As i am a fan of the short story i thought i would post a list to give others an idea of the good king short stories that are worth reading!
So, whats your favorite?
Mine would be - in no particular order
1: - Survivor type - A man gets stranded on a small island with nothing to eat except himself! This one stayed with me for a while, extremely disturbing
2: Boogyman - One man explains to his psychiatrist that he didn't kill his kids, but it was in fact the boogyman who lurked in there closet I know this sounds familiar but its how this story was told that makes it a top read..Extremely creepy
3: Suffer the little children - We all know children can be little monsters, but the teacher in this story finds out to her horror, that some of them are indeed literally monsters! Very creepy, and you feel for the poor teacher who can see, or thinks she is seeing the monsters lurking within these young children
4: Crouch End - Two police officers, Farnham and Vetter, are working the night shift in the London neighborhood of Crouch End. They are discussing the case of a young American woman who came in to report the disappearance of her husband. Nearly hysterical, her story involves monsters and other supernatural incidents. Farnham dismisses the story as rubbish, but Vetter, who has worked in Crouch End for years, is not so sure. ( This story is very creepy..nods to HP Lovecraft in this one) If you love stories about otherworldly beings and dimensions then you will love this.
5: Quitters Inc - In this story, Richard finds an organization that guarantees he will quit smoking, and he better had, for his family sake... Class little story, one of Kings best
6: 'N' - A story about patient 'N', who is diagnosed by Dr. John Bonsaint as suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder and paranoid delusions related to "keeping balance." N. has become convinced that a circle of stones in a field on the outskirts of town contains a doorway to another reality, where a terrifying entity, repeatedly said to be a "helmet-headed" being named Cthun, is trying to break through. N's obsession eventually leads to his death by suicide, despite Johnny's best efforts. When Johnny goes out to the field to see the stones for himself, he begins to suspect that N. might not have been delusional after all when he suffers from the same symptoms as his patient. Similar to Crouch End. Eerie
7: The Langoliers - Passengers take a flight from LA to Boston into a most unfriendly sky. Only ten passengers survive but landing in an eerily empty world makes them with they hadn't. Somethings waiting for them you see.... A cracking read!
8: The Jaunt - An interesting idea from a professor leads to the development of teleportation on a mass scale 350 years in our future. There is one drawback though - people must be unconscious in order to teleport, or else they turn insane. Insane because, even though the body is transported instantly, the consciousness takes a long long time to pass through
12 year old Ricky Oates holds his breath and stays awake during the Jaunt procedure. On arriving at the other end he is insane and tears his eyes out.
The thing that had been Ricky bounced and writhed on its jaunts couch, a twelve year old boy with a snow white fall of hair and eyes that were incredibly ancient, the corneas gone a sickly yellow. Here was a creature older than time masquerading as a boy...''It was longer than you think Dad'' it cackled...LONGER THAN YOU THINK!
__________________
"How about this? Shut your mouth...Or I'll kick your teeth down your throat and shut it for you."
I've read so many of his stories it's so hard to narrow it down. But here's a short list of stories that will probably stay with me until I die.
1)The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - I LOVED the history surrounding this one story, very involved. So damned exciting. Top notch stuff. The Story is nothing short of greatness.
2)The Colour Out of Space - I loved the visuals in this story, very psychedelic. It's like taking a hallucinogenic drug, wonderful.
3)The Dunwich Horror - What can I say, it's a classic.
4) The Call of Cthulhu - When 'ol squid-face rises from R'lyeh... the epic-ness of his awakening is one of the most awe-striking things I've ever read. It's a classic, enough said.
5)Herbert West – Reanimator - I know Lovecraft secretly hated this series, but boy did I love them. So gorey, so savage and morbidly funny. A nice break from his usual "terrifying vistas of reality" type stuff.
6) The Outsider - A very personal story in my opinion. Very sad. Classic.
7) Pickman’s Model - This story was genuinely horrifying to me. The story leads you to imagine the demon very grotesquely, very haunting to me. Try reading this one in the dark, if you have even a low-rate imagination YOU WILL BE SCARED.
8) Whisperer in The Darkness - A very suspenseful story. I love how this one ties in with the whole Cthulhu mythos. With heavy sci-fi elements. How does Lovecraft manage to make Sci-Fi so terrifying?
What about yourself, Deano?
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"Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."
Last edited by Blinky on Jun 2nd, 2010 at 04:15 PM
Good choices! I haven't read 'The Outsider' or 'The case of Charles Dexter Ward' yet but will get around to it soon.
I'm only about halfway through his work but if i have to pick my favorites so far....
The Dunwich Horror - Like you said..classic! How close was Wilbur from opening the gates for those elder gods!
The Whisperer in the Darkness - This one creeped me out, i felt the protagonists sense of dread as he made his way to finally meet Akeley. I felt something was not quite right! The sense of foreboding was extreme.
Dreams in the Witch house - Very bizarre story. Expertly written!
The colour out of space - Goes without saying. Terrific story.
Call of Cthulhu - Again a classic.
At the moment i am reading 'At the Mountains of Madness' and i reckon that will soon be a top favorite of mine.
Other little gems i like..
The Statement of Randolph Carter - Loved it for its simplicity.
The Outsider - Brilliant.
The Music of Erich Zann
I pretty much love all his work! He was a master of conjuring up bizarre imagery in ones mind.
__________________
"How about this? Shut your mouth...Or I'll kick your teeth down your throat and shut it for you."
To be frank, I love most of his books. Everything you named is awesome...however I think my favorite he ever wrote is "Bag Of Bones". It's a great book. I don't know if you've read it or not, but you can't put it down until your done.
Also, I love "The Girl that Loved Tom Gordon". Most of his books are great. I didn't like Dreamcatcher, though.
Shawshank beats The Body on my list, however on my list it would be Bag Of Bones and The Stand.
I have to say this though..for his books to be so great....the movies don't do them justice at all. The only movie that did was "Secret Window". Have you seen the short movies for "Everything's Eventual"? They did the Autopsy Room Four..and I was so disappointed.
This is a great book! What are you guys talking about?
"Iffy" for age 13? Off for under that? You've got to be kidding me. Annoying Overprotective Parent (AOP): Isn't Ponyboy in a gang? I don't want my darling little -insert name here- reading that. Me: Yes, he's part of a gang, but it even says in the book that it's not an organized gang. The only fighting they do is self defense against the Socs, a group of vicious rich kids who jump Greasers for fun. AOP: So the Socs are bad, then? That's still setting a bad example! Me: They're villains; they're supposed to be bad. Isn't the big bad wolf a bad example, too? AOP: I heard that they smoke and drink a lot in the book. Me: This was written a long time ago. Everyone smoked. Adults even smoked with little babies in the room. And for drinking: Ponyboy says he tried some once, but when Darry (his older brother) found out, he got in big trouble. AOP: What about violence? And death? Me: Like I said before, violence is mostly self defense. And death? That's life. Get used to it. AOP: I'll think about it. So yeah, this is a really great book. If you parents out there prevent your child from reading this, I hope you know it's the worst mistake you'll ever make.
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Apr 22nd, 2010 08:54 PM
