A reading fantatic has shared his favourite Stephen King books (file) (Image: Getty)
Throughout his writing career, author Stephen King have published 67 novels and novellas, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, and five non-fiction books. He has also written more than 200 short stories, most of which have been compiled in book collections.
However, if you are yet to pick up one of King’s book to read, it can be difficult to know which one to start with, especially since there are so many well-known ones.
To help, one reading fanatic named Alfie Tindall, who often creates book-related content on social media as ‘alf_read’ for his thousands of followers, has shared that he’s read 19 of King’s books, and went on to share which ones he would recommend others to read.
“Should you read these Stephen King books with a yes, no, or maybe,” Alfie said in a TikTok video, explaining that he’d simply hold up each of the 19 different books and say a one word answer as to whether or not he’d recommend them to others to read.
First up was The Long Walk, which was recently made into a film. As for the book, Alfie said he’d recommend it, claiming it should be considered ‘the original Hunger Games’ – refering to the dystopian book series by Suzanne Collins.
Next was Firestarter, which he said ‘maybe’, claiming he didn’t like the pacing of the book, but that it had some ‘iconic’ moments to consider. Cujo, the horror book about a murderous dog, also recieved a maybe, with Alfie claiming it was only the last 100 pages of the book that made it ‘worth reading’.
Salem’s Lot was another book that got an immediate yes from Alfie, claiming it was a ‘perfect entry point’.
“Who doesn’t love vampires,” he said.
As for the book Cell, Alfie said: “This might be the worst thing he’s ever written, it’s awful,” as he gave the book a strong ‘no’ as to if he’d recommend it.
Revival, a dark, character-driven novel spanning five decades, focusing on addiction, faith, and obsession with electricity, earned another yes, with Alfie claiming it’s like a modern retelling of Frankenstein, while he claimed The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was dull, and not worth a read.
“I’m personally obsessed with this one,” he went on to say about The Regulators, but claimed it’s earned a ‘maybe’ as he said he could see why someone might not enjoy it as much as he did.
Sleeping Beauties, which King co-wrote alongside his son Owen King, earned another no, while The Institue earned another yes.
“This is the new and improved version of Firestarter,” he said about The Institute.
Next up was another classic Stephen King book, The Running Man, which also earned another yes, with Alfie saying he was excited to watch the film adaptation.
Dolores Claiborne earned another enthusiastic yes, while Gerard’s Game, which has also been made into a film, wasn’t as good according to Alfie, which is why he wouldn’t recommend it to others, as he said the film was better. Meanwhile, Misery, which is also a popular film, was worth the read, claiming it was ‘the perfect book’, that was even more ‘insane’ than the film.
Different Seasons, which is a collection of novellas, was praised as ‘iconic’, while Thinner earned a ‘maybe’, with Alfie warning it could be seen as offensive to to the traveller community.
Blazer also earned a ‘no’, with Alfie saying he’d ‘forgotten it existed’, meaning the storyline clearly wasn’t a memorable one. The Eyes of the Dragon earned another yes, as Alfie praised King’s fantasy writing skills that often gets forgotten under his horror books.
The Tommyknockers, about an author who discovers a buried alien spaceship in Haven, Maine, that’s releasing a gas that transforms townspeople into genius-level, violet-eyed ‘Tommyknockers’, was only recommended to people with similar taste to Alfie, as he claimed it was ‘demented’, which he ended up enjoying.