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Stephen King refers to his fans as Constant Readers. These are people who have taken the time to tackle his colossal 70+ book bibliography.
Although he has slowed down in recent years, Stephen King is one of the speediest writers out there, and fans can expect at least a book or two per year. This extensive writing has helped him to a comfortable income stream. You can read more about King’s net worth here.
So let’s say you want to start reading Stephen King. Perhaps you have heard a lot about him through the countless movie adaptations of his work, or perhaps you have already read a little but want to delve deeper into his novels.
If this is the case, then you have come to the right place!
This is the ultimate guide to all 81 entries into the Stephen King Bibliography. We give you a list of each one and even include the Bachman books that he publishes from time to time.
After, we explain some good reading orders that will help you get the best out of his life work.
We also included a short Frequently Asked Questions section that will take you through some common questions about this legendary author.
Sometimes called the American Charles Dickens, Stephen King is one of the most prolific writers of the last 100 years.
Starting as primarily a writer of horror fiction (If you like horror fiction, you might also like American Psycho. Check out this book review on it!), he has since branched out to write across almost every genre and has created some of the most treasured stories in recent history.
His work is hard-hitting, often brutal and terrifying, and always has a high emphasis on character over plot.
Numerous film adaptations have sky-rocketed his work to mass appeal, including Carrie (1976,) The Shining (1980,) Stand By Me (1986,) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994).
Stephen King is one of, if not the most renowned horror writers in history, and continues to write vivaciously even as he gets older.
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In his book On Writing: A Memoir of The Craft (published in 2000), he explained his process. Stephen King tries to write upwards of six pages each day on whatever novel it is he is working on.
This means that he creates an impressive amount of stories each year. This means that fans or “Constant Readers” almost always have something new to read.
However, for people who are new to reading his work, the extensive bibliography can seem like a huge mountain to overcome.
Thankfully, his army of fans has a lot of opinions about good reading orders you can choose to take.
Whilst there isn’t a right path, there are some great ideas that will help you better understand his contribution to literature and the shared universe of horror, fantasy, and science fiction he has created.
In the following sections, we are going to give you a total overview of his work, and then give you some suggested reading orders.
Because Stephen King has a lot of different books, we are going to try to give you an overview of some of the most important ones and clue you in on some of the nuances of his work that make him different from other authors.
What follows is a list of every single Stephen King.
Some of them are short story collections – which we referenced with the word Shorts, and some use his alternative pen name Richard Bachman, which we referenced with Bachman.
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So as you can see, he has a lot of books! If you are a new reader, the sheer size of this list might feel overwhelming to you.
Thankfully, there are some choice reads that fans consider his best work, and they could be the best place to begin.
In this section, we are going to cover some of his most iconic works concerning the type of reader that they might be perfect for.
We separated these into sections to do with genre, but you should know that Stephen King novels often cross the line between different genres.
You can also consider this a reading order, as we made sure to order the lists in ways that complement each other.
Firstly, let’s consider just reading each novel by its year of publication. If you like, you can simply work down the list we included above.
This will give you a total understanding of every single thing he ever published. However, his bibliography is huge and some books are not as good as others!
Horror novels are Stephen King’s bread and butter. They are what have given him his name as one of the greatest authors of all time.
In this first section, we are going to outline a reading order that will take you through some of the most essential horror novels you should read.
Just one note before we begin. There is a massive content warning for almost every one of these stories! Stephen King’s horror is known for its darkness, violence, and distressing themes.
If you’re not a person who deals well with being scared, then we recommend checking out later lists in this article.
Carrie is Stephen King’s first published novel, though not the first story he ever wrote. However, it is one of the most important works in his bibliography.
Carrie is a horror story about a girl with psychic powers. Upon the beginning of her first period when she is bullied by other girls at her high school, these latent abilities begin to awaken.
With an abusive, fanatically religious mother and classmates who want to humiliate her, Carrie becomes a monster and one of the most iconic horror characters in history.
This is one of the best places to begin if you are looking to read a short introduction to Stephen King’s horror novels that will give you a great understanding of his prose style, character development, and the tone of his other horror stories.
