Stephen King names the Stephen King novels he’d rescue from a fire
After publishing his first novel, Carrie, Stephen King’s life would be forever changed. The book was soon adapted into a movie by Brian De Palma, becoming one of the decade’s most popular horror movies. It didn’t take long for King to produce more works that would be transformed for the big screen, like The Shining.
King might not have loved Stanley Kubrick’s take on his supernatural horror movie, criticising the filmmaker’s artistic choices and the portrayal of Wendy Torrance, played by Shelley Duvall, but the movie boosted his name. King became one of his generation’s most acclaimed writers, earning the title of the ‘King of Horror’ in the process. While he has explored other genres, the writer has left an enormous impact on horror and sci-fi, both in the literary world and in cinema.
Many of his novels and short stories have been adapted into movies and television series, with some of the most notable including IT, Stand By Me, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile. He has written a staggering number of tales, including over 65 novels and more than 200 short stories. Yet, there are several that he calls his favourites—ones that fans might not guess.
Talking to The Guardian, he shared three books that he couldn’t bear to see go up in flames, à la Fahrenheit 451. “Which books of mine would I save? Dumb question, but I’ll play. Lisey’s Story, The Stand and Misery.”
Starting with Lisey’s Story, this is a novel that came later into his career. Released in 2006, King was lauded for the book, winning several prizes in the process. The story was loosely inspired by his own life, with the novel telling the tale of Lisey, the wife of a very successful writer who has died.
After King found himself hospitalised, he started thinking about his own mortality and how this would affect his own wife, Tabitha. This emotional and compelling tale was transformed into a miniseries in 2021, directed by Pablo Larraín and starring Julianne Moore as Lisey. To King, Lisey’s Story is one of the best things he has ever written.
Meanwhile, The Stand, released in 1978, centres around a pandemic and the resultant clashing between people who survive. It was highly praised, and while it doesn’t have the popularity of something like IT or The Shining, most King fans consider it lightyears above these works. As with many King novels, The Stand was adapted, becoming a miniseries in 1994 before being reinterpreted in 2020 to reviews considerably less positive than its predecessor. Still, King is a huge fan of his original text, considering it a feat of his career.
Then, finally, Misery, which was adapted by Rob Reiner in 1990. The novel has a meta edge, with the plot centring around an author who is taken hostage by one of his biggest fans after she rescues him from a car crash. Initially taking care of him, her behaviour soon turns terrifying as she forces him to rewrite the ending of his novel so that the character she loves doesn’t die. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her incredible performance as Annie, who is King’s favourite character he’s ever conjured up.
