Leaving in that weird visual glitch near the beginning because obviously this video is haunted 😂 I can’t wait to nerd out about these stories with you in the comments! (Also no nightmares so far 🙏 send good vibes my way so I stay nightmare free 😅)
Though your videos can be quite entertaining to watch you look like a cat whore in the icon and the end of the video. (Doesn't matter if it was for the "thrill" of Halloween) The chevage is absolutely unnecessary and I personally find it extremely distasteful. I know you want more views, but I actually paused the video at the beginning to type out this message to you. After the other video I watch bringing something VERY important to the attention of the public in regards to YA books being more sexual then ever..... you go and do this. Right, Consider someone unsubscribing to you and your adolescent bullshit for views.
Not us going on a Stephen King binge at the same time 😍 I had only read Fairy Tale and enjoyed it, but my grandmother insisted that’s not “real King” and bought me more of his books. 😂 I’m still in the process of working through my stack but was so excited the second I saw your video title! Can’t wait to keep watching and hear your thoughts 🫶🏻
@@KittyxKult Agree! My biggest problem with King's books is that they aren't even really scary so much as just really messed up. Fairy Tale was so completely different and enjoyable.
This is so funny because the reason I curled my hair is my original costume was going to be Chappell Roan in one of her pink pony club performance outfits. But I didn’t finish my costume in time 😂❤️
Misery and the Shining I think you would like! They're both very winter-y spooky vibes so they would be great to read in the coming months... if you like more real-world horror, Misery is definitely the way to go. It's one of my favorites. If you don't like the way that King writes a lot of his female characters (me neither), I would recommend avoiding Carrie... its use of period blood as a motif is questionable, and for a main character, Carrie just feels really half-baked. I know it's his first book and a classic that inspired so many good stories, but in my opinion his later works are worth a bit more of your time. As I'm sure you've heard, IT has some really weird sex stuff and (in my opinion) really goes off the rails at the end lore-wise, but the audiobook is so well done, and the spooky fall vibes are really, really good. I would recommend the audiobook if you ever get around to reading IT. And the characters! Since we get to see the characters as kids growing up into adults, you can really get attached to them. I love your videos! You did such a great job with this, and I love how you so concisely voiced all the reasons why I LOVE (and roll my eyes at) Stephen King.
Thank you so much for your recommendations! I'm so glad you enjoyed the video and that I was able to articulate my feelings about King's work in a way that resonated with you ❤️ I’ll definitely check these out! It is probably never going to be something I read, because I have a particular fear of clowns 😅 I’ve also heard so many wild things about It that make me want to back away slowly 😂
@PlantBasedBride I second reading Misery. I'm not a huge horror fan either but I absolutely loved this book, it's definitely anxiety-inducing (in a good way) of needing to know what will happen and how our main character will end up. Plus the winter settings are perfect for this time of year!
I just started the video, but felt compelled to share my own Stephen King experience so far. I tried to start several novels of his in the past (Firestarter, Cell) and couldn't get into them. I saw an online recommendation by Daniel Greene that people who are new to King should start with either The Stand or Pet Semetary, and I read Pet Semetary in February of this year - and loved it! I am now willing to try more King.
Elizabeth, thanks for the best thumbnail ever! Wow…Your cat costume with curls is so pretty! As for SK, I had my time with him in my youth with the Stand, Carrie, IT, etc. while I can’t go there anymore, it was interesting to get your take on some of his work. While I haven’t read the book, I think the Dolores Claiborne movie was really good. Thanks for the post Halloween fun, you are the best!👏🏽🎃👻🫣🎉
The Stand was the first Stephen King Book I read waaaay back when I was 14. I finished it in 3 days during a week long school trip in autumn - while everyone but me and one or two of my classmates had a cold. Let's just say I was just the tiniest bit creeped out. But I loved the story and still do about 30 years later. In case you decide to go on with the Dark Tower series, you may also want to read the following books, because they really tie in to the story at later points: The Stand (which you obviously already did) The Eyes of the Dragon Salem's Lot Hearts in Atlantis Insomnia There are even more of King's books connected to the Dark Tower universe in one way or another, but I think these are the most important ones. Edit: I almost forgot two of my favorites - The Talisman and Black House, both written by Stephen King and Peter Straub.
Thank you for these recommendations! It’s interesting to see how many of his stories are connected. I feel like I need a mind map 😅 I’m honestly glad I didn’t read the stand at the start of the pandemic because I was already anxious enough as it is, and I think it would’ve not been good for my mental health 🫠
Oh please read The Talisman! I've read everything Stephen King has published and that one is my favourite. Even named my child after the main character. It's not perfect but is a wonderful story. I've probably read it 10 times by now.
@@PlantBasedBride There is a map! Just google pictures for "Dark Tower extended universe" and you'll find that almost all of his (older) stories have at least a tiny connection - even if it's not obvious at first, it's still there.
Elizabeth, first of all, THE HAIR! Girl. Gorgeous. Secondly, I’m so glad you gave King another chance! Bless the person who brought you those books-although they’re not what I would have recommended for an (almost) first time King reader. If you ever feel like reading another King doorstopper of a novel, I highly recommend Under The Dome. More suggestions: Carrie, Misery, The Shining (very big differences in the portrayal of Book Jack and Movie Jack), Pet Semetary, Rose Madder & Revival (this last one is a tough read in that it doesn’t really end on a high note, but I love the character exploration and the philosophical discussion greatly appeals to this fellow agnostic/atheist).
Elizabeth, I'm thrilled that you're giving King another chance, and that you enjoyed so much of what you read! He’s my all-time favorite, so… I have thoughts. :-D I love supernatural stuff, but I totally understand your opinion on COTC. I too am far more scared by realistic horror (Saw, Hostel, etc.). As far as SK goes, I think “Gerald’s Game” is one of the scariest. It’s psychological, quite grounded in reality, and *terrifying*. I actually had to put that one down a few times. O_O Sometimes Uncle Steve could write three books from what he puts into one, and every once in a while, I can’t quite suspend my disbelief enough to love a story. lol The Gunslinger is problematic, for sure. SK has talked about it. The revised version is helpful, and the series gets much better! TDT is my favorite series of all time, but I very much relate to your confusion at Book #1! I will say that book 4 (Wizard and Glass) is probably the most beautiful of the series - there’s just a lot to love there, so I won’t write a book about it - but, that said, almost the entire book is a flashback to Roland’s youth. The *only* thing I don’t like about that book is that the journey to the Tower is stalled while this story is told. Otherwise, it’s fantastic. Also, there are a handful of scenes in his works that left me (and many others) saying, “Why?” (“It” has one of the WORST), and most of them are “weird sex stuff”. I will say that it’s mostly in his early writing, when he was young and dealing with addiction. Overall, I feel SK is worth the aches and pains. He really does have some beautiful writing, and I would love to recommend some of those! For example, I loved “Rose Madder” because it’s about a bunch of badass women! The thing I tell people about King is that he writes quite a lot about *people*, and he makes you love them, and love to hate them. I love the way he writes people! He also writes plenty that isn’t true I horror; that’s just the label he carries. Lastly, I love all your reviews here, but I think your review of The Stand is so spot-on and absolutely fair. I’m so glad you enjoyed it as much as you did!
I appreciate your insights! I am definitely curious about Rose Madder. I do think one of his greatest strengths (as far as I know so far!) is writing deeply flawed, complex characters. And you’re right; so many of them are easy to love, but just as many, if not more, are very easy to hate! Another commenter talked about feeling that King was working through what he perceived to be his own character flaws in his early writing, which is such an interesting perspective. I’m so glad you enjoyed the video as someone with a lot more experience with King’s work! ❤️
Hi! Great video as always. I've never been interested in Stephen King cause I'm generally a scaredy-cat but I'm currently working my way through Dracula and your description of Jeruselum's Lot actually has me interested in it. Quick question: Have you ever considered doing a library tour or is it a video that you might've already done for your patrons? I ask cause some of the book spines in your video background always draw my attention and I'd love to know what books they belong to. 😅 Edit: Checked out of curiosity and according to google the distinction between DID and Schizophrenia was made in 1994 while book 2 in the Dark Tower series was published in 1987 so the misrepresentation of the two might've come from the general populaces misunderstanding of it at that time.
Hi first time viewer here! So the first book in the Dark Tower series can be a little rough if you don’t really know what you are getting into. 1. All of Stephen King’s books are connected via the Dark Tower, some have stronger connections than others. It’s all one big Multiverse kind of deal. Some characters cross over between the Dark Tower and other books. Randal Flagg is a reoccurring villain in several books. 2. The Dark Tower is essentially a fantasy epic but there are other genres mixed in there. Like western with the way the Gunslinger is dressed and his trusted revolvers. 3. The first book in the series was originally published in parts in a magazine. Reading it feels rather choppy because it is several installments all smooshed together in one novel. Knowing that going in makes the Dark Tower an easier read and it does get better going into book 2. I’ll be starting book 3 soon but hope this helps! I first started my journey with Thinner written while Stephen was using his Richard Bachman persona. Cujo was my second book and lord what an ending don’t get too attached there.