It is a great little tale that moves with pace and paves the way for his later, more expansive horror novels.
The Shining, without a doubt, is one of the most iconic horror novels ever written. It follows the Torrence Family (Jack, Wendy, and their son Danny) as they take over as custodians of the Overlook Hotel.
This might be one of the first stories that mythologizes the hotel as a setting for horror, and as the plot progresses you will see the family battle malevolent spirits both internal and external.
One thing to note about this book is that it deviates a lot from Stanley Kubrick’s legendary adaptation of the same name.
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Although the general scenario is the same, there is a different central heart to the novel that allows the ending to be more inspiring than cold, as is Kubrick’s version.
Pick this one up if you are looking to tackle something larger than Carrie, and learn why Stephen King is considered one of the greatest authors of his generation. It’s a must-read for horror fans and Constant Readers alike.
This might seem a strange third pick for Constant Readers, but it is another one of his most iconic stories, that shows the reader how much he can do with a relatively simplistic plot.
In short, Cujo is the story of a Saint Bernard who gets rabies whilst chasing a rabbit in the woods.
It follows multiple characters throughout the town of Castle Rock, as Cujo slowly loses his mind and begins to cause big problems for all.
We wo go into spoilers, because the plot of this book is at its heart suspenseful, but just know that it is a real page-turner.
It also acts as a great introduction to other stories that jump around and explore multiple points of view.
An interesting fact about Cujo is actually one of the only books that Stephen King has little to no memory of writing.
At the time of its creation, he was struggling with intense substance abuse problems. It is for this reason that many Constant Readers consider it to be one of his most terrifying novels.
It is deeply introspective, and gripping, and shows just how good at horror writing he is, even when he is not using paranormal monsters or entities.
One look at this novel and you are probably going to be overwhelmed by how large it is. At over 400,000 words, it is by far one of his longest books.
IT is widely considered one of the greatest horror novels ever written. It follows the story of the Losers’ Club, a group of kids living in the city of Derry who find themselves pursued by a psychotic, shape-shifting clown who wants to eat them.
Pennywise, as he is called, is one of the most iconic horror monsters ever created, and has become a vital part of popular culture.
If you are looking for something terrifying, long, and sweeping, then this is a great book to pick up. It is as long as it is as it tells the story of a lifetime, flitting between two time periods, the 1950s and the 1980s.
You will learn a lot about each character, as you will become completely immersed in the world that Stephen King has created.
Although this novel is often also called a thriller (If you like Thriller Books, check out the works of Jack Carr and how to read them), we think that it fits the horror genre just as well. If you are looking for something short and suspenseful, then this is a great choice for you.
Misery tells the story of Paul Sheldon, a writer who has for years resented his job of penning romantic, period dramas.
As he drives to his editor to submit the final entry of his long-running series (whereupon he has killed off the eponymous main character), he gets into a car wreck.
When Paul wakes up he finds himself badly injured and being nursed back to health by the creepy and strange Annie Wilkes, who just so happens to be his number 1 fan.
As the story progresses we see Paul fight for survival as Annie keeps him locked away and forces him to write a better ending.
This is a thrilling novel that focuses primarily on two characters and has some contemplative sections about the redemptive qualities of writing as a craft.
Next up, we are going to give you a short list of some of the most important books he has written outside of horror. These will give you a good idea of what fans love, and the order in which you should read them.
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The Stand is sometimes called a horror novel, but it is probably best called a post-apocalyptic thriller.
When a terrible virus ravages the United States of America and resets culture, readers watch as a tale of good and evil unfolds.
This one is widely regarded as one of his best novels, but like IT before, it is extremely long. We would recommend this one for fans who want to see the best he has to offer once they are comfortable with his prose style.
This next one is an example of a Stephen King book that does not fit into the horror genre at all.
11/22/63 is a time-traveler novel that follows a man who goes back to the 1960s to try and stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It is another very long book, but one that is perfect for fans of thrillers with a supernatural twist.
Want to see what happens when Stephen King tries his hand at fantasy fiction (If you like fantasy-themed books, check out The Legend of Drizzt Books and how to read them)? This 5-part series follows the Gunslinger as he battles The Man In Black.
