Oh, the Horror!

I just finished reading Carrie, Stephen King’s first novel. I’ve only read a few books by King, none of them were horror—Different Seasons, The Green Mile, and The Running Man (writing as Richard Bachman). I read a horror short story of his called “The Raft” which I mentioned in my blog post, A Weird Bit of History.

Usually, I’m a crime fiction guy. Mysteries, thrillers, and police procedurals are my jam. Since those are the genres I write in, you probably guessed that’s what I read. Occasionally, I’ll venture into the realm of science fiction. Never fantasy and never horror.

I thought I should read some of King’s horror books since he’s a master of the genre. Sometimes I’ll get a wild idea about a certain genre and want to dive into it. A couple of years ago, I got interested in reading some classics, so I zoomed through William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road to name a couple. You get the point.

I enjoyed reading Carrie, but it wasn’t as scary as I had expected. Maybe that’s because it’s been in the public conscious for over forty years. I already knew Carrie’s story and what occurred at the prom even though I’d never seen the movie. The pictures of Carrie covered in pig’s blood are ubiquitous.

My TBR pile is large, but I plan to add King’s Salem’s Lot and The Shining (his second and third books).

If you’re a fan of King, which is your favorite book?

This post originally appeared as a VIP Newsletter.