Tag: stephen king

Top Ten Tuesday | Stephen King Books That Are Not Horror

Posted August 4, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 29 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Genre freebie 

I’m going with Stephen King Books that are Not Horror. I’m currently doing a Stephen King Reading Challenge, and although I’ve read several of his books, his catalog is so extensive that I’m not even halfway done yet. I don’t think I’m even a quarter-way done! He also has a lot of books that aren’t explicitly horror, even though he’s most recognized as a horror writer. Below is a list of books he’s written that I wouldn’t categorize as horror.

I haven’t read all of these, but have watched some of the film adaptations so I’m vaguely familiar with the stories, and I’m quite confident they’re mostly non-horror. If you’ve read them and don’t agree, please let me know! If you’re familiar with his works and can name more that aren’t horror, please do!

Top Ten Stephen King Books That Are Not Horror

  1. 11/22/63 – One of his best works; I have read this book twice, watched the tv series, loved both and I could probably reread it over and over again! I would categorize this as time-travel historical fiction.
  2. The Green Mile – I’ve read the book and watched the movie, and it’s just heartbreaking drama. If there’s any horror, it’s the horror of human monsters. I cried so much for both the book and movie.
  3. Billy Summers – I’ve only read this once a while ago so I don’t remember a lot, but I remember loving it. It reads more like a crime thriller.
  4. Under the Dome – I read this and watched the tv series a long time ago and don’t remember much either. I mean, the dome phenomena is probably supernatural, but the monsters are only of the human kind.
  5. On Writing – The most obvious non-horror, since it’s his non-fiction memoir. I’ve read this a couple of times and it’s always amazing listening to him talk about writing. It’s so inspiring and it makes me want to be his bff!
  6. Fairy Tale – One of my favorite SK books; it’s like the title says, it’s more like a fairy tale than any horror story. I am enchanted by the book from the first page.
  7. Dolores Claiborne – I watched the movie but haven’t read the book. It’s another one I would categorize as a drama. Kathy Bates acts as the titular character, and she’s amazing as usual. I’m excited to read it eventually.
  8. Joyland – More like a coming-of-age story. SK is really good at those, and I enjoyed this one.
  9. The Body – Also a coming-of-age story, perhaps better known by its movie’s name, Stand By Me. I think most people are familiar with the movie and know that there’s not much horror to it. I haven’t read the book. Hopefully soon.
  10. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon – A survival story, not horror unless it’s adventure horror? It stays pretty true to real life and there isn’t very many paranormal elements to it except for hallucinations that can be explained in extreme survival conditions. At least, as far as I remember.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Book Review | Rose Madder by Stephen King

Posted June 30, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Rose Madder by Stephen King

Rose Daniels saw the single drop of blood on the bed sheet and knew she must escape from her macabre marriage before it was too late.

But escape was not as easy as fleeing to a new city, picking a new name, finding a new job, lucking out with a new man. Her husband, Norman, was a cop, with a cop’s training, a cop’s technology, a cop’s bloodhound instincts. And even worse, Norman was – well, Norman. Rose knew she had been married to a savage brute. Now she realized she was being tracked down by a terrifying monster – but the only place she found to hide could be the most dangerous of all…

For the Reading Challenge(s):
The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge

The Reason

I’m reading all of King’s books and this one was very highly recommended.

The Quotes

“But she stayed where she was a moment longer, like an animal which has been kept in a cage so long it cannot believe in freedom even when it is offered.”

“This man saw women like her all the time, women hiding behind dark glasses, women buying tickets to different timezones, women who looked as if they had forgotten who they were somewhere along the way, and what they thought they were doing, and why.”

“For gals like these, paranoia was a lot more than a way of life; it was full state-of-the-art.”

“It’s best to be ruthless with the past. It ain’t the blows we’re dealt that matter, but the ones we survive.”

The Narrator(s)

Stephen King, and Blair Brown. Blair Brown does most of the narration, but Stephen King does the parts where we see from the eyes of the MMC. I loved both of them.

My Thoughts

This one came highly recommended even among Stephen King fans and I got curious. I know it’s about a battered and abused woman, and knowing that King’s works tend to explore the human psyche, I really wanted to see how he wrote about this very important and sensitive topic. I was not disappointed.

