Best Stephen King Books

This article takes a look at just a few of the best Stephen King books (choosing them wasn't easy) and explores how the master storyteller brought his tales to life. We’ll also let you know which of his iconic novels are best for different types of readers. 

Get to Know Stephen King

American novelist Stephen Edwin King was born in 1947 in Portland, Maine, a state which would go on to form the backdrop of many of his novels.

No Stephen King biography would be complete without a mention of his difficult childhood, which was marked by financial difficulties and the absence of his father, who abandoned the family when he was a child. The budding horror fiction author published his first novel Carrie in 1974, after his wife Tabitha rescued the manuscript from the bin.

Carrie became an instant success and set him on the path to becoming a bestselling writer and Bram Stoker Award winner. It also showcased his unique writing style in which he blends everyday details with supernatural horror, giving his terrifying tales an unsettling sense of reality. That inimitable style is also one of the main reasons for his numerous awards and record-breaking commercial success. 

How We Curated This List

It’s not easy to create a list of Stephen King books ranked from best to worst, and so we’ve deliberately not gone down that route. Instead, we’ve selected the best of the best and will present them here in no particular order. 

To create this list, we’ve looked at a number of different factors, starting out first and foremost with reader ratings on sites like Amazon and Goodreads. We also looked at the Amazon and Goodreads rankings to determine overall popularity, factoring in total sales figures alongside critical acclaim and cultural impact. This means that we’ve also thought about the TV and movie adaptations, but only when they’ve played a part in the book’s overall success.

With so many bestsellers to his name, it’s almost impossible to create a definitive list of King’s “best” books, but we think we’ve done a pretty good job. We’ve also gone out of our way to consider his entire catalogue and factor in multiple genres, from classic horror to drama, fantasy and thriller.

The Best Stephen King Books of All Time

1. IT

I’ve got three words for you: IT Stephen King. That’s all you really need.

If you still need a little more encouragement to pick this one up, you’ve just got to look at the plot. A classic coming-of-age tale but with a creepy clown thrown in, IT follows a group of children in Derry, Maine who find themselves facing an ancient evil in the form of Pennywise.

This horror novel is considered by many to be King’s masterpiece, partly because of the huge amount of character depth and partly because of the sinister atmosphere that permeates the novel and will leave you struggling to sleep at night. It also explores childhood trauma and the idea of whether evil can linger and haunt a place over multiple generations.

There have also been two screen adaptations of IT: a TV miniseries released in 1990 and a two-part film adaptation released in 2017 and 2019. Both of them were huge successes and they still terrify movie fans today.

2. The Shining

Early on in his career, The Shining Stephen King was considered to be his signature novel, in part because it bears all the hallmarks of what makes his work so iconic. A psychological horror story, it tells the story of what happened when writer Jack Torrance and his family moved into the Overlook Hotel to take care of the empty building during the winter.

Later made into an iconic Stanley Kubrick film that features on many lists of the best movies of all time, The Shining investigates the effects of isolation while showcasing Jack’s slow descent into madness. It also has a touch of the supernatural to it, because the hotel itself has a dark history and there’s an evil at work that’s influencing Jack’s mind.

Perhaps the most notable thing about The Shining is that this isn’t the kind of novel where there’s a big bad monster at play. Instead, the real scares come from the evil that human beings are capable of, especially when you consider that Jack is just an ordinary guy.

3. The Stand

It’s time for the longest book of all. It’s time for The Stand Stephen King novel.

This post-apocalyptic novel is so ambitious and wide-reaching that it’s hard to summarise the plot, but we’ll give it a go. Set in the aftermath of a plague that wipes out the majority of humanity, we’re talking about a piece of pandemic fiction that predates the COVID-19 pandemic by over 40 years. 

It’s also an epic horror tale that investigates the battle between good and evil, with the side of good led by Mother Abagail and the side of evil being represented by Randall Flagg. Every one of its ensemble cast of characters has a highly developed background, and with over 1,000 pages in the print edition, there’s plenty of story there to get to know them.

The result is one of the most sensational novels ever written, and a book that’s more relevant than ever now that we live in a post-pandemic society.

4. Misery

First published in 1987, Misery Stephen King is a departure from what he’d written previously because it’s a very different kind of story. A psychological thriller, it’s an example of a common occurrence in King’s novels because it features a writer as a main character.

Misery follows what happens when novelist Paul Sheldon is held captive by an obsessive fan called Annie Wilkes. After Sheldon is injured in a car accident, he’s rescued by Annie and taken to her home, only to be held captive until he rewrites the latest instalment in her favourite book series. 

