Stephen King Books In Order And Best Books

Stephen King is one of the modern-day greats. With over 60 novels and hundreds of short stories published in his name, he stands out as one of the most influential figures in the literary world.

Predominantly a horror and supernatural fiction author, Stephen King has produced works of art that have intrigued and entertained us. He has done this on a regular basis and you will hardly walk into a book store and not stumble on one of his work.

In this article, we rank the best Stephen King books. This is no easy task considering none of that his books can be considered as terrible.

Let’s take a look at the guide.

Top 10 Stephen King Books Comparison Table

ImageProductRatingPrice
1. The Shining 1. The Shining
  • 4.8/5
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2. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft 2. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
  • 4.8/5
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3. Doctor Sleep: A Novel 3. Doctor Sleep: A Novel
  • 4.7/5
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4. The Stand: A Novel 4. The Stand: A Novel
  • 4.7/5
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5. Misery: A Novel 5. Misery: A Novel
  • 4.7/5
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6. 11/22/63: A Novel 6. 11/22/63: A Novel
  • 4.7/5
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7. Different Seasons: Four Novellas 7. Different Seasons: Four Novellas
  • 4.7/5
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8. Mr. Mercedes: A Novel 8. Mr. Mercedes: A Novel
  • 4.6/5
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9. Finders Keepers: A Novel 9. Finders Keepers: A Novel
  • 4.6/5
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10. It 10. It
  • 4.6/5
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Stephen King Latest book

Billy Summers (August 03, 2021) is Stephen King’s latest book.

Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?

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Stephen King the Author

Born in 1947, Stephen King is an American author that specializes in horror, superstitious fiction, and fantasy works of art. His inspiration to venture into the dark side of writing can be attributed to a period in his younger life when started having an interest in books

As he was going through his father’s attic, he stumbled upon a collection of short stories entitled “The Lurker in the Shadows”.

It is here that his love for horror and superstitious related works of literature began.

His first novel “Carrie” was published in 1973. He was discouraged with his progress as he wrote this novel to the extent that he threw into the trash the first draft of this book.

It only took the intervention of his wife to spur him to finish the novel. She retrieved the draft from the trash and encouraged him to finish it.

Carrie” was a success and he followed it up with his second novel entitled “Salem’s Lot”.

Up to date Stephen King has authored 54 novels and more than 200 short stories that have mostly been collected in book collections.

His literary works have sold more than 350 million copies most of which have been developed into television shows, feature films and comic books.

This makes him one of the most influential writers of our time.

He has received many awards in the course of his writing career from the O. Henry Award for the short story “The Man in the Black Suit”, in 1994 to the more prestigious World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement for his immense contribution to literature.

The awards only seem to motivate him to a greater height as he has continued producing novel after novel to emerge as one of the best horror writers of the present generation.

Top 10 Best Stephen King Books Reviews

1. The Shining

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Of all the Stephen King’s books none stands out like The Shining. We are huge Stephen King fans and admit to reading this novel multiple times. The writing style of this specific Stephen King book is out of this world.

Character build-up and presentation is just right and the scene matches the story very well.

The story revolves around the Torrance family. Jack Torrance, the dad, has not been at his best lately and feels that a family trip in complete isolation will help him build a better relationship with his family.

He has recently been appointed as the winter custodian of the Overlook Hotel deep in Colorado. This is the perfect opportunity for a family getaway and he does not pass up the opportunity.

When winter finally sets in, the place feels even more remote and sinister. The only person within the group who is able to sense the terrible and strange forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance; Jack’s son.

What follows next is a horrifying tale of survival against all odds and Stephen King clearly brings the story to life capturing the reader’s fear of supernatural power through proper characterization.

All these make The Shining one of the best Stephen King books.

2. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

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On this special publication, Stephen King shares his experiences, convictions and habits that have shaped him as a writer.

Regarded as one of the best writers of our time, Stephen King shares his immense journey to the top. The trials and tribulations he faced along the way and those moments of clarity that made him realize that indeed writing was his calling.

He talks of his family and how they influenced his writing. There are heartfelt tidbits of his relationship with his brother and mother. He talks of some of the darkest points in his life such as his battle with drug addiction and alcoholism.

All these events played a part in making him the great writer he is today and he tells the story in a clear and conscious manner that leaves you amazed and glued to your book.

As a reader, this book is quite interesting as it is one of those stories that is powerful enough to drive the message home yet it is soft and smooth to entertain and flatter you.

