When has King's writing disturbed you the most?

[CyberGhostface]

For me it's the Patrick Hockstetter chapter in It. I've even skipped it on some rereads.

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

I can't remember specifics, but when the salesman kicked the dog to death and when the handcuffs were finally 'slipped' off in Gerald's Game. Both disturbed me.

[sgc1999]

i would have to say the scene in needful things where the 2 woman go at each other with knives. The spilling of innards and visceral blood spraying was pretty intense the first time i read it.

[Ricky]

Should we maybe mark spoilers or put it in the thread title? I think it's safe to say that many members, including myself, haven't read all of SK's books yet. :)

[Brice]

Two words: The End....very scary

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Pet Sematary, pretty much the whole book.

[RIC #520]

Anytime that he writes about old people in rest homes, etc. The future can be scary..

[mtdman]

A pack of pre teens having sex in a sewer in IT.

[Shannon]

Spoiler tags please, but list what book the spoiler is about so that I don't click everything! lol

For me, it's Gerald's Game:

The scene where she might or might not be seeing the deformed man in the corner, watching her. Best few paragraphs he's ever written.

[CyberGhostface]

Should we maybe mark spoilers or put it in the thread title? I think it's safe to say that many members, including myself, haven't read all of SK's books yet. :)

Edited the title.

[Merlin1958]

i would have to say the scene in needful things where the 2 woman go at each other with knives. The spilling of innards and visceral blood spraying was pretty intense the first time i read it.

That was pretty scary, but I gotta go with "Gerald's Game". First time I asked myself how Tabby could lay down next to a guy thinking these thoughts!!!! LOL

[Jean]

For me it's the Patrick Hockstetter chapter in It. I've even skipped it on some rereads.Yes, this, then the first quarter of Desperation, and that part in Pet Sematary where

he exhumes Gage

[Iwritecode]

As a parent, it's usually the death of a child that bothers me. The 3 biggest ones are Cujo, Pet Semetary and The Stand.

Slight spoilers for those 3 books.

Pet Semetary where he talks about the cap full of blood when Gage gets hit by the truck.

The ending of Cujo obviously.

The couple of lines in The Stand where the little kid falls down an abandoned well and breaks his leg.

[Jean]

the cap full of blood
this is something I don't want to remember at all. I have just reread Pet Sematary, and I read that part as if for the first time - I had forgotten it. Now I read it in your post, and I realized that I had forgotten it again. I am not a parent, but that was too much to take for me nevertheless. Now I hope I will forget it again.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

When I was young (before becoming a father) I found Pet Sematary to be SK's scariest book because of transformation of Gage into this Evil monster. The destruction of innocence was something that stayed with me. However, after becoming a father, the real horror of the story is the pain that Loise had to go through with the loss, ugly funeral, exhumation, and then second killing of his son. I have twin daughters about Gage's age and it makes me feel a little sick to my stomach when I read all those parts. Pet Sematary spoiler

[fernandito]

That bit in Desperation where

Mary is locked in the 'storage' room where Tak keeps all of his spare bodies. That was disturbingly awesome.

[Heather19]

For me it's the Patrick Hockstetter chapter in It. I've even skipped it on some rereads.

Yes, I felt sick to my stomach after reading that. Definitely his most disturbing piece for me.
Also most of Apt Pupil. It's scary that there's people out there that have no sense of right or wrong, or even care if they hurt someone.



Spoiler tags please, but list what book the spoiler is about so that I don't click everything! lol

For me, it's Gerald's Game:

The scene where she might or might not be seeing the deformed man in the corner, watching her. Best few paragraphs he's ever written.

Yes! Not disturbing for me, but definitely the scariest moment! Still freaks me out.

[Garrell]

"The Man in the Black Suit" was one that kept be looking behind me, love that story.

[Merlin1958]

The "Werewolf" scene in "IT" hit a chord for me!!!

[beam*seeker]

Tommyknockers:

When you realize that Bobbi has cannabalized her beagle to power the machines under the influence of the alien ship. I cannot fathom vivisecting a loved pet!

[Jean]

yes, this too...

[EXPLORER]

I was not surprised when Geralds Game was mentioned here fairly quickly. While hanging out in Barnes and Noble a bit I wandered about the bargain tables and came across a couple of King audio books I did not have. One of them I puchased was Geralds Game. I was spending a bit of time traveling so popped it into the car cd player and realized I did not recall reading it... The more I listened, the more I realized perhaps I had not read it before and it also had me wondering about what others (including Tabby) thought of the mindset to create this tale. Typically, I soon found myself amazed about how well King always developes charactors.... even ones not there.

[TCCBodhi]

I first read the Langoliers as a freshman in college. I was living in a dorm close to the sports area, so there were a lot of athletes in the building, generally making lots of noise. However, on the night that I was reading this, there was absolutely no sound going on. I ended up having to get dressed and go down to the lobby of the building to make sure there were still people around.

[Jimimck]

For me its the end of The Jaunt.

To date I can vividly picture the young boys craziness as he screams "longer than you think dad, longer than you think..."

[Jean]

oh no

it's one of the things I don't want to remember

[WeDealInLead]

A lot of good choices. I wish there were more hours in a day so I can re-read all of his books. Here are few quickies:

The Waste Lands:
The plaster man.

The Shining, pretty much the entire book but these two stand out:
Firehose and topiary animals. Yikes. I was seriously terrified.

Pet Sematary:
When Lois sees the ghost at work. It took me completely off guard

Black House, too many to count. The one with the box... yikes (again). Try imagining being that mother. Worse than Pet Sematary IMO.

Rose Madder
first chapter, start to finish

Cell. This was my first SK book so details are a little hazy but when the zombie or whatever in the red sweater shows up at the door

[WeDealInLead]

Forgot Gramma and Langoliers. No spoilers needed, they're creepy and made me feel very uneasy from start to finish.

Some of Richard Starks handywork is pretty gruesome too.

[Odetta]

This may sound stupid, but "The Moving Finger" has always been one of the more disturbing CONCEPTS that he came up with for me. To this day, I have trouble taking a shower without thinking about that damn finger!

[mtdman]

For me its the end of The Jaunt.

To date I can vividly picture the young boys craziness as he screams "longer than you think dad, longer than you think..."

Yep, that was a very good short story. I have a vivid picture of that in my mind.

[CyberGhostface]

Some other examples: anything with the baby in 'Salem's Lot, and the microwave scene in Apt Pupil come to mind.