The Lawnmower Man has an adaptation with the same name and the graphics are so so funny. If you are in the vibe for a silly movie I'd recommend it for the visuals alone!
My favourite King is non-horror King. The Body, Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile which were all made into great movies.(The Body Is Stand By Me in film form). 11/22/63 is a great time travel, if you could change history would you novel. Mr Mercedes is good though the tv series may actually be even better.
Love this video, glad you gave him another chance and found some things to enjoy! You mentioned the story about the brother genius and Stephen King's brother, hadn't read the story but I did read his memoir (on writing) and how you described the story does sound like the dynamic he had with his brother. His brother had a lot of schemes that he followed along with as a kid, even when they were dangerous. Also when you discussed the Schizophrenia vs. DID, you actually are correct that when Drawing of the Three was written (late 80s) definitions were different. When I was doing my psych grad work I had read in one of my texts that Schizophrenia became kind of a catch all diagnosis when things were less clear. It's been nearly 40 years since then and mental health is definitely better understood (thank goodness!) and less stigmatized than it used to be.
It’s so interesting hearing you talk about the gunslinger! I read the revised version and found it to be a quick and easy read that got me sooo into the rest of the series! I’ve now finished the entire dark tower series and really enjoyed it (despite not liking the ending, but it didn’t bother me too much since I loved the characters and their stories).
I had to listen to Dark Tower as an audio book while on a road trip with a friend. Being able to pause and talk about what the heck just happened helped a lot. It was the only way I could get through it. Also, the line " I don't like people. They F*$% me up" still hit's me so hard
I’m so glad you gave King a second chance. He is my favorite author. I do think he shines in his non horror stories. Best example of that is “11/22/63”or even “The long walk” or “the talisman”. I think he’s written some of the best female characters in my opinion. I think “Liseys story” is my favorite. I’m reading “Holly” right now and she’s starting to really grow on me too. Anyway I love your videos 💖
You look gorgeous (as always 💚) I think you'd love Dolores Claiborne. It explores misogyny, incest and other typical King themes but from a different perspective. It's sometimes heartbreaking in a good way and our protagonist is a woman. The audiobook is also nice.
Thank you! This book has been recommended so many times across the Internet and it’s been brought up in these comments a few times, so I think I may need to bump it up to the top of my list once I eventually feel ready to dive into Stephen King again!
GodDAMMIT I love The Dark Tower and I’m SO sad that no one on booktube ever talks about it. So I’m so excited that you’re reading it at all. Not me pumping my fist at my TV when you said you were gonna continue and read The Drawing of the Three and then going Noooooo when you didn’t like it 😭😭😭 it’s one of my faves in the series, but I think that’s an unpopular opinion. Most people seem to like book 3 the most, so maybe still give the next one a shot? The Dark Tower is an absolute fucking mess, it’s so bloated, it’s so unhinged, the world building just gets progressively more and more nuts, parts of it are really unsatisfying, and parts of it made me sob like a little baby. I just love all the characters so much and some of the imagery is just so imaginative and like psychedelic, idk how to explain it better. It’s my number one series that I can’t defend, but love with my whole silly little heart. I recommend reading through book 4 and then if you’re over it, you’re over it. But book 4 is where we get Roland’s backstory and without spoiling too much it’s like a slow burn tragic romance??? That’s another thing that I love so much about the series: all of the books have such different vibes from each other and I’ve never read anything like that before. Anyways I’ll shut up, I’ve just been waiting for a chance to yell about this series on the internet for awhile now haha
I’m so glad you gave Stephen king another try, we have very similar tastes in books, and I’ve read It, The Shining, The Stand, and The Mist. Which isn’t much considered his work, but I enjoyed all of them! I read The Stand at the beginning of this year and it really felt like I lived in that world with how immersive and long it was. I also gave it four stars! I think if I were to recommend something I’d want your opinion on The Shining and Misery. I also work at a book store so I’m definitely going to check out Night shift. 🎈
The Shining is definitely on my list! I love the film. Misery has been recommended a few times, but I honestly know nothing about it, so I might have to check it out 👀 I hope you enjoy the stories in night shift if you pick it up! Obviously it was a bit hit or miss for me but there are some real gems in there and some of those stories I can see myself thinking about and coming back to many times for years to come!
It seems like you geared more towards the less horror stories. I recommend Misery, Dolores Claiborne, The Body, The Green Mile, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, 11/22/63. All but the last one have movie adaptions that are wonderful also. The last one is a series on Hulu and it has mixed reviews.
Yayyy! So glad you read more King; I love this man and his mixed bag so much, even though he’s given me a lot of night terrors and once a literal fever during a certain scene of Eyes of the Dragon. 🐲 🕷️ That outfit is great and hope you and the family had a lovely Halloween!
The only thing I’ve read from King is The Dead Zone and I remember nothing from it 😂 but I’ve tried to read The Stand several times and I think it’s the length that keeps holding me back. I’ve kind of given up on reading King but now I’m thinking of picking up Night Shift and reading your favorite stories from it. Also, the lighting, the makeup, the hair, the costume: LOVE! 🤴
Huge King fan here. Hopping on board to recommend Different Seasons and Misery...I think you'll like those. I do not think you'll like Dolores Claiborne or (potentially) Needful Things, even though I LOVED them, just because of knowing your tastes a bit. My all time favorite King book is "Salem's Lot". Fucking masterpiece. Confession: I loved Battleground 😂 It was so different from anything I've ever read that it drew me in. I found it super entertaining.
Oh wow, I had almost zero interest in reading Stephen King before now, but the way you discuss some of these stories makes me think they'll be right up my alley!! I love all the info you provide in your book reviews!!!
@@PlantBasedBride The boogeyman and the End of the Whole Mess especially - but the way you talk about all of Night Shift makes me want to pick it up!! Also all the stories you mentioned with body horror - I feel like when it's done right that is my favorite genre of horror!
@@TrinaHours if you like body horror you’ll probably also enjoy Gray Matter and I Am the Doorway (both in Night Shift)! Nightmares and Dreamscapes didn’t really have any body horror to speak of.
The last rung on the ladder is also my favorite story in The night shift, it stayed with me for so long. I want to reread it now that I heard you talking about it
King always writes very character driven stories and that's what I love most about him. As far as The Dark Tower, I'm with you! I still haven't read farther in that series than this first book. Everyone says I will like the others more, so I wil eventually trudge on. His other novels, like The Stand, IT, and so many others are wonderful tho.
It’s been a while since I read (listened) to dark tower but it’s a fascinating series. It’s pretty much all of King’s ideas and tropes in a blender, it even becomes about being exactly that. It’s not always good because king is pretty hit or miss, but it’s super interesting imo.
I just love the eloquent way Stephen King writes, especially in his later books. His stories are definitely strange and weird and sometimes he describes women in an icky way. However, I think we do need a writer in this century like him who explores these strange concepts and stories and weird dreamlike scenarios. I recently read his new book, You Like It Darker, another book of short stories and I appreciated that in his afterword he talks about the critique he’s received over his weird stories but how he kind of just goes with it in his way. I’m not explaining it well but definitely recommend reading that part haha
I was really nervous to start The Shining, as I was worried it was going to give me nightmares too, but I took my time with it, never read it at night, and did enjoy it. The reason I read it was because I heard such good things about the followup, Doctor Sleep, which I didn't find freaky at all, more suspense than horror. ❤ I think Stephen King is an author I will read selectively and enjoy, rather than being an author I would binge-read. Enjoyed The Shining, but was relieved to reach the end after the last 1/4 of the book, but Doctor Sleep was satisfying to read, felt very just and right when I got to the end, and felt that the continuance of the main character's story was done perfectly.
I know it’s a lot to say keep going with a series that you’re not vibing with, but I would really recommend giving the third book, The Wastelands, a try. King has spent the first two books setting up all the characters and now the real plot is going to get going. We also spend our time in Midworld and you get the experience more of that atmosphere and environment that DotT doesn’t really have because so much of it takes place on our world.
Hi Elizabeth, You might enjoy reading Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian. A folkloric style Western with horror elements but not nightmare enducing. The Shining is the only book I’ve ever read that actually made the hair on my neck stand up…
Talk about highs and lows. That's what most people seem to experience when they crack the cover of Nightmares and Dreamscapes. For story collections, I would instead recommend Skeleton Crew or Mr King's newest collection, You Like it Darker. Also the Novella collection Different Seasons is excellent. Other favorites: Under the Dome Revival The Institute Needful Things The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon (cuz you like baseball) Fairy Tale (this one is not universally liked, but I personally loved it) Excellent video. Enjoy your journey into the SK universe.
