I'm going to have short, one or two line reviews of everything thing the King has ever done. Adding new things as I read them.
As previously noted elsewhere, I started working my way through King's canon late in 2016.
1974
Carrie: Telekinetic girl gets teased until she snaps and runs rampant. Simply amazing. To think this is a first book makes it even more so. It's tense in all the right places. Read this one multiple times.
Carrie: A
1975
Salem's Lot: Vampires invade small town. Things go poorly for the town. Great ensemble cast. Fantastic writing really fleshing out the town. Classic vampire story from classic King.
Salem's Lot: A
1977
The Shining: Alcoholic plus family locked for winter in haunted hotel in the mountains. Creepy as all get out. Alcoholic changes which side he's on. Danny in the playground is downright terrifying.
The Shining: A
Rage: The first Bachman book. Insane teenager takes high school hostage. Lots of explaining. Sort of a Catcher in the Rye but Holden goes off the deep end. Not so great.
Rage: C+ [2]
1978
The Stand: Plague kills most of world. Good and evil battle it out using the people left alive. Really long, but worth it. The beginning is amazing. The end is amazing. Some of the middle's a bit long.
The Stand: A-
Night Shift: King's first collection of short stories. Some of them are insanely good. A few not so much. Highlights: Last Rung on the Ladder, Man Who Loved Flowers, One For the Road, etc, etc.
Night Shift: B+
1979
The Long Walk: Second Bachman Book. Kids walk in a competition where stopping means death. Twisted and yet believable. You'd think it would plod along, but it avoids that pretty well.
The Long Walk: A
The Dead Zone: Smith can see future. Reluctantly uses power to save lives and stop killer. Realizes he's got to stop a megalomaniacal politician from destroying world, but at what cost?
The Dead Zone: A
1980
Firestarter: Test experiments on Mom and Dad lead to girl who can start fires. Government agency tries to capture and control her. Not too smart. Starts to drag in the motives. A sentimental favorite.
Firestarter: B-
1981
Roadwork: Bachman number 3. Man despairs over progress. Ruins his own life to spite the world. Takes about as long to read this as it would to pave a road a road by hand. Spend your time on the road.
Roadwork: F
Cujo: Series of bad choices and dumb luck allows a rabid Saint Bernard to trap a woman and child in a broken car. Also somehow a commentary on women who feel/are trapped in their lives.
Cujo: B+
Danse Macabre: Non-fiction. King's commentary on horror in movies, radio, books and the like. I really need to read the updated version. Good insight from someone who knows the field well.
Danse Macabre: B
1982
The Running Man: Bachman number 4. Man living in dystopia signs up for game show where he is hunted. Great idea. Well done in parts. The ending isn't great. The hero isn't so heroic.
The Running Man: B-
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger: Roland begins his journey to stop the Man in Black. More like a series of vignettes than a continuous story. Didn't really like the first time I read it. I was wrong.
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger: A-
Different Seasons: Four novellas in one book. They are:
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption: Innocent man ends up in prison. Survives until he can escape. Amazing. 'nuff said.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption: A+
Apt Pupil: Boy discovers Nazi lives nearby. Forces Nazi to tell tales. Both become twisted by it. My memory of this was worse than the read. Well written, but not something I will seek out again.
Apt Pupil: B-
The Body: The novel that inspire the movie Stand By Me. Boys set out to see a dead body. Their experiences along the way shape them more than they could have expected.
The Body: A-
The Breathing Method: Tales told in a gentlemen's club about a woman who gives birth even though she's essentially dead. More of a long short story, but well worth the read.
The Breathing Method: A
Creepshow: A comic book collection of the stories that were made into the movie by the same name. The stories are pulpy horror that succeed in being exactly what they aim to be an homage to the type of horror comics King read growing up. But that doesn't make them necessarily all that good.
Creepshow: C-
1983
Christine: Boy loves car. Boy loves girl. Car comes alive. Lots of people die. But it takes a long [reading] time to travel the distance and the journey's kind of boring at times.
Christine: C+
Pet Semetary: Indian burial ground brings things back from the dead. Doesn't work great with the cat. What could go wrong if we do it to the toddler? Lots. A few dead spots but overall great.
