25 Best Stephen King Books, Ranked (original) (raw)
Emiko Franzen for RD.COM
Emiko Franzen for RD.COM
From terrifying paranormal tales to nail-biting thrillers and everything in between, these are the best Stephen King books in every genre that you'll devour
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The best Stephen King books for every type of reader
Stephen King is one of the most iconic names in horror. Over the course of his 50-year career, he’s made the darkest and most haunting nightmares come to life, giving us some of the best scary books ever to see a printer. But while horror and the supernatural are his bread and butter, he’s also known to explore science fiction, time-travel, fantasy and even Western genres. The best Stephen King books are sprinkled over various categories, but they all have two things in common: One, they are so compelling, they launch you from page to page, and you can’t seem to put them down. And two, they put you on high alert—especially if you hear something go bump in the night.
It’s certainly a challenge to choose which of King’s books are the “best,” so here’s how we narrowed things down: We considered the work’s influence on the horror and fiction genres, the story’s popularity and relevance in pop culture, and overall ratings, along with critical and commercial success. We also made sure to include some of his lesser-known books to ensure there is something for every type of reader. And finally, we asked some Stephen King aficionados—including authors, librarians and Reader’s Digest editors—to explain why these books are so darn good and rank not just as the best Stephen King books but also some of the best books of all time.
Ahead, check out our definitive list of the 25 best Stephen King novels, counting down to our No. 1 pick. Read on to find out how your favorites ranked … and maybe leave on the lights while you do.
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Genre: Supernatural and crime fiction
Genre: Psychological thriller
24. Gerald's Game
Genre: Horror
23. Cujo
Genre: Horror romance
22. Lisey's Story
Genre: Horror
21. Firestarter
Genre: Science fiction
20. Under the Dome
Genre: Thriller
19. Mr. Mercedes
Genre: Fantasy
18. Fairy Tale
Genre: Science fiction
17. The Dead Zone
Genre: Horror
16. Doctor Sleep
Genre: Fantasy
15. The Dark Tower series
Genre: Thriller
14. Billy Summers
Genre: Science fiction
13. The Stand
Genre: Horror
12. Misery
Genre: Thriller
11. Later
Genre: Psychological thriller
10. Dolores Claiborne
Genre: Mystery
9. Holly
Genre: Science fiction
8. The Institute
Genre: Horror
7. Night Shift
Genre: Horror
6. IT
Genre: Horror
5. Carrie
Genre: Supernatural horror
4. Pet Sematary
Genre: Supernatural horror
3. 'Salem's Lot
Genre: Historical fiction
2. 11/22/63
Genre: Paranormal horror
1. The Shining
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For fans of: Suspense and crime
We’re kicking off our list of the best Stephen King books with a disturbing mashup of a detective story and the supernatural. The Outsider, published in 2018, follows an investigation into the brutal murder of a young boy. The prime suspect? One of the town’s most upstanding citizens. DNA and fingerprints trace it back to him … but could there be something even more sinister afoot?
There’s a lot more going on in this crime drama than just plot. The novel drew critical praise for creating a dark allegory about our modern political landscape. Wherever you fall on the political spectrum, you can see your worst nightmare of a candidate in this book. Such topicality is why it became an acclaimed HBO TV show, cementing its status as one of King’s best published works.
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For fans of: Non-supernatural stories
This boundary-pushing psychological thriller, published in 1992, will keep you up at night, but not for the reasons you might initially think when you hear the name Stephen King. During a sex game gone awry, a woman named Jessie is left handcuffed to a bed after her husband dies. She’s stuck in a secluded lake house, with little chance of anyone finding her, so it’s up to her to escape—if she doesn’t fall victim to the voices inside her head first.
King’s compelling storytelling and character development in Gerald’s Game will put you in the mind of Jessie and make you wonder what you’d do in this scenario. Could you use your wits to escape? Just how resilient are you? And—because this is Stephen King—are there other threats to contend with? Make sure to stream the Netflix adaption, starring an excellent Carla Gugino, after you finish the book.
