Stephen King books

Jacqui

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If you want a Stephen King story that goes on and on, check out the Dark Tower series. (Starts with The Gunslinger) It's a totally different type of story from It and the others, but it's got a lot of creepy in it and the characters are amazingly diverse and rich. One of my all-time favorite series of books from page one to page last!

My tastes run differently with me loving all of his books, except this series. Some of my children loved it however.
 

lisa127

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My tastes run differently with me loving all of his books, except this series. Some of my children loved it however.
I don't like that series either. Love his other stuff though.
 

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I think the Bachmans Books, especially the four that were in the anthology (Rage, Long Walk, Road Work, Running Man) are some of his best.His collections of short stories and novellas are also good.


My tastes run differently with me loving all of his books, except this series. Some of my children loved it however.

I just couldn't get into the Gunslinger the several times I've tried to read it. Everyone says the series is his best so I imagine I'll read it eventually. It's usually the books that I can't get into at first that I end up really enjoying.
 

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I'm not a fan, but I read The Colorado Kid, The Stand, and Pet Sematary. They were ok.


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Blakem

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I'm torn in different directions! It's quite difficult for me to get into a series. I'm usually a one book guy.

As a side note, the recent books I've read and recommend to others that enjoy this kind of stuff are Plum Island written by Nelson Demille, and the Ruins. The other two are more strange...The Angel of Darkness, written on the southern California serial killer known as "the freeway killer" i(Randy Kraft) In the late 60's and 70's, and The Night Stalker based on Richard Ramirez. They are brutal in some parts, but good. My dad worked on death row in San Quentin for 6 or so years and dealt with these guys, so it caused much more interest for me to read.
 

Jacqui

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I just couldn't get into the Gunslinger the several times I've tried to read it. Everyone says the series is his best so I imagine I'll read it eventually. It's usually the books that I can't get into at first that I end up really enjoying.

It took me many tries and then forcing myself to keep reading to finish them. I kept thinking maybe with the next page I will find what the others liked about these books, but I never did.

King is one of the few folks I would love to meet in real life and spend some time talking to him.
 

Blakem

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Looking forward to reading these now. I received all of my books. I was excited to find three books in one for 18$ on Amazon. Pretty cool!
 

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Prairie Mom

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See it's those bits of humor and how his mind works just to create those books that I would love to know the real him. Meeting Tab would also be neat. I could see a bit of the stuff in the fence, like the web along with those bats. Too bad you didn't get a picture of the dragons. :)
Jacqui, here's the other photos I mentioned to you :)...

Some better pics of Stephen King's house:
stephen king's house.jpg
Here's a better look at the front gate at his house. The house numbers are spiders on a spider web. I love the bat/gargoyles. Stephen King is cool, because he lives in a nice house, but in a regular neighborhood surrounded by other houses. This was only a block away!

stephen king fence.jpg
Here's another section of fence

stephen king fence dragon.jpg
The dragons I mentioned earlier

The town of "Derry" in "It" is based on Bangor, Maine. Here are some photos of mine and a couple from the web of memorable places that inspired Stephen King to write the book...

Here is an image that I found of the old Water works just outside of town. This is where "It" lived and travelled around the sewers from...mwa ha ha....
bangor water works.jpg

standpipe.jpg
This is my photo of "The Standpipe" in Maine. It is a water tower and an observation deck. The observation deck is open to the public and I'll upload those photos too. In the book, the Standpipe was closed to the public after several children drowned in the tank, most likely the fault of "It." The Standpipe was where Stan first encountered It, which took the form of drowned children. SPOOKY!!! woooo!

