Stephen King

[DaisyRose]

I’ve been watching Stephen King movies all month because it’s spooky season. Anyone else like Stephen King? I can’t believe I didn’t watch Thinner sooner. That’s a great movie I watched for the first time.

 

[DaisyRose]

 

[Stuttermabolur]

I don't watch horror movies, but I've read several of his books, and of them Thinner is my favourite, though the Green Mile is better.

I find his books very hit or miss, but most of them have at least one memorable scene.

 

[Misery]

I dont watch movies but I've been reading his books since I was in like, 6th grade or so. For the most part I like them quite a bit, but every now and then I'll run into one that is kinda meh. Like The Stand, that one overstayed its welcome by quite a bit, just too long, and the Dark Tower series just didnt grab me at all for some reason, despite how fundamental it is to his overall world.

I recently finished reading Doctor Sleep, which I think is my new favorite, that one was just great, and next favorite is From A Buick 8. Also read Billy Summers recently, that was pretty good.

I do think he's best at short stories though, I love pretty much all of them.

 

[SusanLR]

I like horror movies and Stephen King's style.
The first book I read was Cujo. The movie doesn't live up to the read.
"It" was a long book. Loved the movie.

I've seen most all the Stephen King movies, and my top picks are It, The Green Mile, Christine, Pet Sematary, Secret Window, Misery, and Shawshank.

 

[Outdated]

Horror stories never moved me at all. I read a lot but horror often doesn't make a lot of sense to me. A car that drives itself and has a vindictive nature? A clown that lives down the drain?

I loved the Gunslinger series though, I always loved fantasy stories. And yes, there's far more ridiculous things in fantasy than there are in horror, but there's meant to be, it's why the genre is called Fantasy.

 

[Misery]

Horror stories never moved me at all. I read a lot but horror often doesn't make a lot of sense to me. A car that drives itself and has a vindictive nature? A clown that lives down the drain?

Honestly, as a long time fan of this stuff, it depends very much on the skill of the writer in terms of explaining what's happening, or in giving the reader the tools to piece together what's actually happening. While also making sure that there's in-universe logic as to the "how" or "why" of it. AND, making sure that even a reader who is new to the works of that particular writer, or to that genre, can easily grasp it.

Like, with "It", and Pennywise, I'm very familiar with that (and King's overall mythos, which factors in, as it does with most of his works) and could absolutely just rant for 5 pages about how it all works, but someone else diving in who really isnt used to King's stuff or horror in general? Yeah, it's gonna be confusing. I do think that's an issue with some of his stuff in particular. And I should note that both "It" and "Christine" (the car one) are pretty straightforward compared to some of his other works. I mean you wanna see something really weird from him? Go read Lisey's Story, it'll make the others seem downright mundane. Or Buick 8, that does the same thing.

Not to mention that some writers, King included, have a tendency to sort reference previous works and almost assume that the reader knows what they are talking about. And they might do this even if the reference ends up just feeling out of place when considered with whatever else the story is. Like, I mentioned the book "Billy Summers", that one isnt the supernatural sort of horror... it's King's take on the idea of a professional hitman trying to get out of the business (and of course, everything goes wrong). But there's a couple of scenes near the end that get weird out of nowhere, as they hide out at this shack owned by a friend of the main character, as they try to figure out what the next steps are, and it turns out this shack is within viewing distance of the ruins of the Overlook hotel. One of the characters at one point mentions that when they looked over there, they could have sworn that suddenly, the full hotel appeared to be there, but a blink and it was gone, and the other guy is like "yeah, you aint the first to claim to have seen that... creepy, isnt it?". And there's this other bit with a painting that the same guy owns, which came from the hotel, and there's very clearly something really wrong with it... like it keeps shifting, and eventually the main character just gets so unnerved by it that he abruptly takes it outside and burns it (because trying to throw it away already didnt work, it just came back).

And then... that's just done. The scene comes out of nowhere, in a book where the story isnt about that type of thing, and it has no true bearing on the overall story of the book (as in, there's no lasting effect or consequence from it), but King always does stuff like that anyway so the books are clearly in a single connected universe. And I tell ya, that particular scene has got to be super confusing for anyone that A: hasnt read enough of King's stuff, and B: hasnt read The Shining specifically (since that's what the Overlook was from).

I forgot where I was going with this.

 

[Forest Cat]

I have read many of his books, he's good at writing. I have also watched many of the movies. But the newest stuff isn't as good as the old stuff.

 

[Forest Cat]

A clown that lives down the drain?

They all float down there you know. Beep beep Outdated!

I loved that movie, the original one.

 

[Rodafina]

My favorites:

The Judd Crandall character has the greatest accent. I sometimes try to emulate his voice and accent.

 

[Mr. Stevens]

The Judd Crandall character has the greatest accent. I sometimes try to emulate his voice and accent.

Ha! Herman Munster (Fred Gwynne). I never knew he was in that.

 

[elgat0verde]

I really like his stuff

Although I'm not a BIG fan what I've watched I enjoyed... Yes... Even sleepwalkers which I really like

 

[Masked Man]

Reading his books is what got me into reading at a young age. While he may not necessarily be a great writer he is a fantastic storyteller, which I think is why he's been so successful.

Of his books, there are a few I've read over and over - Pet Sematary and Salem's Lot are two of them. For movies, I love The Shining, partly because I love the story of the haunted hotel and gradual possession which occurs to Jack Nicholson's character, but also because I love the adaptation by Stanley Kubrick.

