Stephen King Novels: The Top 3 Scariest Stephen King Novels

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The Top Three Stephen King Novels

Any person who is a fan of classic horror fiction novels is almost guaranteed to be a fan of Stephen King. Since his entry into the world of writing in 1974 with his first published novel, Carrie, King has easily become one of the most recognized authors in the world. Throughout his career, King has written close to fifty novels, along with numerous short stories, poems, non-fiction works and more, in addition to publishing novels and short stories under a pen name, Richard Bachman. In 2003, King was awarded the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters; a lifetime achievement award that his fans feel was earned many times over.

Upon the success of his novels, King’s writings soon began to come to life on the big screen, with Carrie being the first of his works to become a film adaptation. Carrie was followed by some of King’s most critically acclaimed novels, including The Green Mile, a novel and movie that took a break from the traditional “horror” type storytelling and instead ventured into the supernatural, and tear-jerking story of John Coffey. In total, King has seen over thirty of his novels adapted into movies, along with twenty of his novels adapted to the small screen. When asked to rank the works of King, most lists are drastically different. However, there are a few titles, which almost always rank among the top ten, if not the top five.

One of those, It, brought the fear of clowns into an entirely new dimension. Published in 1986 and named the best selling book in America for that year, It is a story that begins in the year 1958 with its characters as youths, and shifts back and forth from 1958 to 1985, alternately telling the story of the characters, who have moved on with their lives, coming together once again to be tortured by their own personal form of It, resulting in a story of good versus evil.

Set in the town of Derry, Maine, It tells the story of seven children who are drawn together due to their unhappy lives to form The Losers Club. The children’s misery is drawn from the torment they endured at the hands of Henry Bowers, and their ultimate struggle to overcome it. The story begins with the death of Ben’s brother, George, at the hands of It, in the form of Pennywise the Clown, then jumps forward to eight months later. Each of the children being sharing stories of encounters with the supernatural, all various forms of It-a shape shifter which takes the form of the deepest fears of its victims. In order to attract its preferred victims of young children, It takes the form of Pennywise the Clown most often, although It also appears as a Werewolf, leeches, a spider and a nurse caring for one of the Losers in the hospital.

The Losers encounter It in the sewers in the form of a giant eye, which is defeated by Eddie; the group then enters Its lair, located deep below the heart of the city. Bill succeeds in enters Its mind and defeats It in a battle that leaves It wounded. The group, believing It to be defeated, make a blood oath to return to the cit of Derry should It ever resurface, which It does.

Mike, the only remaining Losers Club member to remain in Derry, summons his childhood friends years later after a string of child murders takes place. While the other members do not recall their battles with It, Stan seems to have memories and slits his wrists in the bathtub, using the last bit of strength he has to write It on the wall. After research, Mike learns that It usually goes into hiding for twenty-seven years, and then returns to torment children for a year to eighteen months before returning to hibernation. The group begins to encounter It in various forms, and retreats to the sewers in order to defeat it once and for all. Bill is finally victorious in defeating it, crushing Its heart between his hands.

When considering King’s best works, his original novel cannot be forgotten. Set in Chamberlain, Maine, Carrie tells the story of a shy high school student who uses telekinetic powers to exact revenge on all those who have bullied her. The bullying begins with Carrie being tormented after starting her period with no clue what is going on due to an abusive mother. After realizing the powers she possesses, Carrie begins practicing and honing her skills.

After being asked to the prom by the boyfriend of one of her tormenters, Carrie sees this opportunity as a fresh start at the school and a chance to put the torment behind her. However, her main tormenter, still upset at not being allowed to attend the prom, decides to rig the prom queen election to ensure that Carrie wins. Once she is announced, a bucket of pig’s blood is dumped on Carrie, pushing her over the edge. After rushing from the prom, humiliated, Carrie remembers her powers and decides to exact her revenge.

While her original plan was only to lock all the doors and turn on the sprinklers, she remembers the electrical equipment-and turns the sprinklers on anyway. By watching through the windows, she witnesses the deaths of two students and a school official, and then decides to kill everyone by setting a fire. As she is leaving the school, Carrie undoes the nuts and bolts on the fire hydrants to prevent officials from putting out the blaze. She also encounters a car driven by her main tormenters and takes over the wheel, killing them both. The tale ends after Carrie has killed her mother in self-defense and then dies herself. The story of Carrie is told mostly through articles and book excerpts.

Finally, one must always include what many consider to be King’s masterpiece, The Stand. Published in 1978, The Stand is an epic tale of good versus evil. A plague strikes America, killing everyone except a few thousand people who are immune from the disease. The group immediately divides into two groups: one who believes in God and another who are believed to worship The Dark Man. Once the groups divide, the stage is set for the ultimate battle.

The Stand is divided into three mini books: “Captain Trips”, “On the Border” and finally “The Stand”. The first gives readers the history and sets the stage for the remaining two stages. We learn of the super-flu which will destroy almost all of humanity, and King outlines the destruction of society by telling of the violence, the crime and the death of the human race. In “On the Border”, we dive deeper into the lives of the characters and the groups they have chosen to live in. We learn their back-stories and how they got to their particular group and why they were drawn to one side over the other. And finally, “The Stand” is the story of the ultimate battle of good versus evil.

Many of King’s readers were not happy with the somewhat ambiguous ending of The Stand. However, they still consider the over one thousand page novel to be one of his best. It is both positively and negatively critically acclaimed, and was adapted into an eight part miniseries in order to tell the story properly, which would be difficult to do as a feature film. The Stand firmly positioned King as one of our lifetime’s most talented writers and will ensure that his works live on for generations to come.

Other Book Information Resources

List of James Patterson Books in Order

Resource by S.Henniman

I am an aspiring artist and writer from Phoenix Arizona. I enjoy golfing, skiing, college football, and hanging out with my two favorite girls (my wife and 4 year old daughter).

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