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For fans of: Suspense
It’s hard to picture man’s best friend turning viciously evil. But if there’s one thing Stephen King can do, it’s take the unimaginable and bring it to life in terrifying fashion. Enter 1981’s Cujo, the story of a great family dog that turns into a deadly killer after contracting rabies. A mother and son, both fighting their own demons, are trapped in a broken-down car in the dead of summer while their St. Bernard—foaming at the mouth and covered in blood—tries to attack them repeatedly. Will they make it out alive, or will Cujo get them?
This story captured the attention of audiences and industry pros, earning a British Fantasy Award, becoming a New York Times bestseller and getting a movie adaptation (in 1983). The main reason? It amplifies human horrors on every level, making you wonder about the things you always thought you could trust and forcing you to deal with the deepest, darkest part of yourself.
Looking for your next great book? Read four of today’s most compelling novels in the time it takes to read one with Fiction Favorites. And be sure to join the community!
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For fans of: Personal stories
Lisey’s Story is unlike anything else King has written. The story follows a widow who, after sorting through her writer husband’s things, travels to a dark place to face his demons once and for all. It’s a story that takes a frank look at marriage and the unknown demons (literal and figurative) that a spouse can bring to the union. Along the way, we get the bittersweet moments of Lisey reliving moments from her marriage and uncovering her late husband’s trauma.
The 2006 novel is one of King’s most personal. He wrote it after getting out of the hospital following a bout of pneumonia. His office was being redone, so his books and works were packed up, and he thought about how his wife would have to go through his boxed-up belongings if he were to die. He revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that Lisey’s Story is one of the favorite books he’s ever written, along with Misery, The Stand and The Body. Pick it up if you’re craving horror sprinkled with romance.
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For fans of: Stranger Things and chase stories
If you’re a fan of Stranger Things or King’s 2019 novel The Institute, it’s time to go back to King’s earlier works and give Firestarter a read. The 1980 novel tells the story of two people who become test subjects for a government organization and develop psychic abilities. They fall in love and have a daughter who is born with pyrokinesis, meaning she can start fires with her mind. The organization wants the girl for themselves, while her parents try to protect her at all costs … but can they protect her from herself?
One of King’s sleeper hits, Firestarter features a fast-paced story that will suck you in from the start and reel you back just when you think you can put it down for a minute. King himself said Firestarter was fun to write, telling Vanity Fair it was liberating to craft a chase story that could have gone anywhere. The book was also made into two movies—one in 1984, starring a 9-year-old Drew Barrymore, and the other in 2022.
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For fans of: Thrillers and mysteries with an otherworldly twist
This 2009 sci-fi book is about a group of Maine townsfolk who come together after their town gets cut off from civilization by a mysterious dome-like force field. From this simple, _Twilight Zone_–esque set-up, King crafts a sprawling allegory about how modern Americans face big problems—ranging from the environment to foreign wars—and how they deal with one another when they disagree. But don’t worry: It’s not didactic or dull. Under the Dome is a wildly plotted and energetically written 1,000-plus-page book that will keep you up at night as you chew on the moral questions it presents.
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For fans of: True crime and trilogies
Published in 2014, Mr. Mercedes was King’s first real crime book—and boy, did he deliver. The page-turner follows a former cop and his unlikely allies as they try to thwart a killer looking to strike again after driving a stolen Mercedes into a crowd of people at a job fair in a struggling town. It’s the first novel in King’s Bill Hodges trilogy, followed by Finders Keepers and End of Watch.
Gripping and heart-thumping, this compelling detective tale earned King the Edgar Award, the No. 1 honor in crime writing, in 2015. As he often does, King explores themes of good and evil, but this time they’re grounded in reality, adding a layer of unsettling immediacy for the reader. The trilogy also inspired the TV series Mr. Mercede s, which was developed by David E. Kelly and ran from 2017 to 2019. So is the hype around Mr. Mercedes warranted for both die-hard King fans and crime-novel enthusiasts? In a word, yes!
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For fans of: Stories about good vs. evil
When the pandemic began and we all felt as trapped as Jack Torrance in The Shining, Stephen King asked himself: What could you write that would make you happy? The result of that writing experiment was Fairy Tale, published in 2022.