Maybe it's a controversial take, but I think that King's books aren't actually scary - they're usually just disgusting. I prefer psychological horror and he always focuses on gore/body horror and disturbing sexual themes. He has interesting ideas that could be scary in theory. But practically, with his overwriting style, when something scary is finally happening, the next 50 pages of descriptions leave me bored out of my mind.
I agree. I’ve read Carrie and a chunk of the stand (in middle school when my bff BEGGED me to read it). Both experiences made me feel like King is just kind of a creep obsessed with kids having sex and a strong disgust for female bodies (not in an interesting way). I was pissed when I read Carrie this year (as part of a reading challenge: prompt “an author everyone but you has read”) because it COULD have been great if it was written but someone else 😂
I definitely found some of what I read for this video scary, but largely I would agree his work is not nearly as scary as I’d expected. Though again, I have only read a very small sampling despite how much I read for this video! I was actually expecting even more disgusting content, especially because my only exposure to Stephen King before this video was seeing the movie the shining and reading the short story Survivor type. I was honestly a bit surprised how little gore/body horror content was in these books and stories! Even the weird sexual content, which was too plentiful for my taste, was not as frequent as I’d expected/been worried about. To me his strength is really in his characterization, which is why it bugs me so much that he seems to fall short when a character is a woman 🥲
@@PlantBasedBride Most female writers can't write convincing male characters either. King can't write women convincingly because he isn't a woman. He doesn't have a woman's experience of the world, so all he can do is interpret women from the outside. This is true for most authors.
@@GlynDwr-d4h I disagree - I have read books written by many authors, whether they be men, women, or nonbinary, who can portray characters in a way that makes them feel complex and fully realized as human beings regardless of their gender.
Ma'am! Excuse you! Your hair PLUS everything else, I nearly fainted. And I can't believe I'm now interested in reading Stephen King lol! I'll have to add some of these short stories to my tbr now! Thank you once again for an entertaining and interesting vid.
I have loved King since i first picked up Pet Semetary as a young teen (it was my first "grown up" book). I enjoy his work but its not subtle fir the most part but its part of his charm imo. The Gunslinger/ Dark Tower book 1 is interesting since it was originally several short stories published in a sci fi magazine and sets up Roland as a protagonist. It wasn't really intended as one story. The further books are more coherent stories with a better set up throughline.
This video just validated my lack of interest in King's books. I'm not particularly interested in horror and knowing most female characters lack page-time, makes me want to read it even less. I read a national author (from my country) who is very inspired by King and frequently compared to him (his name is Raphael Montes, one of his books was translated) and in 2020, I complained about the exact same issues you had with King's books from the seventies. So I'd rather just skip them and wish everyone a good experience lol
Totally understandable! My understanding is that he has a lot more female protagonists in his books from the last couple decades, but there is certainly a trend in his earliest works from the 70s. I’m excited to read some of his more modern work and hopefully I’ll see that growth!
@@PlantBasedBride hope you find that growth too, and I personally hope you enjoy them, 'cause you're definitely braver than me when it comes to reading outside of your comfort zone (: tysm for the space to vent tho lol
Fairytale by stephen king lives in my head rent free everyday. It is not a horror but a true fantasy novel. The Institute is another big favorite of mine that is just suspense and not horror.
i think it's so hard to explain king. he's my favorite author, the one i've read the most, but i recently tried to do a ranking of it and i realized that i actually have just as much misses as i've had hits with him? the thing is that his lows are really low but his highs are just so high to me... some things that work in some books dont work in others and the point where he was in life usually tells me how i'm gonna feel about the book, so i tend to skip the books at the height of his addiction after i read IT and hated it for, yes, weird kid sex stuff. but he's been around for so long and has such a vast catalogue that i know i can always come back to him and find something i'll instantly have as favorite. as for my recs: different seasons (my favorite short story collection which includes shawshank redemption and the body), the eyes of the dragon (for more flagg content) and under the dome (the ending might - probably will - put you off but the first half was so so good i just didn't care though i wished it was different)
It’s so interesting to hear this emerge as a common theme - though I suppose such a prolific writer over such a long period of time, especially one playing with genre and dark themes, would easily be hit or miss for people! I’m definitely looking forward to trying more of his work, though it will be a little while before I dive in again 😂
The only book of his Iv read was the institute and goddd was I bored. I guessed the outcome in chapter 3 and just left me feeling numb to the rest of the story. But this video gave me hope, I still have a large list of King books I want to try and I guess I should go try him out again
When it comes to Stephen King people either hate or love his writing. I really enjoy the Meta Level he's putting in most of his stories. I haven't gotten through the whole "Dark Tower"- Series, since it's seven books, but I will get there :) I think it's also important to mention, that in my opinion, his novels are way better than his short stories. I'm having a hard time with his short stories and if it was only those, I would never read him. But there are many amazing novels he wrote! The books I've read, really enjoyed and definitely recommend are: "IT" "Cell" "Lisey's Story" "Duma Key" "Sleeping Beauties" "The Institute" "Later" Sending love and creative vibes
more and more I feel like will have to read a Stephen King novel soon, but I don't know what scares me more, that I won't like them and I will miss out on this cultural juggernaut, or that I will like them and then I will have his whole backlog looming over me (🎈)
Although there is a handful of notable exceptions, King's books on the whole usually aren't that scary. Their appeal isn't that they're scary, it's really more about King's ability to render characters with psychological and emotional realism and how this invests you in their stories and makes you care about them. My take on the first Dark Tower is apparently an unpopular one, but I think the first book is the best of them. It's still young King toying with literary aspirations, which is why it's written in this highly visual cinematic style that paints images in your head. He was inspired by Sergio Leone's westerns, and you can tell. If you think back to the book, what remains lodged in your memory are surreal images which are kind of like album covers that invite interpretation: The demon in the basement of the Way Station; Roland standing in the circle of stones and confronting the spirit with the jaw bone; Jake's cryptic dialogue before he falls into the abyss; the image of the universe at the end which recalls the end of Kubrick's Space Odyssey; and so on. It has a "vibe," as the kids say. And I like the first book's ambiguity because your imagination fills in the gaps, which makes the world he introduces that much more mysterious. From the second book on, it's a totally different King who had already settled into his role as a popular author who writes entertaining books which help people pass the time during long flights. The Gunslinger is more like an art film, while the later books are more like popcorn superhero movies. They're great books and they do entertain, but the youthful artistic pretensions aren't there, which I think is kind of a shame. You should give the third book a try though, even if you didn't like the second one. Based on your complaints, I think King does redeem himself a bit in some ways in the third one. As for me, the first three are the ones I enjoyed the most. All the rest after that are just ok. As far as the "weird sex stuff" goes, this is common to popular horror fiction of that era. King is actually really tame compared to some other authors. Peter Straub, for instance, wrote a story called The Juniper Tree which absurdly graphic and disturbing to a degree that King never approached. I actually suspect that Straub was an influence on King in this regard. King actually lifted a lot of ideas and themes from Straub's books. And then there's Anne Rice, who arguably was worse than both of them, especially with the Mona character in The Witching Hour books or her Sleeping Beauty novels. Anybody who has read them will know what I'm referring to. Straub and King could be suspected of getting off on what they were writing, but they always clung to some plausible deniability, whereas Rice was totally upfront and unapologetic about it. These are some the best selling horror authors of this era, so it's not like it was just King. Throwing weird sex stuff into books was just the style at the time. I actually think it was a bit of a gimmick to sell books.
Yay! Stephen King was a childhood favorite author of mine-- try Dolores Claiborne (great audio) & MIsery and the movies The Green Mile & Shawshank Redemption. Also Stand by Me!!!
I'm not big on horror, I prefer to steer very clear of the genre, but I did read It and The Shining. It spooked me so much that I could only read it on the bus: broad daylight and surrounded by as many people as possible. The Shining didn't spook me, but it was an interesting read anyway. It was a "I can't sleep not because I'm scared, but because I need to keep reading, I wanna know what happens next."
Nope! I’ve only read what was featured in this video and the short story Survivor Type last year ☺️ I’ve heard of all three of these but wasn’t sure if they’d be to my taste!
If you ever feel like diving into some of King's "tamer" work, you should check out Different Seasons (another novella collection, specifically The Body and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption) and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. And...Strawberry Spring is one of my all-time favorites. Was glad to hear you enjoyed that one!!
Night Shift was one of my first adult fiction books I read as a kid (I was 10 or so, good times) and I still return to it every decade or so. In my most recent re-read as a graying older man who has has been pigheaded aplenty in my life, I realized just how many of the stories are deeply dealing with younger pigheaded men who should have listened to the people who loved them more. It actually irritated me to reread some later King stories where the pigheadedness was treated as a feature not a bug but at the time of Night Shift I feel like he was trying to work through the horror of being a failing adult trying to deal with a lot of things and relationships. Pet Semetary is likely the culmination of dealing with that vibe until he got older and returned to it more.
