5 Best and Worthiest Stephen King Works, According to Stephen King Himself
Every fan has their favorite Stephen King story — but what are the King of Horror’s personal top picks among his vast bibliography?
Stephen King is such a prolific author that you could compile an entire aesthetically pleasing library in your study just from his books and struggle to find a place to fit them all. Despite having written dozens of novels and well over a hundred short stories and novellas, the King of Horror doesn’t think twice when asked about his own favorite Stephen King works.
Here’s the celebrated author’s Top 5.
5. Survivor Type (1982)
The earliest work on the author’s personal list, Survivor Type is a psychological horror short story that follows a physician stranded on a small island in the middle of nowhere. He used to smuggle heroin, and now it’s the only thing he has: no food or water, just drugs. To survive, the man resorts to self-cannibalism, eating his own flesh by cutting pieces from himself.
4. Stand by Me (1986)
Despite it being based on King’s 1982 novella The Body, it’s the movie the author named among his favorite works. This coming-of-age drama follows a group of teenage boys who set off on their quest to find a missing boy’s body but clash with the others who discovered it before them — and decided to keep quiet about it to avoid drawing the police attention.
3. Misery (1987)
Another psychological horror thriller but this time a novel, Misery is many fans’ all-time favorite — and Stephen King loves it, too. In this story, a popular book author is rescued by their “#1 fan,” but the care and attention he receives stops seeming so pleasant once he realizes that he is, in fact, trapped by a properly insane person who wants him to write for them.
2. Lisey’s Story (2006)
Guess what we have here? That’s right: another psychological horror. Clearly, it’s King’s favorite genre, because Lisey’s Story also deals with a pretty rough subject: that of a traumatized wife forced to relive her terrible repressed memories after the death of her wildly successful novelist husband after his death as she goes through his belongings. But there’s a twist.
1. Billy Summers (2021)
Unlike the few previous entries, Billy Summers is a detective/crime novel that follows a professional assassin who only takes out truly evil men. His last assignment before retirement sees him go undercover as a struggling writer to get closer to his target, but Billy suspects that his employer plans to kill him afterwards. The assassin starts his own scheme to both survive and get the money for the job.