It’s interesting to me that some critics have said that King doesn’t write women well, because I haven’t found that to be the case in many of the books I’ve already read, and with this book focused on Rose as the main character and seeing things from her POV, I thought it was written incredibly well. All the fear, the hypervigilantism, the little things that women do to protect themselves that men never think twice about; they’re represented very well here.

As I said about King’s storytelling tendencies, this isn’t an action-packed, plot-heavy story but rather, an exploration of the human psyche, and in this case, the battered woman and the abusive husband. We see a lot of their thought processes, we feel a lot of their feelings, the evolution of their relationship instructs the evolution of their feelings, thoughts, and then actions. It’s scary and thrilling, but also really emotional. I loved reading about Rose as she navigated her journey. This book deserves its hype.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Joyland by Stephen King

Posted January 31, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Joyland by Stephen King

College student Devin Jones took the summer job at Joyland hoping to forget the girl who broke his heart. But he wound up facing something far more terrible: the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and dark truths about life – and what comes after – that would change his world forever.

A riveting story about love and loss, about growing up and growing old – and about those who don’t get to do either because death comes for them before their time. It is at once a mystery, a horror story, and a bittersweet coming-of-age novel, one that will leave even the most hard-boiled reader profoundly moved.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #29: Shares universe with prompt 28)
The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge

The Reason

People say this is a good one (but they’re all good!).

The Quotes

“When it comes to the past, everyone writes fiction.”

“When you’re twenty-one, life is a roadmap. It’s only when you get to be twenty-five or so that you begin to suspect that you’ve been looking at the map upside down, and not until you’re forty are you entirely sure. By the time you’re sixty, take it from me, you’re fucking lost.”

“It’s hard to let go. Even when what you’re holding onto is full of thorns, it’s hard to let go. Maybe especially then.”

“My father had taught me – mostly by example – that if a man wanted to be in charge of his life, he had to be in charge of his problems.”

The Narrator(s)

Michael Kelly. No complaints, I enjoyed it.

My Thoughts

This one was interesting because I had such a feeling of nostalgia while reading it even though it’s my first time reading it. There’s just this feel to the story and the writing, and maybe it’s because the setting is in an amusement park and that always brings back memories of when you were a child.

I don’t necessarily like Devin’s character – he seemed a little too girl-crazy, but at the same time that’s pretty on point for a young 21-year-old and I’d be a hypocrite if I said I wasn’t affected by hormones at that age too. He was relatable though, and honestly, all the things that annoy me about him are probably things about myself in my 20s that I cringe to remember. Perhaps that’s the reason why this book feels so familiar and nostalgic even though I’m reading it for the first time.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, SK has a real knack for storytelling and pulling you into the story. I don’t consider him a horror writer, he transcends genres and can write anything. I love this one because it gives so much even though it’s one of his shorter novels. The angst of a teenager, the mystery of a serial killer, the found family aspect (and you know I love found family stories!), the friendships and connections, all of it and more.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

Posted January 17, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 3 Comments

‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

‘Salem’s Lot is a small New England town with white clapboard houses, tree-lined streets, and solid church steeples. That summer in ‘Salem’s Lot was a summer of home-coming and return; spring burned out and the land lying dry, crackling underfoot. Late that summer, Ben Mears returned to ‘Salem’s Lot hoping to cast out his own devils… and found instead a new unspeakable horror.

A stranger had also come to the Lot, a stranger with a secret as old as evil, a secret that would wreak irreparable harm on those he touched and in turn on those they loved.

All would be changed forever—Susan, whose love for Ben could not protect her; Father Callahan, the bad priest who put his eroded faith to one last test; and Mark, a young boy who sees his fantasy world become reality and ironically proves the best equipped to handle the relentless nightmare of ‘Salem’s Lot.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #45: Author releases more than one book a year)
The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge

The Reason

It was a buddy read with my online bookclub, and I’m also doing a personal challenge to read all of Stephen King’s books!

The Quotes

“If a fear cannot be articulated, it can’t be conquered.”

“Only library books speak with such wordless eloquence of the power good stories hold over us.”

“At three in the morning the blood runs slow and thick, and slumber is heavy. The soul either sleeps in blessed ignorance of such an hour or gazes about itself in utter despair. There is no middle ground.”

