Ran out of Stephen King reading material? These might just be the books for you

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Written by Norrie

It was a sizzling summer day when, at the age of fourteen, I first came across a Stephen King book. My friend’s dad lent me his copy of Gerald’s Game, and it was love at first sight. I spent the entire day in my shaded room, sipping my ice cold lemonade (actually, it most likely was Coke), reading well into the night.

This was twenty years ago, and since then I have pretty much read everything the man wrote. I still need to get my hands on Sleeping Beauties, the book he wrote with his son, Owen, and Gwendy’s Button Box, a collaboration with Richard Chizmar.

You can imagine my delightful little squeal when I saw the master’s new book is coming in May. The Outsider has no official cover yet, but I honestly couldn’t care less.

But the wait is long, and it feels like May is still far, far away. There are some new books coming out this year that might just satisfy our dark cravings in the meantime.

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same.

 

The Storm King by Brendan Duffy

Nate McHale has assembled the kind of life most people would envy. After a tumultuous youth marked by his inexplicable survival of a devastating tragedy, Nate left his Adirondack hometown of Greystone Lake and never looked back. Fourteen years later, he’s become a respected New York City surgeon, devoted husband, and loving father.
Then a body is discovered deep in the forests that surround Greystone Lake.

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

Evil is invisible, and it is everywhere.
Tamsen Donner must be a witch. That is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the wagon train known as the Donner Party. Depleted rations, bitter quarrels, and the mysterious death of a little boy have driven the pioneers to the brink of madness. They cannot escape the feeling that someone–or something–is stalking them.

 

The Hollow Tree by James Brogden

After losing her hand in a tragic accident, Rachel is plagued by vivid nightmares of a hollow tree, and a hand reaching from it, begging her for help.

Terrified that she is going mad, Rachel experiences phantom sensations of leaves, trees, and finally a hand that grasps hers and pulls a young woman into Rachel’s world.

 

Obscura by Joe Hart

In the near future, an aggressive and terrifying new form of dementia is affecting victims of all ages. The cause is unknown, and the symptoms are disturbing. Dr. Gillian Ryan is on the cutting edge of research and desperately determined to find a cure. She’s already lost her husband to the disease, and now her young daughter is slowly succumbing as well. After losing her funding, she is given the unique opportunity to expand her research. She will travel with a NASA team to a space station where the crew has been stricken with symptoms of a similar inexplicable psychosis—memory loss, trances, and violent, uncontrollable impulses.

For the full list and description from the publishers check out  BookBub.

To see the Goodreads description, click on the book title you are interested in from the list above.

24 Comments

  1. Ha! I have four of these on my TBR. Now, I’m not a superfan of Stephen King (just a regular fan, who hopes to read more), but my dad was a HUGE fan of King, and horror in general. My first Stephen King was Creepshow, and it is still my favorite. I’ve been looking for a well-preseved copy of it. I’ve probably read maybe 5 or 10 King books, but I do plan to read them all along the way.
    Since I’ve moved to Maine, I keep meaning to go up to Bangor and take a peek at his house, and get a feel for the area that so influences his work. Perhaps this spring, I’ll finally get around to it. Have you read anything by his son, Joe Hill?
    Lovely post!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Oh, if i ever got to Bangor, I’d definitely do the same… #nostalker 😀
      Joe Hill is still a big question mark for me. I loved Nos4R2, but found Horns pretty terrible and pointless. I’m quite intrigues by Fireman though, so I’ll give it a go.

      I’m curious how you’ll like the books on “our mutual list” so to say 🙂

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      1. If your list is long as mine, you know it might be awhile before I get to them. 😀

        I loved NOS4A2 (why do they use different titles in different regions?), and have recently read Strange Weather which is a collection of short stories/novellas, which I also enjoyed (though not as much). I have his others, but haven’t gotten to them yet (see above!), but I hope to get in at least one this year.

        What are your thoughts on Dean Koontz? Nick Cutter? Mo Hayder? I’m curious to know what other authors you like. Seems like we might have similar tastes.

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        1. I was on a serious purge on my TBR today, trying to reduce it to 500… not going so well 😀

          I used to read a lot of Koontz when i was a teen, and recently read the first book from the Odd Thomas series. I love his writing!

          Haven’t read anything from Nick Cutter or Mo Hayder yet. I went through kind of a crime phase. I love Linwood Barclay, or a good old school Agatha Christie.

          My other favourite is John Scalzi from the sci fi front 🙂

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  2. I read Little Heaven by Nick Cutter and it was creepy. King recommended The Troop by Cutter awhile back, and I’m going to get to it eventually! I love following King on Twitter, and he gives great book recommendations.

    Same for me with Koontz. Lots when I was a teen. Enjoyed the first two in the Odd Thomas series. And though I continue to read and review his current stuff, it pains me to say, I don’t like it as much.

    My chief complaint about crime books as that they aren’t meaty enough a lot of the time. Because I was raised on horror movies/books, it takes a lot to creep me out, or really hold my attention. Mo Hayder’s Jack Caffery series is grisly and intense and really well-written. If I were comparing to movies, I’d say it’s more Seven (with Brad Pitt) than Saw (way too much for me).

    As for Scalzi, I’ve only read Locked In, but I follow him on Twitter (he is so amazing!), and plan to read either Old Man’s War or Collapsing Empire this year. I’ve really only dipped my toes into the sci fi genre, though I read a lot of fantasy.

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      1. You should! Honestly, I’m not witty enough, and way too long-winded, to be an active participant, but I love following authors and other bloggers. And it’s my favorite way to engage with other readers during a readathon.

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  3. I didn’t realize King had another book coming out! I’ll give it a try even though I couldn’t get into Sleeping Beauties. I’ve like many of his books through the years though. I hadn’t heard of The Storm King but that sounds really good, thanks for sharing the recs

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    1. Sorry to hear Sleeping Beauties was not a good experience for you. I’m always a bit wary of books he wrote with others, but so far i liked them all. Don’t know anything about his son, so this can go either way for me as well 😊☺️

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  4. I received Sleeping Beauties as a Christmas gift from my Dad, who’s also a King fan and is the reason I got into reading his work in the first place. I didn’t know he has a book coming in May – just in time for my birthday! 🙂 Added a couple of these to my continually growing TBR – thanks for sharing!

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  6. I actually enjoy reading scary books way more than watching them. I think it has to do with jump scares. I hate those and so many movies rely on that.

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  7. Bless you for this list! I’ve been needing some new horror books to check out, so this post is getting bookmarked! I’ve never been a huge Stephen King fan, but my mom LOVES him. I, on the other hand, love his son Joe Hill. I wonder if my mom knows that Stephen King has a new book coming soon. She probably does, but maybe I’ll try and surprise her with a pre-ordered copy so she can have it the day it is released. Great post!

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    1. Thank you!
      It would be a great gift in my opinion! I’m dropping hints at home as well, haha. My birthday is the week after the release 😀

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