Charlie Reade is essentially on his own. His mom was killed in a terrible accident when he was a kid, and as a result, his dad descends into an alcoholic stupor. At age 17, Charlie starts doing odd jobs for an aging recluse named Howard Bowditch, who eventually dies and leaves Charlie a cassette tape that reveals a secret: A locked shed on his property is actually a portal to a different world. And from there … well, we won’t spoil it, but let’s just say that readers are taken on a page-turning adventure.
This fantasy book has all the thrills you’d expect from King, including some jolting and grotesque body horror, but also a charming sense of wonder. And yes, apparently this is the kind of story that makes the king of horror happy!
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For fans of: Thrillers and political dramas
This 1979 sci-fi thriller stands the test of time. The Dead Zone is about a man named Johnny Smith, who wakes up from a nearly five-year coma with the ability to see people’s pasts and futures simply by touching them. Johnny’s morals are tested when he shakes the hand of a charismatic politician and sees a horrific vision of what a future with him as the president would be like. Should he take matters into his own hands to save countless lives?
This is one of those books that will haunt you long after you finish it. What would you do in this morally ambiguous situation? If you knew without a doubt that someone would commit atrocities, could you end that person’s life—even before they’ve done anything wrong? As we see through Johhny, there’s no perfect choice here. Once you finish the book, watch the 1983 movie starring Christopher Walken and Martin Sheen.
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For fans of: The Shining and stories about good vs. evil
Thrilling and downright distressing, 2013’s Doctor Sleep is enough to make seasoned horror fans jumpy. King’s sequel to The Shining follows an adult Dan Torrance, who, while still seeing dreadful ghosts from the Overlook Hotel, works in a hospice facility where he uses his otherworldly abilities to help the dying. Everything seems as normal as it can get … until Dan meets a young girl who has stronger abilities than his own. Soon, the two must fight to keep their lives (and their souls) from the clutches of something evil.
Doctor Sleep became a New York Tim es bestseller and earned King the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel in 2013. While The Shining deals with one man’s battle with his inner demons, this follow-up novel explores larger issues such as how the next generation deals with the trauma and fallout of the prior generation’s pain. Plus, readers will be treated to Rose the Hat, one of Stephen King’s greatest villains.
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For fans of: Dystopian novels, Westerns, pulp fiction and book series
This fan-favorite book series is a master class in how to mix genres seamlessly. The Dark Tower series boasts eight novels that mix high fantasy, classic Westerns, dystopian sci-fi and even multiverse metafiction. It’s a strange but captivating stew of ideas, and one that always seems to teeter on the edge of chaos yet repeatedly manages to pull it back together for a thrilling read.
The first book, 1982’s The Gunslinger, sets its epic tone with its now-famous opening line: “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” Yes, gun-slinging Arthurian knight Roland Deschain is on a quest to find the Man in Black, but that’s just the beginning. Over time, you’ll also meet Roland’s companions—the ka-tet, a cyborg bear, gigantic mutant lobsters, a boy whose drawings can become reality, and so many more.
Anything is possible in this massive series (4,250 pages in all!), which is King’s ode to the magic of storytelling. It masterfully weaves together not just a disparate array of tones and genres but also—minor spoiler—characters and worlds from many of King’s other novels. The Dark Tower is essentially Stephen King’s own Spider-verse, created decades earlier. Only a mind as warped and wonderful as King’s could conceive of such a gigantic tale, let alone pull it off brilliantly.
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For fans of: Crime noir, John Wick movies and antihero stories
Billy Summers is a hired killer, but he will only take assignments if his mark is a really bad person. A decorated Iraq war vet, he uses his talents as a sniper to get rid of bad guys, but now, he’s tired of the business and wants out. His plan: Finish one final job for a hefty payout, so he can leave this life for good. Of course, has that plan ever worked out for any hit man in any piece of fiction? No, and it’s not a spoiler to say that it gets complicated for Billy Summers too. The difference is that Billy is a complex antihero who you’ll find yourself caring about and even rooting for, especially as the story gets increasingly twisty and shocking. There’s a reason that several critics called this King’s strongest book and lead character in years when it was published in 2022.
