Great to get chills while reading!

SALEM’S LOT was my introduction to Stephen King. I was a kid of 13. In the same two week period, I read THE OMEN, and THE EXORCIST. Neither of the latter two books fazed me. SALEM'S LOT had me looking behind me and locking upstairs windows like nobody's business. I was scared. Welcome to the world of Stephen King! Of course this was years before Anne Rice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and a literal explosion of vampires in the popular media. At the time I figured out this was a Vampire Story, I thought the whole vampire thing was sort of hackneyed. Now I think it arises from the eternal human desire to live forever and is a cautionary tale about pursuing that desire.

Stephen King quite literally inserted himself into this novel in the character of Ben Mears. I loved the American Gothic setting of the novel, the much famed Castle Rock. As with any King novel, the cbaracter's are extraordinarily well rendered. I think character developement is King's greatest strength as a writer. Any reader of King's Magnum Opera, The Gun Slinger Series, MUST read this book first

This collection of Stephen Kings work is delicious.

The Shining.
Some of the images this book created for me still haunt my mind. Despite having only read it twice in the past 30 years the imagery still hold.

The story is based around a small family who become winter caretakers in the off-season of an old Hotel. The father is a recovering alcoholic and would-be writer, the mother is a mother and the young son is telepathic and clairvoyant (has premonitions). When the hotel becomes cut of by snow it takes on a whole life of its own.

Without spoiling the plot I can safely say this book was to me one of my worst nightmares. The characters are all people who should love each other unconditionally but they are human, trapped and haunted. After that anything is possible.


Carrie
For me this has always been a fast and enjoyable read. King really manages to get inside the head of the main character Carrie - a teenage girl who initially at least has little understanding of herself, who is bullied by her mother and bullied by her classmates. I am not a violent or vindictive person yet somehow I always felt the town deserved what it got in this book.

In fact I think Carrie should be compulsory reading at secondary schools and should be discussed in depth.

Salems Lot
Of all of Kings books this one has always stood out to me as the most beautifully written - or perhaps it was the one that really awakened me to the beauty that is in Kings writing.
He creates everything within this story beautifully. It is essentially a 20th century Dracula story and well worth reading. I am sure many later vampire stories were inspired by Salems Lot.

Nightshift
A wonderfully terrifying collection of Stephen Kings short stories.
He wrote somewhere (I don't know if it was this collection) something like "I know there are no monsters under my bed and I know too that if I don't put my feet over the edge of the bed they wont get me". It's all true. Read nightshift!

From what I remember reading it as a teenager, this is the most frightening book I've ever read. Time to reread.

Terrifying; most visceral reactions I've ever had while reading, ever.

I read Salems lot when i was 13 and it scared the hell out of me, I quit reading horror after this. It taught me my lesson. I am grateful I found PNR so i could have my vampires back without the nightmares!!!!!!!!

Iread all of Steven Kings books up until his last couple and got tired of scary stories.
I did enjoy them when I was reading them,a nd still have of the discription in mind. Like Shit weasel. i could not helo but think that SK had some kind of dark side in himself I no longer cared for.

Finished The Shining. What can I say? An outstanding book. Sharp pacing, page turner, thriller, edge of your seat scariness. But, layered, psychologically draining, enormously entertaining and so, so much better than the movie but, having said that, the movie was quite brilliant in condensing and interpreting the most thrilling bits of this classic. I mean, this book is like a visit to the midway, there is just so much going on it would have been impossible to convey all the things in a two hour movie.
So much came back to me, my first reading was sooo long ago, and visualizing the movie and Jack, Wendy, Danny and Mr. Halloran was easy. But the deep parts, the undertone and narrative vibe captured in the words King put on paper underscored just how good The Shining was when published in 1977. The Overlook was a character, a creepy huge character, I see that now like never before. Again, in Doctor Sleep with Danny as an adult, and again in Billy Summers, there's the Overlook in all it's creepiness. Certainly King fans will have read this book, The Shining, and if you haven't yet, get on it, you are missing a treat.

Salems lot and Carrie both wonderful page turning novels,loved them both.

The Shining - 3.5
Salem's Lot - 3.25
Night Shift - 3
Carrie - 4.5

You can see both the roots of Stephen King's incredible unique style of storytelling, and that this really is his earliest writing. Looking at you Night Shift.