This is such an interesting perspective! Thank you for sharing it. It does often seem that he’s working through his own flaws and demons through his stories.
Man, the mangler and quitters Inc. Were the most enjoyable stories for me from the night shift short story novel. I've read a lot of Mr. Kings work over the years. Have you read the skeleton crew by Stephen King? It's a pretty strong short story collection. 😊❤📚
I’ve only read Survivor Type which wasn’t really to my taste (no pun intended 😂). I definitely plan on revisiting it and reading all the way through, though!
I have mixed feelings about Stephen King, although I really enjoyed reading The Shinning a few years ago and 11/22/62 during this past summer. I plan on reading Doctor Sleep at the start of next year and see where I go from there on his other books.
I also prefer kings books if they are more ‘realistic’ than fantasy monsters. My favourites that I’ve read are Dolores Claiborne, cujo, rose madder,Gerald’s Game. My next to read is misery
Made it to the end! Ive only ever read one Stephen King - his more recent novella called Later. It was awesome (until literally the last two chapters). He had a killer story and then ruined it completely for me 😂
My father and I started a Stephen King book club this year where we are reading all of his books in order (were currently on fall hiatus due to homeschool and football and soccer and and and etc). We both LOVED the first half of The Stand...and we both DNFed after over 500 pages. The second half of that amazing book was SO boring.
I’d say it’s more the middle that gets bogged down with the minutiae of rebuilding society - the ending is amazing and very fast paced! If you enjoyed the beginning I think you’ll like the end a lot if you ever decide to push through ☺️
@@PlantBasedBrideI completely agree with your thoughts here, that if he had left out this sort of...supernatural spiritual manipulation and just made it where people are awful to each other it would have been so much better. That was the same observation I made to Daddy when we were reading it. Also we were LIVID with King for Chapter 38 😂 (in our books that was the chapter discussing the deaths that were indirect). So unnecessary 😂
I have a love/hate relationship with King. There are some of his books that I LOVE and some I just can't finish to save myself much less like. Pet Sematary, Salem's Lot, Firestarter are all top reads for me. And now that I've seen this video I feel the need to reread at least Firestarter, lol.
So in case no one has mentioned it, and you haven't picked it up through reading it or some research you might have done, but the entire Dark Tower series is basically King's version of Lord Of The Rings in the broadest, most basic sense. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the second book. I know you're probably not going to continue the series, but the next one - The Waste Land - is really good. The fourth book you might not enjoy (or you might) since it focuses on a specific event in Roland's teenage years.
I had heard that! I’m a big fan of LOTR and fantasy in general, so that makes me more excited for the series. I will likely try the third one eventually to see how I feel about it because King is fantastic at character development and I’m definitely invested in Roland’s journey despite being frustrated by the second book!
Two of my favorite movies are The Shining and IT, and last year I finally gave in and bought The Shining novel. Have I read it yet? No. Has this video encouraged me to finally read it? Yes. Am I nervous? Also yes.
The thing about Stephen King is that once you finish the book you’ll probably rate it about 3 stars but you’ll keep thinking about the book and characters for a long time and then you’ll realize how good of a book it actually was and you’ll remember the characters and book so vividly from how good his writing is that you’ll end up changing your rating to 5stars haha!
11/22/63 and The Shining are on my TBR! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Under the Dome, so I’m intrigued 🤔 It is probably never going to happen because I hate clowns 😂
The way you talk about Jerusalem's Lot it sounds like there also was a lot of H.P. Lovecraft inspiration which added some of the things that you thought were too much. 😅
It definitely felt partially inspired by Lovecraft for the cosmic horror element! It really did pull together so many different horror inspirations in one story 😅
Nobody reads The Green Mile or The Shawshank Redemption, two of his best books. Perhaps don't read horror if it's not your thing. I don't read booktuber books for the same reason. They terrify me.
My opinions on King novels are always polarized. Some of my favourites are The Mist, Under the Dome, and Misery, but I absolutely HATED Cujo and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (which, apparently, is an unpopular opinion). I read a short story of his set in The Dark Tower universe which let me know that it wouldn't be a series for me, lol.
I don’t know anything about any of these so I’m just nodding along like I understand lol from what I can tell looking at the Stephen King sub read some of my opinions in this video are very opposite to the general consensus, but I’m used to that at this point 😂 do you remember which short story it was? I don’t know how to feel about the dark tower series after this experience. Book one and book two felt like they were from completely different worlds!
I have the same hate more than love relationship with him. Its not the scary parts that gets me, but unfortunately its all the other undertones in his books. I dont know if i am allowed tk say it on here, but why oh why in almost all theres incest, pdfilia. It seems that he uses them as a shock when hes not sure how else to shock you with actual fear. Its just too much.
This so much!! Most of my one star reviews in this video were for stories that included inc*st or p*d*philia for no reason. He also loved to toss around casual misogyny, racism, and fatphobia 😔 he has some incredible ideas but it’s so frustrating to come across these elements in the middle of an otherwise fantastic story.
But…he’s criticizing all of these. It’s not that he endorses those elements imo but shows how they can appear in „civilised“ societies in terrorise people. They do exist, so why sanitise books and exclude them?
Leaving in that weird visual glitch near the beginning because obviously this video is haunted 😂 I can’t wait to nerd out about these stories with you in the comments! (Also no nightmares so far 🙏 send good vibes my way so I stay nightmare free 😅)
I would try The Green Mile and maybe Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.
Yeah they’re outstanding, especially Rita Hayworth is a great recommendation because it is shortish 🥰
Though your videos can be quite entertaining to watch you look like a cat whore in the icon and the end of the video. (Doesn't matter if it was for the "thrill" of Halloween) The chevage is absolutely unnecessary and I personally find it extremely distasteful. I know you want more views, but I actually paused the video at the beginning to type out this message to you. After the other video I watch bringing something VERY important to the attention of the public in regards to YA books being more sexual then ever..... you go and do this. Right, Consider someone unsubscribing to you and your adolescent bullshit for views.
Elizabeth let us breath 😭😭 The beat / fit in the thumbnail are so good I gasped!
Haha Halloween: the one day a year I will try anything new at all with my hair and makeup 😂
I love that we all bowed down to a queen when we saw Elizabeth’s curly hair and cat costume ❤
Y’all are making me blush ☺️
Not us going on a Stephen King binge at the same time 😍 I had only read Fairy Tale and enjoyed it, but my grandmother insisted that’s not “real King” and bought me more of his books. 😂 I’m still in the process of working through my stack but was so excited the second I saw your video title! Can’t wait to keep watching and hear your thoughts 🫶🏻
Your grandma sounds awesome 😂 love the perfect timing!!
Fairy Tale is King’s best book and it doesn’t really feel like his lol
@@KittyxKult Agree! My biggest problem with King's books is that they aren't even really scary so much as just really messed up. Fairy Tale was so completely different and enjoyable.
I had to do a double take when I saw the thumbnail. I was very confused about when I started following Chappell Roan on RUclips 😅
This is so funny because the reason I curled my hair is my original costume was going to be Chappell Roan in one of her pink pony club performance outfits. But I didn’t finish my costume in time 😂❤️
Before I even started the video, my child-like glee when I saw the 1 hour 45 mins, long form content makes my old heart sing! thank you
Haha I love long videos, too! I hope you enjoy it 🥰
Misery and the Shining I think you would like! They're both very winter-y spooky vibes so they would be great to read in the coming months... if you like more real-world horror, Misery is definitely the way to go. It's one of my favorites.
If you don't like the way that King writes a lot of his female characters (me neither), I would recommend avoiding Carrie... its use of period blood as a motif is questionable, and for a main character, Carrie just feels really half-baked. I know it's his first book and a classic that inspired so many good stories, but in my opinion his later works are worth a bit more of your time.
As I'm sure you've heard, IT has some really weird sex stuff and (in my opinion) really goes off the rails at the end lore-wise, but the audiobook is so well done, and the spooky fall vibes are really, really good. I would recommend the audiobook if you ever get around to reading IT. And the characters! Since we get to see the characters as kids growing up into adults, you can really get attached to them.
I love your videos! You did such a great job with this, and I love how you so concisely voiced all the reasons why I LOVE (and roll my eyes at) Stephen King.
Thank you so much for your recommendations! I'm so glad you enjoyed the video and that I was able to articulate my feelings about King's work in a way that resonated with you ❤️ I’ll definitely check these out! It is probably never going to be something I read, because I have a particular fear of clowns 😅 I’ve also heard so many wild things about It that make me want to back away slowly 😂
@PlantBasedBride I second reading Misery. I'm not a huge horror fan either but I absolutely loved this book, it's definitely anxiety-inducing (in a good way) of needing to know what will happen and how our main character will end up. Plus the winter settings are perfect for this time of year!