Here's other shots of the standpipe:
inside standpipe.jpg
I'm walking up the stairs to the observation deck. You can tell that you're walking around a giant water tank. I think it looks pretty spooky and can see where the inspiration came from:)

standpipe observation.jpg
The observation deck on the Standpipe


The Mummy scene:
frozen bangor river.jpg

There are a bunch of rivers that go through the small city and the downtown area has lots of pretty canals. Here is a picture of a frozen canal which was the inspiration for the "mummy scene" in "IT." -Where the Mummy comes walking down the frozen canal to the boy.

and best for last: The giant Paul Bunyan statue...
small paul bunyan.jpg
You can see my friends standing below the statue. In the book, this statue comes alive and chops a park bench in half as "It" threatens one of the kids:)
 

Prairie Mom

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Oh Man!!! I found this thread too late! I just got done posting a bunch of Stephen King related photos for Jacqui in her Pretend Chat thread. I'm debating posting them here too. I think you'd appreciate it, Blake because I posted photos of the real life inspirations for the book "IT."
 

Tidgy's Dad

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Bit late, but you never know.
I loved most of King's early stories and read them as they came out.
Drifted away eventually.
Love his short stories.
'Skeleton Crew ', is a great read and includes the outstanding novella 'The Mist'.
Wonderful stuff.
 

Amandalyon

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[Stephen King is a literary genius ! My favorite all time is Salem's Lot. It kept me up at night as an adult! Vampires are the theme yet you do not have to be a fan of the creature to enjoy the horror filled book.
Another two of my favorites are Misery ( the ultimate stalker book) and Different Seasons ( you will recognize many book to movies in this collection of stories, ex: Stand By Me).
 

Blakem

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Which stephen king book should I start next? I've read the reviews, but I was wondering the opinion of those on the forum! I started to read the second book that I thought was 3 in one, but it sadly wasn't. It was only the prologue. I felt silly.
 

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Blakem

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Jacqui, here's the other photos I mentioned to you :)...

Some better pics of Stephen King's house:
View attachment 107594
Here's a better look at the front gate at his house. The house numbers are spiders on a spider web. I love the bat/gargoyles. Stephen King is cool, because he lives in a nice house, but in a regular neighborhood surrounded by other houses. This was only a block away!

View attachment 107595
Here's another section of fence

View attachment 107596
The dragons I mentioned earlier

The town of "Derry" in "It" is based on Bangor, Maine. Here are some photos of mine and a couple from the web of memorable places that inspired Stephen King to write the book...

Here is an image that I found of the old Water works just outside of town. This is where "It" lived and travelled around the sewers from...mwa ha ha....
View attachment 107603

View attachment 107604
This is my photo of "The Standpipe" in Maine. It is a water tower and an observation deck. The observation deck is open to the public and I'll upload those photos too. In the book, the Standpipe was closed to the public after several children drowned in the tank, most likely the fault of "It." The Standpipe was where Stan first encountered It, which took the form of drowned children. SPOOKY!!! woooo!

Here's other shots of the standpipe:
View attachment 107606
I'm walking up the stairs to the observation deck. You can tell that you're walking around a giant water tank. I think it looks pretty spooky and can see where the inspiration came from:)

View attachment 107607
The observation deck on the Standpipe


The Mummy scene:
View attachment 107608

There are a bunch of rivers that go through the small city and the downtown area has lots of pretty canals. Here is a picture of a frozen canal which was the inspiration for the "mummy scene" in "IT." -Where the Mummy comes walking down the frozen canal to the boy.

and best for last: The giant Paul Bunyan statue...
View attachment 107609
You can see my friends standing below the statue. In the book, this statue comes alive and chops a park bench in half as "It" threatens one of the kids:)
Not sure how I missed this! Awesome!
 

Tidgy's Dad

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Did you prefer the book ending or the movie ending?



Let's not put the carriage before the horse; have you seen the movie?
I have quite a lot of experience of carriages and horses.
Still commonplace here.
Yes, i have seen the film and , much to my surprise, i actually rather liked it.
But i still prefer the book ending, though I don't dislike the film's version.
I like the utter hopelessness for all of mankind in the book, the film gives hope, though the ending is a personal tragedy.
 

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