วีดีโอ

Great choices Cathy! Needful Things is totally underrated imo. Leland Gaunt and the way he plays on the vulnerabilities of the people who enter his shop is just so twisted, in a way that only King can do. Have you seen the new Salem's Lot adaptation btw?

@@Shelf-Esteem No, I haven’t seen it yet but I am looking forward to it. Leland Gaunt is so evil, I was totally shocked at what he did to the town of Castle Rock and the people who lived there. I am currently reading Revival, but I think I want to reread ‘Salem’s Lot to see if it scares me as much as it did when I first read it…when I was much younger!

Danny Coughlin was the most gripping story I’ve read by King yet

What a fantastic list!! The Stand is truly fantastic. Have you read Swan Song by Robert McCammon? It's post apocalyptic as well, and is reminiscent to King at his peak Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream was such a pleasant surprise, and great to see that the master still has it! Thanks for chiming in

@Shelf-Esteem Yes, I've read Swan Song but it has been a while. Post-apocalyptic fiction is among my favorite subgenres. Plus I've read a few of McCammon's works. The first was Mystery Walk as well as Mine. Then there is his short story collection called Blue World. (My favorite story from that one is Something Passed By). Sounds like we could talk a fair amount of shop!

Thanks for these recommendations! I remember watching RINGU and loving it - how does it compare to the movie for you? (Or the Gore Verbinski one?) I'd never heard of Slade House, but the premise sounds incredible!! Adding it to my list now :)

Thanks so much for your super kind comment! I know the feeling about worldbuilding, especially when it feels like it's done for the sake of the world rather than the sake of the story and characters. The Expanse is the perfect example on how to do it right! I'm so happy to hear you liked The Mercy Of Gods - I had heard mixed things about it, and was eager to check it out! Have you ever checked out The Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio? It is a bit more heavy on the world building in later books, but it's always at the sake of enhancing the character work - simply brilliant!

i haven't, but i will have to take a look. i mostly read my beloved Stephen King and more lit fit with some horror, but i am trying to get more acquainted with genre fiction I have missed out on, so I really appreciate the recommendation. it's daunting to know where to start. The Expanse got me by virtue of my seeing the series first.

Kathy I'm so happy to hear that! Thanks for your comment! Stephen King is just amazing, I can't believe how diverse and consistently great his work is! So glad you enjoyed the video, especially from one Stephen King fan to another 😃

Hey Carlo, nice to meet another fellow Tower Junkie! And HELL YEAH another Toto / Hydra fan!! So happy to hear from you. Have you ever watched the live in Tokyo footage from about 1980 or so? Their performance of Hydra on that video is insane! I love their score for Dune as well :) Hahah I know the feeling with King - about 48 books deep now, and once I finish all of his I might just start from the beginning again!

Hey Thomas! Hahah I know the feeling all too well - Wheel Of Time is one of my fav series ever, and I had to take several breaks between books so as not to burn out :P But you're completely right, Salem's Lot is such a good example of what he'll later perfect in books like Needful Things and Under The Dome - a large cast of characters with unique personas and real character arcs! Hope you are enjoying the Salem's Lot journey, and happy reading man! :)

Ooo i have to check out your review! For me even being one of King's scariest, it's not a "keep the lights on" kind of scary, at least not as an adult. I first read it when I was 14 though and then it was a different story hahah

hahha Goo Goo Gajoob! King always brings song references into his work in a way I love. Have you read The Dark Tower? I forget - if not, don't want to spoil anything lol

@@Shelf-Esteem Yes but it's time for a re-read also. it has been years.

Great to hear, thanks for chiming in! It's a pretty close race at the moment, I think whether McCammon wins or not, i'll probably do a soft readalong of that one as I can't wait to read it haha

Thanks for chiming in, and glad you agree! It does seem to be a problem lots of filmmakers have with adapting King's works - they don't know what to cut out and what to leave in! I just read today actually that the original cut of Salem's Lot was 3 hours long, and had to be cut down, which makes me wonder if a lot of the problems we had with it could have been solved with simply leaving that stuff in lol.

@@Shelf-Esteem I would love to see a three hour cut if it means Callahan and Ben have backstories. Even abridged ones.

Hey buddy, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!! it is a fun romp in a very Halloween setting horror movie, which is great. I'm probably hardest on King adaptations (insert Gollum saying "My precious" here lol :P)

Hahha you're a true gentleman my friend! 😄 Dark Tower was so terrible, I felt similarly - though the new IT Chapter 1 was actually fantastic if you haven't seen it!