I just started the video, but felt compelled to share my own Stephen King experience so far. I tried to start several novels of his in the past (Firestarter, Cell) and couldn't get into them. I saw an online recommendation by Daniel Greene that people who are new to King should start with either The Stand or Pet Semetary, and I read Pet Semetary in February of this year - and loved it! I am now willing to try more King.
So, Firestarter and Cell are normally considered two of his lesser books. But you can only go up from there.
Elizabeth, thanks for the best thumbnail ever! Wow…Your cat costume with curls is so pretty! As for SK, I had my time with him in my youth with the Stand, Carrie, IT, etc. while I can’t go there anymore, it was interesting to get your take on some of his work. While I haven’t read the book, I think the Dolores Claiborne movie was really good. Thanks for the post Halloween fun, you are the best!👏🏽🎃👻🫣🎉
Oh my gosh I was just rewatching your spooky rec/halloween videos thinking I wish you had a spooky video this year and you delivered!!!!!!
Oh yay I love that! I hope you enjoy this one 🥰
I truly appreciate how long your videos are and how thorough you are
The Stand was the first Stephen King Book I read waaaay back when I was 14. I finished it in 3 days during a week long school trip in autumn - while everyone but me and one or two of my classmates had a cold. Let's just say I was just the tiniest bit creeped out. But I loved the story and still do about 30 years later.
In case you decide to go on with the Dark Tower series, you may also want to read the following books, because they really tie in to the story at later points:
The Stand (which you obviously already did)
The Eyes of the Dragon
Salem's Lot
Hearts in Atlantis
Insomnia
There are even more of King's books connected to the Dark Tower universe in one way or another, but I think these are the most important ones.
Edit: I almost forgot two of my favorites - The Talisman and Black House, both written by Stephen King and Peter Straub.
Thank you for these recommendations! It’s interesting to see how many of his stories are connected. I feel like I need a mind map 😅 I’m honestly glad I didn’t read the stand at the start of the pandemic because I was already anxious enough as it is, and I think it would’ve not been good for my mental health 🫠
Oh please read The Talisman! I've read everything Stephen King has published and that one is my favourite. Even named my child after the main character. It's not perfect but is a wonderful story. I've probably read it 10 times by now.
@@PlantBasedBride There is a map!
Just google pictures for "Dark Tower extended universe" and you'll find that almost all of his (older) stories have at least a tiny connection - even if it's not obvious at first, it's still there.
Two thumbs up for The Talisman and Black House.
Your hair in that thumbnail!!!! If only dying my hair wouldn’t fry it to hell I would 😭😂 you look stunning as always!
Thank you! It took ages to curl my hair and I burnt myself a few times but I loved it while it lasted 😂❤️
Elizabeth, first of all, THE HAIR! Girl. Gorgeous. Secondly, I’m so glad you gave King another chance! Bless the person who brought you those books-although they’re not what I would have recommended for an (almost) first time King reader. If you ever feel like reading another King doorstopper of a novel, I highly recommend Under The Dome. More suggestions: Carrie, Misery, The Shining (very big differences in the portrayal of Book Jack and Movie Jack), Pet Semetary, Rose Madder & Revival (this last one is a tough read in that it doesn’t really end on a high note, but I love the character exploration and the philosophical discussion greatly appeals to this fellow agnostic/atheist).
If ever you read classic King and wonder "What was that?!" It was cocaine.
Unrelated to the video but will there be a November bujo theme?
oh my god an almost 2 hr video!!! i’m so excited this is about to play in the background while i clean hahaha
I’m happy to keep you company while you get stuff done 🥰
Elizabeth, I'm thrilled that you're giving King another chance, and that you enjoyed so much of what you read! He’s my all-time favorite, so… I have thoughts. :-D
I love supernatural stuff, but I totally understand your opinion on COTC. I too am far more scared by realistic horror (Saw, Hostel, etc.). As far as SK goes, I think “Gerald’s Game” is one of the scariest. It’s psychological, quite grounded in reality, and *terrifying*. I actually had to put that one down a few times. O_O
Sometimes Uncle Steve could write three books from what he puts into one, and every once in a while, I can’t quite suspend my disbelief enough to love a story. lol
The Gunslinger is problematic, for sure. SK has talked about it. The revised version is helpful, and the series gets much better! TDT is my favorite series of all time, but I very much relate to your confusion at Book #1! I will say that book 4 (Wizard and Glass) is probably the most beautiful of the series - there’s just a lot to love there, so I won’t write a book about it - but, that said, almost the entire book is a flashback to Roland’s youth. The *only* thing I don’t like about that book is that the journey to the Tower is stalled while this story is told. Otherwise, it’s fantastic.
Also, there are a handful of scenes in his works that left me (and many others) saying, “Why?” (“It” has one of the WORST), and most of them are “weird sex stuff”. I will say that it’s mostly in his early writing, when he was young and dealing with addiction.
Overall, I feel SK is worth the aches and pains. He really does have some beautiful writing, and I would love to recommend some of those! For example, I loved “Rose Madder” because it’s about a bunch of badass women!
The thing I tell people about King is that he writes quite a lot about *people*, and he makes you love them, and love to hate them. I love the way he writes people! He also writes plenty that isn’t true I horror; that’s just the label he carries.
Lastly, I love all your reviews here, but I think your review of The Stand is so spot-on and absolutely fair. I’m so glad you enjoyed it as much as you did!
I appreciate your insights! I am definitely curious about Rose Madder. I do think one of his greatest strengths (as far as I know so far!) is writing deeply flawed, complex characters. And you’re right; so many of them are easy to love, but just as many, if not more, are very easy to hate! Another commenter talked about feeling that King was working through what he perceived to be his own character flaws in his early writing, which is such an interesting perspective. I’m so glad you enjoyed the video as someone with a lot more experience with King’s work! ❤️
Hi! Great video as always. I've never been interested in Stephen King cause I'm generally a scaredy-cat but I'm currently working my way through Dracula and your description of Jeruselum's Lot actually has me interested in it.
Quick question: Have you ever considered doing a library tour or is it a video that you might've already done for your patrons? I ask cause some of the book spines in your video background always draw my attention and I'd love to know what books they belong to. 😅
Edit: Checked out of curiosity and according to google the distinction between DID and Schizophrenia was made in 1994 while book 2 in the Dark Tower series was published in 1987 so the misrepresentation of the two might've come from the general populaces misunderstanding of it at that time.
Hi first time viewer here! So the first book in the Dark Tower series can be a little rough if you don’t really know what you are getting into.
1. All of Stephen King’s books are connected via the Dark Tower, some have stronger connections than others. It’s all one big Multiverse kind of deal. Some characters cross over between the Dark Tower and other books. Randal Flagg is a reoccurring villain in several books.
2. The Dark Tower is essentially a fantasy epic but there are other genres mixed in there. Like western with the way the Gunslinger is dressed and his trusted revolvers.
3. The first book in the series was originally published in parts in a magazine. Reading it feels rather choppy because it is several installments all smooshed together in one novel.
Knowing that going in makes the Dark Tower an easier read and it does get better going into book 2. I’ll be starting book 3 soon but hope this helps!
I first started my journey with Thinner written while Stephen was using his Richard Bachman persona. Cujo was my second book and lord what an ending don’t get too attached there.
The Lawnmower Man has an adaptation with the same name and the graphics are so so funny. If you are in the vibe for a silly movie I'd recommend it for the visuals alone!
Oh god I can’t even imagine 😂 just the weirdest concept for a story ever lol
Excellent video, Elizabeth. As a King fan I loved to hear your thoughts. Second part, maybe? 🤡🩸🔪
I’m obsessed with your videos ❣️❣️❣️ keep on!
My favourite King is non-horror King. The Body, Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile which were all made into great movies.(The Body Is Stand By Me in film form). 11/22/63 is a great time travel, if you could change history would you novel. Mr Mercedes is good though the tv series may actually be even better.
Love this video, glad you gave him another chance and found some things to enjoy! You mentioned the story about the brother genius and Stephen King's brother, hadn't read the story but I did read his memoir (on writing) and how you described the story does sound like the dynamic he had with his brother. His brother had a lot of schemes that he followed along with as a kid, even when they were dangerous. Also when you discussed the Schizophrenia vs. DID, you actually are correct that when Drawing of the Three was written (late 80s) definitions were different. When I was doing my psych grad work I had read in one of my texts that Schizophrenia became kind of a catch all diagnosis when things were less clear. It's been nearly 40 years since then and mental health is definitely better understood (thank goodness!) and less stigmatized than it used to be.
It’s so interesting hearing you talk about the gunslinger! I read the revised version and found it to be a quick and easy read that got me sooo into the rest of the series! I’ve now finished the entire dark tower series and really enjoyed it (despite not liking the ending, but it didn’t bother me too much since I loved the characters and their stories).