In an Esquire interview, King shared the inspiration behind the book: “With Billy Summers, the first thing for me was this: I saw a man in a basement apartment, looking out a window, like a periscope, and seeing feet go by on the sidewalk. I played with that for a while. What’s this guy doing there? Why is he there? What does it all mean?” A departure from horror, this hard-boiled underrated thriller takes an inside (fictional) look at a hit man’s life, and in doing so, it gives us a perspective never seen in the professional-killer genre.
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For fans of: Adventure, romance and post-apocalyptic stories
We can’t talk about King’s post-apocalyptic works without mentioning his classic 1978 novel The Stand. Starting with a world ravaged by a ruthless pandemic, this epic 823-page story follows a large ensemble of iconic characters—Randall Flagg! Mother Abigail! The Trashcan Man!—across the new, dangerous country until it finally builds to a climactic battle between heaven and hell. It’s a tale of spiritual and sinister wonders, all told with King’s distinct wit and writing style.
Critics and fans adored The Stand, and the eerie tale remains a must-read more than four decades after its publication. It’s the rare long book that people loved so much they even asked for the LONGER version (with the Complete & Uncut Edition from 1990). It was even voted the best Stephen King book in Rolling Stone by devoted fans and adapted into two TV miniseries in 1994 and 2020 (but you only need to watch the ’90s version). What gave it such longevity is the way King has created a timeless and uniquely American take on Lord of the Rings. The Stand is good’s great quest against evil, set against a future that we all fear having to someday survive ourselves.
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For fans of: Suspense
Obsession embodies the form of Annie Wilkes in Misery, one of the best Stephen King books ever published. A famous novelist, Paul Sheldon, gets into a terrible car crash in the middle of a snowstorm and is rescued by his “No. 1 fan.” Unfortunately, his No. 1 fan has notes for him, and if he doesn’t execute them exactly how she wants … well, let’s just say it’s not pretty. Misery is a fascinating tale of captivity and delusion, and it will make your heart race—without a supernatural element in sight. In Misery, evil has a human face, and in the 1990 movie, it’s Kathy Bates, who took home the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Annie.
While the movie was terrifying in the best way possible, you should absolutely still read the book. “Fans of the movie who haven’t read the book are often surprised to find that the manuscript Sheldon is forced to write under duress actually appears in King’s book (albeit in broken typewriter font), adding a layer of subtext and nuance to the story that at once shows just how able an author King really is,” says Michael Arnzen, assistant director of the MFA in Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill University. Plus, you’ll also get to see Sheldon’s inner struggle and empathize with his emotional and physical torment.
“Misery is not just a horror novel per se,” Arnzen adds, “but a highly sophisticated piece of hybrid fiction, blending literary metafiction, the noir thriller and the popular romance together in one chilling, unforgettable book.”
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For fans of: IT, detective novels and mysteries
The premise of this 2021 novel sounds a lot like The Sixth Sense, but the 6-year-old narrator of Later, Jamie Conklin, wants you to know his ability is “not like in that movie with Bruce Willis.” Yes, he can see dead people, as exactly and horrifically as they looked when they died, but for only about a week. When he asks them questions, the deceased must answer him truthfully. The other problem? Jamie is surrounded by adults who see his special skill as a way to help them in their careers, including Jamie’s mother, a struggling literary agent, and an NYPD officer, who wants to bolster her career. But if no one is looking out for Jamie, who will help him when things start to go very wrong?
A coming-of-age story mixed with urban crime and supernatural gore and horror, Later is a surprising genre mash-up that is one of King’s most fast-paced and fun reads. If you’re a longtime King fan, keep your eyes open for some Easter eggs and references to King’s other works.
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For fans of: Suspense and mysteries
This 1993 novel sets out to uncover the truth about housekeeper and caretaker Dolores Claiborne. Dolores is suspected of killing Vera Donovan, who was her wealthy employer for 23 years. Residents in Maine’s Little Tall Island distrust Dolores, especially since her husband also died under mysterious circumstances 29 years earlier. But underneath the rumors, there is a woman holding onto dark secrets and attempting to protect the one she loves. Your perspective of Dolores and the novel’s assorted characters will shift the further you go, and along the way, it will make you reflect on how you might be judged someday.
