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Novels > What's your FIRST Stephen King book?

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message 251: by Lenore (new)

Lenore (lenores) | 64 comments Pet Cemetery and no other book has scared me as much as this one


message 252: by Lupe (new)

Lupe Dominguez (lupedominguez) | 133 comments Misery was the first one I read!


message 253: by Rachel (new)

Rachel Moonstone | 1 comments “Everything’s eventual” in 2002. That was my first and from that book my favorite story was 1408, I reread it multiple times as teenager


message 254: by Robin (new)

Robin My first one was IT, I grew up obsessed with the IT remake when it first came out and ended up watching the original movie too and thats how I basically got into horror and all the classics.

I didnt read the book until last year though because of its length but I am glad I did, I really enjoyed it.


message 255: by Cyrena (new)

Cyrena Shows | 5 comments Salem's Lot around 1993


message 256: by Jennifer (new)

Jennifer | 38 comments The Shining. I read it I think when I was 12 or 13 one summer when I was at the beach. so much creepier than the movie!


message 257: by sb84 (new)

sb84 Misery


message 258: by Jeff (new)

Jeff  McIntosh | 225 comments I started at the beginning...with "Carrie"...after I saw the first movie in the 70s...



Jeff Mc


message 259: by EdIsInHell (new)

EdIsInHell | 123 comments It


message 260: by Rusty (new)

Rusty Berr | 13 comments Salem's Lot, 1980 or so.


message 261: by Steve (new)

Steve Langton Salem’s Lot for me,and still my fave King.


message 262: by Joseph (new)

Joseph | 24 comments IT!


message 263: by Becka (new)

Becka | 7 comments Storm of the century was the first one I ever read yet I really liked pet cemetery.


message 264: by Steve (new)

Steve Langton Becka wrote: "Storm of the century was the first one I ever read yet I really liked pet cemetery."

I was very impressed with Pet Sematary, but found it too upsetting to read again.


message 265: by FranWeird (new)

FranWeird | 15 comments The Outsider, although I didn't finish it. I still have the bookmark in place as I'm still debating whether or not I'm ever gonna finish it


message 266: by Rori (new)

Rori The Revival was recommended to me I've read it and I didn't feel the horror I was promised :(
haven't read any other book by him


»-daly (leaving)→ Mine was Firestarter in 6th grade. It was awesome 😎


message 268: by Jim (new)

Jim | 99 comments FranWeird wrote: "The Outsider, although I didn't finish it. I still have the bookmark in place as I'm still debating whether or not I'm ever gonna finish it"

It's my second least favorite book of his that I've read, and I've read a lot. I say move on.


message 269: by Jim (new)

Jim | 99 comments I'm pretty sure it was The Stand, but maybe it was Carrie. I read both my freshman year of high school, but can't recall which was first.


message 270: by Ed (new)

Ed Myers | 2 comments The Stand was my first Stephen King book. It was great but long


message 271: by Piezke (new)

Piezke | 2 comments It was the German edition of "IT" that belonged to my sister. I was about eight and thought: "That's WAY too many pages!" That was in the mid-nineties, and it wasn't until 2011 that we got the unabridged version. The book I tried to read, at 800-900 pages, was a pebble compared to the 1,500-page brick.


message 272: by Zofia (new)

Zofia Warwick | 17 comments Rachel wrote: "“Everything’s eventual” in 2002. That was my first and from that book my favorite story was 1408, I reread it multiple times as teenager"

His peak compilation for sure.


message 273: by Zofia (new)

Zofia Warwick | 17 comments My first King wasn't even a proper horror novel. The Eyes of the Dragon, up on my grandmother's bookshelf when I was around eleven or so. Shortly afterward I sought him out and discovered a used paperback of Bag of Bones for pennies on the dollar at one of my favorite used book places in Fells Pt. Read it like a ladybug sucking up all of the authorial juice from the aphids of King's sentences and went spelunking for more in every moldering shelf in every damp book venue in the city. Man, the used book scene in Baltimore was an American version of Jinbocho back then, scuttled among stores selling bulk carpeting and sudsy laundromat signs.
Suffice to say a lot of us probably would have never discovered our favorite books without used bookstores, and if you haven't stepped in one for a minute, it probably wouldn't hurt to go haunt the door of one today. It's a lazy Sunday for most of the world right now.


message 274: by Rod (new)

Rod Little | 2 comments Salem's Lot was my first (in high school back in 1978). I loved it. But it was The Dead Zone and Christine that made a lasting impression on me!


message 275: by Nick (new)

Nick Mason | 9 comments I wish I could say mine was one of his classics, but my first one was actually “Cell”. Growing up, I knew the name Stephen King, but I never really read any of his novels. Then one day I randomly decided to pick up “Cell” and read through it.


message 276: by Travis (new)

Travis Haight My very first time reading a King novel, as a bullied and ridiculed teenager, was Carrie. I would later go on to enjoy the much longer ones. I think, not just due to it being the first, a good starting point to his work.


message 277: by Aline (new)

Aline | 18 comments Rage. I was 13 and very angry.


message 278: by Hans (last edited Nov 19, 2024 09:13AM) (new)

Hans | 28 comments I came late to the party, my first proper Stephen King novel was The Outsider. I had tried some of his short stories before but many of them were neither here nor there for me and I wasn't a big contemporary horror fan either. I was more into classic gothic horror like Poe, Henry James and basically all the stuff I came into contact with at university.

