters in this story, but King writes each one as a prominent individual so readers can easily follow each story. " Under the Dome " is definitely a violent science-fiction thriller, but also comes peppered with dark humor and strong characters, making it a rich read with profound messages about contemporary society. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 91,933

12. A suspenseful true crime mystery thriller

list books by stephen king

"Mr. Mercedes," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $9.29

The opening of this book is emotional but quickly turns gruesome, as a man driving a Mercedes plows into a line of innocent people waiting at a job fair. After killing eight and injuring 15, the man gets away and retired detective Bill Hodges is left haunted by the crime. On the verge of suicide, Bill receives a message from the murderer, spurring a mission to catch the killer before he strikes again. The juxtaposition between the conniving and manipulative Mr. Mercedes and the tired but determined Hodges is what makes this King novel such an invigorating read. It continues on to create the " Bill Hodges " trilogy, a fast-paced supernatural series featuring this detective-turned-hero.

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 93,372

11. An autobiographical self-help book about writing

list books by stephen king

"On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $17.99

In a book that is part-memoir and part-advice, Stephen King uses his personal anecdotes to inspire budding and aspiring writers. While his guidance is not always sparkling with encouragement, it's always realistic: imploring that those who wish to be writers must be constantly learning, reading, and writing every day. King is honest about his own struggles and setbacks and offers insight into his methods and inspirations which culminate in a master class from one of the most successful writers of this generation. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 134,058

10. A dramatic and emotional book

list books by stephen king

"The Green Mile," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $9.29

" The Green Mile " is a series that was released one volume at a time in 1996, with each installment landing on the "New York Times" Best-Seller List. Now compiled as a single work, it follows Paul Edgecombe, a prison guard at Cold Mountain Penitentiary where convicted killers wait to walk "the green mile" to the electric chair. Though Paul has seen nearly everything, his experiences with inmate John Coffey are like no other. John is a strange inmate, convicted of a depraved crime despite appearing to have the mind of a child. This is a thought-provoking and emotional novel, an iconic and believable story that mixes in shocking elements consistent with King's horror style. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 167,629

9. A horrifying vampire story

list books by stephen king

"Salem's Lot," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $8.36

This was Stephen King's second published novel, the story of writer Ben Mears who returns to his childhood town of Jerusalem's Lot (nicknamed 'Salem's Lot) to confront the evil he once escaped. This unique vampire story is packed with more horror than most of King's other works and is inspired by classic vampire tales and films. King writes incredible small-town horrors and this one is no different, featuring a wonderful, quaint town with secrets of abuse, violence, and murder not far beneath the surface. This story is suspenseful and foreboding, a vampire horror for any reader who's ready to be scared. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 145,157

8. A paranormal novel with building horror

list books by stephen king

"Pet Sematary," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $14.99

In rural Maine, a picturesque family has moved into a perfect home to live a simple and happy life, just to find the town is haunted by horrors that should have remained dead — all seeming to originate from an evil and ominous nearby pet cemetery. This is a slow-burn horror, one that offers less gore but rather builds and builds on disturbing elements and skin-crawling feelings to scare readers in a way only Stephen King can. The developments in this novel are shocking and nightmarish, with even King admitting that this story scared him more than his others. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads:  189,058

7. A historical fiction, time travel thriller about JFK

list books by stephen king

"11/22/63," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $18.25

This is a time travel adventure novel that tells the story of Jake Epping, a high school English teacher who is introduced to a portal to 1958 and sets out on a mission to stop the JFK assassination. Jake adopts a new identity, tests the rules of time travel, and discovers what may wait in the present if he's to succeed. With very little (if any) horror in this novel, King fans get to experience a thrilling historical fiction story, one where the fascinating "what ifs" of history are explored through time travel. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 244,754

6. The first of a heroic fantasy series

list books by stephen king

"The Gunslinger," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $11.62

This is the first installment of King's hugely popular series " The Dark Tower ," of which there are eight books and a short story. Roland of Gilead is The Last Gunslinger — the final hero in a knightly order. With a mix of dark fantasy, horror, and Western themes, the story follows Roland as he sets off on his quest for the Dark Tower which holds all of existence together. On his journey, he pursues his arch-nemesis, develops a friendship, and meets a mysterious woman. An added excitement for regular King readers is the tie-ins to other novels: references and Easter eggs that expand and intertwine King's multiverse. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 213,445

5. A supernatural horror story centered on bullying

list books by stephen king

"Carrie," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $7.99

Stephen King's first published novel focuses on Carrie White, a telekinetic teenager who's able to move objects with her mind. Abused and bullied all her life, one particularly traumatic day unleashes a streak of revenge that cumulates with a famously terrifying prom night scene. This modern horror classic is also a powerful anti-bullying testament, offering the frightening combination of real and supernatural elements that makes it an exceptionally fast read.

