Tell Us About Your "first Time"

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jarvi

Member
Jul 19, 2011
22
93
43
King brought me back to reading 3 different times in my life.

All throughout junior high I listened with keyhole curiosity as some of the braver kids talked about Stephen King books. I was always fascinated with horror, but had only dabbled in horror-lite, i.e. Monster Squad, Gremlins 2, that Garfield Halloween special with the terrifying old man. When they talked about IT, I sat wide-eyed and horrified.

A clown with fangs and claws? Yikes. That turns into a giant spider? Are you kidding me?!
My mother--looking a little green--threw her copy of Pet Sematary in the trash 3/4 of the way through. She had a hardcover copy of The Stand that was thicker than the Bible. I was more than a little intimidated.

Decided I was ready to pick one up by eighth grade. Ended up being The Dark Half. Loved it. I made up my own pen name right away (first name-George, after nasty Mr. Stark; last name-Murphy, because Beverly Hills Cop 3 was so cool--I was a kid, all right) and started trading ball-point horror erotica with some of the other little darklings in my class.

As an avid movie watcher, I've fallen out of the habit of reading several times throughout my life. It just sort of happened. By the time I was 20, I was barely reading anything at all except for the occasional issue of Entertainment Weekly. One day, I was sitting around my tiny apartment in North Hollywood, CA, having recently moved across the country. I was broke, bored, and lonely on a day off from working at a theme park. I'd watched all my VHS and all of my roommates VHS and didn't know what to do. I picked up her copy of Four Past Midnight and got sucked into The Langoliers. I didn't do anything for the next two days but read that book. The other stories were good, but it was The Langoliers that really showed me how fantastic words on a page could be. Headed to a used book store on my next day off and dove back into novels.

The third time was after moving back to the Midwest after L.A. kicked my ass. I felt displaced and a little hopeless about my future. Once again, had fallen out of the habit. Maybe magazines here or there, but I was working at a video store, so I had a bottomless supply of movies and TV shows on DVD. My lady worked at a library though. Having just moved back in with my parents, I tried to stay out of the house as much as possible, so I was sitting in the library waiting for her to get off work with nothing to do. I was just thumbing through a magazine. She told me that a new Stephen King book had just come out and handed me a hardcover with a cell phone sitting in a pool of blood. I cracked it. As soon as

pixie light and pixie dark went feral
I was hooked. I tore through that book. Absolutely love it. That's when reading and I decided it was time to stop with all this on-again-off-again kid's stuff. We moved in together and haven't looked back since. I started my King collection and he's my default setting when I'm between books.

All three of those feel like my first time.
 
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HannesGM

Member
Oct 26, 2012
10
13
I came to SK by "the low road" - having watched movies like "It" (I was young back then, around 12, and it scared the sh1t out of me) and "Shawshank Redemption", I finally, 15 years later(!) on a whim bought "It" (the book) and loved it. The rest, as they say, is history... I've started my way through Stephen's considerable list of works and have loved pretty much all I've read so far.
 
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davo67

Member
Jan 21, 2014
14
69
Australia
My first King book was 'The Shining'. I was around 15 and looking for something to read in my school library. I think I may have picked it up because I had heard something about the movie. It scared me witless, but I loved it. There were no other King books in the school library and my home town had no public library. My mum was a member of a mail order book club some time later and I begged her to buy me 'Pet Sematary' for Christmas. I was well and truly hooked after reading those two and would try to save up my own money to buy my own copies of any King publication. Once I had my new copy I would often stay up reading to 3 and 4 in the morning. My reading taste has diversified from those teenage years, and I don't always have the time to read a new edition when it appears on the shelf, but when I do, I love being immersed in the new story.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
My first King book was 'The Shining'. I was around 15 and looking for something to read in my school library. I think I may have picked it up because I had heard something about the movie. It scared me witless, but I loved it. There were no other King books in the school library and my home town had no public library. My mum was a member of a mail order book club some time later and I begged her to buy me 'Pet Sematary' for Christmas. I was well and truly hooked after reading those two and would try to save up my own money to buy my own copies of any King publication. Once I had my new copy I would often stay up reading to 3 and 4 in the morning. My reading taste has diversified from those teenage years, and I don't always have the time to read a new edition when it appears on the shelf, but when I do, I love being immersed in the new story.

Welcome to the SKMB davo67!

wolf and raven.jpg
 

Hall Monitor

All bars serve the Beam.
Nov 7, 2013
187
1,013
New Jersey
My first King book was 'The Shining'. I was around 15 and looking for something to read in my school library. I think I may have picked it up because I had heard something about the movie. It scared me witless, but I loved it. There were no other King books in the school library and my home town had no public library. My mum was a member of a mail order book club some time later and I begged her to buy me 'Pet Sematary' for Christmas. I was well and truly hooked after reading those two and would try to save up my own money to buy my own copies of any King publication. Once I had my new copy I would often stay up reading to 3 and 4 in the morning. My reading taste has diversified from those teenage years, and I don't always have the time to read a new edition when it appears on the shelf, but when I do, I love being immersed in the new story.
Welcome aboard!
 

mrblonde

Well-Known Member
Feb 4, 2010
247
119
MA
August 1991. I was 14. We were on vacation on Cape Cod, MA. My family went to the Cape for vacation every year. This particular year I was not so happy to go. The cottages we usually stayed at had been abandoned by their owner, and let go to ruin. I had made friends with some of the families that stayed the same week each year. We were going to stay in a cottage several miles down the beach, far from the place that I’d been to every single year of my life.

