5 Stephen King Books to Read By Halloween

Whenever Halloween gets near I immediately want to consume as much October-y goodness as I can before the 31st. This means binging Halloween movies, specials, and a couple of books. Despite being a fan of the supernatural and all things spooky, I've actually never read a Steven King novel. Sure, I've seen the movies and I know of his work, but I've never taken the time to sit down and read through his work.

I want to change that and what better time than the start of the fall? I'm going to list out five of his novels that I want to get through from now until the end of October. Ambitious? Maybe. I'm trying to channel teenage me who could read one book in under a week.

If you've already read most of King's novels then let me know if you agree with the list I've created. Or, if you're like me and haven't dived into King's eerie atmospheric world, then you can use this list as your jumping-off point too.

1. IT

I'm not sure why, but despite being a coward when it comes to scary movies, I really enjoyed the recent adaptation of IT. I liked that it was an 80s coming-of-age story that just happened to include a killer clown. This one has been on my list for a while and I know the book is pretty thick, I'm definitely interested to see the major differences between the original material and the films.

2. The Shining

The Shining has always been one of my favorite horror movies, mostly because it's void of jump scares (except when he throws that ball at the stupid wall). It relies on atmosphere and intense visuals to create a suspenseful ride. I'm excited to see the story from King's original perspective and return to the Stanley Hotel.

3. Doctor Sleep

I can't read the Shining without following up with the 2013 sequel. I'm also interested to see how his writing has changed from his classic books to the more recent ones. I've yet to see the 2019 film adaptation so I'll be going in pretty blind for this one.

4. Salem's Lot

I wanted to take a break from the stories I sort of knew and jump into a brand new one (at least to me). From what I know from the synopsis, Salem's Lot is about a town that is slowly taken over by vampires until a high school teacher decides to fight back. I'm all for a good vampire novel and it looks like King plays heavily with traditional vampiric lore so I'll definitely be adding this one to my list!

5. The Outsider

I'm a huge fan of the HBO miniseries that adapted this novel. Again, I realize that these adaptations probably take some liberty with the source material, but I was instantly drawn into the setting for this one. It was reminiscent of Twin Peaks for me, which is always a good thing in my book. I can't say "no" to a good small-town mystery with a supernatural twist.