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There are so many Stephen King books, and his work as a writer of fiction is such that you’ve probably experienced his stories even if you’re not particularly into reading. Movies like The Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me, The Green Mile, and Misery are all all-timers, after all, and each of them were based on novels or novellas originally written by Stephen King.
Sticking with his books, though, what are his most important overall? It’s not the easiest question to answer, but here, the most important Stephen King books are going to be the ones that were most significant within King’s broader body of work. He has a whole multiverse that’s explored – and expanded upon – from book to book, and so certain stories of his ended up being pivotal to later ones, thanks to recurring characters, references, or even pay-offs to things you might not have even realized were set-ups.
10
‘Cujo’ (1981)
There’s a real benefit to reading all of Stephen King’s books in the order of publication, since certain stories of his spoil other (earlier) ones. He seems particularly keen to do so with Cujo, referencing how the novel ends in a fair few other books of his, and there are genuinely surprising things with Cujo and its narrative, so you do have to beware if you’re really concerned about spoilers and don’t want to tackle his body of work chronologically.
Also, Cujo had a sequel of sorts in 2024, with the novella “Rattlesnakes,” in You Like It Darker, and that naturally (and necessarily) gives away the ending to Cujo. It’s a story that keeps haunting the Stephen King multiverse, or maybe haunts King himself, since it’s a novel that he doesn’t remember writing parts of, or working on for some stages, owing to his addictions at the time.
9
‘Carrie’ (1974)
If Carrie weren’t the first Stephen King novel to ever be published, would it be here? Eh, maybe not. It earns points for coming first. Sorry. It’s also really good, and an effective mission statement of sorts for the kind of horror Stephen King would ultimately specialize in writing, because there are supernatural elements here, lots of suspense, a certain grounded/realistic quality despite some of the wild things that happen, and a good deal of emotional heft throughout the whole thing, too.
You can read Carrie and know whether Stephen King is for you or not based on how you respond to it. Then again, if you don’t like it at all, you may be able to persevere through some of his (even) more acclaimed novels, but if you like it at least a little bit, there’s a chance you’ll like at least some of those later novels more than a little bit. Also, telekinetic powers were something King returned to, as a source of thrills/horror, seen most noticeably in Firestarter and The Institute.
8
‘The Talisman’ (1984)
The Tower that’s Dark is tied to The Talisman, and maybe even more tied to Black House, which is the sequel to The Talisman. So, honorable mention to that one, but The Talisman is a more compelling read, and it also alluded to certain things regarding hopping between dimensions before it had been fully explored as a definite thing in other Stephen King books… books that’ll be mentioned shortly. Horses should be held.
The Talisman is also one of many Stephen King stories that plays out like a coming-of-age one (in some ways), because the protagonist here is a young boy who goes on a dangerous and otherworldly (literally) journey to save his dying mother. It’s really good, and there are lots of things here that enrich later Stephen King stories in ways that are sometimes obvious, and sometimes a little more thematic or subtle… at least as subtle as Stephen King gets.
7
‘Mr. Mercedes’ (2014)
Some people might not be super enthusiastic about the reasons why Mr. Mercedes is ultimately important, with Stephen King’s body of work, but… yeah, it is. It’s the novel that introduced the somewhat divisive Holly Gibney. Maybe she works better as a supporting character, as she is in Mr. Mercedes, the other two Bill Hodges books, and The Outsider, but she is someone King keeps going back to and exploring.
She’s had two novels now, as the main character: Holly and Never Flinch. She was also the protagonist of the novella “If It Bleeds.” As for Mr. Mercedes, it’s also important for the overall trilogy it belongs to, and even if you don’t particularly want to pursue further Bill Hodges or Holly Gibney stories, Mr. Mercedes is still worth checking out if you’re in the mood for a strong – and easily readable – crime/thriller kind of book.
6
‘The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger’ (1982)
For obvious reasons, you need to read The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger if you want to understand The Dark Tower, because it’s the first book in that overall series. And the seven main books in The Dark Tower series (there’s also one interquel, which takes place between books #4 and #5, and a novella called “The Little Sisters of Eluria”) are essential within the whole Stephen King multiverse, being what so many other books of his are all constructed around, in more ways than one.
The Gunslinger isn’t even the best book in the series by any means, but it’s the start of the whole journey, and it is also undeniably interesting as an offbeat sort of sci-fi story that also functions as something of a Western, dark fantasy, and horror book. Also, the events of The Gunslinger become more interesting the further into the series you get, mostly in ways that are hard to explain without spoilers. Just trust.
