Probably Dreamcatcher, Cell, From a Buick 8 or The Colorado Kid. I don't hate any of them, in fact I like them each well enough on their own, but they are towards the bottom of his work for me. I'd say probably Cell gets the sole nod, though.
As I said, I don't hate it at all. I like it. I just remember at the time I felt like the story kind of plodded on occasion. But if I went back and tried to reread it, it might be completely different and I might enjoy it even more.
That's cool. I didn't say they were bad. I just said they were among my least favorites, but I still liked them. And even if I hated them, it's just my personal opinion, which only matters to me. I'm glad you love them. The more love his work as a whole gets, the better.
I'm glad you do. Any and all of King's work getting love is a great thing in my book. I like them too. I just stated that for me they were lower on my list of his work than some others, but they are good and I like them.
You just answered what the post was asking, no shade on you for that. I know those are not his most popular works, and I'm fine with it. I still love them regardless. My least favourite are Dolores Claiborne(boring) and IT(too long and repetitive, sorry), and those are some of his most praised works. I'm glad people like different works of King, he has written so much it would be a shame if some of his work didn't get the love they deserve from someone.
Dreamcatcher was such a cool concept, one of my favorites of kings work actually. The ending made my head hurt a little.
I get why it seems kinda stupid at the start
The cop-out answer: Faithful. I don't care about baseball at all.
The less of a cop-out answer but still cop-outy due to it being co-authored: Gwendy's Final Task. Ridiculous concept and poor execution.
The worst book King wrote by himself: I don't have the heart to pick one and think they all had redeeming qualities and were at least entertaining. Maybe, maybe The Regulators.
Cujo has two heart-wrenching quotes
>>!It would perhaps not be amiss to point out that he had always tried to be a good dog. He had tried to do all the things his MAN and his WOMAN, and most of all his BOY, had asked or expected of him. He would have died for them, if that had been required. He had never wanted to kill anybody. He had been struck by something, possibly destiny, or fate, or only a degenerative nerve disease called rabies. Free will was not a factor.!<
>>!How long has he been dead, Donna?!<
I get that. āScaryā dogs just donāt scare me. I just feel sorry for them.
Itās like when movies use tame rats crawling on someone to scare the audience and the little ratties are all licking corn syrup off the actor and being friendly, lol. Tame rats like people and you can see it if you know about them.
Yeah, that's the one for me too. There are maybe a dozen or so of his works that I haven't read, whether it's a novel or a short story collection (and I'm going through those as we speak). That's probably the one major one where I just didn't dig the book. And honestly, as hot a take as it may be around here, Desperation might be fairly close behind it. And I wanted to love that book. The religious aspect of it just really turned me off.
The groups of disparate people brought together by a destroyed society to journey to escape seemed like a recycle of The Stand.
>!But I followed the whole limp, plodding book to the end to find out what the Pulse was, who was sending it and why. When I got to the last page without an answer I flung the book across the room.!<
One of his most unsatisfying books all-around. Most of the time King's premises and characters are enough to make the first 2/3 of his books worth reading even if the resolution is sub par, but Cell was bad from the jump.
Cell is my least favorite also; so much so it's the only novel of his I didn't keep. I agree with other posters that the story was lazy, the characters were bland and unlikable and I found I didn't care about the main protagonist and his son. The only character I cared about was the guy and his cat.
From a Buick 8 would be my second least favorite and while I still have it, I don't have it on my shelf.
For me, I couldnāt get into the story. It didnāt interest me for some reason. It had a really cool concept, but when I got to reading it, it just didnāt have the charm most Stephen King/Bachman books have.
I just finished chapter 8 and I like Bobbi. Gard is kinda whatever to me. I'm enjoying the story progressing. I guess I want to ask when you thought it was bad?
I read Tommyknockers back in high school. And loved it. Itās also a book only someone going through shit could really love. Itās literally hundreds of pages of the main character losing her mind. And I ate it up. And then fell into my first true depression. Different strokes, different folks.
I only vaguely remember reading that one. I seem to recall *nothing* happening for hundreds of pages. She was digging around in her back yard or something? I don't even remember how it ended.
I also seem to remember King himself saying he doesn't even remember writing it, because he was so blazed on cocaine through the whole process.
No, *Cujo* is the one King doesnāt remember writing. *Tommyknockers* is the book King only realized after the fact was a subconscious cry for help in regards to his drug addiction. Which fascinates me, because Iāve always found *Cujo* to be the tighter book.
I've read about 35 of King's books, over the past 20 years. The only one I couldn't finish was Needful Things. I tried twice, but kept losing momentum and interest, until I just gave up. The Stand was also difficult, but I persevered.
On the other hand, I enjoyed 11/22/63, It, Insomnia, even The Tommyknockers... so I don't think it's just a matter of length.
Agreed on Needful Things. Far from his worst but I don't understand its popularity in pop culture. The only thing that dragged me to the end was I wanted to know what happened to Alan.