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 210,851

4. An intense psychological thriller about an obsessive fan

list books by stephen king

"Misery," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $13.69

After celebrating the release of a new novel, Paul Sheldon gets in a car accident in the Rocky Mountains and is rescued by Anne Wilkes, his #1 fan. While nursing Paul back to health after he shattered both his legs, she compels him to write a new novel, furious that he killed off her favorite character. Fueled by obsession, Anne keeps Paul captive in a story of torture, psychological manipulation, and addiction. This is a gory and gruesome horror novel with a multi-dimensional villain, an intense and graphic tale of the struggle between prisoner and captor. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 267,279

3. A post-apocalyptic fantasy thriller

list books by stephen king

"The Stand," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $14.89

This book begins the day after 99% of the Earth's population is killed from a man-made flu that was accidentally released. The few remaining survivors are plagued with strange dreams and struggle with a society torn between two prevailing allegiances. At over 1,100 pages, this masterpiece combines King's classic supernatural and fantasy elements and combines them with an apocalyptic dystopia that addresses huge topics of survival, religion, and the ultimate compass of morality. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 386,896

2. An iconic creepy clown horror story

list books by stephen king

"It," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $15.97

In Derry, Maine, seven teenagers first discovered the horror that they deemed "It" — often taking the form of Pennywise the Clown. Now adults, each with their own successes, one of the self-proclaimed "Losers Club" asks the gang to return and end the evil creature's reign once and for all. Stephen King uses dual timelines from 1958 and 1985 and chilling descriptions to develop unique characters and explore deep themes that extend far beyond the traditional horror genre. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 490,912

1. A modern horror classic

list books by stephen king

"The Shining," available on Amazon and Bookshop , from $8.36

It should hardly be a surprise that Stephen King's most popular book is also his first-ever bestseller: " The Shining ," a classic 1977 horror novel, spurred a cult-favorite movie and a sequel. It's a deeply suspenseful paranormal story about Jack Torrance, who starts a new job as a caretaker at the Overlook Hotel, hoping to spend more time with his family and work on his writing. During the off-season, a chilling winter storm confines Jack to the hotel — and sinister forces begin to emerge. It's a classic haunted house story that has been scaring readers for nearly 50 years.

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 652,896

list books by stephen king

  • Main content

The Essential Stephen King

By Gilbert Cruz May 4, 2020

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If you’ve never read his books, here’s where to start.

list books by stephen king

W ith more than 70 books in his catalog, Stephen King has long been one of the few blockbuster writers who regularly publishes short fiction. “If It Bleeds,” his new collection, is a strong reminder that — for an author who has produced more than a few novels of staggering length — some of his most interesting work has fallen on the shorter side. (If you’re looking for stories to sample, his early books “Night Shift” and “Skeleton Crew” are full of nasty tales with “Twilight Zone”-esque endings.)

Reviewing “If It Bleeds” in The New York Times Book Review, Ruth Franklin says that as “the headlines grow more apocalyptic by the day, I might start working my way through King’s backlist.”

She’d be in for a treat, as would you. Here is a brief starter guide to the works of Stephen King.

list books by stephen king

I Want to Read a King Classic

Normally I would recommend “The Shining,” but that novel is so fixed in the cultural lexicon that first-time readers might feel as if they already know where the story will go. (Plus, the cabin-fever vibes might hit too close to home at present.) Instead, start with the vampire novel “’Salem’s Lot.” It contains many of the most recognizable King elements: a writer protagonist, a Maine town full of idiosyncratic characters, echoes of genre fiction standards and memorably creepy setpieces (the school bus, God, the school bus).

Published October 17, 1975, 439 pp.

Buy this book: Local booksellers , Barnes and Noble , Amazon .