“The town knew about darkness. It knew about the darkness that comes on the land when rotation hides the land from the sun, and about the darkness of the human soul”

The Narrator(s)

Ron McLarty. No notes, it was great!

My Thoughts

This is a reread and I had very fond memories of reading it the first time during a thunderstorm. I loved the vibes but I think I remembered the vibes more than I remember the details of the book, so I had a lot of fun rereading the book and being surprised and shocked all over again!

I’ve also watched the latest adaptation of the book but didn’t like it very much. It felt very rushed, and rereading the book, one of the things I appreciate about it is that it takes its time. The slow burn was just perfect; the feeling of dread and futility, the anticipation of what’s happening and what’s going to happen, the desperation of trying to do something about it. Oooh, shivers down my spine!

The characters are another wonderful thing about the book. They are all so compelling. Stephen King is so good at getting inside their heads and giving us glimpses of their lives and who they are. I also really love how he writes about “regular” people and show us that sometimes the real monsters are here amongst us.

I also feel like I appreciate SK the more I read, and reread, his books. I tend to miss a lot when I read but every reread helps me to see more details and there is so much to get from SK’s books. This one was such a great reread, and I love it even more now than I did the first time.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge

Posted December 23, 2024 by Haze in Reading Challenges / 1 Comment

I’m not normally a reader who feels the need to read an author’s full catalog, but I’ve read and enjoyed so many of Stephen King’s books and I feel like if I was going to do it, his catalog would be the way to go. I’ve actually already read many of his books, but for the sake of this challenge, I will be re-reading them again. They are considered done when I’ve written reviews for every single one of them here on my blog.

I’m not putting any time limit on this challenge. It’s just a personal challenge for myself that I want to have fun with, but also keeping in mind that the list is probably going to grow the longer I take, because Stephen King is going to keep churning out those books!

Feel free to join me if you’re a fan of SK and want to do the challenge too! Post a comment with a link to your challenge page/reviews and I’ll check them out!

  1. Carrie (1974) – reread
  2. ‘Salem’s Lot (1975) – reread
  3. The Shining (1977) – reread
  4. Rage (1977)*
  5. Night Shift (1978)
  6. The Stand (1978) – reread
  7. The Long Walk (1979) [by Richard Bachman]* – reread
  8. The Dead Zone (1979) – reread
  9. Firestarter (1980)
  10. Roadwork (1981) [by Richard Bachman]*
  11. Danse Macabre (1981)
  12. Cujo (1981) – reread
  13. The Running Man (1982) [by Richard Bachman]*
  14. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (1982)
  15. Different Seasons (1982)
  16. Christine (1983)
  17. Cycle of the Werewolf (1983)
  18. Pet Sematary (1983) – reread
  19. The Eyes of the Dragon (1984)
  20. The Talisman (1984) with Peter Straub
  21. Thinner (1984) [by Richard Bachman]
  22. Skeleton Crew (1985)
  23. IT (1986) – reread
  24. The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
  25. Misery (1987) – reread
  26. The Tommyknockers (1987)
  27. The Dark Half (1989)
  28. The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition (1990) – reread
  29. Four Past Midnight (1990)
  30. The Dark Tower: The Waste Lands (1991)
  31. Needful Things (1991) – reread
  32. Gerald’s Game (1992) – reread
  33. Dolores Claiborne (1992)
  34. Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993)
  35. Insomnia (1994)
  36. Rose Madder (1995)
  37. The Green Mile (1996) – reread
  38. Desperation (1996)
  39. The Regulators (1996) [by Richard Bachman]
  40. The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass (1997)
  41. Bag of Bones (1998) – reread
  42. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999) – reread
  43. Hearts in Atlantis (1999)
  44. Storm of the Century (1999)**
  45. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000) – reread
  46. Dreamcatcher (2001)
  47. Black House (2001) with Peter Straub
  48. Everything’s Eventual (2002)
  49. From a Buick 8 (2002)
  50. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger: Resumption (2003)
  51. The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla (2003)
  52. The Dark Tower: Song of Susannah (2004)
  53. The Dark Tower: The Dark Tower (2004)
  54. Faithful (2004) with Stewart O’Nan
  55. The Colorado Kid (2005)
  56. Cell (2006) – reread
  57. Lisey’s Story (2006) – reread
  58. Blaze (2007) [by Richard Bachman]
  59. Duma Key (2008) – reread
  60. Just After Sunset (2008)
  61. Under the Dome (2009) – reread
  62. Blockade Billy (2010)
  63. Full Dark, No Stars (2010)
  64. 11/22/63 (2011) – reread
  65. The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)
  66. Joyland (2013)
  67. The Dark Man (2013)
  68. Doctor Sleep (2013)
  69. Mr. Mercedes (2014) – reread
  70. Revival (2014)
  71. Finders Keepers (2015) – reread
  72. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015)
  73. End of Watch (2016) – reread
  74. Charlie the Choo-Choo (2016) [by Beryl Evans]
  75. Hearts in Suspension (2016)
  76. Gwendy’s Button Box (2017) with Richard Chizmar
  77. Sleeping Beauties (2017) with Owen King – reread
  78. The Outsider (2018) – reread
  79. Elevation (2018) – reread
  80. The Institute (2019) – reread
  81. If It Bleeds (2020)
  82. Later (2021) – reread
  83. Billy Summers (2021) – reread
  84. Gwendy’s Final Task (2022) with Richard Chizmar
  85. Fairy Tale (2022) – reread
  86. Holly (2023)
  87. You Like It Darker (2024)
  88. Never Flinch (2025)