I also love several of his short stories - one of which is Mrs. Todd's Shortcut which is in the Skeleton Crew book of short stories. This one sort of departs from horror and is more fantasy, but I love its weirdness.

 

[mysterionz]

First heard of Steven king from the movie IT.

@Rodafina i remember watching a South Park episode called “Spookyfish” that parodies Pet Semetary. Stan Marsh receives a pet goldfish from his aunt that later begins to wreak havoc in the small town of South Park

 

[mysterionz]

because I love the adaptation by Stanley Kubrick.

Have u seen a clockwork orange? One of my coworkers said the movie is uncomfortable to watch.

 

[Masked Man]

Have u seen a clockwork orange? One of my coworkers said the movie is uncomfortable to watch.

I have but it's not one of my favorites for that reason - to me there are parts of the movie that border on torture and I don't really enjoy that genre.

 

[Misery]

Have u seen a clockwork orange? One of my coworkers said the movie is uncomfortable to watch.

I dont watch movies myself really but I saw a video in a series called "Analyzing Evil", where the guy takes a super detailed look at villains of all sorts from movies and such and tries to decode their behavior and talk about the themes involved and such.

The guy always shows a ton of footage from the movie in question, the entire video is that, it's not one of those channels where it's some guy talking to the camera or anything. And the videos are usually pretty long.

The one on the main character from Clockwork Orange... who is absolutely a villain... has a ton of footage showing some of the many, MANY atrocities the character has committed and such.

Disturbing villains arent exactly uncommon or a new concept... I mean, just look at Hannibal Lecter and such. But this character, whose name I cant remember, is really up there in terms of nastiness. And it's not the sort of exaggerated Hollywood type of nasty that you see in a character like Jigsaw. Not only a very disturbing character, but a lot of icky things happen in the movie that arent necessarily his doing.

If you're on the Internet enough, chances are you've seen an image from the movie without necessarily realizing it. From the scene where "Ludovico's Technique" is used on the main character. It's VERY memorable and is one of those moments that the Net just loves to bring up a billion times. And in other places too... my favorite game, The Binding of Isaac, has an item in the game that is, well, basically that, down to the name (though it doesnt do the same thing as what it does in the movie, that's for sure).

From what I understand of the movie (and the book) it's an interesting watch/read, but anyone who is easily triggered/disturbed shouldnt go anywhere near it. I mean really, some of the things in it shouldnt even be mentioned on the forum here. It's THAT level of nasty.

 

[Mr. Stevens]

^His name is Alex.

The movie is impressive visually and musically, but really guts the story. It is based on the first American edition of the novel, which dropped the last chapter and added a glossary of all the slang terms. The book as Anthony Burgess wrote it has a great final chapter and no glossary. You are meant to become conditioned to Alex's language, just as he is conditioned not to commit violence. It is brutal, but powerful--up there with Gulliver's Travels for seeming simpler than it is. The film has none of this. It's a brilliant spectacle, but not much more.

 

[Masked Man]

I dont watch movies myself really but I saw a video in a series called "Analyzing Evil", where the guy takes a super detailed look at villains of all sorts from movies and such and tries to decode their behavior and talk about the themes involved and such.

The guy always shows a ton of footage from the movie in question, the entire video is that, it's not one of those channels where it's some guy talking to the camera or anything. And the videos are usually pretty long.

The one on the main character from Clockwork Orange... who is absolutely a villain... has a ton of footage showing some of the many, MANY atrocities the character has committed and such.

Disturbing villains arent exactly uncommon or a new concept... I mean, just look at Hannibal Lecter and such. But this character, whose name I cant remember, is really up there in terms of nastiness. And it's not the sort of exaggerated Hollywood type of nasty that you see in a character like Jigsaw. Not only a very disturbing character, but a lot of icky things happen in the movie that arent necessarily his doing.

If you're on the Internet enough, chances are you've seen an image from the movie without necessarily realizing it. From the scene where "Ludovico's Technique" is used on the main character. It's VERY memorable and is one of those moments that the Net just loves to bring up a billion times. And in other places too... my favorite game, The Binding of Isaac, has an item in the game that is, well, basically that, down to the name (though it doesnt do the same thing as what it does in the movie, that's for sure).

From what I understand of the movie (and the book) it's an interesting watch/read, but anyone who is easily triggered/disturbed shouldnt go anywhere near it. I mean really, some of the things in it shouldnt even be mentioned on the forum here. It's THAT level of nasty.

Yes, you're right, the character (his name is Alex) is especially horrible in the movie, bordering on an antisocial personality disorder sort of horrible.

I've read the book as well and the book for me was unsatisfactory - I hate to give too much away but Alex is also, as you can imagine, just as horrible in the book, but as the book concludes, Alex becomes reflective on his own behavior. My issue with this is that someone who has committed the atrocities that Alex does would likely not be capable of empathy and, therefore, self-reflection and would never consider the pain he has caused to others. Just MHO though.

 

[Kayla55]

I finally watched the whole of scary movie....and at times thought it was a comedy rip off of a social life gone wrong......or am I missing the point?

Then there's mashup of either superheroes or horror team together like Freddie and Jason. That must be producers just over selling with no more story line.
But always read book first....that's what said about swallows, watching movie first just ruins the plot!!!