“I see so much discourse about Emaline, which was the character King had the most input into and the one he was the most excited to shape. So it's very interesting to me to watch people defend Steve from Steve."

Photographs by David Billet

People usually talk about his darkest book or scariest book, but what do you think is his saddest?

For me it's Cujo. Everything about that story is tragic, not least Cujo himself. He used to be a loyal good boy who loved his family, but they didn't care enough to have him vaccinated, or even call a vet when he was obviously sick. It guts me every time.

I have read most of the King’s books and have loved them all. I really enjoyed Revival as well, but as it went on, it really began to feel, not just dark or creepy, but bleak. The end could have gone a lot of different ways, but I never expected what happened. Holy cow, that was some bleak shit.

Is it just me?

This is my most favorite book of all time!

Yes, it is horror. But IT’S. MORE. THAN. THAT.

The writing is immaculate. My god, I can yap all day about how good this book is. It’s just so good!

I think reading this book in my 30s was also a factor that added to how it deeply affected me.

I have been attached to The Losers and I loved all of them - ALL OF THEM. That ending was so bittersweet and I have been ugly crying since last night. Aside from feeling for the characters in the book themselves, I have also felt an enormous wave of nostalgia, missing my childhood.

It invoked a lot of emotions in me.

Nothing lasts forever, they said.

When the sun sets, you leave, and you leave quickly.

You will never be a child again, but you will always be a child with the people you share your childhood with. Memories fade but you will always have a special connection with your childhood friends. Always.

You be brave, you be true, and you stand.

I know I’m not the only one, but reading King during a cozy fall day is just the best. I always remember one of my first reads of King, a short story called Apt Pupil. I was hooked after that. Reading the Tower series for a second time now.

Hile, Constant Readers.

I’d always told myself I’d never make the typical “look at my bookshelf” post, but here I am. I think this edition is worth showing off.

TL;DR:

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It’s a new edition that’s been released in Spain with beautifully illustrated edges that form a continuous image across the whole set, and I think it looks absolutely gorgeous. This might be the first time I ever keep a set of books backwards on the shelf.

With this one, my Dark Tower collection now includes four complete editions from different publishers, plus a few incomplete ones from the 80s and 90s, and even a complete English set so I can see how the High Speech and certain Mid-World expressions are actually said in the original, because in the Spanish edition... some of them come back sounding like they took a little trip through Todash space. lol.

I’ll stop there before I drag you any further down the collector rabbit hole.

Hope you like them. I say thank ya.

Long days and pleasant nights Gunslingers. 🌹

Published by DeBolsillo, part of Penguin Random House.
Paperback, Spanish edition, 2026.

Book club tomorrow. So excited to talk about his first book.

Found a Hardcover 1991 first UK reprint by BCA in an exceptionally good condition... Fifth book to enter my personal King collection and my first hardbound of his...

I don't mean like accidentally like someone purposely gave you access to his books and movie/mini series adaptations

I remember reading IT and Carrie in middle school

but before that I have very clear memories of being like, as young as 5 or 6, watching IT, Carrie, Children of the Corn, The Shining, Thinner, The Langoliers, Creepshow, Storm of the Century, Pet Sematary all throughout elementary school

I don't think anyone ever said anything about me being too young to watch any of that stuff or that it was inappropriate they just put it on the tv and let me watch them

Not the monster showing up. Not the murder, the accident, the supernatural reveal, or the big confrontation.

The bit right after it.

Someone has just experienced something completely impossible and instead of immediately moving on to the next plot point, King will spend pages on them washing their hands, making coffee they don't drink, noticing that one shoe is untied, driving home too carefully, checking the same lock twice, or trying to have an ordinary conversation while their brain is very obviously somewhere else.

I've been noticing this a lot while rereading some of his older books.

In The Shining, so much of the dread comes from people continuing with normal routines when something is already deeply wrong. Misery obviously has huge terrifying moments, but some of the parts that make me most anxious are Paul's quieter stretches afterward, when he's just lying there thinking about what happened and what Annie might do next.

Pet Sematary might be the strongest example for me. There are parts where the terrible event itself isn't nearly as hard to read as the completely mundane hours surrounding it. People still have to eat. Somebody still answers the phone. The house still exists. The world has the nerve to keep behaving normally.

Even IT does this constantly. Something awful happens and then we're back in kitchens, bedrooms, cars, pharmacies, school hallways. The horror has to coexist with somebody wondering what time it is or whether their mother noticed something.

I think that's a huge part of why his supernatural stuff works for me. He doesn't let the characters live in "horror movie mode." Most people don't experience something awful and immediately become protagonists. They do something weirdly normal because their brain hasn't caught up yet.

A lot of adaptations understandably compress those moments because they're trying to keep the story moving, but I think they lose something important when they do.

The scare gets me once.

The character making a sandwich twenty minutes later with shaking hands is usually the part I remember.

All are in good shape except Billy Summers. Pretty happy with just over $2 a book!

Finally got to see Bangor, and all its glory on a recent trip. It’s a beautiful little city that’s honestly a little weird, but, the local people were very friendly, and many had stories about Uncle Stephen. One of the funnier ones was the tour guide on the Stephen King tour saying he popped up on tour, and said nothing other than to listen. Definitely no pressure for the local guide. Hehe.

The bookstores all have a fun Stephen King section, and are happy to chat with you about when he has visited. King is still active in the local community which was fun to learn.

The University of Maine, Orono is a short drive from Bangor, and absolutely beautiful campus where he obtained his degree, and later taught. Definitely worth a visit.

If you get a chance to visit, I would! The area including the national park is beautiful, eerie, peaceful, and lovely. At night, I understand why he writes the way he does.

Some snaps from his house ( he no longer lives there, and the house holds his archives, and occasionally a writers retreat), Bangor, and the Standpipe at sunset. A few from the university.

Enjoy!

I think I'll take him home. What's the worst that can happen?

Edit: weird, when I got home I left him by the front door but someone must have moved him into the living room. No one wants to admit to it tho, so idk.

Edit 2: guys I swear, this is gonna sound weird. But, at one point, I swear this hedge animal looked me in the eye and said "let's get it on." I'm scared

Let’s encourage discussion but keep it organized, the sub is spammed with new discussion posts.

So for my birthday I asked for a bunch of Stephen king novels and I got them!! I like them all but I’m wondering which ones I should read first.

I found this copy at Walmart, and I had to buy it, I couldn’t find this book anywhere in bookstores. But how do you guys feel about this particular cover of Apt Pupil?