King is one of americas best and foremost short story writersthere are more than100 stories spread across his 10 collections, a considerable body of work. According to the history taken from nurse vickers, he was twentyeight, employed by an industrial firm in new york, divorced, and the father of three children. For king, short stories were a hobby and they were charity work, something he did that could immediately elevate the sales of an. Hed been publishing his own work in one way or another since, i sht you not, 1959. With plethora of awards under his belt, every single of king s fans would want to explore every single work that hes done so far, including some of the short stories that he has published.
Just after sunset is a collection of short stories and they all kept me interested from start to finish. Many of his novels and short stories have been adapted into the comic book format. The very first anthology of stephen king short stories, published in 1978, night shift contains several familiar pieces, such as children of the corn and jerusalems lot. These are collections of short stories and novellas by stephen king.
May 18, 2018 stephen king released a new short story titled laurie yesterday. Ghost stories was an adaptation of stephen king s short stories the return of timmy baterman, about zombies. The man was lester billings from waterbury, connecticut. Order of stephen king books stephen king is an american author of horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy novels. Stephen edwin king was born in portland, maine in 1947, the second son of donald and nellie ruth pillsbury king. King has written several novels since his first short story sale in 1967 that have become pop cultural signposts. Stephen king may be known for his doorstopper novels, but hes a hell of a short story writer when he sets his mind to it. Stephen king books in chronological order stephen king. Uncle ottos truck, and the boogeyman, about a distraught fathers encounter with a child.
Stephen king, american novelist and short story writer whose books were credited with reviving the horror fiction genre in the late 20th century. Jun 11, 2019 benedict cumberbatch reads sherlock holmes rediscovered railway stories audiobook full. Score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. May 21, 2018 stephen king short stories in print and ebook. Vote on the best to the worst of stephen kings short story collections and novella collections. The mist was first published in skeleton crew signet, a collection of stephen king short stories. Stephen king is a prolific american author who is known for his suspense and fantasy novels. From an oeuvre of almost 100 books, here are the best stephen king books, ranked. Stephen king has published more than sixty books to global acclaim. Tv, bestselling author stephen king discusses the art of writing short stories and short fiction, and the fact that many writers today forgo the. Stephen king to share writing tips in new short story. After his parents separated when stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, david, were raised by his mother. The story is 32 pages and centers on a recent widower named lloyd who is gifted a puppy the titular laurie by his wellmeaning sister.
The four novellas are tied together via subtitles that relate to each of the four seasons. The novella begins with a sudden and dangerous storm that causes a lot of damage to the small town of bridgton, maine. Gray matter, a black comedy about a hideous mutation caused by a bottle of beer. It is arranged chronologically by first publication. Without a moments hesitation he went with liseys story, a 2006 novel about a woman coping with. In other words, not only has stephen king written some genius novels and short stories, novellas, essays, and works of criticism, but hes written a lot of them51 novels. Needless to say, pet sematary is a grisly whopper in the land of horror novels consider that our warning to you before you open this book.
A definitive ranking of every stephen king novel ever. Every stephen king reader has a favorite tale or series, from christine to cujo. The best part about this is that some of his work under this category are available for free. Technically, four of these collections contain a handful of novella length stories rather than 20 or so short stories. And yet, taken together, these stories arent quite as evocative or powerful as the books belowperhaps its damning him for maturing as a writer. Like kings novels, his short stories range from the carefully rendered mundane straight, literary fiction short stories like herman wouk is still. See where misery, the shining, pet sematary, and the dark tower land and which horror gem takes the top spot. A book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. Nov 20, 2018 nowhere is this more apparent than in the horror short stories below, which deliver maximum scares while keeping pagecounts to a minimum. The longest story is a prequel to the dark tower series and will doubtless be of interest to fans of. With over 60 novels published, there are no shortage of great titles to choose from.
