Paid Members Carbomb Posted May 18, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2022 5 minutes ago, Tamura said: Makes sense now, I thought you were referring more to the likes of Dracula or Frankenstein where there's many adaptations of a single work. Another good shout! But I think you might be on to something with Agatha Christie there - she's written fewer books than King, but it seems likely that all her work has been adapted (and remade), whereas I'm not sure if he's had every single piece adapted yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 @Carbomb I really enjoyed The Wind Through the Keyhole. It’s pretty tight by Tower standards and was a nice little revisit a year or two after finishing the series in back to back listens on Audible. I’m currently listening to Under the Dome but it’s too early to see where it is on the King scale. Recently I listened to Billy Summers which isn’t bad but it’s not very interesting and the main character is another quite boring great at everything white guy. 11.22.63 is really good though, has a bit of the greatest hits feel you get with the later Towers books and has a pretty good time travel mechanic running through it. I can’t believe they cast Franco as the lead in the tv adaptation, I’ll never see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted May 18, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2022 Just echoing what everyone else has said really - capable of really fun, compelling writing and genuine horror, but utterly fucks the ending every time. I've not read any in years. King and Michael Chrichton constituted the extent of my Dad's book collection in the 90s, and he worked in a video shop, and brought home a massive It poster once. We had a downstairs box room he converted into an office when we got a computer, and you had to walk it past it and into the freezing cold porch to get to the downstairs loo. The door never closed all the way, and the only thing you could see through it in the dark was that fucking poster, just a giant clown face and scaly hand. I keep meaning to check out The Stand and Dark Tower, as I have friends that swear by them, I just never get round to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members chokeout Posted May 18, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2022 He's popular for a reason. He writes great characters but as mentioned above, he never has any idea where his stories are going when he starts and you can pin point when he stops giving a shit. It's probably why he's been so successful with his short stories. Every story he's had adapted has been made better by someone coming in and cutting out the bloat and weird shit but having free reign comes with being successful. He's probably easiest to compare to Tarrentino: cracking idea / set up, fantastic at balancing multiple characters, needs someone to tell him to chop it down by a third. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 I remember really loving The Tommyknockers TV film/series thing when I was younger (along with the first Children Of The Corn film) but I bet they're shit really and I'm scared to revisit them. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted May 18, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2022 1 hour ago, chokeout said: It's probably why he's been so successful with his short stories.  I've never read a Stephen King short story, even though I prefer the form over novels. For the King aficinados, which collection is best? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm29195 Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 30 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said: I've never read a Stephen King short story, even though I prefer the form over novels. For the King aficinados, which collection is best? I would instinctively go with Skeleton Crew, which was the first of his collections that I read, and has The Mist, The Jaunt, The Raft, among others in it, a really good variety of work. Also Graveyard Shift and Nightmares and Dreamscapes from his earlier collections. If you count his collections of slightly longer novellas, Different Seasons has The Body (Stand By Me), Apt Pupil, and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption in it, and his more recent Full Dark No Stars is a really underrated collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 I’ve always admired the creativity of his ideas, but found actually reading his books to be a fucking chore.  I recently decided to try reading the Tower series and got about halfway through the second one before throwing in the towel.  Incredibly popular, but for me just disorganised and boring.  Previous to that I tried reading Under The Dome but it was way too long and desperately needed an editor. I genuinely feel, in the inverse of what people usually say, that the film adaptations of his work is usually better because they cut out the shit and concentrate on the scary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Hitman Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 Never read any of his books but enjoyed some of the films. In a cheesy, easy to watch horror sort of way - Thinner being a great example of this, a real quirky pleasure. Also recently as in just a couple of days ago rewatched 1408 & will probably watch Doctor Sleep soon. Definitely serves a purpose. But one thing I’m sure of is that the guy is a creep in real life, I’d be shocked if he hasn’t a load of very questionable skeletons in his closet. Whether we’ll ever hear of them is a different matter but I get serious danger vibes from him. I’d say he’s top tier involved in all sorts of weird & heinous shenanigans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted May 18, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2022 30 minutes ago, jm29195 said: I would instinctively go with Skeleton Crew, which was the first of his collections that I read, and has The Mist, The Jaunt, The Raft, among others in it, a really good variety of work. Agreed enthusiastically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted May 18, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2022 18 minutes ago, Ultimate Hitman said:  But one thing I’m sure of is that the guy is a creep in real life, I’d be shocked if he hasn’t a load of very questionable skeletons in his closet. Whether we’ll ever hear of them is a different matter but I get serious danger vibes from him. I’d say he’s top tier involved in all sorts of weird & heinous shenanigans. What an incredibly odd thing to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Hitman Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 2 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said: What an incredibly odd thing to say. How so? If the guy wasn’t successful & famous he would most definitely be known as the local weirdo by everyone in his town. No doubt in my opinion that he’s a total wrong ‘un Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members chokeout Posted May 18, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2022 21 minutes ago, Ultimate Hitman said:  But one thing I’m sure of is that the guy is a creep in real life, I’d be shocked if he hasn’t a load of very questionable skeletons in his closet. Whether we’ll ever hear of them is a different matter but I get serious danger vibes from him. I’d say he’s top tier involved in all sorts of weird & heinous shenanigans. He was a self confessed arse hole when he was deep into coke and booze but by all accounts sorted his shit out, has a close family and sells rights to his books to students and film makers for $1. He also donates a silly amount to charity every year. Think you might be a bit off the mark there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Hitman Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 3 minutes ago, chokeout said: He was a self confessed arse hole when he was deep into coke and booze but by all accounts sorted his shit out, has a close family and sells rights to his books to students and film makers for $1. He also donates a silly amount to charity every year. Think you might be a bit off the mark there. Savile was undoubtedly Britain’s biggest charity fundraiser & look how that turned out. I don’t see how anyone would be surprised if King had similar allegations surrounding him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted May 18, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2022 (edited) 49 minutes ago, Ultimate Hitman said: But one thing I’m sure of is that the guy is a creep in real life, I’d be shocked if he hasn’t a load of very questionable skeletons in his closet. Whether we’ll ever hear of them is a different matter but I get serious danger vibes from him. I’d say he’s top tier involved in all sorts of weird & heinous shenanigans. I know you're very sad that everyone hates the Undertaker but that's no reason to take it out on Stephen King. Edited May 18, 2022 by Devon Malcolm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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