The title of âKing of Horrorsâ Stephen King, whose best books are more like psychological thrillers than horror, the writer perceives quite loyally. He is the most screened and âprolificâ American author, whose work delights not only readers, but also viewers. In many films, he is not only a screenwriter, but also an episodic actor. As Stephen King himself admits, he became a writer due to the fact that he was often ill in childhood, and therefore began to engage in writing from the age of 7.
short biography
Stephen King, whose best books are related to the places where he lived, often mentions the state of Maine, where he was born on September 21, 1947 in the city of Portland.
He was only 2 years old when his father left him with his mother and older brother to survive alone. Thanks to numerous relatives from both the mother and father, Stephen and his brother often had to spend vacations in different states and cities, which left their mark in the boy's memory.
So, at the age of 7 years, visiting a regular aunt, he found a whole box of books in the genre of horror and science fiction. This literature made such a strong impression on Stephen that he began to write his first stories, and in 1959 even published the newspaper âDave's Mustard Plasterâ with his brother.
King's childhood enthusiasm predetermined what he wants to become. And although few people printed his stories in those days, after leaving school in 1966, he entered the University of Maine at the faculty of English literature.
He continued to write, but his novels were still not published, therefore, to pay for his studies, he constantly worked part time at the weaving factory or at the university library. It was here that he met Tabitha Spruce, who became his wife in 1971. And she remains to this day.
Thanks to her, the best books of Stephen King were written. When he threw the first pages of his novel âCarrieâ into the urn, Tabitha found them and insisted that the story about a notorious girl with paranormal abilities would appeal to readers.
It was this novel that brought King not only the first glory, but also the first big money. He received a fee of $ 200,000, thanks to which he was able to leave teaching and devote all his time to writing prose. From 1974 to the present day, the best books by Stephen King have been created. Their list includes more than 50 novels, more than 200 stories and short stories, as well as scripts for films based on his works.
For his contribution to the development of American literature, Stephen King received a medal from the National Book Fund, which is usually awarded to writers of the classical genre.
"Carrie"
The years from 1974 to 1980 is the period when Stephen King writes and publishes books very intensively, the list of the best of which is headed by the novel âCarrieâ.
"Carrie" brought the author a fabulous fee of $ 200,000 at that time thanks not only to his literary talent, but also to the unusual plot. All oppressed and notorious people, whether children or adults who have gone through the horror of bullying at school, perfectly understand the feelings of a girl named Carrie White.
The desire to kill classmates or humiliate them in response turns into a real action in Carrieâs head when she discovers paranormal abilities. This novel can not be called a work of horror in the direct sense of the word, because it does not have monsters, vampires and hostile aliens. The author conducted a psychological excursion from a "clogged" mother-fanatic and humiliated by her classmates to a raging and avenging fury. This puts the novel in the category of "Stephen King's Best Books" in the thriller genre. For good reason, this work was filmed in 1979, 2002 and 2013. The latest version is known at the box office under the name "Telekinesis".
"Radiance"
The works that Stephen King wrote between 1970 and 1980 are books, the list of the best of which is Shine, Confrontation, and The Dead Zone.
Shine is the story of a writer who has problems with alcohol and anger management.
He brought his wife and child to a high-mountain hotel, where he found work as a seasonal caretaker. When in winter all the hotel staff goes on vacation until spring, the Torrance family is left alone with the not-so-harmless ghosts living there. In the first version of the film, shot in 1980 on this work, the main character was brilliantly played by Jack Nicholson.
"Dead zone"
One of the authorâs favorite topics is the supernatural abilities of a person to whom the best books of Stephen King are devoted. The top heroes âgiftedâ with such a gift or curse are continued by the protagonist of the Dead Zone book.
John Smith receives his gift from an accident resulting in a concussion. As a result, he is the only one who sees what the activities of a politician who seeks to become president by any means.
In 1983, the role of the protagonist of the book was excellently played by a beginner, and today, with over 100 roles, Christopher Walken. The desire of his hero to adapt to a normal life, having such abilities and use them for the benefit of people, that is the basis of this plot.
The first apocalypse from Stephen King
âConfrontationâ is the first catastrophe novel that can be categorized as âThe Best Books of Stephen Kingâ in this genre.
The deadly flu virus that Captain Skorokhod, who quickly escaped to death, escaped to freedom and leads to the extinction of most of the American population. The remaining people are divided into two camps - those who believe in good and do it, and those who are attracted by evil and chaos. The film, based on this novel, consists of 4 parts, each of which is the story of the main characters and the events occurring with them.
The book is built in the same way. Showing the life story of each of the main characters, both good and bad, leads them to choose which camp they should be in.
Goodies see in their dreams a blind old black woman and go where she tells them to. Bad people are united by the Black Man who has settled in Las Vegas. Only one group of people can survive, the confrontation between which is constantly growing.
This intense and full of pain, fear, doubt and betrayal thriller paints a picture of how people are changing under the pressure of circumstances and in the struggle for survival. Someone gets better in spite of them, and someone breaks down because it happened.
The book was screened in 1994, 16 years after the work won the hearts of readers.
Beginning of the 80s - âFlaming with a gazeâ, âKujoâ and âChristinaâ
This time period can be called one of the most fruitful, but also the most difficult in the life of the writer. The fact is that Stephen King, whose best horror books were written at that time, was very addicted to alcohol and drugs. The hobby, begun back in the seventies, grew into a real addiction and lasted until 1987. Thanks to the persistence and patience of his wife, the writer managed to cope with this problem, and now he does not use alcohol or drugs at all.