The captivity novel is known for its darkness and claustrophobia, as well as the way in which it acts as a metaphor for King’s struggles with addiction. It’s also known for the quality of its movie adaptation, which starred Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes and went on to win an Academy Award. 

5. Pet Semetary

The first thing to note here is that the spelling mistake in Pet Sematary Stephen King is deliberate, and the novel explains why it’s not spelled as “Cemetery”. 

In this novel, the Creed family moves into a new home that’s near a Native American burial ground that has the power to bring the dead back to life. We don’t want to go into huge spoilers here, but let’s just say that this power comes with some fairly disturbing drawbacks. 

The result is a unique piece of resurrection horror which investigates grief and loss, as well as the lengths that people will go to if it means they can bring a loved one back from the dead. Even the author himself considers this one the scariest King novel, and while it’s true that there’s a healthy smattering of the supernatural here, it’s the fear of losing a child that’s the most terrifying of all.

6. The Green Mile

You might have watched the movie. Now it’s time to discover the book.

The Green Mile Stephen King is a death row drama, and one of several King tales that’s set in a prison. Unlike that noteworthy piece The Shawshank Redemption, though, this one doesn’t centre around a jailbreak attempt. 

Instead, we follow corrections officer Paul Edgecombe and death row inmate John Coffey on the lead-up to Coffey’s execution. It’s one of the most emotional Stephen King novels, because it seems like everyone knows that Coffey is innocent and yet he’s doomed to die anyway, despite having a unique ability to heal the sick like a prison Jesus.

The Green Mile is also known for its 1999 film adaptation starring Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan as Edgecombe and Coffey. It received multiple Academy Award nominations and is often held up as an example of what a good King movie looks like.

7. 11/22/63

So far, most of the books that we’ve talked about have been from King’s earlier career. 11/22/63 Stephen King is a more modern release, first hitting bookshelves in 2011 and being adapted into a TV series five years later in 2016.

This time travel novel is also a work of alternative history, investigating the JFK assassination and looking at what might have happened if the great president had survived. Viewed by critics as one of the most mature, underrated and thought-provoking of King’s novels, it blends multiple different genres together, featuring elements of science fiction and romance in a book that’s so much more than just another Stephen King thriller.

We can also think of 11/22/63 as being a piece of historical fiction, and King’s attention to detail when it comes to the sights, sounds and smells of the mid-20th century is unbelievable. It’s the closest you can get to actually being there.

8. The Dark Tower Series

Last but by no means least, The Dark Tower Stephen King is the great author’s masterpiece. King himself has called it the central work of his career, and there are links between this fantasy horror series and the vast majority of his other books, from common characters to locations and objects that appear over and over again.

This eight-book Stephen King series follows a gunslinger called Roland Deschain and his ka-tet of fellow travellers as they embark on an epic quest in search of the titular Dark Tower, a location which reality itself is built upon. The plot isn’t easy to summarise, and neither is the genre. It’s been called everything from horror and fantasy to western and science fiction, and the reality is that it’s all of the above and more.

There really isn’t anything quite like the Dark Tower series anywhere in literature, and King knows it. 

Where to Get Started

Now that you know which books are the best, the next question is where to start Stephen King if you’re a new reader who wants to get into his work. Unfortunately, that’s not an easy question to answer.

If it’s your first Stephen King book and you’ve not read much horror before, your best option is to start with Carrie or Pet Sematary. Carrie is shorter and is King’s first published book, while Pet Sematary is arguably his scariest. Psychological thriller fans should go for Misery, and then they should watch the movie after they’ve read it.

Beginner recommendations for readers looking for depth and emotion revolve around two main books: 11/22/63 and The Green Mile. Which one you pick should be based upon which synopsis interests you the most.

We’ve included the Dark Tower series on our list of best King for new readers, but that’s only because of just how iconic it is. We’d recommend avoiding taking it on until you’re more familiar with King’s style.

The Final Chapter

There’s a reason why Stephen King books sell so many copies and why they’re so universally loved. King’s literary legacy is that of a world-class writer who’s dedicated his life to the craft of storytelling, mastering everything from characterisation to plotting and pacing.

The must-read novels that we’ve talked about today push the boundaries of horror and have introduced popular culture to a number of iconic characters that have become household names, from Pennywise the Clown to Annie Wilkes and Roland Deschain.

We’ve taken a look at a few reader favorites in today’s article, but with so many books to his name, it’s impossible to list them all without overwhelming you. Each of his books explores a different but deeply universal theme and shows what it’s like to be a human.

And now it’s over to you. Which Stephen King book is your favourite? Be sure to let us know in the comments so we can keep the discussion going.