A successful book-to-movie adaptation, the 1995 Dolores Claiborne screenplay was co-written by Stephen King and Tony Gilroy. It starred _Misery_‘s Kathy Bates, along with Christopher Plummer and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The story takes a haunting look into the disturbing places we’ll all go to with the right justification.
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For fans of: Detective stories
In this book, King brings back one of his favorite characters, Holly Gibney. Holly first made her appearance in Mr. Mercedes as a shy recluse, then appeared as a partner to Bill Hodges in Finders Keepers before we saw her transform into a smart private eye in The Outsider. Says King, “I could never let Holly Gibney go. She was supposed to be a walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes, and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart.”
In this 2023 novel, Holly is running the Finders Keepers detective agency entirely on her own. When a case comes in about a missing girl named Bonnie Dahl, Holly doesn’t want to take it on, especially since her partner has COVID and her mother just passed away. But when the mother of the missing girl pleads for her help, Holly gives in. The case leads her to two octogenarians, who are semi-retired professors. Surely, these two couldn’t be the reason why Bonnie is missing … or could they? As Holly unwinds the case, you’ll understand why King fell in love with her—and likely fall in love with her too.
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For fans of: Stranger Things and IT
Science fiction and suspense blend masterfully in The Institute, one of the best Stephen King books to come out in recent years. The 2019 novel follows the story of telekinetic child genius Luke Ellis as he’s kidnapped and brought to the Institute, a remote place where other gifted children are used for their abilities. Desperate to escape the ruthless facility, Luke tries to craft an escape plan—but the Institute is anything but easy to slip away from.
As we’ve seen before, King has an uncanny ability to accurately capture what it’s like to be a kid in an adult world. You feel out of place and you’re never quite sure what’s expected of you, or if it’s even safe. This has been a theme across so much of his work, starting way back in the ’70s with Carrie. In a way, this novel is an epic culmination for King, as we see powerful children—who also alternately come across as weird, gross and hilarious—face and attempt to survive those who are trying to exploit them.
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For fans of: Scary short stories
Originally published in 1978, Night Shift is King’s first and arguably the strongest collection of short stories—and the source material the movies Children of the Corn, Maximum Overdrive and even Salem’s Lot all came from it. While you can read each of the 20 stories in this collection quickly, the terror will linger far longer, even when they’re only a mere four pages like “The Man Who Loved Flowers.” They also showcase the breadth of King’s work, with tones ranging from gruesome to darkly comedic to thought-provoking to downright exciting. Even decades later, this collection still has something for every King fan.
Nick Cutter, author of The Troop, The Deep and The Queen, agrees: “For my money, King’s first short-story collection happened to be his best. It may also contain the all-time-scariest King story, ‘The Boogeyman.’ But with so many standouts—’Jerusalem’s Lot,’ ‘Graveyard Shift,’ ‘Battleground,’ ‘Sometimes They Come Back,’ ‘Quitters Inc.’— it’s the equivalent of a great album where you can’t skip a single track.”
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For fans of: Coming-of-age books and stories about good vs. evil
Ah, IT—the book that made everyone completely terrified of clowns. This 1986 tome takes readers on a nightmare-inducing trip for 1,000-plus pages as it tells the story of seven adults who come back to their hometown of Derry, Maine, to face off against an evil force known as IT, an entity they bravely battled as children. “This is the stuff nightmares are made of—literally,” says Reader’s Digest Senior Editor Dawn Yanek. “Pennywise is terror incarnate, lurking under the surface of Derry with his red balloon and his promises that ‘you’ll float too’ down in the sewers.”
IT has several elements that make it a horror masterpiece, but two stand out. First, there’s King’s incredible attention to detail, which brings the terrifying events easily, and clearly, to life. You’ll never walk by a sewer grate again without shivering at least a little bit. Second, the book is as much a character study on childhood trauma and loss of innocence as it is a horror novel. “No matter what age you are, you’ll relate to the characters’ coming-of-age moments—the awkward, the sweet and the devastating—and be fascinated by who they’ve become decades later,” says Yanek. “And all of those layers are what will keep you up at night, devouring each and every page. Well, that and the murderous clown, of course.”