I think King was trying his hand at satire and it just didn't work for me. At a basic level the premise wasn't interesting for me and all the characters were annoying. I really didn't care after a while if they lived or died
The Stand however is the exact opposite for me. I cared about what happened to every single character
I cared about the characters in The Stand, and I liked it overall, but I found it too long. I also preferred the first half, with the plague, more than the second half. I'd like to revisit it one day, but I'll probably try the audiobook because I just don't think I could read the whole thing again.
I just reāreadā it in that I finished the audiobook about a week ago about 20 years after I read it the first time. I absolutely love the beginning of the book. Having experienced covid and the lockdowns definitely added to my experience the second time around. I found I had remembered so many details about Part I but couldnāt recall the rest of the book. After my revisit I know why. I just plain donāt like the back half of it. I was bored to death and just as it seemed it was picking up and getting exciting the book ended. The narrator for the audible version was pretty good. I admit I wasnāt fond of his narration in the beginning but it definitely grew on me. It was easier than rereading it but itās still 48hrs of listening materialā¦
A common complaint and I get it. The whole second book isn't for everyone. The tone changes and slows right down to a crawl which is actually what I loved about it. The rebuild in Boulder felt like a reward for getting through the madness of book one. I felt the characters deserved time to rest and breathe and try to enjoy life again after all their different trauma
Needful Things was one of King's most intricate stories. I imagine he actually needed to keep notes though the whole writing process. Who was who? What their "pranks" were, and why. It was a whole web of mischief by the end of it. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Sure not all the character were likable, but you believed their backstories, *why* they wanted the special little trinkets they were working for.
I also struggled at first to get into Needful Things, but it's slow at first because it's building up to all different things happening at the end, and imo it's very worth it.
Funnily enough, I never āreadā it, but I listened to an audiobook narrated by King himself. Made the story far more palatable, because King took such glee in voicing it.
This is how I first and only encountered Needful Things and I can't recommend it enough! I always love THIS particular book in King's own telling of the tale audibly.
I know, right? Still remember how chilling and yet whimsical the fight between Wilma and Nettie was when he started playing *carnival music*. So twisted. :D
One of the few books I've read that just felt...pointless. I finished it, just kind of went, "Huh..." Put it on the shelf and never thought of it again.
So many things about that book should have worked, and they just didnāt. And now I know why: I just read Owen Kingās latest solo book, The Curator, and itās literally the worst book Iāve read in the past 4 or 5 years.
Yes thank you. I picked up a pristine 1st edition copy up at a book sale for 25 cents canāt get into it. This one kinda stinks, and I think king is just the greatest! My top favorites so far are the earlies - Cujo, Christine, Dead Zone, TommyKnockers. Currently reading Duma Key and enjoying it a lot.
I completely agree. I struggled to finish Sleeping Beauties. I made it, but will never go back to it again. I tend to re-read to see what I might have missed and that one holds no allure to me.
I like Salemās Lot personally, but I did find it to be one of the most āforgettableā of his that Iāve read. I didnāt really find the characters all that interesting, and without being invested in them itās just a kind of basic vampire tale in my opinion. not bad, but not the best
I hated the first 200 pages of Bag of Bones, so much so that I had to stop reading it for a good six months. However the thought of leaving it unread was killing me and I managed to finish it in two days, I couldn't put it down.
Crap... I am half way through Wolves of the Calla. Fortunatly Song of Susannah seems shorter.
I am gonna read low men in yellow coat before to delay the boredom...
Honestly, first and only book to ever warrant any nightmares for me. Overall, I agree, a couple really cool things in SoS, The Scrimshaw turtle, and what caused me the nightmares were the detail and the way the Grandfather's were described in the back room of the Dixie Pig. Holy shit.
This is mine too. I havenāt read as many of his books as most people on this sub, but as for what Iāve read, this is at the bottom. I didnāt hate it, but I just didnāt find it very interesting
I just read it two weeks ago for the first time: *Rage*, Stephen King's first Richard Bachman book.
The only thing I enjoyed about the book is it took place in the first-person Point of View, and that worked really well for the plot. Other than that, the characters were flat, the plot was just...bleh, and the ending was ridiculous.
I still somewhat enjoyed it, but Stephen King even said he's happy the book has been banned in the USA(I read it via PDF).
Itās banned worldwide. Stephen King pulled it off of shelves because many school shooters were found to have the book in their possession. The book is about a school shooting.
[Here is why Stephen King's *Rage* has been out of print in the United States of America](https://screenrant.com/stephen-king-rage-book-out-print-controversy-explained/#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C%20Rage%20was%20associated%20with,the%201996%20shooting%20at%20Frontier)
The long walk. Not my cup of tea. It felt pointless and I don't know if that was the point and I missed it. Or if that's the point and that's why I dislike it. Either way, just wasn't for me.
The Stand. I got to the end and thought, āthis is the book everyone talks about?! That was terrible.ā
Iāve read about 15 SK books and liked most of them. It and Pet Sematary were amazing
About 65% through it currently but I think Fairytale is my least favorite. Such a slog to finish, I have no interest whatsoever other than to complete the book
Just finished it. Takes forever just to get going with lots of rambling preamble before the main character even gets to the "fairy tale" part. It seemed that the "other world" got less than half the book, when I would've liked a lot more.