Aspiring writers have no reason not to devour this book from cover to cover. With this books you are definitely in Stephen King’s mind and there is no better place to get writing inspiration than here.

You get to learn of his methods and process, the writers he looked up to and his sources of inspiration. You get to learn how to free yourself when you get stuck and how to handle superstardom.

For the best book by Stephen king, then you definitely have to read On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft.

3. Doctor Sleep: A Novel

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Stephen Kings has delivered yet another best-seller in the form of Doctor Sleep: A Novel. This novel is a sequel to The Shining; another bestseller by the legendary Stephen King.

In this novel, a small tribe of people known as The True knot travel in search of sustenance. They are a bunch of old guys with their RV. Pretty harmless right. But that is not the case. Appearances can be pretty deceiving and this is the case when it comes to The True Knot people.

The True Knot people are quasi-immortal and they live off the steam that the children with the shining produce when they are tortured to death.

Dan Torrance from his ill-fated spell at Overlook understands all these and what is going on. As he grew up, Dan has been trying to shed his Dad’s bad image and this has seen him drift for decades.

Dan gets to finally meet the evanescent Abra Stone. She possesses the brightest shining ever witnessed and this ignites Dan’s own demons.

What follows next is a classic tale of good versus evil as Dan battles for Abra’s soul and survival.

This is one of those stories that terrify you yet its creative and imaginative composition draws you in for more of the story.

With this publication, Stephen King has proved himself as the best in the business. Grab this novel today for the best story that you will ever read.

4. The Stand: A Novel

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The Stand is another publication by the impressive Stephen King. It is setting, creative composition, and impressive manipulation of words make it one of the best novels you will ever read.

The story gets going when a super flu virus wipes out close to 99% of the entire human population. This occurs when a man escapes from a scientific testing facility. He is infected with a deadly flu virus that he spread to other humans in a short period of time.

The people who survive the flu are scared and terrified. They are in need of a leader to guide them through these tough times. Two people emerge. One is a 108-year-old woman by the name of Mother Abigail.

The other is Randall Flagg a fellow who thrives in chaos and violence.

What ensues is a story of survival and a battle between good versus evil that will determine the future of the entire planet.

5. Misery: A Novel

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Misery: A Novel is a story about captivity. Paul Sheldon is a famous novelist who is held hostage by his biggest fan, Annie Wilkes. Annie volunteers to nurse Paul back to health after he suffers an automobile accident.

Paul kills Annie’s favorite character in his latest book and this angers Annie to the extent that she holds him hostage and isolated him in her house.

Annie wants Paul to bring Misery back to life in his next book just for her. She has devised ways to persuade Paul to do so including using a needle and an ax.

The story gets off from the first page and you are glued to it to the end.

6. 11/22/63: A Novel

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The book tells the story of Jake Epping, a high school English teacher. One day he finds that the storage room of his friend Al contains a portal that leads to 1960. He realizes that he can go back for various time periods to save JFK from being killed on November 22nd, 1963.

Epping travels back in time several times, not only to save President Kennedy but also to meet his true love. But unfortunately, changing history does not always bring good results…

The main protagonist appears flawed but retains enough optimism to keep us rooting for him, while his interactions with others show how decisions made over 50 years ago ripple down into the present.

Can we change the past? 

Imagine you were able to go back in time and change the things that haunt your dreams. Would it be possible for you to have a good ending? If not, would everything still work out like it was meant to happen?

Maybe when you have struggled to change it, only to find that accepting the past is the only one that makes the most sense.

7. Different Seasons: Four Novellas

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Different Seasons is a collection of four novellas, each set in a different season. Stephen King usually writes horror, but this book is his most meticulous and meaningful work. 

Hope Springs Eternal: Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption

This collection begins with “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”, which was adapted into the Best Picture Academy Award-nominee movie, The Shawshank Redemption, in 1994.

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is a jailbreak story.

Andy Dufresne is innocently convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and spends a long time in Shawshank prison. However, he refuses to be ruined by his destiny. Finally, he manages to escape from the prison on a thunderstorm night after ten years of hard work.

Andy’s journey contains despair and pain. However, what keeps him calm? What prevents him from being aggrieved or violent in the face of repression or desperate when facing difficulties?

These are all related to rationality. Rationally allows Andy to strike a balance between gain and loss, free himself from hatred beyond the self, and finally get to the other side of freedom.

