A friend suggested I read Salem’s Lot so I did, and I loved it.
Then I read the Dark Tower series, and yes I do mean I slogged through all seven books. I could probably write a whole separate post on that, but the long and the short of it is I thought some parts were fantastic and the storyline as a whole had a lot of promise; however, King’s editor could’ve condensed the good stuff down to two or three books at most (and probably should’ve advised him to lay off the crack).
After that, I made an attempt at Holly. Couldn’t get past the kidnapping scene. The narrative style was incredibly dull and flat.
So, I decided to give it one last shot, and here I am procrastinating finishing The Shining. Now I will admit, I found the story to be engrossing, but again, I don’t care for the narrative style, and on top of that the scary stuff just isn’t…scary. Like, at all. The only part where I felt the slightest twinge off suspense was when Hallorann was driving up the mountain in the middle of a snowstorm. Other than that, I’m left scratching my head as to why so many people consider this to be a masterpiece. To each their own, I guess.
Anyway, I’m done with King.
A lot of folks here saying if you don’t like “The Shining,” you won’t like King in general. I’m going to say that this is false - out of King’s books, “The Shining” was kind of dull for me. I much prefer “Salem’s Lot,” “The Stand,” and “11/22/63.”
I have many more of his to read, but don’t let anyone tell you that thinking “The Shining” is super great is some kind of litmus test for how you’d like the rest of his body of work. He’s published enough that any fan of his is bound to dislike just as many books as they love.
'Salem’s Lot is, I’d say, a great example of his work. It’s an early one and it prefigures some of his other work, like the whole-town setting being similar to Needful Things and Ben Mears coming to his hometown to confront the creepy thing presages It - as does Barlow.
But then there are the “eras” of King. There’s Early King, Coked Up King, Rehab King, Post-Accident King, and Modern King, and it’s like reading five different authors. If you read 'Salem’s Lot and then Fairy Tale, the only thing to tell you they’re by the same author is the name on the cover (well, and the blue chambray workshirt). You might like one and hate the other, and that’s OK.