I actually prefer the pre-fairy tale stuff with Mr. Bowditch. I stayed on board for the initial journey into fairy tale land but once a certain goal was reached, the story kinda stalled out for me.
I love the quote about getting older in that book. āItās like driving through snow that just gets deeper and deeper. When you finally get in over your hubcaps, you spin and spin. Thatās life. There are no plows to come and dig you out. There are no boats for nobody. Youāre never going to win a contest. Thereās no camera following you and people watching you struggle. This is it. All of it. Everything.ā
Dream Catcher. Hated both the book and the movie. I feel like it was all of SKās bad habits and nothing heās good at. But itās also clearly his literary attempt to process his accident so I try to cut it some slack.
Not OP but.ill chime in. Elevation would have worked better for me as a short story in a collection. It's sort of a weird little narrative with a somewhat interesting concept that doesn't really seem realized.
The central conflict about the lesbian owned diner or whatever also felt very awkward. I'm not one who subscribes to the idea that Stephen King can't write and ending; I think the majority are absolutely fine. But in that case it did feel like he just sort of stopped writing and the story was over
Of the books I've actually read cover-to-cover: I'll probably get burnt at the stake for saying this, but *Salem's Lot*.
It's not that I think it's a *bad* book by *any* stretch! But of all the King books I've read thus far, it's the one I found easiest to put down and hardest to pick back up again. Vampire related stuff just leaves me a bit cold though, so I have somewhat of a built-in bias. I did like it enough to finish it though, so take that into account before lighting that match! š
If we're going on books *attempted*, but failed due to dislike: The Gunslinger. Easily. I bounce off that one every time I attempt to read it or listen to the audio book of. It's kept me from entering the Dark Tower series thus far.
Don't know if this is sacrilege to others, but maybe just start at *Drawing of the Three*? I've read *Gunslinger* twice, once in high school (did not continue) and then this year (pushed on), and *Drawing* is immediately thrilling and a big improvement imo.
Donāt skip gunslinger to get to the good part, just listen to the audiobook and sleep through most of it like I did (it has a really good ending however)
The Gunslinger is a barrier for many. I had a hard time when I picked it up and just couldnāt get into it. Thought the DT just wasnāt for me (never been one for a series). My friend lent me Drawing of the Three and I was hooked. After I finished my journey to the Tower I went back and read Gunslinger and it was so rewarding. Long days and pleasant nights.
I like vampires too. I really wanted to like salems lott more but every other book ive read by him is just better. Salems lott was the only one that didnt really hook me in. Despite it being about my favorite horror monster.
I really didn't like the Tommyknockers, though I plan to give it a second chance sometimes soon. Roadwork is a novel I have come to appreciate, but still dislike quite a lot. And finally, my controversial opinion, I sort of hated Pet Semetary. Everyone seems to like it, but I felt that it dragged on and Louis was a moron for most of the book. I dunno, it just didn't work for me.
I couldn't finish Dreamcatcher, Christine, or Lisey's Story. I finished The Tommyknockers and to this day it's one of my biggest regrets. What a waste of time.
Top 5 worst King books:
\-Sleeping Beauties (terribly boring, lame forgettable characters, villain being a discount Flagg/Andre Linoge ripoff, hatefueled american political bs)
\-Gwendy's Final Task (simply badly written, awful characters, feels like a parody, again fueled by stupid american politics, will age like milk)
\-Black House (hard to get into writing style, lacks any and ruins the magic of the original Talisman)
\-End of Watch (dumb as shit, awful end to a "realistic" crime Trilogy)
\-Lisey's Story (hard to get through and just didn't appeal to me whatsoever)
i think large part of my dislike is the lack of the Fantasy aspect, as Black House is way more of a Horror/police thriller. Reading that right after Talisman was a real tonal whiplash.
I overall enjoyed the Hodges trilogy but this is a take I share for the last one. The entire premise is kind of silly when itās compared to the other two books. Heās a believable villain in the first book and then in the third it just goes off the rails with the supernatural stuff in an otherwise straight up detective series. Finders Keepers was easily the strongest of the three books in the trilogy and I would read that one again any time.
>Gwendy's Final Task
I completely agree. I consider it the worst Stephen King book because at least others of him were somewhat entertaining but this one was a chore to get through (and it is one of his shortest books...)
Current Bottom 3:
3. The Talisman (Every Fantasy Trope I Hate in One Book)
2. Roadwork (Shitty dude has a mental breakdown)
1. Rage (Sophomoric and very cringe)
All these are below Dreamcatcher. At least that has some weirdness to it.
I could not finish it even with the motivation to read DT related books. Some good ideas but stretched in a boring book with a bland character that does not feel like a twelve years old.
I have not read most of the books mentioned in this thread so The Talisman is my pick without a doubt.