Just got to the second half commentary and so excited to see that you’re going to continue the series!
I had to listen to Dark Tower as an audio book while on a road trip with a friend. Being able to pause and talk about what the heck just happened helped a lot. It was the only way I could get through it. Also, the line " I don't like people. They F*$% me up" still hit's me so hard
I’m so glad you gave King a second chance. He is my favorite author. I do think he shines in his non horror stories.
Best example of that is “11/22/63”or even “The long walk” or “the talisman”.
I think he’s written some of the best female characters in my opinion. I think “Liseys story” is my favorite. I’m reading “Holly” right now and she’s starting to really grow on me too.
Anyway I love your videos 💖
11/22/63 was a great book! And Holly is wonderful, I really enjoyed that story!
You look gorgeous (as always 💚) I think you'd love Dolores Claiborne. It explores misogyny, incest and other typical King themes but from a different perspective. It's sometimes heartbreaking in a good way and our protagonist is a woman. The audiobook is also nice.
Thank you! This book has been recommended so many times across the Internet and it’s been brought up in these comments a few times, so I think I may need to bump it up to the top of my list once I eventually feel ready to dive into Stephen King again!
Yes, definitely read Dolores Claiborne. It’s not a horror book and shows King’s versatility 🧡
GodDAMMIT I love The Dark Tower and I’m SO sad that no one on booktube ever talks about it. So I’m so excited that you’re reading it at all. Not me pumping my fist at my TV when you said you were gonna continue and read The Drawing of the Three and then going Noooooo when you didn’t like it 😭😭😭 it’s one of my faves in the series, but I think that’s an unpopular opinion. Most people seem to like book 3 the most, so maybe still give the next one a shot? The Dark Tower is an absolute fucking mess, it’s so bloated, it’s so unhinged, the world building just gets progressively more and more nuts, parts of it are really unsatisfying, and parts of it made me sob like a little baby. I just love all the characters so much and some of the imagery is just so imaginative and like psychedelic, idk how to explain it better. It’s my number one series that I can’t defend, but love with my whole silly little heart. I recommend reading through book 4 and then if you’re over it, you’re over it. But book 4 is where we get Roland’s backstory and without spoiling too much it’s like a slow burn tragic romance??? That’s another thing that I love so much about the series: all of the books have such different vibes from each other and I’ve never read anything like that before. Anyways I’ll shut up, I’ve just been waiting for a chance to yell about this series on the internet for awhile now haha
I’m so glad you gave Stephen king another try, we have very similar tastes in books, and I’ve read It, The Shining, The Stand, and The Mist. Which isn’t much considered his work, but I enjoyed all of them! I read The Stand at the beginning of this year and it really felt like I lived in that world with how immersive and long it was. I also gave it four stars! I
think if I were to recommend something I’d want your opinion on The Shining and Misery.
I also work at a book store so I’m definitely going to check out Night shift. 🎈
The Shining is definitely on my list! I love the film. Misery has been recommended a few times, but I honestly know nothing about it, so I might have to check it out 👀
I hope you enjoy the stories in night shift if you pick it up! Obviously it was a bit hit or miss for me but there are some real gems in there and some of those stories I can see myself thinking about and coming back to many times for years to come!
It seems like you geared more towards the less horror stories. I recommend Misery, Dolores Claiborne, The Body, The Green Mile, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, 11/22/63. All but the last one have movie adaptions that are wonderful also. The last one is a series on Hulu and it has mixed reviews.
Yayyy! So glad you read more King; I love this man and his mixed bag so much, even though he’s given me a lot of night terrors and once a literal fever during a certain scene of Eyes of the Dragon. 🐲 🕷️ That outfit is great and hope you and the family had a lovely Halloween!
The only thing I’ve read from King is The Dead Zone and I remember nothing from it 😂 but I’ve tried to read The Stand several times and I think it’s the length that keeps holding me back. I’ve kind of given up on reading King but now I’m thinking of picking up Night Shift and reading your favorite stories from it. Also, the lighting, the makeup, the hair, the costume: LOVE! 🤴
Oh I’m a real one, I watched every minute of this 😂❤❤❤
Love when y’all enable these long ass videos 😂❤️❤️
Huge King fan here. Hopping on board to recommend Different Seasons and Misery...I think you'll like those. I do not think you'll like Dolores Claiborne or (potentially) Needful Things, even though I LOVED them, just because of knowing your tastes a bit. My all time favorite King book is "Salem's Lot". Fucking masterpiece.
Confession: I loved Battleground 😂 It was so different from anything I've ever read that it drew me in. I found it super entertaining.
Oh wow, I had almost zero interest in reading Stephen King before now, but the way you discuss some of these stories makes me think they'll be right up my alley!! I love all the info you provide in your book reviews!!!
Oh awesome! I’m so glad my reviews are helpful 🥰 which ones are you interested in?
@@PlantBasedBride The boogeyman and the End of the Whole Mess especially - but the way you talk about all of Night Shift makes me want to pick it up!! Also all the stories you mentioned with body horror - I feel like when it's done right that is my favorite genre of horror!
@@TrinaHours if you like body horror you’ll probably also enjoy Gray Matter and I Am the Doorway (both in Night Shift)! Nightmares and Dreamscapes didn’t really have any body horror to speak of.
@@PlantBasedBride oh that makes me want to pick it up for sure! Thank you so much for recc, I know what I'm reading for next Halloween!
The last rung on the ladder is also my favorite story in The night shift, it stayed with me for so long. I want to reread it now that I heard you talking about it
I’ve been thinking about it so much since reading it last week. It’s such a beautiful and heartbreaking story ❤️
King always writes very character driven stories and that's what I love most about him. As far as The Dark Tower, I'm with you! I still haven't read farther in that series than this first book. Everyone says I will like the others more, so I wil eventually trudge on. His other novels, like The Stand, IT, and so many others are wonderful tho.
It’s been a while since I read (listened) to dark tower but it’s a fascinating series. It’s pretty much all of King’s ideas and tropes in a blender, it even becomes about being exactly that. It’s not always good because king is pretty hit or miss, but it’s super interesting imo.
I just love the eloquent way Stephen King writes, especially in his later books. His stories are definitely strange and weird and sometimes he describes women in an icky way. However, I think we do need a writer in this century like him who explores these strange concepts and stories and weird dreamlike scenarios. I recently read his new book, You Like It Darker, another book of short stories and I appreciated that in his afterword he talks about the critique he’s received over his weird stories but how he kind of just goes with it in his way. I’m not explaining it well but definitely recommend reading that part haha
I was really nervous to start The Shining, as I was worried it was going to give me nightmares too, but I took my time with it, never read it at night, and did enjoy it. The reason I read it was because I heard such good things about the followup, Doctor Sleep, which I didn't find freaky at all, more suspense than horror. ❤ I think Stephen King is an author I will read selectively and enjoy, rather than being an author I would binge-read. Enjoyed The Shining, but was relieved to reach the end after the last 1/4 of the book, but Doctor Sleep was satisfying to read, felt very just and right when I got to the end, and felt that the continuance of the main character's story was done perfectly.
Also you make me wanna dye my hair again your hair is sooooo pretty
Aw thank you! It’s a hassle to maintain but I love being a ginger so it’s worth it to me 😂❤️
I feel like Chappel Roan would very much appreciate your costume
My original costume was going to be Chappell Roan which is why I curled my hair! I didn’t finish my costume in time 😂
I know it’s a lot to say keep going with a series that you’re not vibing with, but I would really recommend giving the third book, The Wastelands, a try. King has spent the first two books setting up all the characters and now the real plot is going to get going. We also spend our time in Midworld and you get the experience more of that atmosphere and environment that DotT doesn’t really have because so much of it takes place on our world.
Your hair is BOMB ASFF! 😍😍
Hi Elizabeth, You might enjoy reading Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian. A folkloric style Western with horror elements but not nightmare enducing. The Shining is the only book I’ve ever read that actually made the hair on my neck stand up…
The thumbnail slayed!
Haha thank you! 🥰
Keep going on the Dark Tower. It gets so much better!
This thumbnail is 🔥🔥🔥🔥 and to read close to 3000 page! You work hard for us. 🙏🏾
Haha thank you! It was a lot of work but I (mostly) enjoyed it 😂
Good collection of stories
Talk about highs and lows. That's what most people seem to experience when they crack the cover of Nightmares and Dreamscapes. For story collections, I would instead recommend Skeleton Crew or Mr King's newest collection, You Like it Darker. Also the Novella collection Different Seasons is excellent.
Other favorites:
Under the Dome
Revival
The Institute
Needful Things
The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon (cuz you like baseball)
Fairy Tale (this one is not universally liked, but I personally loved it)
Excellent video. Enjoy your journey into the SK universe.
I just finished Needful Things the other day and I really enjoyed it! I don't really get why so many people hated it.