Pet Semetary: A-
Cycle of the Werewolf: Quick story told over the course of 12 monthly installments about a werewolf coming to town. Too short to have bad parts. Good enough you wish there was more.
Cycle of the Werewolf: B-
1984
The Talisman (Co-wrote with Peter Straub): Boy travels the country to save his mother and a world connected to our own. Evil twins in both worlds try to stop him. Co-written with Peter Straub.
The Talisman: A-
Thinner: Bachman book 5. Gypsy curses fat man to slowly wither away to nothing. Can he resolve things before he fades away? The ending seams cheap after the journey.
Thinner: A
The Bachman Books: A collection of the first four Bachman books. Look above for their individual grades. (Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, Running Man)
Skeleton Crew: Kings second collection of short stories. Overall not as good as Night Shift, but still plenty of amazingly good stuff in here. Highlights include: The Mist, Mrs. Todd's Shortcut, The Jaunt, The Raft, Word Processor of the Gods, Survivor Type.
Skeleton Crew: B (fwiw, The Mist and Mrs. Todd's Shortcut are A+)
1986
It: A book about Pennywise the killer clown killing off kids in Derry Maine. Only Pennywise isn't really a clown (and for that matter isn't really named Pennywise). Also, the book is really about a group of misfit kids coming to terms with the reality of growing up and dealing with their own problems. Any way you want to call it, this is a great book.
It: A+
1987
The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three: Second book in the Dark Tower series. Roland gathers a group of three people to join him on his quest. The book starts out rough for Roland and only gets worse.
The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three: A
Misery: Annie Wilkes is Paul Sheldon's number one fan. She's also crazy and has him trapped in her house. A page turner from jump this is probably my favorite King book of all time.
Misery: A++
The Tommyknockers: Bobbi Anderson finds a buried UFO. The more of it that gets uncovered the better the aliens inside can control the nearby townsfolk. Sounds like a great premise but this book becomes a serious slog.
The Tommyknockers: C
1988
Bare Bones - Conversations on Terror: A collection of interviews with King from a variety of magazines and other places. If you are into King they are interesting enough, but I suspect most people would probably get tired of them long before they finish the book.
Bare Bones - Conversations on Terror: B-
Nightmares in the Sky: Non-fiction collection of photographs of gargoyles taken by f-stop Fitzgerald. King writes the long introduction. Not something you need to read, but interesting enough. Not going to give this one a grade.
1989
The Dark Half: What if the pseudonym you wrote under became it's own separate entity. What if it was trying to kill you? Dark and grim story about just that. King exercises his Bachman demons?
The Dark Half: B+
1990
The Stand: Reviewed above (under 1978), but 1990 was when the uncut version was released.
Four Past Midnight: Another collection of four novellas. I'm reading this one right now. Or at least I was when I wrote this. They are:
The Langoliers: An airplane slips through a crack in reality. Can the survivors get back to the real world?
The Langoliers: B-
Secret Window, Secret Garden: Maine Author gets accused of plagiarism by a strange man from Mississippi. The truth of what is going on is thinly veiled and easily guessed. The ending takes a ninety degree turn that both almost saves and almost ruins the story.
Secret Window, Secret Garden: C+
The Library Policeman: Don't forget to turn in your overdue books or the Library Policeman might have to come and get you.
The Library Policeman: B
Gwendy's Button Box (Co-written with Richard Chizmar): A short story about a girl who is given a magic box that will give you whatever you want, but at a pretty steep price. Also a return to Castle Rock. A tight story well told.
Gwendy's Button Box: A
Sleeping Beauties (Co-written with Owen King): The women are all falling asleep and not waking up. The men are left to their own devices. Testosterone takes charge. Not a horror book. Wants to be more of an adventure story combined with a psychological look at the nature of the sexes. Mostly succeeds.
Sleeping Beauties: B-
2018
The Outsider: How can a man be murdering a boy at the exact same time he is at a convention many miles away. King's take on a doppelganger.
The Outsider: B
Elevation: Short story sold as a novella. Scott Carey is slowly losing weight but not body mass. Though really the story is about his interaction with other folks in Castle Rock with the weight loss stuff as a side story. This probably would have been better received if it had been in a collection of short stories and not trying to survive on its own. The ending just seems monumentally naive to me.
