Since the publication of his first book, Carrie: The Stranger, in 1974, Stephen King has dedicated himself to exploring genres such as horror and suspense. His engaging and sinister stories were - and are - so successful that they turned him into the contemporary "master of terror". All this success yielded several film adaptations.
Based on the opinion of users of the Summer Reading site - the largest site in the world for readers - we have prepared a list of the best books by Stephen King. Let's start reading?
15. The Dead Zone (1979)
The Dead Zone is the 7th novel by Stephen King. In it, the master of terror explores a very curious theme: the supposedly unexplored capacities of our brain. After a serious accident, John Smith wakes up from a coma and discovers that he has gained powers, perhaps coming from a "dead zone" of his brain that has been activated. A touch or handshake is all it takes for John to access secrets and predict events. Did you think it was cool? Know that this can cause a lot of problems.
14. The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (1991)
The Waste Lands is only the 3rd volume of The Dark Tower series (which has a total of 7 volumes and over 4 pages!). In this book, the reader continues to follow Roland Deschain's saga in a desolate world (in the post-apocalyptic Mad Max style). Descended from a nearly extinct class of gunslingers, Roland draws ever closer to the magical Dark Tower, the endpoint of his life-or-death mission.
13. The Long March (1979)
Published, for the sake of editorial marketing, under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Long March explores the dystopian genre. It's a nail-biting thriller in which a boy named Ray Garrety signs up to participate in a competition held every year. The winner of the Long March has the right to own whatever he wants. The losers are shot. There are more than 500 km to be covered by 100 competitors. But only one will get there.
12. The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
In the second volume of the series, Roland Deschain's quest for the Dark Tower continues. Guided by the cards, "The Last Gunslinger" will have to find three people in three different times (but always in New York City) before continuing his journey towards the Dark Tower. Portals will reveal highly surprising and challenging stories for Roland.
11. Four Seasons (1982)
If you want to experience the storytelling facet of Stephen King, Four Seasons is the best option. In addition to being a very pleasant read, the four stories are really fascinating. This time around, the horror genre - for which King is best known - is set aside to make way for drama and suspense. Three famous films are adaptations of stories from this book: Um Sonho de Liberdade, O Aprendiz and Conta Comigo (a classic of teen cinema from the 80s).
10. The Dark Tower I: The Deadshot (1982)
Here begins the long saga The Dark Tower, Stephen King's most ambitious project - according to himself. In this first part, we are introduced to Mid-World, Roland Deschain and his mission: to reach the Dark Tower, matrix of space and time, in order to prevent it from being destroyed. But Roland must first find the Man in Black, who has important information about the Tower's location.
The Dark Tower saga was built from several references. Among the most important are JRR Tolkien's narratives and western stories. It was adapted into a movie in 2017 and there is an ongoing project to turn it into a TV series. Let's wait.
9. Carrie: The Stranger (1974) - Stephen King's first book
Anyone who is a fan of Stephen King cannot fail to know how it all began. Carrie is his first published book, at a time when he was still teaching English. The success was resounding and projected King nationally. After that came at increasing speed other successful novels.
Carrie is the name of a shy girl with virtually no social life. This is due to a rigid upbringing guided by the mother's religious fanaticism. Result: Carrie is heavily bullied at school and has no weapon to defend herself with other than her own telekinetic powers. Yes, Carrie can move things with the power of her mind!
8. Waiting for a Miracle (1996)
The Green Mile (originally released in 6 volumes as Death Row) is an absolutely incredible book by Stephen King. The narrator is Paul Edgecombe, an old man who tells the story of the time he was a guard at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary, where prisoners sentenced to the electric chair were sent. There he meets John Coffey, sentenced to death for murdering two little girls. But little by little Paul discovers that John, in addition to looking innocent, has magical powers. The film adaptation, with Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan, makes you cry like you're chopping onions!
7. November 63 (2011)
The dream of time travel yields great stories. And you can tell that Stephen King is obsessed with the subject. In November 63, the time travel project is carried out for a very specific reason: to prevent former US President John F. Kennedy from being assassinated. Guided by this mission that could change the history of the world, English teacher Jake Epping crosses the portal that takes him to the year 1958, five years before the fateful day of November 22, 1963.
6. The Graveyard (1983)
The Creed family has just moved to a small town in the state of Maine, USA. On an exploratory drive, the Creeds discover an animal burial ground in the nearby woods. Dark events begin to disturb the family's routine, especially the father, Louis, who one day is tormented by a sinister vision that warns him of the dangers existing in a region located beyond the animal cemetery.
This is one of King's most famous horror stories. It inspired the 1989 classic Pet Sematary, for which the punk rock band Ramones wrote the song "Pet Sematary".
5. Salem/Hours of the Vampire (1975)
One of Master King's most cult books explores a very classic horror theme: vampires. Basically, the story of Salem revolves around three characters: the writer Ben Mears, the merchant Kurt Barlow and the boy Mark Petrie. After more than two decades, Ben returns to the small and peaceful Jerusalem's Lot to write a book and discovers that the spooky Marsten mansion has just been acquired by the outsider Barlow. Suddenly, sinister things begin to happen in the city.
4. Misery: Mad Obsession (1987)
No book is better than Misery for describing the psychological horror genre. Let's go to the synopsis: a writer is caught by a blizzard and suffers a serious car accident. Badly injured, he is rescued by a nurse, who takes him to her house and takes care of him. The nurse considers herself the writer's number 1 fan. However, she doesn't like the outcome of the last novel he wrote and is unwilling to let him out of her house until he does something about it.
3. The Shining (1977)
This is perhaps Stephen King's best-known novel, and that is largely due to the resounding success of the Stanley Kubrick film released three years after the book's publication. Writer Jack Torrance is hired to be the Overlook Hotel's caretaker for the winter. He, his wife Wendy and their son Danny will spend months isolated in the hotel. But even before the trip, Danny begins to have disturbing premonitions.