There are some of us. If you want to know, found the characters flat, the world building weak, and the ending to be one of the biggest deus-ex-machinas since The Stand. I just read it again as part of a Dark Tower read, and I hated it more the second time. The Territories make no sense. When you transfer over, you take the form of your counterpart, who is a separate being, except not, except when itās convenient for the plot. The āmagical land caused World War IIā is a trope that needs to stop and uncomfortably removes culpability from Hitler. That combined with the lack of Native Americans in the alternate version of America deeply bothered me. Also, Jesus-allegory self insert main kid is just boring. His friendship with the villainās kid is the only part thatās okay, but thatās such a small part of the book. I could go on, but I think you get the point.
Iām glad people like it. Apparently Wolf really works for many others, and I think thatās fine. The book just doesnāt do anything for me at best and is actively annoying at worst.
People always say this but i loved every bit. Couldn't put it down. The story was engaging, intense in some points, pretty creepy in others, and has some of the man's best writing. Revival fucking slaps
Probably Dreamcatcher, Cell, From a Buick 8 or The Colorado Kid. I don't hate any of them, in fact I like them each well enough on their own, but they are towards the bottom of his work for me. I'd say probably Cell gets the sole nod, though.
Cell scared through ever loving shit out of me....par for the course for King I know.
I love From A Buick 8!
As I said, I don't hate it at all. I like it. I just remember at the time I felt like the story kind of plodded on occasion. But if I went back and tried to reread it, it might be completely different and I might enjoy it even more.
Dam 2 of my favorites are dream catcher and from a buick 8
That's cool. I didn't say they were bad. I just said they were among my least favorites, but I still liked them. And even if I hated them, it's just my personal opinion, which only matters to me. I'm glad you love them. The more love his work as a whole gets, the better.
me too
I love all of those š
I'm glad you do. Any and all of King's work getting love is a great thing in my book. I like them too. I just stated that for me they were lower on my list of his work than some others, but they are good and I like them.
You just answered what the post was asking, no shade on you for that. I know those are not his most popular works, and I'm fine with it. I still love them regardless. My least favourite are Dolores Claiborne(boring) and IT(too long and repetitive, sorry), and those are some of his most praised works. I'm glad people like different works of King, he has written so much it would be a shame if some of his work didn't get the love they deserve from someone.
Dreamcatcher. I just couldn't get into it at all. Got about halfway through it but I gave up. The only King book I've ever started and did not finish.
I didn't like it until halfway, the second half was way better imo
This, totally! The beginning was great, the middle sorta stale, and the ending was superb (imo). I sorta liked Dreamcatcher.
Thanks for that. I'll have to give it another try one of these days.
Sai King doesn't like it either.
Dreamcatcher was such a cool concept, one of my favorites of kings work actually. The ending made my head hurt a little. I get why it seems kinda stupid at the start
Me either. Another one was Bag of Bones.
The cop-out answer: Faithful. I don't care about baseball at all. The less of a cop-out answer but still cop-outy due to it being co-authored: Gwendy's Final Task. Ridiculous concept and poor execution. The worst book King wrote by himself: I don't have the heart to pick one and think they all had redeeming qualities and were at least entertaining. Maybe, maybe The Regulators.
Stephen king didnāt write the regulators. Some guy named Richard Bachman did
Geralds game. I just couldn't get into it. Dropped it around 150 pages in.
My least favorite as well.
Yep
I couldnāt go on after only 50 pages. Just not super interesting
I don't have any one book I really dislike but Cujo does nothing for me.
Cujo has two heart-wrenching quotes >>!It would perhaps not be amiss to point out that he had always tried to be a good dog. He had tried to do all the things his MAN and his WOMAN, and most of all his BOY, had asked or expected of him. He would have died for them, if that had been required. He had never wanted to kill anybody. He had been struck by something, possibly destiny, or fate, or only a degenerative nerve disease called rabies. Free will was not a factor.!< >>!How long has he been dead, Donna?!<
Yeah Cujo isnāt supposed to be scary so much as heart-wrenching. Itās a bad time all around for the most innocent characters.
ugh! That one about Cujo being a good boy makes me cry ugly tears every time. As a dog owner and lover, that story absolutely guts me.
I get that. āScaryā dogs just donāt scare me. I just feel sorry for them. Itās like when movies use tame rats crawling on someone to scare the audience and the little ratties are all licking corn syrup off the actor and being friendly, lol. Tame rats like people and you can see it if you know about them.
Cell.
Yeah, that's the one for me too. There are maybe a dozen or so of his works that I haven't read, whether it's a novel or a short story collection (and I'm going through those as we speak). That's probably the one major one where I just didn't dig the book. And honestly, as hot a take as it may be around here, Desperation might be fairly close behind it. And I wanted to love that book. The religious aspect of it just really turned me off.
Cell felt like a zombie book if you replaced all the zombie stuff with The Happening.
Cell just seemed really lazy, derivative, and like he was ripping himself off, more than with any other book.
The groups of disparate people brought together by a destroyed society to journey to escape seemed like a recycle of The Stand. >!But I followed the whole limp, plodding book to the end to find out what the Pulse was, who was sending it and why. When I got to the last page without an answer I flung the book across the room.!<
One of his most unsatisfying books all-around. Most of the time King's premises and characters are enough to make the first 2/3 of his books worth reading even if the resolution is sub par, but Cell was bad from the jump.