Then I started reading John Connolly, first his more humorous Samuel Johnson series and then his horror anthologies and the Charlie Parker series, through which I found out that Stephen King had a huge influence on Connolly's writing. So, I tried my luck again with King, picked up his most recent novel at the time and I never looked back. Since then I have cought up to many although not all of his works.

Edit: I just realised that this is not true. My first Stephen King novel was actually The Gunslinger, long before I read The Outsider. I then read the complete Dark Tower series and even wrote a paper on it. It's just King's horror novels that I only later fell in love with through The Outsider. Man, I'm getting old :P


message 279: by Lee (new)

Lee Cushing | 97 comments I'm going to have say IT


message 280: by Jennifer (new)

Jennifer | 38 comments Mine was the Shining. I watched the movie for the first time when I was 9 or 10 and I LOVED it so I bought the book.


message 281: by Kelly (new)

Kelly Grice | 11 comments Mine was Salem’s lot in the early eighties. I watched the mini series with David Soul in then read the book. Afterwards I read everything he had written.


message 282: by Gregory (new)

Gregory Owen | 6 comments My first, believe it or not, was IT when I was 11-12, so the controversial "sewer scene" was certainly a surprise. It took me a couple of months to get all the way through it. I enjoyed it, being a fan at the time of the TV movie (Tim Curry was wonderful), but it's still not my favorite of his works.


message 283: by J (new)

J B | 23 comments THE GREEN MILE


message 284: by Oscar (new)

Oscar It


message 285: by Vanessa (new)

Vanessa Haynes (blondiee10) | 6 comments My first Stephen King book was "It", and I was 17. I was hooked after that, and devoured them all, it was around '90.
It by Stephen King


message 286: by Samuel (new)

Samuel McNeny | 3 comments The Body for me. Even though I didn’t love it it was short and introduced me to King’s writing style.


message 287: by Ruben (new)

Ruben Schuster Postiglione | 4 comments I read Pet Sematary. honestly it was more infuriating than scary. the protagonist deserved 100 slaps in the face


message 288: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 3047 comments My first and only Stephen King read was The Shining which I read last year because the film is my absolute favorite. Will I be reading anymore of his books? Doubtful. They are all biblically long and I'm not a fan of the awkward, controversial and unnecessary stuff he throws into his books.


message 289: by Mike (new)

Mike | 4 comments I can't recall the first novel I read, but the first book was the collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes. I also remember the first story from it that I read, which was "Popsy".


message 290: by Rob (new)

Rob | 6 comments Pet Sematary


message 291: by Devon (new)

Devon (cofnjoe) | 10 comments Mine...IS...'Salem's Lot. I'm not finished yet lol. I'm new to horror books, what can I say. But now that I'm in, I'm way in. I have the next four Kings planned already.


message 292: by Grace (new)

Grace Gonzalez | 5 comments "It" back in 87. I was 6 months pregnant and had to keep putting the book down in time out every so often, due to it scaring the daylight out of me. 😱🤣


message 293: by Devon (new)

Devon (cofnjoe) | 10 comments Grace wrote: ""It" back in 87. I was 6 months pregnant and had to keep putting the book down in time out every so often, due to it scaring the daylight out of me. 😱🤣"

Haha! I know I have to put that one on my TBR. Comments like yours build that momentum I need to get me over the hump of finding clowns as scary as everyone else seems to.


message 294: by WendyB (last edited Aug 19, 2025 09:53AM) (new)

WendyB  | 5012 comments Mod
Grace wrote: ""It" back in 87. I was 6 months pregnant and had to keep putting the book down in time out every so often, due to it scaring the daylight out of me. 😱🤣"

I'm curious if that child grew up loving horror. lol


message 295: by WendyB (new)

WendyB  | 5012 comments Mod
Devon wrote: "Haha! I know I have to put that one on my TBR. Comments like yours build that momentum I need to get me over the hump of finding clowns as scary as everyone else seems to..."

Have you read Clown in a Cornfield (Clown in a Cornfield, #1) by Adam Cesare Clown in a Cornfield yet?
It's a good one for the upcoming spooky season and could make you terrified of clowns. :D


message 296: by Devon (new)

Devon (cofnjoe) | 10 comments Have yo..."

I have not! Haha I will have to take a look at that one. One thing that really did move the needle for me was that movie, Killer Klowns from Outer Space. That was sensational!


message 297: by Jackson (new)

Jackson Parrack | 2 comments Pet Sematary Audiobook. Excellent narration by Michael C. Hall and is just a well-crafted and depressing story.

The Shining was the first book I actually read. I watched the 1980 film and was so blown away by it that I wanted see the differences in the book. And boy, there was differences alright! I found myself liking the book so much more due to King making the characters have heart.
After that, I went straight to Doctor Sleep and it's now my favorite book of all time!


message 298: by FranWeird (new)

FranWeird | 15 comments The Outsider, although I never finished it. I still have my bookmark where I left off and I do plan to finish it before the year is over


message 299: by Derek (new)

Derek Pulliam | 2 comments The Green Mile serial novel set. Loved it/them.


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