I Want to Drive Into the Skid

Why not use this moment of worry and self-isolation to read a 1000-plus page book about a superflu that kills most of Earth’s population? Cut by hundreds of pages upon its initial release in 1978, “The Stand” was re-published in 1990 in its original version, with its timeline and cultural references updated to the early ’90s. Here’s the thing to know about the novel that might make you more open to reading it now, though: Only the first third or so is about the virus that kills billions. Everything after that is a rich post-apocalyptic clash between the forces of good and evil. Once you get to that part, the book’s scariest elements subside and it shifts into a story about survival, friendship and sacrifice.

Published October 3, 1978, 1200 pp.

I’m a Scaredy-Cat, OK?

It’s fine to not like scary things! That doesn’t mean you can’t read some Stephen King. Though he’s most famous for his horror novels and stories, at this point he has written a significant amount outside of the genre. Early in his career — less than a decade after the publication of his debut novel “Carrie” — King released “Different Seasons,” a collection of four novellas. Three of them have nothing to do with the supernatural. Two of them were adapted into top-tier King movies: “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” became, well, you know, and “The Body” was filmed as “Stand By Me.” Both are set in Maine in the early 1960s, and both give a sense of how lovingly King can draw his characters.

Published August 27, 1982, 608 pp.

Actually, I’m Not a Scaredy-Cat, OK?

Relax! No one said you were. “It” is probably King’s purest horror book, but it’s also one of his biggest and most dense and … the ending has problems. Let’s call it part of your graduate study. This starter guide will instead go with “Pet Sematary.” There’s something elemental about its simplicity: A young family moves into a new house, and terrible things happen after they discover an ancient burial ground deep in the woods. Contrary to what you might think of King’s novels, given the mode in which he typically works, many of them do end with a sense of hard-won victory and optimism. Not this one. It’s as grim as he’s ever gotten.

Published November 14, 1983, 374 pp.

list books by stephen king

I Have Time to Begin an Epic Journey

King has referred to “The Stand” as his attempt to do an American version of “The Lord of the Rings.” But his seven-book “Dark Tower” series (an eighth book was published after the story proper concluded), is King’s true Tolkein analogue.

Indeed, it’s one of the great American genre series — a multi-genre epic (horror, sci-fi, fantasy, Western) about a gunslinger-knight who is trying to save his world and ours from complete destruction by his foe, the Man in Black. Published over the course of 20 years, the series has become the center of a King extended universe, with multiple novels and stories connecting to characters and locations. The first volume, “The Gunslinger,” is one of the shortest, and it will give you a tiny taste of how weird and inventive the series gets.

Published June 10, 1982, 128 pp.

I Want Pure Suspense

There’s a decent percentage of King’s work that features writers as main characters, from “‘Salem’s Lot” and “The Shining” to “The Tommyknockers” and “The Dark Half” to “Bag of Bones” and “Lisey’s Story” to “Rat,” one of the stories in his latest book.

Paul Sheldon, the protagonist of “Misery,” is yet another writer, one who finds himself in a particularly horrifying situation— held captive, post-car accident, by an obsessed fan, Annie Wilkes, who wants him to write a book just for her. The subtext is clear: Sometimes, fame can feel like a trap. And King, a recovering addict, has talked about the sub-subtext, saying, “Annie was my drug problem, and she was my No. 1 fan. God, she never wanted to leave.” But none of that matters much when you’re deep into the middle of this novel and Paul sleeps a little too long and wakes up and you realize what’s going to happen and your stomach just plummets.

Published June 8, 1987, 310 pp.

I’m Looking For a Big Fat Read

For a certain generation — King’s generation — the assassinations of the 1960s were their great traumas. If Lee Harvey Oswald hadn’t killed John F. Kennedy, what would the next decade-plus have looked like? In “11/22/1963” King imagines a scenario in which Maine school teacher Jake Epping finds he can travel back to the year 1958 through the pantry in a local diner, and uses that ability to try to stop J.F.K. from dying on that titular day in Dallas.

A big part of the book’s pleasures (and over 800 pages, there are many) come from the procedural-like manner in which Jake must establish a new identity in a new era and live in real-time without revealing his true mission. By the book’s back half, when he begins to cross paths with real historical figures and events, you’re fully invested in Jake. It’s one secret of King’s success — that so many of his characters feel as ordinary as we believe ourselves to be.

Published November 8, 2011, 849 pp.