I saw a clip from a movie on Twitter today and was curious what it was then found out it was the Dark Tower movie 😂 would never have guessed in a million years. Didn’t feel remotely like the same story

@@Shelf-Esteem I did actually enjoy IT Chapter 1, but to be honest I have a soft spot for the original adaptation, Tim Curry was awesome.

@@zack2thafuture I felt that The Dark Tower movie was a slap in the face to true King fans.

@@zack2thafuture hahaha yeah it's like a different universe entirely!!

I’m so happy to hear that Chas! 😊 haha yeah Pet Sematary is so devasting lol BUT SO GOOD! Another one you might consider is Needful Things - highly underrrated and one of Kings best villains!

I hope you enjoy it more than I did! Looking forward to your thoughts! 😊 haha I do the same, I love seeing things and forming my own opinions. I loved the first half of Dream catcher! It just fell apart for me afterwards, but some of the stuff was really great

@@Shelf-Esteem dreamcatcher is not a classic great. I get that. I guess I don't understand why some people put other stuff so high and dreamcatcher so low.

@@mattpaul5441 Yeah totally. I feel similarly actually about Under The Dome! I know a lot of people didn't like it, but I was riveted through and through. Just goes to show how King's works affect us so differently doesn't it? For me, even the bottom quarter of his catalogue I'd still consider good books, just not as mindblowing as his top 20 lol!

@@Shelf-Esteem fair enough. I enjoyed under the dome a lot as well.

I feel the same way! That series changed my life for the better. Which book is your favorite?

@@Shelf-Esteem oh man… probably the gunslinger if I had to pick. Although the I think the Wastelands was the most action packed. And I remember when I finished the series for the first time…. I actually yelled out loud NO! At the ending.

@@crystalsingh7325 omg same Crystal!! Such wasted potential 😣 hopefully Mike Flanagans Dark Tower adaptation will right the ship

@@Shelf-Esteem he’s given us no reason to think otherwise 🙏 man is batting 1000

Ooo yes I loved Later!! I really should hear it in audio, that sounds like an amazing experience. Once I finish all of king I’m going to re-read and will try it with audio. I hope you enjoy Apt Pupil and Library Policeman!

@@zack2thafuture these are the sacrifices I make for the good of the channel 😂

@@Shelf-Esteem “do you know how much I sacrificed??” - NK

Gosh I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your family member 😓 that must have been so tough, and reading stories like this would imagine be especially triggering. To that point, IT feels similar to me!

@@Shelf-Esteem No worries, those connections to different story lines are what make people connect with books differently. I do think those shreds of truth are what make King such an effective writer though. It connects people to the books with elements that feel real or close to them.

I’m scared to watch the Salems Lot adaptation 😬😂

Hahahah I’m about to post a video about it 😂😅 can’t wait to hear your thoughts on needful things and revival!!

That is a fantastic idea!! Thanks for suggesting it! I’ll read a couple more short story collections over the next couple months and then do one!

@@Shelf-Esteem awesome, I’m super excited to see it!!

That’s amazing! I’m so glad you liked the book 😊 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the faithful and the fallen - it’s a masterpiece imo

@@jeffkyler5660 hi Jeff, I didn’t know it was actually Tabitha that told Stephen not to publish! I remember hearing about locked it away for a couple of years. I’m so glad he decided to publish that one, one of my favorites

Thanks so much Coreen! I was tempted to add short stories in there, as you’re right, a lot of them are quite scary actually - I was just having a hard time comparing them to longer works that slow burn over time. I know the feeling about Revival all too well! We all want to believe there’s something after this, and SK plays upon that fear of what exactly that is brilliantly. It still haunts me when I think about it! I wish they would do an adaptation of it - Mike Flanagan was supposed to, but the studio wanted to change the ending so he walked!

So much of the horror of Revival is existential, I would be hard pressed to believe it could be conveyed visually, but I think if anyone could, it would be Mike Flanagan. I'm super excited to see what he does with Life of Chuck, which now that I think of it, shares a lot of themes with Revival, if a very different veneer and conclusion.

@@coreenamartinez6114 Oh man, me too!! Life Of Chuck was such a unique story, and for very different reasons I would imagine as hard to adapt. Interested to see what Flanagan does with it! He's so good at pacing King's works in a way that others just can't nail imo

Oh totally! Needful Things is highly underrated imo. So glad you enjoyed and found the dark half as scary as I did!