As King himself admits, he does not remember how some novels came out of his pen. This is all the more strange, because, according to his readers and critics, it was in the eighties that the best books of Stephen King were written.
- Topping the list of works of this time is the novel âFlaming eyesâ (1980), in which Stephen King returns to his favorite topic - the supernatural abilities of people. The novel describes the opposition of man to the system. The main character, participating in secret experiments, gains the ability to inspire other people with their thoughts. In the process of research, Andy McGee met a test subject named Vicki Tomlinson. After the end of the test, they got married, and after a while they had a daughter with paranormal abilities - telekinesis and pyrokinesis. The office, having learned about the abilities of the girl, wants to use her for her own selfish purposes. The whole novel is devoted to how far a father can go, protecting his child, and whether a girl with such abilities needs his help.
- The novel "Kujo" (1981) is included in the rating of "The Best Books of Stephen King" in the early 80's. This thriller tells the story of a mother and her child, who became hostages of a rabid dog. A very tense plot with a tragic end prevents the reader from tearing themselves away from the book. The film based on this novel, shot in 1983, was just as strong.
- The year 1983 was marked by the appearance of two novels at once, well known to the public. This is Christina and the Pet Cemetery. If in the first the main âvillainâ is the old Plymouth named Christina, then in the second these are ancient rituals and beliefs that help bring pets back to life. Both novels were filmed and were praised by fans of King's work.
Subsequent works of the author became borderline at the turn of the decades. They transferred King's work to the category of horrors, as their stories, not related to monsters, tell about terrible things that people can do.
Misery
If you ask yourself what is the best book by Stephen King, then surely Miseri will come to mind. Not only because of the plot dedicated to the unhealthy fanaticism of the main character in relation to the cycle of novels "Misery" by the famous writer Paul Sheldon, but also because this novel "cured" the author himself of harmful addictions.
In the plot of the work, the protagonist during a heavy snowfall has an accident near the home of his ardent fan. So that he could not escape and wrote a sequel to the adventures of Misery, the heroine he âkilledâ in his last book, nurse Annie Wilkes breaks the writerâs legs.
A prisoner in her house, crippled Paul is trying to find a way out to escape. The hardest tension in which the reader is throughout the novel puts the book among the most striking works of The King of Horrors of the 80s.
The film shot by Bob Rainer in 1990 on the plot of this novel became just as tense.
90s novels
Stephen King, whose reviews on the works of readers in the 80s were the most enthusiastic not only in the United States, continues to keep the audience in suspense by publishing such novels in the 90s:
- âNecessary thingsâ - 1991.
- âThe Game of Geraldâ and âDolores Claybornâ - 1992.
- "Insomnia" - 1994.
- âRosa Marenaâ - 1995.
- The Green Mile and Hopelessness - 1996.
- Bag of Bones - 1997.
- "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon."
The most vivid novels of this period, according to critics and readers, are The Green Mile and The Bag of Bones. Both stories were filmed and received an enthusiastic response from fans of the writer's work, but if you choose, among them the best books by Stephen King, the rating of the 90s rightfully gives first place to the novel âThe Green Mileâ.
"Green Mile"
In each prison, prisoners come up with their own customs and names. The location of the protagonist, John Coffey, was no exception. The prison called âCold Mountainâ is a gloomy institution that does not inspire hope for the best in the hearts of prisoners.
The protagonist was accused of a crime that he did not commit - the murder of two little twin girls. The death penalty awaits him, and the green color of the floor from the death row to the place of enforcement of the sentence is called the green mile.
For many, this short corridor really seems to be a mile long, but not for the protagonist, who has magical healing abilities. He did not do what he was condemned to death for. The novel constantly makes readers worry about the life of this black giant and keeps it in suspense.
The film, shot in 1999 on this subject, became one of the best screen reproductions of the works of Stephen King. He received 4 Oscar nominations, 3 Saturn awards, a dozen other awards, and 23 nominations.
The plot is based on the memoirs of a former prison guard (Tom Hanks), who lives his life in a nursing home and shares his impressions of working in Cold Mountain Prison with his friend.
Both the novel and the film keep people in such psychological stress that they leave an indelible impression on their whole life.
The work of the new millennium
From 2000 to the present day, its admirers have been pleased with the new works of Stephen King. The best books of this period - âDreamcatcherâ and âUnder the Domeâ - were filmed. If we talk about the diversity of the authorâs work, then we canât miss his novels, separate cycles and works published under the pseudonym of Richard Bachmann.
The most famous story of King was the film adaptation of his work âRita Hayworth and Salvation from the Shawshankâ. According to a survey of viewers, this film is the best work of all time and ranks first in the ranking of "250 best films according to IMDb." The plot is based on the story of a man accused of a crime that he did not commit. He had to survive 19 years in prison before being released.
Among the significant cycles of Stephen King - his many years of work "The Dark Tower", which combines a mixture of fantasy, horror, western elements and science fiction. He has his loyal fans who will now be able not only to re-read their favorite chapters, but also to watch an adaptation.
Under the pseudonym King wrote 7 novels, 2 of which, âLosing Weightâ (1984) and âRunning Manâ (1982), were filmed.
Today, Stephen King is 67 years old, and he is not going to stop there, although every year he "scares" his readers that his next masterpiece was the last.