Summer of Corruption: Apt Pupil

In the eyes of the school, teachers, and parents, Todd is a standard good boy with excellent grades and smart manners. When he first knocks on Dussander’s door, he is perhaps driven by the curiosity of ordinary boys. But slowly everything is out of Todd’s control, and his momentary curiosity awakens the dark side of his heart.

Dussander used to be a Nazi, a murderous demon in a concentration camp. With the erosion of the years, through the displacement of the escape, he has no longer the old ruthless and sharp. Now just a poor old drunk, an ordinary old man living alone, dull and boring.

The arrival of Todd changes all that. The strange boy recognizes the former murderer and blackmails Dussander into telling him about the past.

At first, Dussander feels fear and anger, and he is annoyed at being such a boy casually call and heckle. But Dussander gradually became obsessed with the memories, those days in the concentration camp so that the evil in Dussander’s heart resurrected.

Todd is no longer the simple, happy boy he used to be, and although he is still the good student in front of others, he can no longer bear the inner conflict, pain, and suffering.

For Todd, whether he admits it in his heart or not, Dussander is his mentor in the evil of his heart. For Dussander, Todd is the awakener of evil in his heart.

Todd hates Dussander, and Dussander dislikes Todd. This is a contradictory pair. They change each other’s lives, dislike each other, but also rely on each other.

Apt Pupil is not strictly a horror novel, but it is darker and more frightening than most horror novels.

Perhaps, we all have a curiosity and shallow desire for evil in our hearts. But, I hope we will not meet a teacher like Dussander.

The evil in the heart of man is like the garbage in the shadows, just waiting for the arrival of the humid Summer of Corruption, then it will begin to rot and mold.

Fall from Innocence: The Body

The Body was adapted into the 1986 film Stand by Me.

This is considered a semi-autobiographical memoir by the author himself. 

The novel tells the story of four boys who, in order to make a big splash on television, go down the railroad tracks in search of the body of a boy who was hit by a train and killed.

Many stories occur as the four searches for the body. Including being beaten by older children, almost being crushed to death by the train, etc… The novel fully reflects the shape of the American underclass in the 60s and 70s.

A Winter’s Tale: The Breathing Method

In the social setting at the time of the story, everyone felt that an unmarried woman who became pregnant was a shameless person.

Sandra determined to give birth to her illegitimate child, despite financial problems and social disapproval.

To be convincing, she bought a gold ring at a pawn shop for $2. When she arrived in a new area, she said she was a widow and wanted to give birth when people asked her about her pregnancy.

At this point, the dramatic discovery was just the ring and new set of sayings, and people started to praise her courage instead of despising her. “The magic of two dollars!” 

McCarron is a physician with some new ideas that do not accept by mainstream medicine. When he meets the woman, he accepts her and tries to teach her what to do during pregnancy and a breathing method that helps in childbirth.

Although the medical community does not yet recognize this breathing method, she is still serious about learning this method.

On the night of her delivery, she is involved in a car accident and her head is cut off on the spot. However, the doctor finds she is still breathing and using the breathing technique that the doctor had taught her.

Because she keeps breathing, the baby is delivered successfully, and she thanked the doctor before she stopped breathing. This is the most frightening part of the story but also the most shocking.

8. Mr. Mercedes: A Novel 

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Hodges, a retired police detective, lives alone with nothing to do. He spends his days in his recliner, watching boring TV shows and rubbing a .38 pistol, looking for a moment to make up his mind and end his life.  As the day-to-day void is about to take its toll, Hodges receives a letter from Mr. Mercedes, who claims to be a random killer downtown.

Six months earlier, a gray Mercedes had rammed into a crowd of job seekers at a downtown job fair, causing more than a dozen minor injuries and eight deaths, but the police were unable to arrest the killer. This is a major regret for Hodges, who has won many medals for solving crimes before retiring. Now, the suspect sends a letter and invites him to a chat room.

 While the reader thinks he’s going to find the killer with the retired Officer Hodges, the novel doesn’t follow the traditional path of the case, and the killer, Brady, shows up in chapter two!

Brady wants to abet Hodges to commit suicide in an extreme way to get the satisfaction of controlling other people’s lives. But Hodges, who knows countless people and has a brilliant sixth sense, can’t let Brady get his way.

The book is well laid out, with more unpredictable people and events in turn and unexpected twists (Brady’s mother’s death, Jeremy and Holly joined the ranks of the case), creating layers of climax, so I can not stop reading. 