It is a strange mix between a classic Cowboy Western, Science-fiction, and fantasy.
If you are looking for something strange that is easy to read but also deep and contemplative, then this is what you should read next.
The Dark Tower is also an important series for Constant Readers, as it will take you through some of the lore in the background of his other novels; introducing you to his shared universe concept.
Looking to learn some writing tips from the master himself? Perhaps you are interested in his life and want to know how his experiences forged him into an iconic writer.
Either way, On Writing, is a great next step. On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft is Stephen King’s writing guide.
It explains everything you want to know about his process, some of his early life, and how he went from a boy writing stories in his bedroom, to an internationally revered author.
You can skip this one if you are only interested in his stories, but it is very well-written and offers some great life lessons you will not find elsewhere. The audiobook is also great, as it is read by Stephen King!
As Stephen King began his career, he found himself writing novels faster than his publishing house could put them out. This meant that he had a lot of random books that he wanted to publish, but could not.
The solution was to create a pen name that would allow him to explore different topics and publish twice in the same period.
And so Richard Bachman was born. Although the writing style is very similar, you find slightly different themes within these books, and many fans consider them to be slightly darker than even his horror stories.
You should not skip these, as they are some of his most iconic works.
If you want to get started with the Bachman books, we recommend reading them in order.
The Long Walk is widely considered the best of them, and you can read it right away if you skip Rage which may be difficult to find these days.
Stephen King is a prolific short story writer, with around 130 stories to his name.
We are going to give you a short overview of the most important short stories he wrote, concerning the collections they are contained in.
The Body is the short story that inspired the 1986 sleeper hit movie “Stand By Me”
It’s a story about four boys who go into the wilderness outside their town of Castle Rock (remember this from Cujo?) in search of a dead body.
It is a wholesome, often hilarious novel with some deep themes at its heart.
Although Stand By Me is widely considered one of the most authentic adaptations of his work, the short has some key differences and is very worth checking out.
You’ve probably seen the movie, but did you know it was based on a Stephen King Novella?
This is a great choice if you are looking for a prison story about redemption and innocence. It is a gripping read that offers some additional depth you can get in the movie.
If you want a particularly nasty set of stories, then you should pick up the short story collection Full Dark, No Stars.
1922 might be one of Stephen King’s darkest stories and follows a man who coerces his son into murdering their wife and mother to stop her from selling off their family farm.
What happens after is dark, and disturbing, and offers a chilling look into the darkest parts of the human psyche.
Want to see what a Stephen King sci-fi novel looks like? We are not even going to explain the plot of The Jaunt, for fear of spoilers, but just know that you probably have never read a sci-fi (If you like sci-fi-themed books, check out The Dune Books and how to read them) Astory so terrifying.
We regret to say that we have only just scratched the surface of Stephen King’s vast bibliography. However, we hope that these lists and reading orders we suggested will give you a good foothold.
Feel free to pick and choose the books/stories that seem interesting to you. In truth, there is no real reading order that is required, and many Constant Readers find an entry into his world with different books.
If you still have some questions, make sure to keep reading for our short Frequently Asked Questions section.
We wish you many happy hours reading the works of Stephen King, and hope that you love his stories as much as we do!
Stephen King is so popular for two main reasons” the quantity and quality of his writing. Stephen King has a simple but effective prose style that focuses on telling the story and exploring the characters above all else.
This means that his writing is very accessible. He also loves to tell stories about regular people placed into dangerous or paranormal scenarios.
He also published books almost every year of his career, which means there is always something new for fans to sink their teeth into.
Often, people can take a look at the horror stories Stephen King has written and wonder how he has been able to write such dark material.
However, this is just the kind of thing he enjoys writing!
Stephen King had a fairly regular childhood and life ever since, and he states that his love for all things scary and violent is just because that is what he enjoyed reading and watching as a child!
Stephen King is one of the most renowned authors in history. He sold more than 400 million books worldwide throughout his career.
When it comes to horror authors, he is the absolute King (pardon the pun), selling far more than any other in history.