Not bad for a man who was so unhappy with his first. My experience with stephen king s novels is limited, this is because i am much more familiar with films based on his books, his novellas and, the focus of this article, his short stories. His books gained their effect from realistic detail, forceful plotting, and kings ability to involve and scare the reader. Mar 06, 2017 5 stephen king books your kid could and should read. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. A definitive ranking of every stephen king short story collection. Were talking nightmareinducing, hairraising tales from horror masters like stephen king and clive barkerplus anthologies thatll make you wish the nights werent so long and dark. Pages in category short story collections by stephen king the following 16 pages are in this category, out of 16 total. A list of stephen kings written works, organized oldest to newest by first publication. Stephen king, short story collections, short stories, books barnes. Jan 14, 2020 stephen king is one of the most prolific authors alive, known for writing horror, fantasy, and psychological thrillers. On monday, hulu premiered 112263, its jj abrams produced, james francostarring miniseries adapted from the writers bestselling jfk.
What is your favorite stephen king short story collection. Here, submitted for your approval, are the short story collections of stephen king, ranked. The ballad of songbirds and snakes from the author that brought you the hunger games, reenter the world of panem again sixtyfour years before the events of the original series. Did you know that there are over stephen king short stories in existence. This week, stephen king releases his latest novel, mr. Major revisions of previously published pieces are also noted. Many of his stories are set in his home state of maine. Before we get to the book list, theres a few things you should know about stephen king. In a tweet, king called it an appetizer to the main course. The bulk of kings short stories exist only in the series of 11 anthologies hes published during his career. Nov 10, 2015 stephen king has published 54 novels, more than 200 short stories, five books of nonfiction, five ebooks, 11 collections of stories, also some movies and plays and poetry and god knows what else. His books gained their effect from realistic detail, forceful plotting, and king s ability to involve and scare the reader.
He has written over 200 short stories, most of which have been compiled in book collections. The only thing i may look forward to more than a new stephen king novel is a new collection of his short stories. Josh jones is a writer and musician based in durham, nc. Across his career stephen edwin king has churned out over two hundred short stories, which have gone from first featuring in dime store magazines and understated anthologies, all the way to in his. May 20, 2017 i havent managed to read all of stephen kings novels yet im still working on that but i have read all of his short stories. A list of stephen kings short stories, organized alphabetically.
This new edition presents the mist separately for the first time, presumable to capitalize on the release of the movie adaptation. Short stories by stephen king download ebook pdf, epub. A list of stephen king s written works, organized oldest to newest by first publication. A definitive ranking of every stephen king short story. Ranking stephen kings short story collections horror amino. This includes short stories, novelettes, and novellas, as well as poems. I think a lot of these people fancy themselves authors and feel the need to prove it by writing short stories about someone elses work. In recent months, a number of people have likely bought this collection to read 1408 so they can see the story that the movie was based on. Stephen king has confirmed that he thought it was too dark to publish, and only did so to settle a book contract. If youre feeling overwhelmed by the number of great horror books. Stephen king, his books, and their origins at lisner. Night shift is the first collection of short stories by stephen king, first published in 1978. The good guys who, through their flaws, show that its possible to persevere in uncertain circumstances.
Nov 05, 2014 in our recent interview with stephen king, we asked the author to name the best book he ever wrote. Carrie 1974 historical essay richards thoughts guest essay by ray garton richards followup salems lot 1975 historical essay richards thoughts guest essay by christopher golden the shining. King will read a special selection from his new book ahead of its publication on april 21, 2020. King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name richard bachman, and five nonfiction books. Im posting a brand new short story, if you want to read itthink of it as an appetizer to the main course, the outsider, coming next week. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Stephen king, american novelist and shortstory writer whose books were credited with reviving the horror fiction genre in the late 20th century. It was his sixth published book including those using his the stephen king goodreads discussion group is doing a reread of his works from the beginning to the end. Stephen king, one of the most established authors in the world today, is by no means an unfamiliar author, maybe unfavoured in terms of writing style for some, but definitely not in terms of fame.