I Want a Great Crime Novel

If you didn’t watch the recent HBO series based on this 2018 book (the novelist Richard Price was the showrunner and Dennis Lehane wrote two episodes), then the twists of this supernatural detective story remain intact. It’s an irresistible set-up. In a small Oklahoma town, a teacher and Little League coach is arrested for the brutal murder of a young boy. The evidence against him is overwhelming. Until, that is, overwhelming evidence comes to light placing him in a completely different town at the same time.

How could a person be in two places at once? One of the main characters — Holly Gibney — doesn’t show up until halfway through the novel and while she’s a character in a prior series of King crime novels, it’s not necessary to have read them beforehand, though you might want to after finishing this one. (The longest story in “If It Bleeds,” the length of a short novel, is essentially a sequel to “The Outsider.” )

Published May 22, 2018, 560 pp.

I Want a Deep Cut

This tale of a group of Pennsylvania state troopers and the odd car they keep hidden in a shed has always felt like it got unfairly lost, somehow. Released the year before King finished his “Dark Tower” epic in a three-book, two-year rush, “Buick 8” is an often contemplative novel that also happens to feature the gnarly dissection of an inter-dimensional bat. While gross beings make several appearances here (resulting in a few of the most unsettling descriptions King has ever written), it’s ultimately a book about how many things in life are inexplicable and how sometimes there is no resolution. Feels particularly appropriate now.

Published September 24, 2002, 356 pp.

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The 10 best stephen king books ranked.

Stephen King gives a wry smile at the camera at an event for the movie It

Stephen King has written one metric f**k-ton of books. The man has written so many books that he actually had to come up with a pseudonym in order to release MORE BOOKS because his publishers couldn’t keep up with him.

So to celebrate the man who spars with internet transphobes and has spawned more movie adaptions than you can shake a stick at , let’s rank his best.

James Caan as Paul Sheldon in Misery

Misery is a book about cocaine . I know what you’re thinking “but I’ve seen the movie with Kathy Bates and the only blow in it is a blow to the shins with a sledgehammer!” I understand, but you need to read between the lines. No pun intended.

Misery is about a famous novelist who, after being injured in a car crash, is nursed back to health by an adoring super fan. Things quickly take a turn for the worse when the author informs his Number #1 fan that a character from her favorite novel isn’t coming back. She locks the author in a bedroom and forces him to write a new novel starring her favorite character. Essentially it’s about an author who is compelled to write by a malevolent, all-consuming force. Cocaine. Annie Wilkes. They’re one and the same.

9. The Dead Zone

Adapted into a film by David Cronenberg, The Dead Zone tells the story of a high school teacher named Johnny Smith who develops psychic powers after a devastating car accident. After waking up from a coma, the doctors reveal that Johnny has a “dead zone” in his brain as a result of the accident. As a result, the other parts of his brain begin working overtime, granting him psychic powers! Whenever he makes skin-to-skin contact with a person, he gets a vision of their future. His life as changed after shaking hands with a sociopathic Bible salesman with delusions of grandeur who dreams of becoming president. Johnny realizes that the only way to stop a future nuclear war is to assassinate the man before he can take office. It’s a “would you kill Hitler if you had the chance” sort of story. Johnny’s answer? “Yes.”

8. The Shining

Homer Simpson in The Simpsons' parody of The Shining

While the film adaption of The Shining is hailed as one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces ever conceived, Stephen King famously hated it . It isn’t hard to see why. Kubrick’s icy cold vision of the haunted hotel takes out the burning heart of the original work.

The story is the same: Struggling author Jack Torrence is hired as a groundskeeper for the remote Overlook Hotel in the offseason. After bringing his family there, they soon become haunted by the specters of the hotel’s previous denizens. While the film version of Jack begins the story as an unsettling creepazoid, the novel version portrays Jack as a kindhearted father who falls victim to forces beyond his control. Far more sympathetic, and tragic.

7. Pet Sematary

Church the zombie cat from Pet Sematary looking creepy.

Pet Sematary is one of King’s most personal books, penned after one of his children’s brush with death. The way King tells it, his son was playing near a busy street when he was nearly struck by a passing truck. King was able to pull his son away from the street just in time. Haunted by the experience, King wrote a story about what would have happened if he had been a second too late … and if there was a spooky place in the woods with the power to bring the dead back to life.

