The 5 Stephen King Books You Should Read First

Stephen King has written about 65 books at this point, and by the time you finish reading this article, it'll probably be 66. Not all of them are winners, but he's batting at such a high average that it's hard to complain. The only problem is that it's a little intimidating for first-time readers to decide where to start with him. Do you go in chronological order, or should you go by whichever book's premise catches your eye the most? And what if your goal is to get as good an idea of King's whole schtick in as little time as possible? If you could only read five books to try to get the widest understanding of Stephen King, what should you pick?

That's a tough question, given King's stories hold a wide range of lengths, tones, and genres, but I'll be answering it anyway. Here's my curated list of five introductory Stephen King books, designed to give you an idea of how wide King's talents range. (Tragically, there will be no "Dark Tower" novels mentioned here, although "The Gunslinger" sure would make a strong sixth entry.)

There are many different "types" of Stephen King stories. There's the type where the main character is trapped in a specific place the entire time ("Misery," "Gerald's Game," "Cujo"), and there's the type where the main character is a writer, often seen as King's self-insert of sorts. "The Shining" mixes these types, while also serving as a good idea of King's style in the '70s when his career was starting. 

Why wouldn't I go with "Carrie or "'Salem's Lot," King's first two books? I nearly did, but what sets "The Shining" apart is the sheer depth of its main character, Jack Torrance, who is simply on another level compared to Carrie White or (especially) boring Ben Mears. Nearly 50 years later, it's still debatable if King has ever outdone himself with the complexity of Torrance, a character whose gradual descent into insanity is far more riveting (and heartbreaking) than how the Kubrick film would later depict it. (By the way, don't worry if you've seen the movie first; the book's so different that it'll still hold plenty of surprises.)

Stephen King himself describes this book as a "crossroads" novel for him in the introduction to the 2001 edition. It's the novel where he had the opportunity to keep things simple and make the book about a haunted hotel, but he chose to make the line between the psychological and supernatural a lot blurrier, and a lot more interesting. 

"If I had been less well-fixed financially, I might well have opted for choice number one," King wrote, "But my first two books, 'Carrie' and ”Salem's Lot,' had been successful, and we Kings were doing okay in that regard. And I didn't want to settle for less when I sensed I could up the book's emotional ante considerably by making Jack Torrance a real character instead of just the Overlook's boogeyman."

All true King fans know that King's secret forte is his short story collections. Often accused of letting his stories spiral out of control, short stories force King to get straight to the point and wrap things up on a high note. The result is that no King recommendation list is complete without at least one of his collections, but I struggled to pick which one. My first instinct was "Different Seasons," which offers four novellas, two of which ("Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body") were made into two of the best-regarded movies of their time. But "Different Seasons" lacks variety in length; it's all novellas, no short stories. The ideal collection would give you a taste of each. 

That's why I landed on his 1985 collection "Skeleton Crew," which starts with one of King's best novellas, "The Mist," before offering 20 short stories, some of which were written by King as far back as the '60s. This collection is great not just because of the sheer variety of tones and genres it shows King's capable of, but because looking back at King's collections years after I've read them, I think "Skeleton Crew" has the highest percentage of bangers. It's been at least ten years since I've read "Skeleton Crew," but "The Jaunt," "The Raft," "Gramma," "'Beachworld," and "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut," are all stories I remember vividly. 

You can't be a true King fan unless you've read a book by Richard Bachman. That sentence sounds crazy until you know that Stephen King once wrote a handful of books under a pen name, mostly because he was writing way faster than the standard "one book per year" rule most authors adhere to. King also wanted to prove that he wasn't coasting off his reputation, and what better way to prove the haters wrong than to write a bestseller with zero name recognition? 

Bachman's books tended to be shorter and angrier than King's books. The first Bachman novel "Rage" was so disturbing that it quite possibly inspired a few school shootings, and the second novel, "The Long Walk," seemed to have a healthy dose of contempt for most of society. His fourth Bachman book, "The Running Man" is my personal favorite; it's an angry page-turner like all the others, but it's got the most effective ending of the bunch, and it's a fun bonus that this dystopian novel is set in 2025. Did King perfectly predict how this year would look? Not really, but I do think he captured the general sense of despair pretty well. 

Both "The Long Walk" and "The Running Man" are widely considered the peak Bachman books, and they'd both appeal greatly to any "Squid Game"/"Battle Royale"/"Hunger Games" fans out there. Still, the latter wins out for its more memorable characters and its sheer audacity. Also, much like "The Shining," don't be discouraged if you've seen the movie version of "The Running Man" already; the book is so different you can basically go in unspoiled. (And if avoiding spoilers is important to you, make sure not to read King's introduction for this book. Dive into the story and read the intro later; you'll see what I mean.)

The first three books on this list were published in the '70s and '80s, which are widely considered King's best era. This book, published in 2011, is a nice entryway into the long-running debate among King fans of, "Does Uncle Steve still have it?" Some think he lost his touch a bit after he went sober in the late '80s, or after that near-death experience of his in 2000. But as someone who actually liked those final three "Dark Tower" books, and who nearly chose 2008's "Just After Sunset" for this list's short-story collection pick, I think modern-day King's still going strong, and "11/22/63" proves it. 

Among all of King's 21st-century novels, this time-travel adventure/romance definitely seemed to have the most cultural impact. For years I'd seen people carrying this book around in public, something I can't quite say the same for "The Institute" or "Holly." I still have some qualms about the way this book handled its big central hook of "What if you stopped the JFK assassination?" but I seem to be the minority there, and there's still plenty I enjoy and respect about the story either way. 

"11/22/63" proves not only that King is great outside the horror genre, but that his talent and creativity still haven't run dry, even though it probably should've by now. Once again, don't worry too much if you've seen the Hulu series "11/22/63." That adaptation was more faithful than "The Shining" or "The Running Man," but the book still has plenty of surprises in store.

No intro list to Stephen King would be complete without featuring at least one of his really long novels. As much as King excels at short stories, his heart often seems to belong to 900+ page doorstoppers. I could've picked "The Stand" (1,200+ pages) or "Under the Dome" (1,000+ pages), but in the end, I went with the 1,100+ page "IT" because it feels the most quintessentially Stephen King. It's got the small Maine town, the author main character, and the divisive ending that'll really test your relationship with him. If you get past that scene (you'll know it when you read it) and you're still interested in reading more from King, that's how you'll know you're both on the same wavelength. 

What I especially like about "IT" is how ambitious and energetic it is, even if at first glance "The Stand" or "Under the Dome" feel like they have the bolder premise. Every character feels fully formed here, even the minor characters; it often feels like King is flexing his characterization skills at this point, almost bragging about how he can take the most minor character, tell you their life story and get you invested, and then move on with the main story like nothing happened. Fifteen years after I read it, why do I still care about Stan's wife, a character who showed up for ten pages in the beginning and was barely mentioned again? Because King's just that good. 

"IT" is juggling a ton of plates; it's jumping back and forth between seven major point-of-view characters and countless minor ones, as well as hopping between 1958 and 1986. Plus it has multiple extended interludes taking us back into the long and disturbing history of Derry, Maine. That's not even mentioning the titular It, AKA Pennywise, who's easily one of the most interesting and iconic boogeymen King's ever invented. "It" may not be perfect, but it's a prime example of Stephen King at his most confident and provocative. There's a reason Hollywood keeps coming back to it.