*collected in The Bachman Books
**screenplay

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Book Review | The Outsider by Stephen King

Posted December 23, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Outsider by Stephen King

An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively readable stories.

An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge

The Reason

This is a reread and a buddy read on my online bookclub. I’m also planning a Stephen King reading challenge, so I’ll be going through his works including the ones I’ve read before!

The Quotes

“If you can’t let go of the past, the mistakes you’ve made will eat you alive.”

“People are blind to explanations that lie outside their perception of reality.”

“Thinking that if a person did begin considering supernatural possibilities, that person would no longer be able to think of himself as a completely sane person, and thinking about one’s sanity was maybe not a good thing. It was like thinking about your heartbeat: if you had to go there, you might already be in trouble.”

“Terry gave him a look of which only high school teachers are capable: We both know you’re an idiot, but I will not embarrass you in front of your peers by saying so.”

The Narrator(s)

Will Patton. I’ve mentioned I loved Will Patton as a narrator for Stephen King’s books, and that is still true, but this audiobook was difficult to listen to. I see it as a production issue rather than a narrator issue; the volume mix was inconsistent and there were times when the narration was almost inaudible and I had to raise the volume, and then it suddenly got louder and hurt my ears. My copy was published by Simon & Schuster Audio, I’m not sure if the same issues exist with other publishers.

My Thoughts

I read this book first out of all the books that feature Holly Gibney, without context at the time about who Holly was, but I remember loving the book and it becoming one of my favorite SK books. Now that I’ve read more of SK’s books, too many of them are becoming favorites and I feel he’s just getting better and better. I’ve also since read all of the other books that feature Holly and it was really interesting to revisit this story knowing her history.

One of the things I loved most about this book is the conversation about how there is no end to the universe and that we must accept the impossible when there’s no other explanation. I love the initial buildup of the story with Terry Maitland, which was painful to read about and so intense, but such a testament to SK’s mastery of telling a story. A lot of things happen in this book that make you feel… a lot of feelings; the injustice of the law enforcement system, the corruption of the people in power, the tragic suffering of so many innocent people. This book just gives so much.

The supernatural aspect of this story is scary and terrifying, and I remember it creeping me out so much the first time I read it. This time I wasn’t as freaked out, maybe because I know what to expect now, but also because, I think, the real life implications are more horrifying to me this time around. Things like this happen in real life, and it’s human beings doing it to other human beings. There are monsters amongst us, and often we can’t do much against them. In a way, this scary horror story is a comfort because in fiction, the heroes win and the monsters are defeated. Maybe it can be an inspiration too.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Posted December 8, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special 12-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.

On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless – mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky 12-year-old Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death.

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted fans of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge

The Reason

The sequel to The Shining, which I read recently, and I’m reading everything Stephen King! Book by book.

The Quotes

“There came a time when you realized that moving on was pointless. That you took yourself with you wherever you went.”

“The silence wasn’t uncomfortable or hostile but exhausted–the quiet of people who have a great deal to think about but not a hell of a lot to say.”

“We’re only as sick as our secrets.”