Elevation: B-
[1] - You can read my attempts HERE, HERE and HERE. Better efforts are done by the Loser's Club.
[2] - I don't hate this as much as some. I think if you read it with the mindset that a lot of what Charlie thinks he's seeing on the faces or in the minds of others is just as much a creation of his derangement as his actions and reasons for what he's doing, the book is pretty good.
1991
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands: Roland, Susannah and Eddie are together, but they still need Jake. Once they get Jake, they lose Jake. They get Jake again and now a train is trying to kill Jake (and everyone else as well.)
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands: Roland, Susannah and Eddie are together, but they still need Jake. Once they get Jake, they lose Jake. They get Jake again and now a train is trying to kill Jake (and everyone else as well.)
The Dark Tower: The Waste Lands: A
Needful Things: Curiousity shop opens in a small town. The proprietor is an agent of evil who sells the town just what it needs. The only cost is your soul.
Needful Things: A
1992
Gerald's Game: Woman ends up handcuffed to a bed, without nobody around for miles to hear her.
Gerald's Game: A+
Dolores Claiborne: Set as a long narrative by a woman who's tired of hiding her secrets, like what did happen to her husband?
Dolores Claiborne: A
1993
1993
Nightmares & Dreamscapes: 24 more short stories from King. Highlights include: The End of the Whole Mess, The Night Flier, and Sorry, Right Number, plus more.
Nightmares & Dreamscapes: B+
1994
Insomnia: Question: What happens when you don't sleep for a long time. Answer: You start seeing things. But maybe the things you are seeing are real and maybe seeing them will give you the knowledge to save important people.
Insomnia: B-
Mid-life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude: True stories about what happens when several people with a lot of talent in writing decide to take their much smaller amount of talent as a band on the road.
Mid-life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude: True stories about what happens when several people with a lot of talent in writing decide to take their much smaller amount of talent as a band on the road.
Mid-life Confidential: B-
1995
1995
Rose Madder: Woman gets away from her psychotic husband and tries to live a new life. Too bad for her , the psycho husband is a cop who can track her down. Too bad for him she's not the timid mouse she used to be.
Rose Madder: A-
1996
The Green Mile: A tale about the guards and convicts on death row. Including one who has a magical power to heal.
The Green Mile: A
Desperation: What if you been arrested by a cop from a very small town in Arizona? What if he is actually being possessed by an ancient evil? Also what happens when an author and his pseudonym write books at the same time?
Desperation: B+
Regulators (Written as Richard Bachman): What happens when the characters from a kids TV show come to life and start killing everyone on the block? Also what happens when an author and his pseudonym write books at the same time?
Regulators: B-
1997
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass: Two stories told at the same time. In the present Roland and the others continue their travels. In the past, we learn of Roland's adventures as a new gunslinger and the discovery of a plot to aid the enemy.
The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass: A
1998
Bag of Bones: A writer moves into his cabin by the lake only to find it is haunted by some spirits that are only slightly nicer than some of the nearby neighbors.
Bag of Bones: B-
1999
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: Young girl gets lost in the Great North Woods. Can she survive or will whatever else is out there in the woods with her get her first?
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: A+
Hearts in Atlantis: Five stories of differing lengths. The longest is essentially a novel, the shortest is a very short, short story. All a loosely stitched together by the characters involved.
Hearts in Atlantis: A
Storm of the Century: The script for the TV mini-series of the same name. Evil holds an island town hostage. It's price? Either one of the kids or all of the kids.
Storm of the Century: B+
2000
On Writing: A book about the craft of writing from someone who's done quite a lot of it.
On Writing: A
2001
Dreamcatcher: An alien invasion starting near a hunting cabin in the woods. Four friends may be all that stands between the aliens and humanity. Or maybe not?
Dreamcatcher: B-
Black House: The sequel to the Talisman finds our hero older and dealing with murders caused by a serial killer or are they being done by a haunted house?
Black House: A-
From a Buick 8: What looks like a car is actually a dimensional portal to a place where stuff isn't as nice as the cops who are tasked with watching over it.
From a Buick 8: B
2002
Everything's Eventual: 14 short stories by King. Several good stories but any deficiencies in them is blown away by the amazing 1408.