The novel also brings out many issues worth exploring: motherhood, disadvantaged families, retirement planning,  mental illness awareness…all echoing the problems of today’s society.

For example, Hodges is a dedicated police officer who is busy working on cases but neglects his family. His wife and daughter left him one by one.

After retirement, he is left alone in his house, living a life of boredom, with no sense of accomplishment and no motivation to live, so empty that he wants to give up on himself and life.

9. Finders Keepers: A Novel

Writer Rothstein published The Runner trilogy during his lifetime and has completed writing the fourth and fifth parts of The runner but has not published them.

Morris was a rabid fan of The runner trilogy but killed Rothstein because he was unhappy with one of the characters in the Rothstein trilogy.

The two unpublished manuscripts, along with $20,000 in cash in a safe deposit box, were taken and buried by Morris, who killed him.

Morris was sentenced to life in prison for other cases. 

A boy, Peter, finds the manuscript and $20,000 in cash in the ground, reads the last two parts of The Runner, and becomes a fan of Rothstein. Peter uses the money to help his broke parents out of a difficult situation but still has no money to support his sister’s desire to go to a better high school.

He hesitates and tries to see if he can sell part of the manuscript, thus exposing Rothstein’s stolen manuscript.

More than thirty years later, Morris was granted parole out of prison in his twilight years. What he wanted to do after his release was to find the manuscripts he had buried and to read them all.

 These unpublished manuscripts were the spiritual anchor that supported him through his 30-plus years in prison.

In the struggle over the manuscripts, Morris goes on a killing spree…

Morris and Peter are both fans of Rotstein’s creation. However, different people found different values in the same work or consolidated the different values that already existed.

Morris always avoided taking responsibility, blamed his parents, friends, and even Rothstein for his life’s hardships, failures, and even crimes.

Peter has done a lot for his parents and sister, protecting them, and is willing to take on a greater social responsibility to protect Rothstein’s legacy.

10. It

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The story features seven 11-year-olds in the “loser club” who are rejected by the other kids. They are the losers of their school, each with their reasons for being isolated and bullied by their classmates.

A series of brutal killings occurred in Derry after the children went missing.

William is the “boss” of the group, and he senses something strange about the deaths.

They find the monster, and the children must suppress their fears and fight “it” in their pitiful way.

Twenty-eight years later, they received the message that the monster had reappeared.

But they had forgotten the memory and how to survive the fight with the monster.

In the end, it was finally wiped out like a nightmare, and they finally overcame the nightmare that had plagued them for 27 years.

This is a book of courage, and this is a journey of adventure. This is a book of friendship and praise for keeping promises.

Stephen King makes the loser teenagers defeat the most unbeatable demons, and it brings tears to our eyes after reading it.

Stephen King Books In Order

Stephen King’s Shining Books In Order

  1. The Shining (1977)
  2. Doctor Sleep (2013)

Stephen King’s Dark Tower Books In Order

  1. The Gunslinger (1982)
  2. The Drawing of the Three (1987)
  3. The Waste Lands (1991)
  4. Wizard and Glass (1997)
  5. Wolves of the Calla (2003)
  6. Song of Susannah (2004)
  7. The Dark Tower (2004)
  8. The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)

Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger

  1. The Journey Begins (2019)
  2. The Little Sisters of Eluria (2019)
  3. The Battle of Tull (2019)
  4. The Way Station (2019)
  5. The Man in Black (2019)
  6. Last Shots (2019)

Stephen King’s Talisman Books In Order

  1. The Talisman (1984)
  2. Black House (2001)

Stephen King’s Green Mile Books In Order

  1. The Two Dead Girls (1996)
  2. The Mouse on the Mile (1996)
  3. Coffey’s Hands (1996)
  4. The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix (1996)
  5. Night Journey (1996)
  6. Coffey on the Mile (1996)