We got to the new cottage, and I hated it. I was a shy kid, and was intimidated to try to make my way into already established groups of kids. Everyone seemed to know everyone else. So I moped for the first day.

At breakfast the next day my mother told me: “Why don’t you read a book.”

As every year, she brought two paper grocery bags full of books and devoured them on the beach at a rate of about one per day.

I went through the bags, not expecting to find anything. Most were true crime, Koonts, Saul, and King.

In the end it was between “Creature” and “The Stand” I read the first few chapters of The Stand and picked it.

To this point in my life I only read books assigned in school. My recreational reading consisted of MAD Magazine, wrestling magazines and Fangiroa.

I finished the book in a week and it blew my mind. I reread it again as soon as I was finished.

The rest as they say, is history. I’ve ready almost every SK book, and some of them (OK, a lot of them) several times.

But I’ll never forget sitting on the Cape Cod beach for hours at a time reading The Stand for the first time.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
August 1991. I was 14. We were on vacation on Cape Cod, MA. My family went to the Cape for vacation every year. This particular year I was not so happy to go. The cottages we usually stayed at had been abandoned by their owner, and let go to ruin. I had made friends with some of the families that stayed the same week each year. We were going to stay in a cottage several miles down the beach, far from the place that I’d been to every single year of my life.

We got to the new cottage, and I hated it. I was a shy kid, and was intimidated to try to make my way into already established groups of kids. Everyone seemed to know everyone else. So I moped for the first day.

At breakfast the next day my mother told me: “Why don’t you read a book.”

As every year, she brought two paper grocery bags full of books and devoured them on the beach at a rate of about one per day.

I went through the bags, not expecting to find anything. Most were true crime, Koonts, Saul, and King.

In the end it was between “Creature” and “The Stand” I read the first few chapters of The Stand and picked it.

To this point in my life I only read books assigned in school. My recreational reading consisted of MAD Magazine, wrestling magazines and Fangiroa.

I finished the book in a week and it blew my mind. I reread it again as soon as I was finished.

The rest as they say, is history. I’ve ready almost every SK book, and some of them (OK, a lot of them) several times.

But I’ll never forget sitting on the Cape Cod beach for hours at a time reading The Stand for the first time.
Good story... plus you were only 14! I'm glad you picked Sai King and not Dean Koontz! ;)
 

charmed_one3

Well-Known Member
Jul 10, 2012
266
104
US
Pet Semetary was my first SK book, that was a few years ago around Halloween. I was at the library, wanted to read something for the Halloween season, so I thought I would check out a SK book. It did not take me long to get through that book, I was hooked right away, could not put it down and wanted to read more of his work. I cannot believe it took me so long to read any of his books.
 

Neil W

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2008
1,203
2,592
Isle of Wight UK
Carrie, UK paperback when first published. I enjoyed it, and Salem's Lot, but my first real Stephen King moment was on a train from Brighton to London one sunny summer afternoon, when I read the showdown between Danny and his Dad/The Overlook, and it
smashed its face to pulp with the rocque mallet
. Bright sunshine, warm day, and all the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
 

guido tkp

Well-Known Member
Oct 1, 2009
2,632
480
outside the dome
fairly certain i've told this one...but, i always find it quite funny, so, here it goes...

as a kid i loved to read, and loved horror most of all...

i had heard about 'salems lot...but, at the time, it was in hardback...and i had no knowledge of other king books...so, i waited...

when the book came out in paperback i strolled into my local bookstore, run by two middle aged ladies...i knew the book was due, and there it was !!

however, when i went, gleefully, to purchase it...with my own hard earned $$, they frowned and said that could not do so unless i got a parent to OK it: they had heard it was rather intense for such a wee lad...i think i was about 12...

anyway, my mom was shopping nearby...and while i knew she would have no mproblem OKing the buy, i also knew that she would not want to stop by just for that: once the groceries were in the car, it was time to go home....

so...i look around the joint and spot this slim book with a huge, bloody fang on the cover...the back exclaimed something like ' in the horrifying tradition of salems lot !'...

so i ask the ladies if i can buy that one...at which point they agree...and i walk out with a copy of Gary Brandners semi-classic 'the howling'

now...here's the funny part...if you know much about brandner and 'the howling'...you would know that starts out with a rather graphic rape scene...contains quite a few intense sex scenes along the way...and is generally speaking a far more bloodthirsty read than the one they would not sell my tweeny self !!

