Your First SK Book

[beam*seeker]

My first King book was Misery. My mum has a big hardback of it and I've always been a 'bookworm'. I read the back and liked the sound of it. I was hooked about 4 pages into it... been an avid fan ever since xD
(Although not quite so avid as Annie Wilkes... )

This was my first SK book and it was a great place to start. What I remember vividly was that the story was realistic and totally horrifying because it could really happen. I had always sort of thought that SK was a boogey man author who wrote unrealistic horror stories, which sort of bored me at the ripe old cynical age of 13 or thereabouts. Anyway, I read Misery and what initially impressed me was the brilliant metaphor of the narrator who rode in and out on consciousness affected by the pain medications. The description of the alteration of perception really got me hooked into the story. What kept me reading was the suspense of what could happen to the narrator. After that, I found a copy of The Tommyknockers, and that one was really good too. I remember being grossed out by the period stuff and totally ripshit horrified by what happens to the beagle! Blew my little barely adolescent mind. Anyway, I wonder if my Mom had those books because all of my family members are fairly avid readers and my sis and I went back and forth on the SK books when we were kids, recommending stuff to each other.

To this day, I really love the SK horror stuff and the Fantasy as well, but the realistic stuff like Misery is for me the most satisfying. I really liked the Different Seasons book by SK as Richard Bachman because the stories were less horrific and very realistic. I always love that he writes about the fatal flaw of the character. I remember even as a kid thinking that Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption would make a great short film, and sure enough, that vision was realized. Those were my early forays into SK and he remains my fave author. Reading this thread does remind me of some early works I should go back and read since I was sort of put off by the movie versions (like Carrie and Pet Cemetary) and never got around to reading.

Great thread by the way. And yeah, I can't say I am SK's number one fan, but he is my #1 writer. Cockadoodie!

[LadyHitchhiker]

I think I must've been born reading Stephen King because I can't remember the first one I read. However, I do remember the first one that changed my life, and that was the Drawing of the Three.... Completely blew my mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!