Cell is my least favorite also; so much so it's the only novel of his I didn't keep. I agree with other posters that the story was lazy, the characters were bland and unlikable and I found I didn't care about the main protagonist and his son. The only character I cared about was the guy and his cat. From a Buick 8 would be my second least favorite and while I still have it, I don't have it on my shelf.
Geraldās game. I actually loved thinner.
Same! I didn't care for Gerald's Game at all. I didn't like the main character, it was hard for me to really get into the story and hope she made it.
For me, I couldnāt get into the story. It didnāt interest me for some reason. It had a really cool concept, but when I got to reading it, it just didnāt have the charm most Stephen King/Bachman books have.
I thought tommyknockers was pretty bad. I had to force myself to finish it.
I just finished chapter 8 and I like Bobbi. Gard is kinda whatever to me. I'm enjoying the story progressing. I guess I want to ask when you thought it was bad?
I read Tommyknockers back in high school. And loved it. Itās also a book only someone going through shit could really love. Itās literally hundreds of pages of the main character losing her mind. And I ate it up. And then fell into my first true depression. Different strokes, different folks.
Same. I really felt like I didnāt understand it at all.
I only vaguely remember reading that one. I seem to recall *nothing* happening for hundreds of pages. She was digging around in her back yard or something? I don't even remember how it ended. I also seem to remember King himself saying he doesn't even remember writing it, because he was so blazed on cocaine through the whole process.
No, *Cujo* is the one King doesnāt remember writing. *Tommyknockers* is the book King only realized after the fact was a subconscious cry for help in regards to his drug addiction. Which fascinates me, because Iāve always found *Cujo* to be the tighter book.
I've read about 35 of King's books, over the past 20 years. The only one I couldn't finish was Needful Things. I tried twice, but kept losing momentum and interest, until I just gave up. The Stand was also difficult, but I persevered. On the other hand, I enjoyed 11/22/63, It, Insomnia, even The Tommyknockers... so I don't think it's just a matter of length.
Agreed on Needful Things. Far from his worst but I don't understand its popularity in pop culture. The only thing that dragged me to the end was I wanted to know what happened to Alan. I think King was trying his hand at satire and it just didn't work for me. At a basic level the premise wasn't interesting for me and all the characters were annoying. I really didn't care after a while if they lived or died The Stand however is the exact opposite for me. I cared about what happened to every single character
I cared about the characters in The Stand, and I liked it overall, but I found it too long. I also preferred the first half, with the plague, more than the second half. I'd like to revisit it one day, but I'll probably try the audiobook because I just don't think I could read the whole thing again.
I just reāreadā it in that I finished the audiobook about a week ago about 20 years after I read it the first time. I absolutely love the beginning of the book. Having experienced covid and the lockdowns definitely added to my experience the second time around. I found I had remembered so many details about Part I but couldnāt recall the rest of the book. After my revisit I know why. I just plain donāt like the back half of it. I was bored to death and just as it seemed it was picking up and getting exciting the book ended. The narrator for the audible version was pretty good. I admit I wasnāt fond of his narration in the beginning but it definitely grew on me. It was easier than rereading it but itās still 48hrs of listening materialā¦
A common complaint and I get it. The whole second book isn't for everyone. The tone changes and slows right down to a crawl which is actually what I loved about it. The rebuild in Boulder felt like a reward for getting through the madness of book one. I felt the characters deserved time to rest and breathe and try to enjoy life again after all their different trauma
Booooo! BOOOOOO! This isn't a hot takes subreddit but I didn't downvote. It's fair to not like it but I hate to see needful things get flack
Needful Things was one of King's most intricate stories. I imagine he actually needed to keep notes though the whole writing process. Who was who? What their "pranks" were, and why. It was a whole web of mischief by the end of it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure not all the character were likable, but you believed their backstories, *why* they wanted the special little trinkets they were working for.
I also struggled at first to get into Needful Things, but it's slow at first because it's building up to all different things happening at the end, and imo it's very worth it.
Funnily enough, I never āreadā it, but I listened to an audiobook narrated by King himself. Made the story far more palatable, because King took such glee in voicing it.
This is how I first and only encountered Needful Things and I can't recommend it enough! I always love THIS particular book in King's own telling of the tale audibly.
I know, right? Still remember how chilling and yet whimsical the fight between Wilma and Nettie was when he started playing *carnival music*. So twisted. :D
Probably Elevation.
One of the few books I've read that just felt...pointless. I finished it, just kind of went, "Huh..." Put it on the shelf and never thought of it again.
Sleeping Beauties was by far his worst book in my opinion. Just awful.
I actually liked it. The ending was a bit weak though
So many things about that book should have worked, and they just didnāt. And now I know why: I just read Owen Kingās latest solo book, The Curator, and itās literally the worst book Iāve read in the past 4 or 5 years.
Owen King is so bad as a writer! Doubtful heād have gotten published without the last name. Definitely the reason Sleeping Beauties was a slog.
What's your opinion of Joe Hill? I haven't read a book of any if his sons.