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For fans of: Gory horror
Carrie was King’s breakout debut, and it put him on the map. Published in 1974, the 199-page novel is about social outcast Carrie White, a bullied high schooler who discovers she has telekinetic powers. After her classmates pull a cruel prank on her at the prom (we probably don’t have to tell you what it is!), Carrie uses her abilities to inflict some horrific, and seriously gory, pain on them in return.
Raw and troubling, Carrie hits readers in an immediate way that only a debut novel can sometimes. While King was not yet the master of his craft that he’d become, his gift for disturbing readers on a deep, emotional level is already present here. Carrie actually still is one of his best examples of putting you in the mind of someone you’d never normally identify with. You genuinely feel Carrie’s pain and empathize with her, making it all the more horrific when she vividly lets loose her torrent of teenage revenge. It’s brutal but unforgettable—hence, why it ranks so highly on this list of the best Stephen King books of all time. The 1976 Brian DePalma film adaptation starring Sissy Spacek remains a classic too.
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For fans of: “What would you do?” stories
Written in 1983, Pet Sematary remains one of King’s scariest, most disturbing works to date. “King unapologetically throws you into the deep end without even considering letting you up for air,” says BookToker and Bookstagrammer Sonja Ska. The novel centers on a family that moves to Maine and discovers two graveyards near their property—one for pets that have passed, and the other a Native American burial ground with seemingly unreal powers. When tragedy strikes the family, the patriarch debates using the graveyard’s powers to bring back the dead … but as he learns the hard way, going against nature has dreadful consequences. Do you remember reading the classic story “The Monkey’s Paw” in high school? This is King’s version of it, and you won’t be able to get it out of your head.
Pet Sematary expertly combines supernatural terror with the authentic horror of unimaginable loss and pure desperation. The story is so good, it was nominated for a World Fantasy Award in 1984. And, of course, there were 1989 and 2019 movie adaptations. Rumor has it, King himself had trouble finishing the book because the story was so frightening. “Definitely pick this up if you’re into rotten, terrible, no-good times,” says Ska. “It’s been years, and I still haven’t properly recovered.”
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For fans of: Vampires
King’s sophomore novel, ‘Salem’s Lot, may have been published in 1975, but it’s still a must-read for any horror enthusiast. Writer and widower Ben Mears returns to the Maine town where he spent part of his childhood, only to find that the town, and its residents, are being hunted by vampires. It’s up to him, and a few other courageous souls, to take them down—and this gripping vampire book makes you feel as though you’re actually in Jerusalem’s Lot, fending off creatures of the night.
King has said he was intrigued by the idea of Dracula coming to America in the 1970s (what if?), and while he explored that concept, he managed to update the entire vampire mythos in the process. No longer were old and dusty vampires contained to old Europe—instead, they were right here in your hometown, coming for your children, and there might be no way to stop them and save everyone. It’s enough to keep you up at night, so no judgment if you sleep with the lights on while reading this one!
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For fans of: Time travel and JFK history
Question: If you had the ability to go back in time, what would you do? You could hug a long-lost relative, give your younger self much-needed advice … or, you know, try to prevent a history-altering assassination. King’s 2011 novel 11/22/63 dives into that latter scenario, following along as Jake Epping, an English teacher from Maine, travels back in time and attempts to stop John F. Kennedy’s assassination on that fateful day in Dallas. “11/22/63 is masterful and moving,” says Meg Gardiner, author of Shadowheart and a three-time Jeopardy! champion. “It has time travel. A national catastrophe that might—_might_—be reversed. Sweeping drama. High tension. Ticking-clock action. Unforgettable characters.”
But 11/22/63 isn’t just a time-travel book. It’s an ode to the 1960s that brilliantly weaves key elements of the decade into its storytelling. And, in true King fashion, Epping goes through several scenarios before getting to his JFK mission, such as running interference in tragic murders and falling head over heels in love. But, as Epping learns, time always gets its way—no matter how much you try to change it.
