Is It Best to Read the SK Books Sequentially?

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Takoren

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Nov 25, 2015
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Here's my sequential list, which is ranked by publication order and includes short stories in the order they were initially published. My list also includes Joe Hill titles.

I Was a Teenage Grave Robber
The Glass Floor
Cain Rose Up
Here There Be Tygers
Strawberry Spring
Night Surf
The Reaper's Image
Slade
Graveyard Shift
The Blue Air Compressor
I Am the Doorway
Suffer the Little Children
The Fifth Quarter
Battleground
The Mangler
The Boogeyman
Trucks
Gray Matter
It Grows on You
Sometimes They Come Back
Carrie
The Lawnmower Man
Salem's Lot
Weeds
The Ledge
I Know What You Need
The Shining
Children of the Corn
One for the Road
The Cat from Hell
The King Family and the Wicked Witch
The Man Who Loved Flowers
Rage
Jerusalem's Lot
The Last Rung on the Ladder
Quitters, Inc.
The Woman in the Room
The Night of the Tiger
Nona
The Stand
Man with a Belly
The Crate
The Long Walk
The Dead Zone
The Mist
Crouch End
Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game
Firestarter
The Monkey
The Wedding Gig
Roadwork
The Jaunt
Cujo
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands
The Reach
The Running Man
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
Survivor Type
Before the Play
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
Apt Pupil
The Body
The Breathing Method
The Raft
Word Processor of the Gods
Christine
Uncle Otto's Truck
Pet Sematary
Cycle of the Werewolf
Gramma
Mrs. Todd's Shortcut
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet
Beachworld
The Talisman
Thinner
Dolan's Cadillac
Morning Deliveries
It
The End of the Whole Mess
The Eyes of the Dragon
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three
Popsy
Misery
The Doctor's Case
The Tommyknockers
The Night Flier
Dedication
The Reploids
Sneakers
Rainy Season
Home Delivery
My Pretty Pony
The Dark Half
The Langoliers
Secret Window, Secret Garden
The Library Policeman
The Sun Dog
The Moving Finger
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands
Needful Things
You Know They Got a Hell of a Band
Gerald's Game
Chattery Teeth
Dolores Claiborne
The Beggar and the Diamond
The House on Maple Street
Sorry, Right Number
The Ten o'Clock People
Umney's Last Case
Insomnia
The Man in the Black Suit
Rose Madder
Lucky Quarter
Lunch at the Gotham Café
The Green Mile
Desperation
The Regulators
Autopsy Room Four
L.T.'s Theory of Pets
Everything's Eventual
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It is in French
Bag of Bones
The Little Sisters of Eluria
The New Lieutenant's Rap
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Better Than Home
The Road Virus Heads North
Hearts in Atlantis
1408
In the Deathroom
Riding the Bullet
The Old Dude's Ticker
All That You Love will be Carried Away
Dreamcatcher
Black House
Pop Art
The Death of Jack Hamilton
20th Century Ghost
From a Buick 8
The Widow's Breakfast
Harvey's Dream
Stationary Bike
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla
Rest Stop
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower
You Will Hear the Locust Sing
Abraham's Boys
The Black Phone
Dead-Wood
The Colorado Kid
Last Breath
Best New Horror
Voluntary Committal
In the Rundown
Scheherezade's Typewriter
The Cape
My Father's Mask
Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead
Cell
The Things They Left Behind
Lisey's Story
Willa
Heart-Shaped Box
Graduation Afternoon
Blaze
The Gingerbread Girl
Thumbprint
Ayana
Mute
Duma Key
A Very Tight Place
The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates
N.
Throttle
Ur
Morality
Premium Harmony
Under the Dome
Horns
Blockade Billy
Twittering from the Circus of the Dead
1922
Big Driver
Fair Extension
A Good Marriage
Herman Wouk is Still Alive
Under the Weather
Mile 81
The Little Green God of Agony
The Dune
Wolverton Station
11/22/63
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole
By the Silver Waters of Lake Champlain
In the Tall Grass
A Face in the Crowd
Batman and Robin Have an Altercation
NOS4A2
Afterlife
Joyland
Doctor Sleep
Summer Thunder
Bad Little Kid
Mr. Mercedes
That Bus is Another World
Revival
A Death
Finders Keepers
Drunken Fireworks
Mister Yummy
Obits
The Fireman
End of Watch
 

RichardX

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2006
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Although there are some crossover references in many of King's books, I don't think it matters much what order they are read in. Obviously, a series like the Dark Tower should be read in order and a book like Dr. Sleep that is a sequel to an earlier book, but none of the rest.
 
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CynWill

Member
Jan 2, 2016
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So. Cal., SGV
I'm glad this question was asked because I'm actually doing this, right now. . . . Would I recommend this? Only if you're planning on committing to it. There's so much to read, but I think it's worth it.

Okay, I'm committing! This sounds fun - I like the idea of 'connections' in the stories. I noticed a few of them in a movie we watched last night - A Good Marriage - had some connections to things in 'Salem's Lot. Anyway, I can't read them in exactly the chrono order . . . I just finished 'Salem's Lot, which brought me to this MB. And I read The Shining and Doctor Sleep this past summer, and I read Misery and The Stand in the late '80's (Misery was my very first SK book) but I'll work around these . . . I've ordered 5 books from Carrie to Cujo, including The Stand since I did not keep that one, and I'm going to do this! I'll start with Carrie, then I'll consider re-reading The Stand, then The Dead Zone, Firestarter, and Cujo. I'll order a few more after I finish Cujo . . .
 

Takoren

Well-Known Member
Nov 25, 2015
242
815
46
Okay, I'm committing! This sounds fun - I like the idea of 'connections' in the stories. I noticed a few of them in a movie we watched last night - A Good Marriage - had some connections to things in 'Salem's Lot. Anyway, I can't read them in exactly the chrono order . . . I just finished 'Salem's Lot, which brought me to this MB. And I read The Shining and Doctor Sleep this past summer, and I read Misery and The Stand in the late '80's (Misery was my very first SK book) but I'll work around these . . . I've ordered 5 books from Carrie to Cujo, including The Stand since I did not keep that one, and I'm going to do this! I'll start with Carrie, then I'll consider re-reading The Stand, then The Dead Zone, Firestarter, and Cujo. I'll order a few more after I finish Cujo . . .
I hope you have fun!

I hadn't read much King in the past decade, so I decided that I would just start from the beginning and read it all, even if I'd already read it. I'm about to finish Roadwork. I've got a very long way to go, even longer because I decided to include Joe Hill's stuff. I challenged myself on Goodreads to finish this all by the end of the year. We'll see if I can do it.
 

kiseruyoru

Member
Jun 1, 2016
19
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Weirdos, I read whatever I happened upon on sale for a buck at the shop for a long, long time -- and even the past month or so when I decided to just grab the rest of the unread stuff finally, I still read it in a more or less random order XD.

Exceptions -- I read all sequels in order (Dark Towers, Black House,Doctor Sleep, Finders Keepers) .. .except the short stories in the gentlemen's club to everywhere, or nowhere, or whatever that place really was. I read the collection with the second one of those before the collection with the novella.
 

recitador

Speed Reader
Sep 3, 2016
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i started with It when i was rather young, and still haven't managed to read all his books yet. and oddly enough, most of his early books like firestarter, salem's lot, and the shining for instance, i only read last year. so order doesn't matter too much except for the series