Stephen King’s Bill Hodges Trilogy Books In Order

  1. Mr. Mercedes (2014)
  2. Finders Keepers (2015)
  3. End of Watch (2016)

Stephen King’s Gwendy’s Button Box Trilogy Books In Order

  1. Gwendy’s Button Box (2017)
  2. Gwendy’s Magic Feather (2019)
  3. Gwendy’s Final Task (2022)

Stephen King’s Secretary of Dreams Books In Order

  1. The Secretary of Dreams (2006)
  2. The Secretary of Dreams Volume 2 (2010)

Stephen King’s Standalone Novels In Order

  1. Carrie (1974)
  2. ‘Salem’s Lot (1975)
  3. Rage (1977)
  4. The Stand (1978)
  5. The Long Walk (1979)
  6. The Dead Zone (1979)
  7. Firestarter (1980)
  8. Roadwork (1981)
  9. Cujo (1981)
  10. The Running Man (1982)
  11. Christine (1983)
  12. Pet Sematary (1983)
  13. Thinner (1984)
  14. It (1986)
  15. The Eyes of the Dragon (1987)
  16. Misery (1987)
  17. The Tommyknockers (1987)
  18. The Dark Half (1989)
  19. Needful Things (1991)
  20. Gerald’s Game (1992)
  21. Dolores Claiborne (1992)
  22. Insomnia (1994)
  23. Rose Madder (1995)
  24. The Green Mile (1996)
  25. Desperation (1996)
  26. The Regulators (1996)
  27. Bag of Bones (1998)
  28. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999)
  29. Dreamcatcher (2001)
  30. From a Buick 8 (2002)
  31. The Colorado Kid (2005)
  32. Cell (2006)
  33. Lisey’s Story (2006)
  34. Blaze (2007)
  35. Duma Key (2008)
  36. Under the Dome (2009)
  37. 11/22/63 (2011)
  38. Joyland (2013)
  39. Revival (2014)
  40. Sleeping Beauties (2017)
  41. The Outsider (2018)
  42. Elevation (2018)
  43. The Institute (2019)
  44. Later (2021)
  45. Billy Summers (2021)

Stephen King’s Short Stories In Order

  1. Quitters, Inc (1978)
  2. The Mist (1980)
  3. The Body (1982)
  4. The Shawshank Redemption (1982)
  5. Apt Pupil (1983)
  6. Cycle of the Werewolf (1983)
  7. Silver Bullet (1983)
  8. The Breathing Method (1984)
  9. Dolan’s Cadillac (1989)
  10. My Pretty Pony (1989)
  11. The Langoliers (1989)
  12. The Library Policeman (1990)
  13. The Sun Dog (1990)
  14. Secret Window, Secret Garden (1991)
  15. Three Carols   (1991)
  16. Children of the Corn (1993)
  17. Umney’s Last Case (1995)
  18. Riding the Bullet (2000)
  19. LT’s Theory of Pets (2001)
  20. Stationary Bike (2006)
  21. The Gingerbread Girl (2008)
  22. 1922 (2010)
  23. Blockade Billy (2010)
  24. Mile 81 (2011)
  25. Throttle (2012)
  26. Stephen King’s Battleground (2012)
  27. Big Driver (2012)
  28. In the Tall Grass (2012)
  29. A Good Marriage (2014)
  30. Drunken Fireworks (2015)
  31. Elevation (2018)

Stephen King’s Short Story Collections In Order

  1. Night Shift (1978)
  2. Different Seasons (1982)
  3. Stephen King’s Creepshow (1982)
  4. Skeleton Crew (1985)
  5. Four Past Midnight (1990)
  6. Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993)
  7. Hearts in Atlantis (1999)
  8. Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Craft of Writing (2000)
  9. Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales (2002)
  10. The Secretary of Dreams, Volume 1 (2006)
  11. Just After Sunset (2008)
  12. Stephen King Goes to the Movies (2009)
  13. Road Rage (2009)
  14. Full Dark, No Stars (2010)
  15. The Secretary of Dreams, Volume 2 (2010)
  16. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015)

Stephen King’s Anthologies In Order

  1. The Best American Short Stories 2007 (2007)
  2. The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 4 (2012)
  3. Six Scary Stories (2016)
  4. Flight or Fright (2018)

Stephen King’s Standalone Plays In Order

  1. Storm of the Century (1999)
  2. Ghost Brothers of Darkland County (2013)

Stephen King’s Graphic Novels In Order

  1. The Talisman, Vol. 1: The Road of Trials (2009)
  2. American Vampire, Vol. 1 (2010)
  3. Sleeping Beauties, Vol. 1 (2020)

Stephen King’s Non-Fiction Books In Order

  1. Danse Macabre (1981)
  2. Nightmares in the Sky (1988)
  3. Mid-Life Confidential (1994)
  4. On Writing (2000)
  5. Faithful (2004)
  6. Guns (2013)
  7. Hard Listening: The Greatest Rock Band Ever (of Authors) Tells All (2013)
  8. Hearts in Suspension (2016)