6. Salem’s Lot

Salem’s Lot is one of the best works of vampire horror ever told. The action takes place in the New England town Jerusalem’s Lot, known as Salem’s Lot by the locals due to all the creepy goings on there. After a mysterious, coffin-keeping stranger moves into a secluded mansion, the sleepy little town becomes plagued by the blood-sucking undead. Who can save them? Looks like a job for writer Ben Mears, college grad Susie Norton, and local 12-year-old boy Mark Petrie! For those looking to take on King’s Dark Tower series, the novel is an essential read for the introduction of Father Callahan, the vampire-fighting Catholic priest who appears in the series.

Sissy Spacek in 'Carrie'

Carrie was Stephen King’s literary big break. It’s a tender and terrifying exploration of one of King’s major themes: coming of age. Carrie White is a shy, sensitive girl who lives a sheltered life in the care of her fanatically religious mother. “Care” might be the wrong word here, as Carrie’s mother is deeply abusive to her daughter in order to purge her of “impurity”. Carrie is shunned and bullied by her peers and lives a friendless existence. Things get worse when the poor girl begins exhibiting psychic powers, and has no way to control them. After Carrie is pushed too far by local bullies, she begins a bloody saga of revenge that will never be forgotten by the few who survive.

4. Different Seasons

Different Seasons is a collection of short stories that provides a home for arguably his greatest work: The Body . The Body is a departure from King’s blood and guts horror, and tells the story of four boys who embark on an adventure to see the body of a dead 12 year old on summer day. It’s perhaps King’s greatest coming of age story, chronicling the boys’ first ever experience with death. The concrete knowledge that the world is not a safe place, not even for children. The story was later adapted into the tear-jerking 1980’s blockbuster film Stand By Me . It’s impossible to experience this tale with dry eyes.

3. The Dark Tower series

A box set of Dark Tower books

The Dark Tower is a seven-novel (plus one novella) epic about a gunslinger Roland Deschain and his Arthurian quest to find The Dark Tower, a mysterious nexus that serves at the center of the Stephen King multiverse. While The Dark Tower was published as seven books, it’s actually just one long meganovel. While the series suffers a bit from pacing issues, King makes up for it by providing readers with his most interesting character ever conceived: the taciturn, pragmatic, romantic, and ruthless gunslinger who will stop at nothing to complete his quest.

2. The Stand

In the not-too-distant future, the world is ravaged by a government-developed supervirus that causes the grisly death of over 99% of Earth’s population. The few survivors of the plague begin experiencing psychic visions depending on their moral character. The good are called to seek out America’s oldest woman east of the Rockies, while the evil are drawn to a dark figure who is attempting to build an empire in Las Vegas. The book is the ultimate good versus evil story, where the moral are called to make a final “stand” against the depraved to decide the fate of the new world.

Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) the evil clown in 'It: Chapter One'

It is remembered as King’s most terrifying story, but it is also one of his most beautiful. Every 27 years, the sleepy town of Derry, Maine is attacked by a nameless horror from beyond the stars. To better prey on Derry’s children, the creature takes the form of a clown named Pennywise. A group of seven kids make a successful stand against the cosmic horror and are called to defeat the monster for good 27 years later. It is an exploration of the fleeting magic of childhood, and a group of adults’ impossible attempt to recapture the halcyon days of youth.

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Most Underrated Stephen King Novels

H ailed as the Master of Horror, Stephen King has 65 novels under his belt. From full-length series to standalone novels to pithy short stories, King has something for everyone. However, given the large number of projects he has worked on, there were always going to be titles that, despite deserving global praise, did not quite get it.

For those that love films based on his books, or are looking to explore his lesser-known works, here are our top picks from Stephen King's array of underrated novels . From books that are pure horror to those that depict King's grasp of the human psyche, these books are bound to impress everyone wanting to delve into the works of Stephen King.

Kicking off the list is 1994's Insomnia. Set in the town of Derry, Maine, Insomnia tells the tale of Ralph Robert as he starts seeing strange things following his progressively worsening insomnia. It turns out that these 'things' are not simple hallucinations, but auras and spirits directly involved in the working of the universe.

RELATED: Stephen King Books That Need To Be Adapted Into Games

What follows is a gripping tale full of surprises. The book also has deep ties into the extended Stephen King universe and especially Dark Tower series. An essential for anyone wanting to dive deeper into King's works.

If It Bleeds

If It Bleeds is a short novel surrounding a school bombing. The book follows detective Holly Gibney, who suspects that something is wrong about the first reporter on the scene of the bombing. What happens next is, in Stephen King fashion, twisted, interesting, and intense.