“You don’t have to live this way if you don’t want to. You CAN, of course… but you don’t have to.”

The Narrator(s)

Will Patton. He’s one of my favorite narrators for Stephen King books!

My Thoughts

I watched the movie for Doctor Sleep a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I meant to read the book then but hadn’t gotten around to it until now. The first time I read The Shining (and watched the movie) was even more years ago and by the time I watched the Doctor Sleep movie, I’d pretty much forgotten everything about The Shining except for the regular pop culture references.

The Shining was the BOTM for my online bookclub in October, and I loved revisiting the story again so after it was done, I decided to go ahead and jump into Doctor Sleep next. I’m so glad I did because it was brilliant!

I’m a huge fan of SK’s books so I may be a bit biased, but I love how he tells a story. The transition from Danny Torrance being little boy in The Shining to a full adult in Doctor Sleep is so smooth and expertly written. I loved seeing him as an adult; reflecting on his childhood, his experience in the Overlook Hotel, the loss of his father, and what happens next. That in itself is brilliant!

And then there’s the story itself! Abra is another little girl with the Shining and there are evil forces who want to possess her Shine. Danny plays a part in thwarting the evil forces, and I love how things come a full circle in the end. The character development in SK’s stories are always so incredible, and as I’ve said so many times, I’m a character-driven reader, so it’s no wonder I love his books. I will never not recommend SK’s books!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Posted October 25, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

The house looked right, felt right, to Dr Louis Creed.

Rambling, old, unsmart and comfortable. A place where the family could settle; the children grow and play and explore. The rolling hills and meadows of Maine seemed a world away from the fume-choked dangers of Chicago.

Only the occasional big truck out on the two-lane highway, grinding up through the gears, hammering down the long gradients, growled out an intrusive note of threat.

But behind the house and away from the road: that was safe. Just a carefully clear path up into the woods where generations of local children have processed with the solemn innocence of the young, taking with them their dear departed pets for burial.

A sad place maybe, but safe. Surely a safe place. Not a place to seep into your dreams, to wake you, sweating with fear and foreboding…

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge

The Reason

It’s the BOTM for my in-person bookclub, and a buddy read for my online bookclub. It’s Halloween season, what can I say?

The Quotes

“Sometimes dead is better”

“Cats were the gangsters of the animal world, living outside the law and often dying there. There were a great many of them who never grew old by the fire.”

“He’s my cat! He’s not God’s cat! Let God have his own cat! Let God have all the damn old cats He wants, and kill them all! Church is mine!”

“The barrier was not made to be broken. Remember this: there is more power here than you know. It is old and always restless. Remember.”

The Narrator(s)

Michael C. Hall. I love him!

My Thoughts

My audiobook copy has an author’s note which really enhanced my experience of reading the book. Apparently, a lot of the events in the book were based on real life things that happened for Stephen King and his family. Smucky was his daughter’s cat, was buried in a Pet Sematary, spelt exactly like that, near their house, with the exact epitaph written for Smucky in the book. His daughter also said the exact same words about how God should get his own cat and leave hers alone.

Thankfully, the harrowing, horrifying stuff did not actually happen to the author and his family! King has said that he considers this book the one he finds most scary, and I can imagine why. “Sometimes dead is better.” We should never try to play God, nothing good comes from it, and this book is the absolute embodiment of why that is.

I can’t talk more about the details without spoiling the book, but I do want to talk about the writing. As usual, I love how King tells the story. I love the buildup, the slow escalation, and the thrill the closer we get to the end. His characters are amazing, their relationship dynamics, the ways they interact with each other. There’s always something to be gotten from a King novel.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Shining by Stephen King

Posted October 25, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Shining by Stephen King

Jack Torrance’s new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he’ll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote…and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge

The Reason

The last time I read this was more than a decade ago and it’s the BOTM for my online bookclub.

The Quotes

“Monsters are real. Ghosts are too. They live inside of us, and sometimes, they win.”

“Small children are great accepters. They don’t understand shame, or the need to hide things.”

“He would write it for the reason he felt that all great literature, fiction and nonfiction, was written: truth comes out, in the end it always comes out. He would write it because he felt he had to.”

“That’s your job in this hard world, to keep your love alive and see that you get on, no matter what. Pull your act together and just go on.”