Everything's Eventual: A-
2003
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla: The Ka-Tet has to defend a town whose children are regularly taken by an unknown enemy.
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla: B+
2004
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah: Everyone comes to the "real" world to deal with various issues. Some are protecting the Rose. Others are protecting the author. And Susannah's gonna have a baby.
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah: A-
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower: The Ka-Tet finally finishes its journey and get to the tower. Well they get to the tower anyway.
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower: A-
Faithful (Written with Stuart O'Nan): Two die-hard Red Sox fans chronicle a year of ball games. As fate would have it, the book has a very happy ending.
Faithful: B-
2005
The Colorado Kid: Maine locals discuss a cold case in which a man was found dead on the beach.
The Colorado Kid: A
2006
Cell: What if cell phones could be used to take control of the mind of anyone who answers the call? A journey of those who didn't answer.
Cell: B+
Lisey's Story: Widow of a famous writer discovers that her dead husband was dealing with a lot more than just crazy fans. Only now she has to deal with the crazy fans too.
Lisey's Story: A
2007
Blaze (Written as Richard Backman): Gangster type with some mental handicaps tries to continue a life of crime after his best friend dies. Things go about as you'd expect.
Blaze: A-
Duma Key: Ex-construction company owner has to deal with the aftermath of being run over by a crane. Perhaps painting is the key to health, or perhaps it's just a doorway for an ancient evil to escape its prison.
Duma Key: A-
2008
Just After Sunset: 13 short stories from King. Highlights include: Graduation Afternoon, N, and A Very Tight Place
Just After Sunset: A-
2009
Under the Dome: Small town is trapped under an invisible dome. Survival is less a matter of food and more a matter of trying to stop the crazy politician from killing everyone.
Under the Dome: A
2017
Gwendy's Button Box (Co-written with Richard Chizmar): A short story about a girl who is given a magic box that will give you whatever you want, but at a pretty steep price. Also a return to Castle Rock. A tight story well told.
Gwendy's Button Box: A
Sleeping Beauties (Co-written with Owen King): The women are all falling asleep and not waking up. The men are left to their own devices. Testosterone takes charge. Not a horror book. Wants to be more of an adventure story combined with a psychological look at the nature of the sexes. Mostly succeeds.
Sleeping Beauties: B-
2018
The Outsider: How can a man be murdering a boy at the exact same time he is at a convention many miles away. King's take on a doppelganger.
The Outsider: B
Elevation: Short story sold as a novella. Scott Carey is slowly losing weight but not body mass. Though really the story is about his interaction with other folks in Castle Rock with the weight loss stuff as a side story. This probably would have been better received if it had been in a collection of short stories and not trying to survive on its own. The ending just seems monumentally naive to me.
Elevation: B-
2019
The Institute: Uprising by the people being used as guinea pigs in a strange secret laboratory.
The Institute: B+
2020
If It Bleeds: Four Novellas by King.
Mr. Harrigan's Phone: What if you started getting calls from a cell phone buried with an old man?
Mr. Harrigan's Phone: A-
The Life of Chuck: Story of a man who's life is ending, but told out of sequence.
The Life of Chuck: B+
If It Bleeds: The return of Holly Gibney. Holly uncovers another 'outsider' and has to deal with it.
If It Bleeds: A-
Rat: Author with writer's block makes a deal with a rat.
Rat: B
2021
Later: School kid can talk to dead people. A cop uses him to save her job. Things go south from there.
Later: B+
Billy Summers: Hitman takes a case to kill some bad folks, ends up helping a girl with problems of her own.
Billy Summers: B+
2022
Gwendy's Final Task (Written with Richard Chizmar): Gwendy's given a final task to save the world. The world doesn't end, but the story does weakly.
Gwendy's Final Task: C+
Fairy Tale: Boy helps out old neighbor and finds out there's a portal to another world hidden in the shed. Can he help save that world?
Fairy Tale: B+
[1] - You can read my attempts HERE, HERE and HERE. Better efforts are done by the Loser's Club.
[2] - I don't hate this as much as some. I think if you read it with the mindset that a lot of what Charlie thinks he's seeing on the faces or in the minds of others is just as much a creation of his derangement as his actions and reasons for what he's doing, the book is pretty good.
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