Many of King's works can be long and dense, and take a while for readers to get through. However, If It Bleeds is a fun short read that also serves as an excellent introduction to King's shorter works.

Mr. Mercedes

Mr. Mercedes begins with a large queue outside a job fair beginning in a few hours. Readers are introduced to struggling characters in the queue hoping to land a job. A man in a Mercedes then drives through the que, killing and injuring many.

RELATED: The Best Stephen King Horror Movies, Ranked

The book tells the story of this notorious Mercedes killer and the quest of tracking him down. During all this, readers are treated to some intense writing by Stephen King. The story of the killer dives deep into the depths of the human psyche, trying to explain what would drive one to commit such terrible acts. The book was also adapted into a critically acclaimed television show in 2017.

The Outsider

The Outsider begins with the mutilated dead body of a child named Frankie Peterson being discovered. It is clear upon investigation who the murderer is. Upon his arrest though, the murderer, with evidence, proves his innocence. On one hand, there is clear witness evidence proving him to be the murderer. But on another hand, he provides ample proof that he was not even in the city during the time of the murder.

As some might have already guessed, what follows is a mind-bending mystery in typical Stephen King fashion. It involves a lot of supernatural elements alongside great character development and a fascinating plot. The Outsider is arguably among Stephen King's greatest works, and is another novel that got an acclaimed television adaptation.

The Dead Zone

Following an accident, a part of Johnny Smith's brain gets damaged, thus becoming the 'Dead Zone.' As compensation, the remaining active parts of Johnny's brain become heightened and give him the ability of knowing a person's future upon touching them. Much like other entries in the list, the book is full of King's beautiful writing, intense moments, good character development and a great cast.

RELATED: Pet Sematary's Ending, Explained

The Dead Zone has a sort of cult following among Stephen King fans. Those who love it consider it to be among his greatest pieces of work, and are always ready to defend it. All in all, The Dead Zone is an ambitious Stephen King novel that every fan should check out at least once.

Cujo is a novel about a dog that contracts rabies and starts attacking people. In typical King fashion, the novel is full of tense moments, themes such as abuse and familial tension, and grief.

RELATED: Stephen King's Best Novels

The novel is set in the fictional town of Castle Rock. The plot's movement is excellent and during its peak moments, the book is certain to have readers on the edge of their seats. Cujo is an excellent novel that depicts how good King is at blending in multiple genres in a single book.

Gerald's Game

Popularized by the Netflix adaptation , Gerald's Game is another Stephen King book that deserves more love. It is a short read about a couple that visits their lake house for a romantic mini vacation, but things end up going south very quickly.

Without going into spoilers, the best way to describe Gerald's Game would be by two words: dark and tense. Stephen King does an excellent job of creating an unsettling atmosphere in a cramped space very quickly and then letting the readers follow along as things start unfolding. It's an excellent quick read for anyone wanting to read more Stephen King.

MORE: Stephen King Stories That Still Haven't Been Made Into Movies

Most Underrated Stephen King Novels

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7 Books To Read If You Loved ‘True Detective: Night Country’

Salva Mubarak

With an explosive fourth season, True Detective has redeemed itself fully in the eyes of fans. True Detective: Night Country delivers a suspenseful murder mystery across six gripping episodes that are steeped in supernatural thrills that keeps you at the edge of your seat.

Set in the Northern Alaskan town of Ennis during the pilar night, the show follows the investigation into the disappearance of six research scientists from a research station.

Beyond Evil

If you’re also still reeling from the thrilling finale, take a look at our curated list of books that will make for the perfect read after watching the show.

Best Novels To Read If You Loved True Detective Season 4

From supernatural mysteries to tales of thrilling Arctic adventures, these novels need to be on your reading list if you loved True Detective: Night Country …

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The Outsider by Stephen King

This chilling murder mystery by Stephen King follows an investigation into the horrific murder of a child that unravels a dark supernatural secret about the small town it’s set in. The novel was adapted into a miniseries starring Jason Bateman and Cynthia Erivo.

The Fire Witness by Lars Kepler

Swedish mystery novelist Lars Kepler, the pseudonym used by writing duo Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril, is known for delivering unsettling mysteries that intrigue and terrify all at once. This one follows Detective Joona Linna’s nvestigation into the murder spree at a home for troubled girls.