The Narrator(s)

Campbell Scott. Great narration, I was immersed.

My Thoughts

I think the last time I read this book was so long ago, my memories of it was interwoven with the movie because of how prominent the movie is. This time, my memories of both the book and movie have faded quite a bit so I was surprised by a great many things I had long forgotten.

What I loved most about reading it this time is seeing more of Wendy’s and Danny’s POVs. I think Jack stood out too much in the movie, which isn’t surprising, but the book gave a lot more depth to Wendy’s and Danny’s characters. I also loved Hallorann; he might be one of my favorite characters in the book even though we don’t see him very much. He’s the kind of character that makes an impact on you even just crossing paths with him randomly.

I also feel like I got a lot more out of the book this time around; maybe because I’m rereading it, maybe because I’m older now and seeing it with a new perspective, maybe because it’s a BOTM and I’m reading it with other people and seeing their perspectives.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Cujo by Stephen King

Posted September 21, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Cujo by Stephen King

Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine

The #1 national bestseller for Stephen King’s rabid fans, Cujo “hits the jugular” (The New York Times) with the story of a friendly Saint Bernard that is bitten by a sick bat. Get ready to meet the most hideous menace ever to savage the flesh and devour the mind.

Outside a peaceful town in central Maine, a monster is waiting. Cujo is a two-hundred-pound Saint Bernard, the best friend Brett Camber has ever had. One day, Cujo chases a rabbit into a cave inhabited by sick bats and emerges as something new altogether.

Meanwhile, Vic and Donna Trenton, and their young son Tad, move to Maine. They are seeking peace and quiet, but life in this small town is not what it seems. As Tad tries to fend off the terror that comes to him at night from his bedroom closet, and as Vic and Donna face their own nightmare of a marriage on the rocks, there is no way they can know that a monster, infinitely sinister, waits in the daylight.

What happens to Cujo, how he becomes a horrifying vortex inescapably drawing in all the people around him, makes for one of the most heart-stopping novels Stephen King has ever written. “A genuine page-turner that grabs you and holds you and won’t let go” (Chattanooga Times), Cujo will forever change how you view man’s best friend.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge

The Reason

I guess I’m making my way through Stephen King’s catalog faster than usual now that there are buddy reads happening. I love Stephen King and I would read him anyway, but it’s so much more fun when you can discuss the books with other Stephen King fans.

The Quotes

“It would perhaps not be amiss to point out that he had always tried to be a good dog. He had tried to do all the things his MAN and his WOMAN, and most of all his BOY, had asked or expected of him. He would have died for them, if that had been required. He had never wanted to kill anybody. He had been struck by something, possibly destiny, or fate, or only a degenerative nerve disease called rabies. Free will was not a factor.”

“When there was nothing left but survival, when you were right down to the strings and nap and ticking of yourself, you survived or you died and that seemed perfectly all right.”

“The two of them had discovered it was all right to open the closets…as long as you didn’t poke too far back in them. Because things might still be lurking there, ready to bite.”

“A woman doesn’t necessarily mind being looked at. It’s being mentally undressed that makes you nervous.”

The Narrator(s)

Lorna Raver. It was a good listening experience. Lorna Raver did some pretty decent voices and the sound engineering was good too.

My Thoughts

This is a reread and it’s funny because most of what I remembered most about the story was the scary dog, of course, but rereading it now I see that it’s so much more than that.

We get a lot of background story with the characters – there are several notable characters – and we start to care about them very much. They are all flawed in some way; we find out about their marital problems, career problems, car problems, kids problems, life-in-general problems. Even their (very young) kids have problems!

The characters here are so multi-faceted and humanly flawed, and it’s interesting to see how their individual thoughts and behaviors created a butterfly effect that led them down this road to Cujo. It’s an intense read, and so heartwrenching.

I’m also paying more attention now to the crossovers between his books and that enhances the reading experience even more. It’s been a while since I read The Dead Zone, but I remember Frank Dodd and I like how his story was incorporated here. I also just read You Like It Darker earlier this year, and I like that one of the characters here continues his story there in Rattlesnakes.

Also, poor Cujo. He’s the monster portrayed in this book, but he’s not the real monster if you really think about it. This is just an incredible book, so well-written, and I think it’s up there as one of my favorite King books (but there are so many of them!).

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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