#stephenkingrevisited

After my book-a-week challenge of 2015, in 2016 I have embarked on a different quest: re-reading the complete Stephen King back-list. This is something I’ve been considering for a while, inspired by the excellent blogs by James Smythe and Richard Chizmar. I don’t intend to read solely Stephen King this year – I’ll dip in and out – however at the time of writing I’m on book 6, not having read any other author since December!

Why do this? For much the same reasons James and Richard have decided to I guess. When I read most of the classic King oeuvre, I was pretty young. I was barely a teenager when I read ‘Salem’s Lot and The Stand as I recall. After catching up with any existing books, the first one I read at the time of publication was It in 1986, and I was still only 15 then. I’ve read every book since, more or less as they were released. So, for lots of the stories it’s been a long time since I enjoyed them (as a rule I don’t tend to re-read books at all) and, quite simply, I fancy reading them again. It seems obvious too that my 45 year old self is likely to view the novels rather differently this time around, and I look forward to some new perspectives and surprises along the way. It’s true too that many of the stories – The Shining, Carrie and [Rita Hayworth and] The Shawshank Redemption (from Different Seasons) especially – are more vivid in my mind in their adapted film form. Like all book geeks I tend to subscribe to the notion that the Book Is Always Better Than The Film, so would like to return the original printed words to their rightful place at the forefront of my mind.

When considering the list I’ve missed out the short poem The Dark Man and the baseball book Faithful written with Stewart O’Nan, but intend to read both versions of The Stand. I’ll also be reading the Richard Bachman stories in their original chronological order. Lastly, the short novella Blockade Billy was released in 2010, but I’ll re-read as collected in The Bazaar of Bad Dreams.

I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going… currently too busy reading The Stand to write more here just now!

The books:

1. Carrie (1974)
2. ‘Salem’s Lot (1975)
3. The Shining (1977)
4. Rage (1977) [as Richard Bachman]
5. Night Shift (1978)
6. The Stand (1978)
7. The Long Walk (1979) [as Richard Bachman]
8. The Dead Zone (1979)
9. Firestarter (1980)
10. Roadwork (1981) [as Richard Bachman]
11. Danse Macabre (1981)
12. Cujo (1981)
13. The Running Man (1982) [as Richard Bachman]
14. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (1982)
15. Different Seasons (1982)
16. Christine (1983)
17. Cycle of the Werewolf (1983)
18. Pet Sematary (1983)
19. The Talisman (1984) with Peter Straub
20. Thinner (1984) [as Richard Bachman]
21. Skeleton Crew (1985)
22. It (1986)
23. The Eyes of the Dragon (1987)
24. The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
25. Misery (1987)
26. The Tommyknockers (1987)
27. The Dark Half (1989)
28. The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition (1990)
29. Four Past Midnight (1990)
30. The Dark Tower: The Waste Lands (1991)
31. Needful Things (1991)
32. Gerald’s Game (1992)
33. Dolores Claiborne (1992)
34. Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993)
35. Insomnia (1994)
36. Rose Madder (1995)
37. The Green Mile (1996)
38. Desperation (1996)
39. The Regulators (1996) [by Richard Bachman]
40. The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass (1997)
41. Bag of Bones (1998)
42. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999)
43. Hearts in Atlantis (1999)
44. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000)
45. Dreamcatcher (2001)
46. Black House (2001) with Peter Straub
47. Everything’s Eventual (2002)
48. From a Buick 8 (2002)
49. The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla (2003)
50. The Dark Tower: Song of Susannah (2004)
51. The Dark Tower: The Dark Tower (2004)
52. The Colorado Kid (2005)
53. Cell (2006)
54. Lisey’s Story (2006)
55. Blaze (2007) [as Richard Bachman]
56. Duma Key (2008)
57. Just After Sunset (2008)
58. Under the Dome (2009)
59. Full Dark, No Stars (2010)
60. 11/22/63 (2011)
61. The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)
62. Joyland (2013)
63. Doctor Sleep (2013)
64. Mr. Mercedes (2014)
65. Revival (2014)
66. Finders Keepers (2015)
67. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015)