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

If you’re still not over the eeriness of the dark and frigid polar night that engulfed the Arctic landscape in True Detective: Night Country , this one is a must-read for you. Set in 1937, it follows a down-on-his-luck young man who jumps at the chance to go on a year-long Arctic expedition to Gruhuken in Northern Norway. But once they reach their destination and camp for the year ahead, it becomes clear that they’re not the only ones in the seemingly uninhabited bay that was just plunged into a long polar night.

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

This novel has a novel within itself and is told via a split narrative in alternating chapters. It follows Maggie Holt who inherits her father’s grand home Baneberry Hall that was also the base for his wildly successful memoir House of Horror . As she settles into the supposedly haunted house, she starts experiencing unexplainable phenomenons and soon realises that there might be some truth to the house’s dark history described in her father’s book.

The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister

This historical adventure story is told within two timelines. Set in 1853, it follows Virginia Reeve as she leads a party of 12 women into the frozen North to search for the lost Franklin Expedition after receiving the mysterious assignment. Each woman has her own strength and an unsettling secret that makes the adventure all the more terrifying.

The Silent Land by Graham Joyce

In this horror fantasy novel, British author Graham Joyce delivers an intriguing tale about mortality, time and life itself. The story follows a young married couple who are buried in an avalanche while skiing. They manage to free themselves and return to the fictional ski resort town in the French Pyrenees where they’ve been staying only to find the world around them silent and devoid of people. Time has appeared to have stopped and they cannot leave or communicate with the world outside. Did they die in the avalanche and are stuck in purgatory? Or is it something more insidious than that?

The Raven’s Gift by Don Rearden

Combining elements of nature, horror, mystery and adventure, author Don Reardon tells the story of a couple who arrives at a remote Yup’ik Eskimo village as new teachers. Things take a turn for worse when a deadly epidemic strikes the isolated village and the community descends into chaos.

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  1. Fully Updated List of Stephen King Books in Order (+PDF) 2023

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  2. The Best Books By Stephen King

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  3. Stephen King Books In Order 2021

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  4. List of Stephen Kings books .. 1974

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  6. The 10 Most Essential Stephen King Books

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  1. Stephen King

    Written Works - A to Z Title A to Z Z to A Published Date Newest to Oldest Oldest to Newest Written Works Film & TV Other All Written Works Novels & Novellas Collections Nonfiction Audiobooks Short Works Anthologies Screenplays Limited Editions Uncollected Unpublished

  2. Stephen King bibliography

    King has published 65 novels/novellas, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, and five nonfiction books. He has written over 200 short stories, most of which have been compiled in book collections. Many of his works are set in his home state of Maine . Novels Collections Nonfiction Screenplays Others See also

  3. The Complete List of Stephen King Books in Order

    'Salem's Lot, novel, (1975)

  4. Every Stephen King Book, in Chronological Order

    Listopia Every Stephen King Book, in Chronological Order Exactly what it says on the tin. flag All Votes Add Books To This List 84 books · 8 voters · list created August 19th, 2020 by Selena Winters (votes) .

  5. Stephen King Books In Chronological Order

    The Stand (1978) Historical Essay * Richard's Thoughts * Guest Essay by Josh Boone The Long Walk (1979) [by Richard Bachman] Historical Essay * Richard's Thoughts * Guest Essay by Ed Gorman The Dead Zone (1979) Historical Essay * Richard's Thoughts * Guest Essay by Chet Williamson Firestarter (1980)

  6. The Complete List of Stephen King Books In Order

    Carrie (1974) It (1986) The Shining (1977) Who is Stephen King? Stephen King is a well-known American author who is best recognized for his horror books. (Image credit: "Pinguino's" flickr account on Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)

  7. List of books by Stephen King

    List of books by Stephen King This is a complete list of books published by Stephen King. Page counts are from first editions. [1] References ↑ "First Editions - Stephenkingcollector.com". www.stephenkingcollector.com. ↑ "1976 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-22. ↑ "1979 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End.

  8. Stephen King Books in Order: Complete Reading Guide

    Stephen King is one of the bestselling authors of all-time with more than 350 million books sold. His catalog is vast, but he is best known for his horror stories. King is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including the 2003 The National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts.