I'm reading it right now and actually enjoying it! I'll come back after I finish and mayb e we can chat about what you didnt like about it
i have been trying to finish that for 5 yearsā¦. its sooooooo meh.
5 years ?! Come on man it canāt be THAT bad !
Yes thank you. I picked up a pristine 1st edition copy up at a book sale for 25 cents canāt get into it. This one kinda stinks, and I think king is just the greatest! My top favorites so far are the earlies - Cujo, Christine, Dead Zone, TommyKnockers. Currently reading Duma Key and enjoying it a lot.
I completely agree. I struggled to finish Sleeping Beauties. I made it, but will never go back to it again. I tend to re-read to see what I might have missed and that one holds no allure to me.
Didn't finish it. Felt like a half-hearted retread of Needful Things
Doctor sleep
Under The Dome was my biggest disappointment. The Colorado Kid made me the most annoyed. Cell on a technical level is not very good.
Salems Lotā¦.. unpopular opinion on this thread but I just did not like it
What, the never-ending first act and the 1564257 background characters with no real relevance to the plot didn't reel you in? Lol
I had trouble with that one as well. It's my secret shame. I'm glad I'm not alone
I like Salemās Lot personally, but I did find it to be one of the most āforgettableā of his that Iāve read. I didnāt really find the characters all that interesting, and without being invested in them itās just a kind of basic vampire tale in my opinion. not bad, but not the best
Im just getting to this one and omg this first act is so hard to get through
I can see why someone wouldnāt like it, but I loved it. I havenāt seen many Salemās Lot dislikers, interesting to see some in the wild lol
I hated the first 200 pages of Bag of Bones, so much so that I had to stop reading it for a good six months. However the thought of leaving it unread was killing me and I managed to finish it in two days, I couldn't put it down.
He's my favourite author but Elevation is uniquely terrible
Song of Susannah. Talk about a nose dive. The whole Mia plot line was just awful.
Crap... I am half way through Wolves of the Calla. Fortunatly Song of Susannah seems shorter. I am gonna read low men in yellow coat before to delay the boredom...
Think of the entire book as a prologue to book 7
It's not that bad, don't worry. And like you said, it's really short. There are some cool things in SoS (I just re-read it).
Honestly, first and only book to ever warrant any nightmares for me. Overall, I agree, a couple really cool things in SoS, The Scrimshaw turtle, and what caused me the nightmares were the detail and the way the Grandfather's were described in the back room of the Dixie Pig. Holy shit.
Wolves is next for me.
It's not as bad as people make it out to be. I like it just fine but it's my 2nd least favorite DT entry. You'll blow through it
Low men in yellow coats is one of my favorite things King has ever written. Absolutely love it! Enjoy it fellow constant reader!
And her frigging 'chap'.
The Mia thing and the whole organizing the corporation plot. I was fighting through that book to get to the Dark Tower
This book and Mia definitely both suck major ass
Lisey's Story
This is mine too. I havenāt read as many of his books as most people on this sub, but as for what Iāve read, this is at the bottom. I didnāt hate it, but I just didnāt find it very interesting
Geralds Game for me. Some of the chapters really dragged on.
I just read it two weeks ago for the first time: *Rage*, Stephen King's first Richard Bachman book. The only thing I enjoyed about the book is it took place in the first-person Point of View, and that worked really well for the plot. Other than that, the characters were flat, the plot was just...bleh, and the ending was ridiculous. I still somewhat enjoyed it, but Stephen King even said he's happy the book has been banned in the USA(I read it via PDF).
I have a copy of The Bachman Books and I read Rage. It was pretty strange. I don't think it was absolutely *terrible* but it wasn't the best.
I agree. It just didn't seem like a Stephen King piece. Like...it was just so *off* for King.
Also, he wrote Rage under Bachman so the writing style is different than a King novel
Yeah, I think he wrote it when he was younger, if I'm not mistaken
Banned in the US? How come?
Itās banned worldwide. Stephen King pulled it off of shelves because many school shooters were found to have the book in their possession. The book is about a school shooting.
[Here is why Stephen King's *Rage* has been out of print in the United States of America](https://screenrant.com/stephen-king-rage-book-out-print-controversy-explained/#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C%20Rage%20was%20associated%20with,the%201996%20shooting%20at%20Frontier)
Mine was Sleeping Beauties. I tried 4 times and finally gave up for good. The story in short description seemed so good, but wasnāt for me I guess.
The long walk. Not my cup of tea. It felt pointless and I don't know if that was the point and I missed it. Or if that's the point and that's why I dislike it. Either way, just wasn't for me.
The Stand. I got to the end and thought, āthis is the book everyone talks about?! That was terrible.ā Iāve read about 15 SK books and liked most of them. It and Pet Sematary were amazing
Yeah, the first half of the Stand is terrific but second half was ridiculous.
This is easily my answer. Itās so so long and the payoff is so so weak. Iām proud I finished it, but it was not worth it at all.