Maybe it's a controversial take, but I think that King's books aren't actually scary - they're usually just disgusting. I prefer psychological horror and he always focuses on gore/body horror and disturbing sexual themes.
He has interesting ideas that could be scary in theory. But practically, with his overwriting style, when something scary is finally happening, the next 50 pages of descriptions leave me bored out of my mind.
I agree. I’ve read Carrie and a chunk of the stand (in middle school when my bff BEGGED me to read it). Both experiences made me feel like King is just kind of a creep obsessed with kids having sex and a strong disgust for female bodies (not in an interesting way). I was pissed when I read Carrie this year (as part of a reading challenge: prompt “an author everyone but you has read”) because it COULD have been great if it was written but someone else 😂
I definitely found some of what I read for this video scary, but largely I would agree his work is not nearly as scary as I’d expected. Though again, I have only read a very small sampling despite how much I read for this video!
I was actually expecting even more disgusting content, especially because my only exposure to Stephen King before this video was seeing the movie the shining and reading the short story Survivor type. I was honestly a bit surprised how little gore/body horror content was in these books and stories! Even the weird sexual content, which was too plentiful for my taste, was not as frequent as I’d expected/been worried about. To me his strength is really in his characterization, which is why it bugs me so much that he seems to fall short when a character is a woman 🥲
@@PlantBasedBride Most female writers can't write convincing male characters either. King can't write women convincingly because he isn't a woman. He doesn't have a woman's experience of the world, so all he can do is interpret women from the outside. This is true for most authors.
@@GlynDwr-d4h lol..... incel spotted..... cry somewhere else
@@GlynDwr-d4h I disagree - I have read books written by many authors, whether they be men, women, or nonbinary, who can portray characters in a way that makes them feel complex and fully realized as human beings regardless of their gender.
Ma'am! Excuse you! Your hair PLUS everything else, I nearly fainted. And I can't believe I'm now interested in reading Stephen King lol! I'll have to add some of these short stories to my tbr now! Thank you once again for an entertaining and interesting vid.
I remember liking The Dead Zone when I read it. From what I can recall it's not scary at all, and it's not very long.
would also recommend "sorry, wrong number" by Lucille Fletcher very creepy radioplay
I have loved King since i first picked up Pet Semetary as a young teen (it was my first "grown up" book). I enjoy his work but its not subtle fir the most part but its part of his charm imo.
The Gunslinger/ Dark Tower book 1 is interesting since it was originally several short stories published in a sci fi magazine and sets up Roland as a protagonist. It wasn't really intended as one story. The further books are more coherent stories with a better set up throughline.
This video just validated my lack of interest in King's books. I'm not particularly interested in horror and knowing most female characters lack page-time, makes me want to read it even less. I read a national author (from my country) who is very inspired by King and frequently compared to him (his name is Raphael Montes, one of his books was translated) and in 2020, I complained about the exact same issues you had with King's books from the seventies. So I'd rather just skip them and wish everyone a good experience lol
Totally understandable! My understanding is that he has a lot more female protagonists in his books from the last couple decades, but there is certainly a trend in his earliest works from the 70s. I’m excited to read some of his more modern work and hopefully I’ll see that growth!
@@PlantBasedBride hope you find that growth too, and I personally hope you enjoy them, 'cause you're definitely braver than me when it comes to reading outside of your comfort zone (: tysm for the space to vent tho lol
Fairytale by stephen king lives in my head rent free everyday. It is not a horror but a true fantasy novel. The Institute is another big favorite of mine that is just suspense and not horror.
Oo interesting, thank you for these recommendations ☺️ I was surprised by how much I enjoyed his non-horror stories!
Two of my absolute favorites. Good call.
Two excellent picks! Current King is FAR under-appreciated
I haven’t read much King yet, but my favourites so far are Misery and The Shining! (I have quite similar taste to you in horror) ☺️🥰
i think it's so hard to explain king. he's my favorite author, the one i've read the most, but i recently tried to do a ranking of it and i realized that i actually have just as much misses as i've had hits with him? the thing is that his lows are really low but his highs are just so high to me... some things that work in some books dont work in others and the point where he was in life usually tells me how i'm gonna feel about the book, so i tend to skip the books at the height of his addiction after i read IT and hated it for, yes, weird kid sex stuff. but he's been around for so long and has such a vast catalogue that i know i can always come back to him and find something i'll instantly have as favorite. as for my recs: different seasons (my favorite short story collection which includes shawshank redemption and the body), the eyes of the dragon (for more flagg content) and under the dome (the ending might - probably will - put you off but the first half was so so good i just didn't care though i wished it was different)
It’s so interesting to hear this emerge as a common theme - though I suppose such a prolific writer over such a long period of time, especially one playing with genre and dark themes, would easily be hit or miss for people! I’m definitely looking forward to trying more of his work, though it will be a little while before I dive in again 😂
My first Stephen King book was Fairytale, and I really liked it. I want to read Dark Tower.
The only book of his Iv read was the institute and goddd was I bored. I guessed the outcome in chapter 3 and just left me feeling numb to the rest of the story. But this video gave me hope, I still have a large list of King books I want to try and I guess I should go try him out again
1:06:24 Your hair😍😍
🥰
When it comes to Stephen King people either hate or love his writing. I really enjoy the Meta Level he's putting in most of his stories. I haven't gotten through the whole "Dark Tower"- Series, since it's seven books, but I will get there :) I think it's also important to mention, that in my opinion, his novels are way better than his short stories. I'm having a hard time with his short stories and if it was only those, I would never read him. But there are many amazing novels he wrote!
The books I've read, really enjoyed and definitely recommend are:
"IT"
"Cell"
"Lisey's Story"
"Duma Key"
"Sleeping Beauties"
"The Institute"
"Later"
Sending love and creative vibes
more and more I feel like will have to read a Stephen King novel soon, but I don't know what scares me more, that I won't like them and I will miss out on this cultural juggernaut, or that I will like them and then I will have his whole backlog looming over me (🎈)
Although there is a handful of notable exceptions, King's books on the whole usually aren't that scary. Their appeal isn't that they're scary, it's really more about King's ability to render characters with psychological and emotional realism and how this invests you in their stories and makes you care about them.
My take on the first Dark Tower is apparently an unpopular one, but I think the first book is the best of them. It's still young King toying with literary aspirations, which is why it's written in this highly visual cinematic style that paints images in your head. He was inspired by Sergio Leone's westerns, and you can tell. If you think back to the book, what remains lodged in your memory are surreal images which are kind of like album covers that invite interpretation: The demon in the basement of the Way Station; Roland standing in the circle of stones and confronting the spirit with the jaw bone; Jake's cryptic dialogue before he falls into the abyss; the image of the universe at the end which recalls the end of Kubrick's Space Odyssey; and so on. It has a "vibe," as the kids say. And I like the first book's ambiguity because your imagination fills in the gaps, which makes the world he introduces that much more mysterious.
From the second book on, it's a totally different King who had already settled into his role as a popular author who writes entertaining books which help people pass the time during long flights. The Gunslinger is more like an art film, while the later books are more like popcorn superhero movies. They're great books and they do entertain, but the youthful artistic pretensions aren't there, which I think is kind of a shame.
You should give the third book a try though, even if you didn't like the second one. Based on your complaints, I think King does redeem himself a bit in some ways in the third one. As for me, the first three are the ones I enjoyed the most. All the rest after that are just ok.
As far as the "weird sex stuff" goes, this is common to popular horror fiction of that era. King is actually really tame compared to some other authors. Peter Straub, for instance, wrote a story called The Juniper Tree which absurdly graphic and disturbing to a degree that King never approached. I actually suspect that Straub was an influence on King in this regard. King actually lifted a lot of ideas and themes from Straub's books. And then there's Anne Rice, who arguably was worse than both of them, especially with the Mona character in The Witching Hour books or her Sleeping Beauty novels. Anybody who has read them will know what I'm referring to. Straub and King could be suspected of getting off on what they were writing, but they always clung to some plausible deniability, whereas Rice was totally upfront and unapologetic about it. These are some the best selling horror authors of this era, so it's not like it was just King. Throwing weird sex stuff into books was just the style at the time. I actually think it was a bit of a gimmick to sell books.
The scream I scrumpt
😂
Yay! Stephen King was a childhood favorite author of mine-- try Dolores Claiborne (great audio) & MIsery and the movies The Green Mile & Shawshank Redemption. Also Stand by Me!!!
There are so many recommendations for Dolores Claiborne! That might need to be my next read once I’ve had a bit of a break from King 😂
@PlantBasedBride Yes!
I'm not big on horror, I prefer to steer very clear of the genre, but I did read It and The Shining. It spooked me so much that I could only read it on the bus: broad daylight and surrounded by as many people as possible. The Shining didn't spook me, but it was an interesting read anyway. It was a "I can't sleep not because I'm scared, but because I need to keep reading, I wanna know what happens next."