  9. Stephen King

    with Bev Vincent, Brian Hodge, Al Sarrantonio, Lisa Tuttle, Glen Hirshberg, Richard T. Chizmar, Peter Straub, Blake Crouch, Richard Thomas, Wayne Allen Sallee, David B. Silva, Melanie Tem, Robert Morrish, Brian James Freeman, Scott Nicholson, Brian Keene, Kealan Patrick Burke, Nate Southard, Norman Prentiss, Jay Bonansinga, Jack Kilborn, Alan Ryan

  10. Stephen King Books In Order: The Complete Guide

    11/22/63 Doctor Sleep These are just a few examples from the extensive collection of Stephen King's nonfiction books that you'll find in the PDF. Each title, including novella and limited edition, offers its own unique blend of horror, suspense, and supernatural elements, captivating readers with King's signature storytelling style.

  11. All 80+ Stephen King Books in Order

    In the above list, all titles marked with an asterisk are published under Stephen King's alias of Richard Bachman. Further detail on this moniker is below. Carrie (1974) 'Salem's Lot (1975) Rage (1976) *. The Shining (1977) The Stand (1978) The Long Walk (1978) *.

  12. Stephen King: Chronological List of Books and Stories

    1982: "The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger" 1982: "Different Seasons" (collection of novellas) 1983: "Christine" 1983: "Pet Sematary" 1983: "Cycle of the Werewolf" 1984: "The Talisman" (written with Peter Straub) 1985: "Skeleton Crew" (collection of short stories, poems, and a novella titled "The Mist")

  13. Books by Stephen King (Author of The Shining)

    1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4) by. Stephen King (Goodreads Author), Dave McKean (Illustrator) 4.26 avg rating — 197,204 ratings — published 1997 — 244 editions. Want to Read.

  14. All Stephen King Books In Order + By Genre (Reading Guide)

    All Stephen King Books by Genre. Many of King's novels sit across several genres, with nearly all of them consisting of some horror tropes, but if you're eager to dive into a particular genre, the following list broadly outlines King's work genre by genre. Alternate History 11/22/63 (2011) Science Fiction The Gunslinger (1982)

  15. Order of Stephen King Books

    Stephen King Synopses: The Shining is the a psychological horror novel about an alcoholic author (Jack Torrance) who moves his family to a hotel in Colorado. Soon afterward, Jack's son Danny begins to experience supernatural phenomenons. The Shining was famously made into a movie by director Stanley Kubrick in 1980.

  16. BiblioLifestyle

    Take a trip through time and check out every book from one of the greatest authors. Last Updated on January 25, 2024 by BiblioLifestyle Are you an avid Stephen King fan? If so, then you're in the right place! In this article, I'm sharing a list of all of Stephen King's books in order.

  17. All 75 Stephen King Books, Ranked

    75 Faithful Now 25% Off $20 at Amazon That Faithful has made this list at all is a sign of my obsessive completionism. This chronicle of the Boston Red Sox's 2004 season is almost unreadable to...

  18. 50 Must-Read Books Recommended by Stephen King

    The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga "Born in the dark heart of India, Balram gets a break when he is hired as a driver for his village's wealthiest man, two house Pomeranians (Puddles and Cuddles), and the rich man's (very unlucky) son. From behind the wheel of their Honda City car, Balram's new world is a revelation.

  19. 20 Best Stephen King Books, Ranked by Goodreads Reviewers

    Stephen King has become a legendary writer since his first book was published in 1974 and has garnered worldwide fans, earned countless awards, and topped bestseller lists with his horror,...

  20. Stephen King

    Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Called the "King of Horror", his books have sold more than 350 million copies as of 2006, and many have been adapted into films, television series, miniseries, and comic books.He has also written approximately 200 short stories, most of which ...

  21. The Essential Stephen King

    Stephen Edwin King, born in 1947, published his first novel, Carrie, in 1974. Since then, he has written more than 70 novels, nonfiction books and story collections.

  22. 10 Best Stephen King Books Ranked

    7. Pet Sematary. Pet Sematary is one of King's most personal books, penned after one of his children's brush with death. The way King tells it, his son was playing near a busy street when he ...

  23. Most Underrated Stephen King Novels

    H ailed as the Master of Horror, Stephen King has 65 novels under his belt. From full-length series to standalone novels to pithy short stories, King has something for everyone. However, given the ...

  24. 7 Books To Read If You Loved 'True Detective: Night Country'

    Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. If you're still not over the eeriness of the dark and frigid polar night that engulfed the Arctic landscape in True Detective: Night Country, this one is a must-read for you. Set in 1937, it follows a down-on-his-luck young man who jumps at the chance to go on a year-long Arctic ...