“Books are a uniquely portable magic” – Stephen King
I wasn’t much of a reader as a kid. Mom worked a lot, we had a TV, and between unlimited TV time and that, TV just became my go-to for stories. I knew the name Stephen King though, and I knew he wrote scary stuff. If I saw his name attached to a movie, I knew I was in for something good.
It was 1987, in an attic in Arlington, Virginia, when I found Stephen King for myself. My aunt used that attic for storage, like most people do. She was up there shuffling boxes around one day, and I took the chance to dig through a few myself just to see what was up there.
First box I opened was packed with what felt like a thousand National Geographic magazines. I remember being kind of stunned by all those matching yellow borders. I figured nothing else up there was going to top that.
Then I pulled back the flaps on another dusty box, hunched over because the ceiling was so low, and there it was: a box stuffed with Stephen King books. Big hardcovers, small paperbacks, all worn down and dusty with that faded brown look you get from sitting in storage too long. Firestarter. IT. Carrie. Different Seasons. They were all in there.
I came down from that attic with three books: Cujo, The Bachman Books, and Skeleton Crew.
Cujo
I’d already seen parts of Cujo on cable, so I knew the story going in. But holding the actual book was something else. That cover, the close-up of Cujo’s fangs foaming at the mouth, looked ready to kill. I didn’t even know yet that Stand By Me, which I’d also seen, came from a story tucked inside Different Seasons.
I opened it up and that old paper smell hit me right away. The words on the page started turning into something more than just ink, King had a way of making you feel like you were standing right there in the story with the characters.
I still think about seeing Cujo next to Firestarter on the shelf. They were close to the same size, and I’d caught pieces of both movies. I liked the Firestarter book fine, but the cover never gave me that same gut-punch of horror that Cujo‘s did.
The Bachman Books
This one was a paperback with a burnt orange cover, skulls lined up along a road, and the title stamped across it in embossed white letters. Thick little book, and something about it just felt cool to hold.
The story that stuck with me most was “The Running Man.” I’d seen the movie first, and as a wrestling fan, watching Jesse “The Body” Ventura play a villain made it even better. I got so into it I actually started storyboarding my own video game idea based on the story.
The collection also had “Rage,” “The Long Walk,” and “Roadwork”, different flavors of suspense and dystopia, but every one of them stuck with me after I closed the book.
Skeleton Crew and The Raft
This one had that weird monkey on the cover holding a pair of cymbals, and it was packed with stories. The Mist is probably the most famous one in there, but what got me through the book as a brand new reader were the shorter tales.
“The Raft” was the one I finished first, my first complete Stephen King story. Four teenagers, a lake, something deadly floating on the surface. It had that slasher movie feel I already loved, teenagers, a lake, a killer, and I remember being proud just to have finished it.
Where It Left Me
That attic find changed things for me. I went from a kid who only watched stories to someone who started reading them too. I’ve picked up a bunch more King books since then, but those three will always be the ones that did it.
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| Additional Stephen King books I’ve picked up over the years |
Stephen King’s enduring legacy lies in his ability to create stories that resonate with readers and viewers on a primal level.
His tales of terror explore the darkest corners of the human psyche, challenging our perceptions of reality and leaving us questioning the boundaries between the living and the dead.
As long as there is a human fascination with the macabre, Stephen King’s name will continue to be synonymous with horror.