Thanks so much for the kind words Billy! I too could talk about Stephen King all day, hard to fit it all in a 20 min video haha! Thanks man 😊🙏🏽

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat Bekka. :( Losing a companion is so hard. We lost ours in December as well, and it was devastating! Def makes Pet Sematary be that much harder to read. I LOVE the Institute as well! Highly underrated imo. It's so visceral, and grabbed me immediately. Can't wait for the adaptation! IT is so good, though I'm the same way, tried reading it when I was 14 and it was way too much for me at that age lol! Just read it recently as well. Nice to meet a fellow SK fan! :)

Hey that's a great list! The Dark Half really doesn't get enough credit. I still have to read Dolores Claiborne, but have heard really great things! Hoping to get to it in December

@@Shelf-Esteem oh I agree the dark half scared me when I read it the first time when I was 16. The villian in that novel was absolutely feral and unhinged. However when I revisted it it felt more like a supernatural thriller with bits of dark comedy. Delores Claybourn was a very memorable read for me.

@@Kite562reviews Oh that's interesting! I have to revisit it again soon. I've been hearing such good things about Dolores Claiborne, can't wait to read it! Thanks for chiming in

Loved the Dark half

Hey Peter, I never knew about this one!! Thanks so much for letting me know - Blake Crouch is def one I want to read all his catalogue, so this is so helpful. Have you read all his books before?

Wow that's amazing Tony! I'm on a quest to read every single one as well (i'm on book 48 now!) I've heard Rage is incredibly hard to find, and even the collection it was found in (The Bachman Books I believe) is hard to find as well. Sometimes you can get lucky with library book sales, estate sales or little free libraries in your neighborhood. I hope you find it!

Thanks so much! What a great list of authors!! I still need to read Lee Child and Jay Kristoff, but have at least dabbled in the rest. This list alone is enough to provide a lifetime of entertainment haha :) Appreciate your kind words!

Awesome! thanks for chiming in! Seems like it's a tight race between that and Malazan - I'll probably end up doing a soft readalong for the one that gets in second place

ooo awesome!! Thanks man! Yet another series we have in common! Can't wait to hear what you think of Book 5, i've heard that one is amazing. I'm going to start it in November! Hoepfully we can align and read some together later on!

@@Shelf-Esteem yeah that would be cool!

Hey thanks for asking! I built them myself actually. Owens Corning Rigid Fiberglass, wrapped in Felt (which is semi porous).

Ooo I so wish I could read that for the first time again haha! So happy youre enjoying it!! Can’t wait to hear what you think when you’re finished! 😊

So happy to hear that Chance!! It's one topic that fascinates me as well haha :) Looking forward to doing this on the regular, and thrilled with the positive reaction to it!

Thanks Brian! And great choices for your top 3, those are all just incredible works of art! Pet Sematarys the one that really sticks with me as I’ve gotten older

@Shelf-Esteem Same! That's the first King novel I ever read, and to this day, it remains the most impactful novel I've ever read by anyone.

@@brianbowyer1805 same!! First one for me too :) You never forget that first novel that propels you into become a book addict haha :)

Oooo kimu I can’t wait to hear which one you’re going to read next!!

I’m so excited for you to read more Stephen King! Cujo is such a great book. I only read a handful of his books until a couple of years ago, after which I binged as many as I could 😂

Thanks so much Cliff! :) I think you'd really like Revival, especially since you like coming of age stories. And the horror elements are fabulous! I really need to re-read The Shining, I found it hard to separate from the film, which I really enjoyed. Would love to hear your list!

oooo that's awesome! All the stories in Different Seasons are honestly awesome (The Body is a really great coming of age story too!) Looking forward to hearing what you think of Apt Pupil!

Thanks Sam!! <3

Thanks for chiming in! How far did you get, do you remember? I remember it being a bit of a drag, but then something happens at the half-way mark that really turned things around

Thanks Quinn! So glad you're starting your Stephen King journey! And Pet Sematary's a fantastic place to start :) If you need any more recs, please don't hesitate to reach out!

@@Shelf-Esteem I watch all your videos on Stephen King! They have all been very helpful! If I have any specific questions I will definitely reach out! Thanks so much your awesome!

@@quinncrochet19 so happy to hear that!!

Thanks so much Sam, so glad you enjoyed it! 😊 I’ll keep these updates coming

@@Shelf-Esteem You’re welcome, thanks for great content. Cracking idea, not seen anyone else do this kind of stuff especially not with this level of insight. Keep em coming mate 👍