History buffs, this one’s for you. And no matter how old you are, you’ll devour it, says Gardiner: “My kids read it in their 20s, and my son got a tattoo that reads XI.XXII.MCMLXIII. He then gave the book to my mom, who’s 80. She inhaled it and asked for more Stephen King. No word yet on a tattoo.”
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For fans of: Edgar Allan Poe and ghost stories
Yes, the twisted horror classic The Shining earns the top spot on our list of the best Stephen King books. His third published novel focuses on an aspiring writer named Jack Torrance, who moves his young family to a remote hotel after landing the role of winter caretaker. It’s not long before the ominous forces in the Overlook Hotel—as well as Jack’s personal demons—send him down a path of pure madness and rage.
Published in January 1977, The Shining cemented King as the master of horror. His ability to vividly bring paranormal and personal terror to life truly shines (no pun intended) in this page-turner, and the story came to life on the big screen in 1980, with the chilling film adaption starring Jack Nicholson. Today, it’s one of King’s most popular novels, tied with IT as his top-rated book on Goodreads.
Already read it? Consider giving it a reread, says Jamie Tinker, the co-owner and operator of SK Tours of Maine, which runs Stephen King–themed tours of Bangor, Maine (known to King fans as Derry). “I first read The Shining at age 17, and it was a great and terrifying haunted-house story. Rereading it at 47 was an entirely different experience,” he says. “As an adult, I have a real appreciation for the complexity of Jack’s everyday fears associated with alcoholism, providing for his family and ultimately failing them. If you’re like me and read this book when you were young, I definitely recommend reading it again.”
How many books has Stephen King written?
Stephen King has written 77 books so far. He started his career by selling a short story to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967, and he’s brought intricate and twisted worlds to life ever since. His first published novel was 1974’s Carrie, and his latest work is 2024’s You Like It Darker, a collection of 12 new short stories.
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At Reader’s Digest, we’ve been sharing our favorite books for over 100 years. We’ve worked with bestselling authors including Susan Orlean, Janet Evanovich and Alex Haley, whose Pulitzer Prize–winning Roots grew out of a project funded by and originally published in the magazine. Through Fiction Favorites (formerly Select Editions and Condensed Books), Reader’s Digest has been publishing anthologies of abridged novels for decades. We’ve worked with some of the biggest names in fiction, including James Patterson, Ruth Ware, Kristin Hannah and more. The Reader’s Digest Book Club, helmed by Books Editor Tracey Neithercott, introduces readers to even more of today’s best fiction by upcoming, bestselling and award-winning authors. For this piece on the best Stephen King books, Kelly Kuehn tapped her experience as a Reader’s Digest editor and an avid Stephen King fan. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
About the experts
- Michael Arnzen is the assistant director of the MFA in Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill University.
- Nick Cutter is the author of more than a dozen books (also writing as Craig Davidson), including The Troop, The Deep and The Queen, which hit stores in October 2024.
- Sonja Ska a book influencer in the horror genre who shares reading recommendations on TikTok (@ghostlyreads) and Instagram (@spookycurious).
- Meg Gardiner is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen novels, including Shadowheart. She’s an Edgar Award–winning writer and three-time Jeopardy champion.
- Jamie Tinker is the co-owner and operator of SK Tours of Maine, which runs Stephen King–themed tours of Bangor, Maine (aka Derry in Stephen King’s books).
Sources:
- Michael Arnzen, assistant director of the MFA in Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill University; email interview, June 2024
- Sonja Ska, horror BookTokker (@ghostlyreads) and Bookstagrammer (@spookycurious); email interview, June 2024
- Nick Cutter, author of The Troop, The Deep and The Queen; email interview, June 2024
- Meg Gardiner, Edgar Award–winning author of over a dozen novels, including Shadowheart; email interview, June 2024
- Jamie Tinker, co-owner and operator of SK Tours of Maine; email interview, June 2024
- Stephen King official website: “The Author”
- First Amendment Museum: “Carrie by Stephen King”
- Vanity Fair: “Where There’s Smoke: Stephen King Revisits _Firestarter_“
- Stephen King official website: “Lisey’s Story”
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: “Stephen King Reveals His Top Five Stephen King Stories”