Stephen King Books for a 13 year old

[bing]

Guys,

My son has an interest in Stephen King books and has been told that he can read one as part of a school project.

Now I'm not too clued up on them but I know from the movies and TV shows that they're not particularly kid friendly.

Any recommendations on SK books that may be suitable for a 13 year old boy? He's pretty mature etc for his age.

He wants to read Pet Cemetery, but after reading the 'synopsis' I'm not sure it's right.

There's a few recommendations here:

https://www.spikedparenting.com/5-stephen-king-boo...

thanks

[monkeychild]

I'm pretty sure I read Pet Sematary when I was younger than that and I don't recall anything traumatising me. But things like that didn't really bother me, as I was playing Steve Jackson's House of Hell RPG book, when I was in my last year of Primary School. It really comes down to your kid and how sensitive they are, as I know one of my lads wouldn't be cool with House of Hell and he's 11 and in High School.

[Some Gump]

Pet Semetary is a good book, pretty sure at 13 you'd be ok. It's like an undead / zombie job, and IMO since it's an unreality type affair. less "in your head" than e.g Misery or The Shining.

Would you let him watch a zombie film (like world war Z rather than Shaun of the Dead) ? I guess that's your barometer =)

[GliderRider]

Pet Semetary was the first Stephen King that I read, and having read several, consider it one of his best. I can think of one particular piece which you might not want a 13 year old reading, however today's 13 year olds are probably more worldly-wise than I was at that age.

[Terry Tibbs]

The eyes of the dragon might be worth a go. Not your typical King horror, more a fantasy type thing. Read it years ago but from memory it was pretty good.

[siovey]

My favourite Stephen King book is The Stand. Quite topical too. Lol
Not sure if its appropriate for a 13 year old as I dont have any kids. Good luck with the search for the right book for him

[otolith]

There are some fairly twisted sex scenes in some of them, if that bothers you.

https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2017/09/175109/st...

[j4r4lly]

I read Salem's Lot when I was about that age. It scared the pants off me and I resorted to walking around the house with our cat under one arm as I was convinced he could "sense" vampires and the like before they could get me. Bloody silly I know and living in an old Victorian town house at the time that creaked and groaned didn't help.

Christine is a good one (Cars and horror) and my all time favorite (the film too) is The Dead Zone. He also wrote The Green Mile and (Rita Hayworth &) The Shawshank Redemption. He wrote under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman for a while and "Thinner" is a good read.

[QuartzDad]

I read The Talisman when I was about his age, it's written by King and Peter Straub and I remember binge reading the whole thing in about 3 days (it's 900+ pages). From memory, it was more fantasy than horror and was absolutely brilliant.

[Dan_1981]

siovey said:

My favourite Stephen King book is The Stand. Quite topical too. Lol
Not sure if its appropriate for a 13 year old as I dont have any kids. Good luck with the search for the right book for him

This.

The Stand was one of the first King books that I read, it's definitely the one I remember the most.

It's still a fantastic book.

[i4got]

My daughter used to read Stephen King books in bed. She was too scared to leave the book in the bedroom overnight. When she finished reading, she'd put the book outside her bedroom door.

[Wonderman]

Look at Dr Who watched in the 70s versus now and tbh I think most 13yo kids would be able to handle most of his stuff. I guess it depends what is he trying to get out the book (or what are the school trying to get him to do?).
"Cell" would be a good one to reduce phone usage , "Under the dome" would work in terms of current lockdown, "Misery" for celebrity culture, "Dead Zone" for evil politician, or for just general intro "Skeleton Crew" is a collection of short stories, with a wide range of subjects.

[mickyh7]

Another one here.
I read pretty much everything he had out when I was 12ish plus James Herbert etc.
Never stopped me from getting to sleep.
Even in the Winter in a Dalwhinnie Hotel, cut off from everything, due to Blizzards.
I did,however keep my head tucked under the blankets!
I still remember 'The Shining' to this day!
Kids are not as daft as we like to think.

Edited by mickyh7 on Thursday 5th November 10:59

[QuartzDad]

mickyh7 said:

Another one here.
I read pretty much everything he had out when I was 12ish plus James Herbert etc.

Yikes, I remember reading Rats, scared the living daylights out of me. And in my 20s I read American Psycho, I still refuse to watch the film.

[LordGrover]

Not Gerald's Game.

[biggbn]

QuartzDad said:

I read The Talisman when I was about his age, it's written by King and Peter Straub and I remember binge reading the whole thing in about 3 days (it's 900+ pages). From memory, it was more fantasy than horror and was absolutely brilliant.

Yes, The Talisman was a decent read, or it was when I was young.

[PomBstard]

There was a collection of The Bachman Books which includes The Long Walk, The Langoliers, and The Running Man amongst others that aren’t based on horror and might be an introduction.

My favourite King is still Christine - not his best book but the most easily imagined. Insomnia was good too, as is The Stand.

As for Rats, I remember reading the trilogy when I was about 15/16 - still consider it to be a great read.

[Don Roque]

King is a bit tame. Richard Laymon was a better writer. Maybe start him with some Laymon?

[lufbramatt]

I love Christine. The film is on Netflix at the mo, it's surprisingly good with some impressive special effects for the era. Easy to see how elements of it inspired "Stranger Things".

The books of short stories are good fun- The Bazaar of Bad Dreams and Skeleton Crew are good. Skeleton Crew includes the novella that the film/series "The Mist" are based on.

[crofty1984]

LordGrover said:

Not Gerald's Game.

Good point. Not Gerald's Game.