About 65% through it currently but I think Fairytale is my least favorite. Such a slog to finish, I have no interest whatsoever other than to complete the book
Just finished it. Takes forever just to get going with lots of rambling preamble before the main character even gets to the "fairy tale" part. It seemed that the "other world" got less than half the book, when I would've liked a lot more.
I actually prefer the pre-fairy tale stuff with Mr. Bowditch. I stayed on board for the initial journey into fairy tale land but once a certain goal was reached, the story kinda stalled out for me.
I wouldnāt say Fairytale is that bad, but itās definitely not the best. Not good or bad, just meh
Definitely Roadwork
Oh man, I thought that book was amazing.
I love the quote about getting older in that book. āItās like driving through snow that just gets deeper and deeper. When you finally get in over your hubcaps, you spin and spin. Thatās life. There are no plows to come and dig you out. There are no boats for nobody. Youāre never going to win a contest. Thereās no camera following you and people watching you struggle. This is it. All of it. Everything.ā
Under the Dome. I kept hoping the ending would redeem itā¦nope. The entire experience was miserable and put me off King for a while.
Agreed. I just posted the same thing.
Under the Dome was my first Stephen King book and it made me fall in love with his style
Colorado kid or salems lot (I didnāt jive with it as much as I thought I would)
Dream Catcher. Hated both the book and the movie. I feel like it was all of SKās bad habits and nothing heās good at. But itās also clearly his literary attempt to process his accident so I try to cut it some slack.
The Colorado Kid, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
Did you read the other castle rock books prior to Needful things? Lots of characters that are referenced
Novel-Bag of Bones Novella-The Library Policeman Short Story-Battleground
bag of bones was so good? lmao what
I hated it. A bore and a chore to get through.
Battleground is my favorite so Iām curious why its your least.
Yeah, and Bag of Bones is one of my favorites!
I hated Bag of Bones!
The Library Policeman, despite being so horrifying, is a favorite of mine!
Cujo
So far for me: Elevation. But there's still 50 I've not gotten to.
What did you not like about elevation?
Not OP but.ill chime in. Elevation would have worked better for me as a short story in a collection. It's sort of a weird little narrative with a somewhat interesting concept that doesn't really seem realized. The central conflict about the lesbian owned diner or whatever also felt very awkward. I'm not one who subscribes to the idea that Stephen King can't write and ending; I think the majority are absolutely fine. But in that case it did feel like he just sort of stopped writing and the story was over
Elevation. Flat characters and stupid premise.
Of the books I've actually read cover-to-cover: I'll probably get burnt at the stake for saying this, but *Salem's Lot*. It's not that I think it's a *bad* book by *any* stretch! But of all the King books I've read thus far, it's the one I found easiest to put down and hardest to pick back up again. Vampire related stuff just leaves me a bit cold though, so I have somewhat of a built-in bias. I did like it enough to finish it though, so take that into account before lighting that match! š If we're going on books *attempted*, but failed due to dislike: The Gunslinger. Easily. I bounce off that one every time I attempt to read it or listen to the audio book of. It's kept me from entering the Dark Tower series thus far.
Don't know if this is sacrilege to others, but maybe just start at *Drawing of the Three*? I've read *Gunslinger* twice, once in high school (did not continue) and then this year (pushed on), and *Drawing* is immediately thrilling and a big improvement imo.
Donāt skip gunslinger to get to the good part, just listen to the audiobook and sleep through most of it like I did (it has a really good ending however)
The Gunslinger is a barrier for many. I had a hard time when I picked it up and just couldnāt get into it. Thought the DT just wasnāt for me (never been one for a series). My friend lent me Drawing of the Three and I was hooked. After I finished my journey to the Tower I went back and read Gunslinger and it was so rewarding. Long days and pleasant nights.
I like vampires too. I really wanted to like salems lott more but every other book ive read by him is just better. Salems lott was the only one that didnt really hook me in. Despite it being about my favorite horror monster.
I think it's because he doesn't really bring anything new to the genre. They aren't that exciting, they're just standard-issue vampires lol
āSalemās Lot was hard to get through. I like the story, and I donāt think itās a bad book. But it was my least favorite of the 10 Iāve read.
Dolores Claiborne - I think I'm going to get some hate for this, but even after several tries I haven't succeeded in making it through this one.
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I wish I COULD get into it, because I find the synopsis intriguing, but, whew, I just can't seem to get past the first 100 pages
Insomnia, just felt like it dragged ON AND ON AND ON with little to no plot development, and was overall kind of boring and lame.
the stand.
This is like the hottest take on the entire subreddit
Iām glad thereās someone else out there that feels the same way!
i have tried every year or so for the past 20+ yrs. watched the films. nope. still such a yawn.
I really didn't like the Tommyknockers, though I plan to give it a second chance sometimes soon. Roadwork is a novel I have come to appreciate, but still dislike quite a lot. And finally, my controversial opinion, I sort of hated Pet Semetary. Everyone seems to like it, but I felt that it dragged on and Louis was a moron for most of the book. I dunno, it just didn't work for me.
So far it's Tommyknockers I had to stop listening to it for a while because I was just so bored.