5
‘Needful Things’ (1991)
Needful Things concerns the town of Castle Rock, which is the second-most iconic recurring town in the Stephen King multiverse, after Derry. Castle Rock is where Cujo took place, as well as The Dark Half and at least part of The Dead Zone, with Needful Things being notable for referencing the events of some of those books, having some recurring characters, and also being – at the time – the “last Castle Rock story.”
That didn’t stick, because Stephen King returned to the town for Gwendy’s Button Box and Elevation, but neither of those proved to be super essential. Needful Things still feels like a definitive send-off for the town, doing an almost apocalyptic-type story, but just for the town itself. It’s a chaotic, engaging, and sometimes quite heavy-going/intense read, and right up there among the best of King’s post-1980s books.
4
‘IT’ (1986)
Justifiably considered one of Stephen King’s scariest books (it’s like, the opposite of a hot take to say that), IT is also one of his beefiest and most ambitious books, and so maybe it’s kind of inevitable that it feels important overall, within his body of work. It manages to span a good deal of time, because its central antagonist is an entity that emerges every 27 years, with a group of kids fighting it in the 1950s, and then they have to regroup to battle it once more in the 1980s.
There are also novels published after IT that reference IT, like The Tommyknockers, Dreamcatcher, and 11/22/63.
There are other parts of IT that go back further in time, exploring the history of Derry and the main villain, with some of these interludes – and other parts of the book – referencing earlier Stephen King stories, like The Shining (thanks to Dick Hallorann appearing in both). There are also novels published after IT that reference IT, like The Tommyknockers, Dreamcatcher, and (in an impossible-to-miss way) 11/22/63.
3
‘The Stand’ (1978/1990)
The Stand, one imagines, would’ve been a big deal for anyone following the work of Stephen King in the author’s early years (chime in if you’re in that camp and know for sure), since it was kind of horror, like his books up until that point, but also, not entirely. Like, The Stand is a huge book in its edited state, and then it was made into even more of an epic when it got an uncut version published in 1990, which still stands as the longest single book King’s ever published.
Also, beyond showing a certain range for King, The Stand is essential for introducing Randall Flagg, in his first proper novel appearance, some time before he went on to be the main villain of The Eyes of the Dragon, and an important antagonistic figure throughout The Dark Tower series. Also, the world ends in The Stand, but there are Stephen King books set after the era of The Stand where the world has very much not ended, so it’s an early book of his that more than suggests there are different universes/dimensions within the overall Stephen King multiverse (before certain books in The Dark Tower series made that even more explicit).
2
‘Insomnia’ (1994)
Not to be mixed up with the Christopher Nolan movie of the same name… although maybe it should be? Like, Nolan’s Insomnia is one of his more underrated efforts, and the same can potentially be said about Stephen King’s Insomnia. It is not a great book, admittedly, but it’s better than some give it credit for, and if you’re looking at the whole King multiverse, it’s one of the most central.
The events of Insomnia tie into The Dark Tower quite significantly, the novel’s largely set in and around Derry (like IT), and then the way it hits you with Dark Tower stuff late in the game is reminiscent of the novella “Low Men in Yellow Coats,” from Hearts in Atlantis. Insomnia is the kind of thing that’s easier to appreciate the more immersed in Stephen King’s fiction you are, for better or worse. It’s hard to love if you’re not that level of invested, but if you are, it’s a surprisingly essential (and central) book within King’s body of work.
1
‘The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower’ (2004)
As the seventh and final main book in The Dark Tower series, The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower is gargantuan for the series it belongs to, obviously, but also significant for what it represents in King’s overall bibliography. If you have a copy of the seventh Dark Tower book, you can look at the “Also by Stephen King” page near the front of the novel, and all the titles in bold are ones that relate to the seventh The Dark Tower book in one way or another.
So many titles are in bold. There are so many references to other King books here, and various things set up earlier in the series – and in non-The Dark Tower books, like Insomnia and Hearts in Atlantis – that are important here if you want to understand everything. Thankfully, this wasn’t the final novel Stephen King ever published, but if it had been, it would’ve stood as one hell of a grand finale for the whole universe of stories he constructed over the course of several decades.
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Jeremy Urquhart
Almontather Rassoul