i got to learn alot more about...things that go bump in the night through that book than one could ever glean from kings comparatively tamer tome...

true story !
 

unclelouie

Well-Known Member
Jun 15, 2012
815
151
Lud
My 1st SK novel was Rage. I read it in 7th grade. I think my mom was just happy I was reading. Probably had no idea WHAT I was reading. I remember picking it out of The Bachman Books because it was the shortest one and I wasn't a very fast reader. I ended up reading IT next (I was inspired to do so by the mini-series that came out the same year I read Rage) and it took damn near forever to finish. Nearly 25 years later... well, here I am!
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
My 1st SK novel was Rage. I read it in 7th grade. I think my mom was just happy I was reading. Probably had no idea WHAT I was reading. I remember picking it out of The Bachman Books because it was the shortest one and I wasn't a very fast reader. I ended up reading IT next (I was inspired to do so by the mini-series that came out the same year I read Rage) and it took damn near forever to finish. Nearly 25 years later... well, here I am!
hi @unclelouie - did you read The Stand? :reading: (I read it in the 70s and really like it)
 

unclelouie

Well-Known Member
Jun 15, 2012
815
151
Lud
hi @unclelouie - did you read The Stand? :reading: (I read it in the 70s and really like it)

You know... I saw the mini-series on tv back in high school and I really didn't enjoy it very much. It was hard to take the main villain seriously when he is wearing a Canadian Tuxedo (i.e. denim jacket with tight denim jeans) and a mullet. However, as an adult, I reconciled that the movie was probably just a product of the times, and the novel deserved a read. So about 2 yrs ago I read the unabridged version. Loved it. One of the best SK novels I've ever read. Can you dig that, happy crappy?
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
You know... I saw the mini-series on tv back in high school and I really didn't enjoy it very much. It was hard to take the main villain seriously when he is wearing a Canadian Tuxedo (i.e. denim jacket with tight denim jeans) and a mullet. However, as an adult, I reconciled that the movie was probably just a product of the times, and the novel deserved a read. So about 2 yrs ago I read the unabridged version. Loved it. One of the best SK novels I've ever read. Can you dig that, happy crappy?
Canadian Tuxedo???:shock:

Thanks - I have just learned a new expression! :star:

Anybody recognize this guy? I think it's Alec Baldwin from "30 Rock"
 
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mustangclaire

There's petrol runnin' through my veins.
Jun 15, 2010
2,956
12,726
52
East Sussex, UK
fairly certain i've told this one...but, i always find it quite funny, so, here it goes...

as a kid i loved to read, and loved horror most of all...

i had heard about 'salems lot...but, at the time, it was in hardback...and i had no knowledge of other king books...so, i waited...

when the book came out in paperback i strolled into my local bookstore, run by two middle aged ladies...i knew the book was due, and there it was !!

however, when i went, gleefully, to purchase it...with my own hard earned $$, they frowned and said that could not do so unless i got a parent to OK it: they had heard it was rather intense for such a wee lad...i think i was about 12...

anyway, my mom was shopping nearby...and while i knew she would have no mproblem OKing the buy, i also knew that she would not want to stop by just for that: once the groceries were in the car, it was time to go home....

so...i look around the joint and spot this slim book with a huge, bloody fang on the cover...the back exclaimed something like ' in the horrifying tradition of salems lot !'...

so i ask the ladies if i can buy that one...at which point they agree...and i walk out with a copy of Gary Brandners semi-classic 'the howling'

now...here's the funny part...if you know much about brandner and 'the howling'...you would know that starts out with a rather graphic rape scene...contains quite a few intense sex scenes along the way...and is generally speaking a far more bloodthirsty read than the one they would not sell my tweeny self !!

i got to learn alot more about...things that go bump in the night through that book than one could ever glean from kings comparatively tamer tome...

true story !
So true! I remember reading that as well! When I was really quite young! And another one called Bethanys Sin.. can't remember the authors name, but that was pretty graphic also! I used to read what ever I could get my hands on horror wise. But when my reading became more consistant, was with James Herbert (RIP) when I was about 14. Now he was also quite "sexy" in his writing. I read all of his, then King seemed to be the next step up. I'm ashamed to say I can't quite remember which one it was, may well have been Salems Lot. However, I still really preferred Herbert. But I persevered and, well the rest is history.
 

unclelouie

Well-Known Member
Jun 15, 2012
815
151
Lud
I actually must amend my post. My first actual experience with Stephen King was when Children of the Corn premiered on television when I was in 2nd grade. I didn't realize until years later that the movie was based on a SK short-story, and at the time, had no clue who SK was.

I remember discussing the movie in class with a couple of other kids when my teacher caught wind of our conversation. Apparently she had see (or caught parts of) the movie as well. She proceeded to lecture us in front of the whole class, in the most self-righteous, indignant tone possible.. I shall paraphrase..

"I simply cannot believe your parents let you watch such a gruesome... GRUESOME.... movie... do not speak of such GRUESOMENESS in my classroom again..."

I'm thinking she thought the movie was... gruesome?