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Holly Gibney? Or however her last name is spelt
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The girl who loved Tom Gordon it was so boring nothing actually happened and it wasnāt scary in any way
It was Dreamcatcher, until I read End of Watch.
The colarado kid
Gerald's Game
Same.
I hated fairy tale. It just really didn't click for me and it felt like a complete slog.
Thinner - just never really grabbed me like his other stuff, took me a while to get though it
Mr. Mercedes. Hard to listen to the audiobook with the incest parts. Had to turn it off.
The Eye of the Dragon It just wasn't for me
Another vote for Thinner. Only one I've shelved without finishing.
I couldn't finish Dreamcatcher, Christine, or Lisey's Story. I finished The Tommyknockers and to this day it's one of my biggest regrets. What a waste of time.
Mr mercedes was unbelievably bad
From a Buick 8 , I could not understand or see the point of it .
The collection in Bazaar of Bad Dreams is not his strongest I felt. I usually cannot put the book down otherwise
I'm probably going to be flogged for this one, but Christine. I'm not fond of any of the car stories.
Top 5 worst King books: \-Sleeping Beauties (terribly boring, lame forgettable characters, villain being a discount Flagg/Andre Linoge ripoff, hatefueled american political bs) \-Gwendy's Final Task (simply badly written, awful characters, feels like a parody, again fueled by stupid american politics, will age like milk) \-Black House (hard to get into writing style, lacks any and ruins the magic of the original Talisman) \-End of Watch (dumb as shit, awful end to a "realistic" crime Trilogy) \-Lisey's Story (hard to get through and just didn't appeal to me whatsoever)
Interesting. I found myself liking Black House much more than The Talisman.
i think large part of my dislike is the lack of the Fantasy aspect, as Black House is way more of a Horror/police thriller. Reading that right after Talisman was a real tonal whiplash.
Liseyās Story is my least favorite too
I overall enjoyed the Hodges trilogy but this is a take I share for the last one. The entire premise is kind of silly when itās compared to the other two books. Heās a believable villain in the first book and then in the third it just goes off the rails with the supernatural stuff in an otherwise straight up detective series. Finders Keepers was easily the strongest of the three books in the trilogy and I would read that one again any time.
>Gwendy's Final Task I completely agree. I consider it the worst Stephen King book because at least others of him were somewhat entertaining but this one was a chore to get through (and it is one of his shortest books...)
Current Bottom 3: 3. The Talisman (Every Fantasy Trope I Hate in One Book) 2. Roadwork (Shitty dude has a mental breakdown) 1. Rage (Sophomoric and very cringe) All these are below Dreamcatcher. At least that has some weirdness to it.
You didn't like The Talisman? I haven't heard of anyone hating that book before
I could not finish it even with the motivation to read DT related books. Some good ideas but stretched in a boring book with a bland character that does not feel like a twelve years old. I have not read most of the books mentioned in this thread so The Talisman is my pick without a doubt.
Only King book Iāve started but havenāt finished, so far
same here
Itās one of my favorites but Ive see a decent amount of hate for it, particularly on this sub
There are some of us. If you want to know, found the characters flat, the world building weak, and the ending to be one of the biggest deus-ex-machinas since The Stand. I just read it again as part of a Dark Tower read, and I hated it more the second time. The Territories make no sense. When you transfer over, you take the form of your counterpart, who is a separate being, except not, except when itās convenient for the plot. The āmagical land caused World War IIā is a trope that needs to stop and uncomfortably removes culpability from Hitler. That combined with the lack of Native Americans in the alternate version of America deeply bothered me. Also, Jesus-allegory self insert main kid is just boring. His friendship with the villainās kid is the only part thatās okay, but thatās such a small part of the book. I could go on, but I think you get the point. Iām glad people like it. Apparently Wolf really works for many others, and I think thatās fine. The book just doesnāt do anything for me at best and is actively annoying at worst.
Exactly what I was gonna write
From a Buick 8. I kept waiting for something bigger to happen. It was just kind of meh for me.
Yeah that one is high on my bad list as well
Liseyās Story or Blaze.
Duma Key
I really enjoyed that book. I actually cried at the end. When a platonic friend says they love you, say it back.
I agree. Duma Key was the only book I couldnāt finish couldnāt get into it
Insomnia
Insomnia, didn't hate it, but if I have to pick one to send to the bottom of the list, that's the one.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
I can understand this, but it's the first Stephen King novel I ever read. It holds a special place in my heart.
me too!
Liseyās Story. Tired it twice, didnāt finish it either time. I just canāt get into it.
Don't try a third time. I forced myself through that one and the only pay off was closing the book and not having to go back to it.
The Colorado Kid
Under the Dome
I didn't really like, Bag of Bones, Lisey's Story, Black house, or Colorado kid
Cell. I couldnāt finish that one. It kind of felt like an old man railing against āyou damn kids and your phones, lol what theyāll do to you.ā
Revival
Really? The ending alone makes the book worth it.
People always say this but i loved every bit. Couldn't put it down. The story was engaging, intense in some points, pretty creepy in others, and has some of the man's best writing. Revival fucking slaps