It is his 65th book, if you count novels, nonfiction, and shortstory collections, and we are using its publication as an excuse to. Stephen king creates a list of 96 books for aspiring writers to read. His first professional short story was published in 1967. Stephen king is sometimes erroneously credited with nearly 400 short stories or a similarly. Here i will focus on his short story collections of which there are 6, and will be ranking them from best to worst. Hes known for writing gruesome scenes and grotesque villains.
Written works oldest to newest written works oldest to newest. May 09, 2018 as king is one of americas best and foremost short story writers, this is a matter that bears rectifyingafter all, there are more than 100 stories spread across his 10 collections, and thats a considerable body of work. Different seasons 1982 is a collection of four stephen king novellas with a more serious dramatic bent than the horror fiction for which king is famous. His output includes some of the best short, shivery tales in the horror canonranging from the earliest days of his career, when he was publishing in magazines like cavalier. He is bestknown for such published works as carrie, the shining and misery all of which have been adapted into successful films. This may be one of stephen kings earliest short stories, but its also. Heres some background on the mainebased writer and a bibliography, featuring details about some of his most notable works. Hes also known for creating multidimensional protagonists. Jan 12, 2018 stephen king is a literary icon, a status hes achieved by a defining a genre. I know before i even hit the publish button on this post that most people are going to raise their eyebrows. Feb 18, 2016 theres never been a better time to be a stephen king fan. Stephen king reveals in his first tv interview whether he sleeps with the lights on 1982 stephen king s top 20 rules for writers. List of adaptations of works by stephen king wikipedia. All of the best stephen king books, ranked reedsy discovery.
Inspired by the novella collections of jim harrison and stephen king, don winslow sees the quick potential of selling the six stories to television and films. Stephen kings stories are a massive inspiration for many film adaptations, but his work is not solely restricted to the big screen. Laurie by stephen king 2018 audiobook narrated by spooky. Stephen king is one of the most prolific authors alive, known for writing horror, fantasy, and psychological thrillers. Memory stephen king s short story memory appeared in volume 7, number 4 of tin house, the summer 2006 issue. Stephen king s the boogeyman i came to you because i want to tell my story, the man on dr harpers couch was saying. The longest story is a prequel to the dark tower series and will doubtless be of interest to fans of that series. Feb 20, 20 in this interview with rich fahle of bibliostar. The ultimate guide to every single short story collection stephen king has. Ghost brothers of darkland county, an original musical with book by stephen king and music and lyrics by john mellencamp. Stephen king to read from his latest release if it bleeds. Nov 06, 2014 here is the list of stephen kings books were reading as part of stephen king revisited, along with links to the essays and other content we have posted for each book. First stephen king book i ever read, and possibly still my favourite every single story is an absolute belter. A list of stephen kings story collections, organized alphabetically.
Theres no doubt that the mans publishing career is impressive, but king was perhaps most prolific with his short stories. Sep 12, 2017 in 1978, king started publishing a series of short stories in the magazine of fantasy and science fiction that would eventually be collected for the 1982 hardcover volume the gunslinger. Yes, i love stephen king, but even being a constant reader doesnt prevent me from being willing to admit that the man can and often does go long on his word count. This book is a collection of 14 shorts stories by stephen king. Stand by me cast the film was based on king s short story the body hes obsessed with coming of. The langoliers is a novella written by stephen king that was included in his 1990 collection four past midnight. Background night shift was the first collection of twenty short stories published by stephen king back in 1978. It is the seed from which has grown a much longer tale, duma key, which scribner will publish in early 2008. Stephen king on the craft of short story writing youtube. As well as 18 other chilling stories, including the mangler the one about the possessed laundry press.
Stephen king is sorry you feel like youre stuck in a. Mar 18, 2015 stephen king is set to give his first major insights into the writing process since his acclaimed on writing, in a new collection of short stories due out this winter the bazaar of bad dreams. A list of stephen king s short stories, organized alphabetically. In 1980, night shift received the balrog award for best collection, and in 1979 it was nominated as best collection for the locus award and the world fantasy award.