It is a definite no from me. I hate clowns 😟 but The Shining is one I want to read soon! I love the film.
Have you read Misery, Dolores Claiborne or Pet Sematary?
Nope! I’ve only read what was featured in this video and the short story Survivor Type last year ☺️ I’ve heard of all three of these but wasn’t sure if they’d be to my taste!
I think they’d be more to your taste than some of the other ones 😅 King’s work is very heterogenous I think 😄
If you ever feel like diving into some of King's "tamer" work, you should check out Different Seasons (another novella collection, specifically The Body and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption) and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
And...Strawberry Spring is one of my all-time favorites. Was glad to hear you enjoyed that one!!
I really enjoyed Strawberry Spring! It surprised me how much I enjoyed it. Fantastic ending.
I’ll have to add these to my King TBR!
Night Shift was one of my first adult fiction books I read as a kid (I was 10 or so, good times) and I still return to it every decade or so. In my most recent re-read as a graying older man who has has been pigheaded aplenty in my life, I realized just how many of the stories are deeply dealing with younger pigheaded men who should have listened to the people who loved them more. It actually irritated me to reread some later King stories where the pigheadedness was treated as a feature not a bug but at the time of Night Shift I feel like he was trying to work through the horror of being a failing adult trying to deal with a lot of things and relationships. Pet Semetary is likely the culmination of dealing with that vibe until he got older and returned to it more.
This is such an interesting perspective! Thank you for sharing it. It does often seem that he’s working through his own flaws and demons through his stories.
Man, the mangler and quitters Inc. Were the most enjoyable stories for me from the night shift short story novel. I've read a lot of Mr. Kings work over the years. Have you read the skeleton crew by Stephen King? It's a pretty strong short story collection. 😊❤📚
I’ve only read Survivor Type which wasn’t really to my taste (no pun intended 😂). I definitely plan on revisiting it and reading all the way through, though!
@PlantBasedBride cool to know :)
I love The Mangler but my Dad didn't.
11/22/63 is an amazing Stephen King book. And I love Billy Summers too. And also the Mister Mercedes series and Holly that followed it. 😊😊
I liked the dark tower series. My fav is Salems Lot. His scariest is The Shining, but It was scary scary.😮. 😊😊😊
Salem's Lot is my favorite too. I couldn't finish The Shining. I thought it was so boring.
I have mixed feelings about Stephen King, although I really enjoyed reading The Shinning a few years ago and 11/22/62 during this past summer. I plan on reading Doctor Sleep at the start of next year and see where I go from there on his other books.
I also prefer kings books if they are more ‘realistic’ than fantasy monsters. My favourites that I’ve read are Dolores Claiborne, cujo, rose madder,Gerald’s Game. My next to read is misery
If you enjoy reading purple prose then you should check “the life of elves” and its sequel “a strange country” by Muriel Barbery 😊
Made it to the end! Ive only ever read one Stephen King - his more recent novella called Later. It was awesome (until literally the last two chapters). He had a killer story and then ruined it completely for me 😂
Oh no! I hate when the ending just goes off the rails and ruins everything 😂 I always feel so cheated!
My father and I started a Stephen King book club this year where we are reading all of his books in order (were currently on fall hiatus due to homeschool and football and soccer and and and etc). We both LOVED the first half of The Stand...and we both DNFed after over 500 pages. The second half of that amazing book was SO boring.
I’d say it’s more the middle that gets bogged down with the minutiae of rebuilding society - the ending is amazing and very fast paced! If you enjoyed the beginning I think you’ll like the end a lot if you ever decide to push through ☺️
@@PlantBasedBrideMaybe I'll give it another go!
@@PlantBasedBrideI completely agree with your thoughts here, that if he had left out this sort of...supernatural spiritual manipulation and just made it where people are awful to each other it would have been so much better. That was the same observation I made to Daddy when we were reading it.
Also we were LIVID with King for Chapter 38 😂 (in our books that was the chapter discussing the deaths that were indirect). So unnecessary 😂
I have a love/hate relationship with King. There are some of his books that I LOVE and some I just can't finish to save myself much less like. Pet Sematary, Salem's Lot, Firestarter are all top reads for me. And now that I've seen this video I feel the need to reread at least Firestarter, lol.
My favorite SK is Bag of Bones. I think you might like it
Jerusalems lot is absolutly borowed by lovecraft (the rsts in the Wall, shadow over innsmouth,...) he mixed lovecraft stories.
The ending definitely felt lovecraftian/like cosmic horror!
So in case no one has mentioned it, and you haven't picked it up through reading it or some research you might have done, but the entire Dark Tower series is basically King's version of Lord Of The Rings in the broadest, most basic sense. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the second book. I know you're probably not going to continue the series, but the next one - The Waste Land - is really good. The fourth book you might not enjoy (or you might) since it focuses on a specific event in Roland's teenage years.
I had heard that! I’m a big fan of LOTR and fantasy in general, so that makes me more excited for the series. I will likely try the third one eventually to see how I feel about it because King is fantastic at character development and I’m definitely invested in Roland’s journey despite being frustrated by the second book!
Two of my favorite movies are The Shining and IT, and last year I finally gave in and bought The Shining novel.
Have I read it yet? No.
Has this video encouraged me to finally read it? Yes.
Am I nervous? Also yes.
Oo have fun! I love the movie of The Shining so I’m excited to read the book someday. It is a no from me, though 😅
Haha, I remember like many years ago I've read his short story where man eats his leg. That's it, - I thought, will never read this author again. 😂
LOL that’s the story I read last year and hated 😂
The thing about Stephen King is that once you finish the book you’ll probably rate it about 3 stars but you’ll keep thinking about the book and characters for a long time and then you’ll realize how good of a book it actually was and you’ll remember the characters and book so vividly from how good his writing is that you’ll end up changing your rating to 5stars haha!
Hi, my favorite books of him are “It”, “11/22/63”, “The Shining” and “Under the dome”. So I recommend those to you. 😊
11/22/63 and The Shining are on my TBR! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Under the Dome, so I’m intrigued 🤔 It is probably never going to happen because I hate clowns 😂
Another solid recommendation for Under the Dome.
Also Revival.
read 11/22/63!!!!
I prefer King’s non-horror/crime novels. I’m working my way through the Mr. Mercedes series and really enjoyed Billy Summers.
DARK TOWER LET'S GO
The way you talk about Jerusalem's Lot it sounds like there also was a lot of H.P. Lovecraft inspiration which added some of the things that you thought were too much. 😅
It definitely felt partially inspired by Lovecraft for the cosmic horror element! It really did pull together so many different horror inspirations in one story 😅
Nobody reads The Green Mile or The Shawshank Redemption, two of his best books. Perhaps don't read horror if it's not your thing. I don't read booktuber books for the same reason. They terrify me.
I read a lot of horror, it’s one of my favourite genres to read. I just hadn’t really delved into King’s work yet!
@@PlantBasedBride Fair enough. My comment was more of a personal gripe against reviewers of King's books, not specifically directed at you.
I honestly have never read a book where weird sex stuff with kids made the story better, I wish they’d stop including this
Agreed 100%
Dark Tower is the last book in a seven or eight book series. The first book is bad but the rest are soooo good!
My favorite King novels are salems lot, it and pet semetary
My opinions on King novels are always polarized. Some of my favourites are The Mist, Under the Dome, and Misery, but I absolutely HATED Cujo and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (which, apparently, is an unpopular opinion). I read a short story of his set in The Dark Tower universe which let me know that it wouldn't be a series for me, lol.
I don’t know anything about any of these so I’m just nodding along like I understand lol from what I can tell looking at the Stephen King sub read some of my opinions in this video are very opposite to the general consensus, but I’m used to that at this point 😂 do you remember which short story it was? I don’t know how to feel about the dark tower series after this experience. Book one and book two felt like they were from completely different worlds!
@@PlantBasedBride I looked it up, and it's called "The Little Sisters of Eluria". It's from his short story collection Everything's Eventual.
I have the same hate more than love relationship with him. Its not the scary parts that gets me, but unfortunately its all the other undertones in his books. I dont know if i am allowed tk say it on here, but why oh why in almost all theres incest, pdfilia. It seems that he uses them as a shock when hes not sure how else to shock you with actual fear. Its just too much.
This so much!! Most of my one star reviews in this video were for stories that included inc*st or p*d*philia for no reason. He also loved to toss around casual misogyny, racism, and fatphobia 😔 he has some incredible ideas but it’s so frustrating to come across these elements in the middle of an otherwise fantastic story.
But…he’s criticizing all of these. It’s not that he endorses those elements imo but shows how they can appear in „civilised“ societies in terrorise people. They do exist, so why sanitise books and exclude them?
🤠the best I could find for gunslinger ❤