Reading SK...

[TerryE]

1979, I was thirteen years old and a fan of horror already. I remember having glow in the dark posters of the Universal Monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolfman) hanging on my wall. They were from some cereal box. Some of my earliest memories are of watching horror movies with my mom, especially The Pit and the Pendulum and episodes of The Night Gallery. Stuff I was able to watch when I stayed up later than the older kids who were already in school. Anyway... the 'Salem's Lot miniseries was coming on TV and I was very excited. That miniseries was my introduction to Stephen King. Soon after I got the book from the library. This was soon followed by Carrie. (I was young enough and naive enough that I didn't understand the opening scene). After that, the books followed pretty much in order of publication. I remember seeing an ad for the publication of Eyes of the Dragon in F&SF Magazine. You could write in for the lottery for a chance to buy the book for $100. That seemed completely ridiculous to me at the time. I didn't have the cash for that & was very happy a few years later when it was released in mass market hardback. Although I did once work for a guy who had 2 copies and I did get to see one of them laying in his office. Oh, that temptation! And I also remember when one of the books came out (I think Pet Semetary) that listed The Dark Tower in the list of previous books. How had I missed that?! The librarian didn't have it in their system, either. And later of course found out it was a limited edition.

My first hardcover purchase was The Talisman. I got it for a nice discount since I was working for a comic shop at the time, and they carried it. And later (after the news of Richard Bachman broke) another employee found a copy of The Long Walk in a batch of used paperbacks and gave it to me. One of the prizes of my collection!

[fmancino]

Which would you recommend reading- The Stand (original) OR The Stand (uncut)

[fmancino]

What's the difference between the original The Stand and the Complete & Uncut?

[spernst]

I got "grounded" a LOT as a child, and in addition to not being allowed outside to play, grounding meant no nintendo or gi joe..no toys for naughty boys I guess lol. My mom felt bad for me stewing around the house one day whilst grounded, and took me to the library...where she let an 8 year old check out Cujo. I don't know wtf she was thinking...I'm sure she had some clue of who Stephen King was; god bless her for it at any rate. While I mostly remember taking the book to the bus stop and pointing out all the glorious "fucks" and "shits" to my friends, I've been reading his stuff ever since.

[jmcraven]

My best friend turned me on to SK when I was in late 7th or early 8th grade, so I must have been 13 (how appropriate, haha). My friend had several of his books, but I have always been a short story lover, so I borrowed Night Shift and Skeleton Crew to start. While I enjoyed most all of the stories, I'd say Strawberry Spring is the story that really hooked me on King. Viva la Springheel Jack!

I truly cannot recall the first SK novel that I read. It was likely either The Stand or The Shining.

[RJHubbard53]

Ehm...??

sk

sorry, i 've had enough warlocks, orcs, and elves to last a lifetime. I think World of Warcraft ruined it for me

[frik51]

oh, and I truly loathe the fantasy genre now

Ehm...??

sk

[RJHubbard53]

I think I was in the 6th grade and reading a series of books by Piers Anthony. They were fantasy based - dragons, nymphs, etc. When done, I went looking for similar books and found King's Eyes of the Dragon. Not exactly the fantasy I was looking for but it got me hooked. Pretty sure I moved on to The Talisman after that - a long and challenging read for me at the time but I identified with it and couldnt put it down. The hook was fully set.

oh, and I truly loathe the fantasy genre now

[Martin]

I am not sure what was my first king book but I do have a couple of milestones that stick out for me. My mother was an avid reader and instilled that in me, as a child she was not concerned with what I was reading as long as I was reading. I remember reading the complete Wizard of Oz series at a very young age and loving the fact that they scared me. I have read them as an adult an can't believe those books terrified me so, but at the age of 6 or 7 and reading about trees attacking had a real effect on me. The biggest SK milestone for me was in my Sophomore year of high school, probably 1979, I was reading the original The Stand and mentioned to my mom that it was the best book I had ever read. She commented that she did not understand why I read trash like that when there were much better stories to read. I suggested to her that she should not be judging the books I read if she had not read them. When I finished The Stand she asked me to let her borrow it before I returned it to the library. A couple of days later when I came home from school she told me that the book was so good she had stayed up all night reading. My mom had read The Stand in about 36 hours. From that point on my mom borrowed my SK books as soon as I completed them.

[PaulB]

For me it was Carrie at about age 14. As far as I can remember it was for no other reason than the fact that my mother did not approve of the cover image! It was also my introduction to "grown up" horror stories and I was hooked from there. In rapid succcession then tracked down Salem's Lot (which was the first book which scared the living crap out of me) and The Shining. After that cannot remember what came next. I do know that after reading Danse Macabre I was introduced to a whole lot of other books and authors I had not previously heard of (Richard Matheson, Peter Straub and the films of George Romero). Also remember tracking down Books of Blood based purely on SK's famous quote.
With regards favourite SK book...hmmm tricky. Of his earlier books I won't buck the trend and would have to go with It (how good is the fact that it is now to be re released?) closely followed by The Stand (either version is fine by me. Was blown away when I first read it in its original published version. Enjoyed the opportunity to read it again and stay a little longer in that particular world when it was re released). Of the later stories I think Bag of Bones is the one that sticks in my mind however thoroughly enjoyed getting stuck into the great big door stopper that was Under the Dome.

[thelion]

I started in Junior High with Skeleton Crew when I was 13. It was one of thickest paperback books I found in the bookstore to keep me busy during the long bus rides for a school camping trip. I was excited to begin reading "grown-up" horror stories and King certainly didn't disappoint! :-)

[Tree705]

It was 1984, I was deploying to the Indian Ocean and my girlfriend (who dumped me on my return 204 days later, at least not for a Marine) suggested Stephen King. I was mostly a SciFi & Fantasy reader but I needed a bunch of books so I gave him a go. I bought s few from the used bookstore the only one I recall for sure is The Stand because I bought it for it's size.

[RichardThomas]

I remember reading him a lot in high school. I don't think I read him much earlier than that.

Carrie: 14

[frik51]

Well, the original is one of my favorites. But the C&UCV is sloppily editied (too many references to the work as a 70's nugget were left in).

I thought with C&UCV you meant both versions, Cut & UnCutVersion.
I'm very bad with abbreviations - the first C stands for Complete, of course!

That's why I got the impression you didn't care for The Stand at all.

sk

[C.W. LaSart]

My Mom made me wait until I was 12 to read King-but she would've made me wait longer had she ever read his books! My first was Pet Semetary and I haven't looked back since. I have read everything he has written, besides the Dark Tower series (read the first 3 and they weren't my type), Lisey's Story, and the second half of Insomnia. They haven't all been my favorites, but I can't think of any I hated (Insomnia just couldn't grab me, though I plan to try again!). I'm not sure what it is, but I really liked Buick 8 and Duma Key