Thanks for the correction, Scott. You'll get a kick out of meeting Joe -- he's an extremely nice guy.
I'm excited about that. Also hoping my anthology will be up for a Stoker as well. with 6 Stoker winners in it already, it should earn a nomination if nothing else. Only reason I corrected that was I was reading Bev Vincent's amazing book, The Illustrated Stephen King and King was talking about his drug use and when it started. I loved It but had definite problems with the ending, but thought the end of The Stand (in the uncut version) was perfect.
I like The Shining, but that's more due to personal tastes than its inherent value. It is pretty good, probably the one that is scariest to me. Pennywise the clown is pretty creepy. The Stand is his "epic" book. I like it, but it's overlong and the Deus ex machina ending feels a bit like a cop-out. I really enjoy his Dark Tower series, at least as far as the 3rd book which is where I stopped many years ago. I've been meaning to go back and re-read them and then finish the series now that they're all out, but haven't gotten around to it yet, mostly because there are always other books I'd rather read first.
I gotta go with The Long Walk (even though this was under his old pen name Richard Bachman). Followed closely by the Dark Tower series.
You know what, you're right. The Long Walk was excellent, I'd forgotten about that one. Now I need to go reread it.
Needful Things was my favorite. Don't think anyones mentioned it yet. The movie was not too bad either. Books are always better (using your imagination can be better than a movie) in most cases. Really a good book if no ones read it yet.
Yes, I'm really yet to see a movie that beats its book counterpart. Harry Potter movies make me wince, as did Eragon. I guess Lord of the Rings was a nice adaption, but in pretty much everything else major parts of the book are cut out and you are left feeling a bit cheated
I have never really seen movies surpass books, but I have seen good ones. A few that come to mind are Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Mist, Naked Lunch, and Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas.
Has Stephen King made cameo appearances in most of his books made into movies? (hadn't watched all of them, don't think). Just watched The Stand the other day and he was the pizza guy and another appearance later in the end of the movie with longer lines that time. If I remember correctly. I know Alfred Hitchcock did this also. Remember him once floating by as a dead body in water I believe in one of his films.
Hey! Im a King's fan too! I got few of his books. 1. Desperation 2. Insomnia - personal favourite I just read 2 only. But looking forward to buy more, esp those old ones that I seen as movies like - Tommyknockers, Thinner, The Shining, Red Rose, Carrie, Christine, etc.. Oh yeah one more movie that i love is er.. cant remember the title.. its about that Andre Linoge guy.. (Linoge anagram for Legion)... cant recall.. my mind fail me today. I wish Insomnia would be done as a movie by someone good, like Ridley Scott.... And a remake of Christine movie could do well too i think... ps.. do u guys notice that in most of his books/movies, surely there will be something to do with Maine.. hehe
Worst Stephen King book.... Eyes of the Dragon! Would have been a great short story. Unfortunately they decided to stretch it out.
I don't know, I don't really find Stephen King's horror novels scary as I do interesting. The Shining is my personal favorite, and I didn't find it scary at all. I love King's science fiction books, especially Under the Dome. It still had the deus ex machinima ending, but it was handled a lot better than the one in The Stand. The Stand's ending I felt was simply awful and as half-assed as it can get. Stephen King writes some excellent novels, but he also turns out the occasional garbage. Like Cell. Now that was some confusing unrealistic garbage IMO. It had hardly anything to do with what it was going for, cellphones. It became some sort of random action-hero book with stupid deaths, escapes, characters, etc.
Just finished Under the Dome this morning. I loved it, it's by far the best book he's written in recent years
For Stephen Kings fans....Gerald's Game is EXTREMELY creepy with a stunning plot twist at the end which has disturbed me for more than a week after finishing it
