Stephen King: A Wish

A few...ok, several. What? Don't look at me like that. Oh, alright....many.

Many years ago I decided enough was enough, I would have to see what all the fuss was about; I decided that the time had come for me to read my first Stephen King novel. This was probably around the time when 'Misery' appeared on the big screen, in all its ankle-smashing resplendence. I was not then (nor am I now) a big fan of the horror genre. I blame/thank my science background - I prefer my fiction to be, if not completely ultra-realistic then at least rooted in the realms of the possible (however implausible that connection may actually be). I had read a couple of James Herbert novels and several Dean Koontz. The latter I enjoyed until I realised that they were all essentially the same (protagonist in danger, plot device prevents her from taking the obvious course of action, secondary character with mysterious past helps thwart the dastardly menace and saves the day) and gave up. In all fairness however, I will say that you can pick up any three Koontz novels and you'll probably enjoy them. Just stop there.

Anyway, I digress...back to King...

I decided to read "It" as I had vague recollections of having seen (and enjoyed) snippets of the TV serialisation starring Tim Curry. Within the first, oh I don't know, 50 pages (maybe?) I was hooked. I loved his easy-flowing style of prose and had no problems picturing quite clearly his immersively-drawn world. Think 3D HD wraparound TV for the brain and you're on the right lines....I was in his world in a way that few, if any, novels had managed before - and, if I'm honest, since. And so it continued for 900 or so pages.

And then came the ending.

I hated the ending. Hate hate HATED it. A giant space spider? Seriously?

Gonnae no dae that. How? Just gonnae no.

I was so utterly, crushingly disappointed by that leap to ridiculousness that to this day I struggle to convey to people (including you) just how much it devastated me. It really did embitter me towards horror in general (and King in particular) for a long time.

You'll be glad to know I've (mostly) overcome that now but it still rankles (can you tell?). I've recently finished "11/22/63" - his time travel meets the JFK assassination novel - and enjoyed it a lot (despite several flaws there were thankfully no space spiders). I've also read, in the intervening years, "The Stand" (excellent), "The Dark Half" (not bad), "The Shining" (so-so), and a couple of others which now escape me.

Will I read any more of his back-catalogue? I'm not sure - I'm loathe to expose myself to that kind of "It" ending again, so if you've got any recommendations that you think I won't hate too much, please feel free to get in touch.

I'll end this by saying that I admire him as a writer; his ability to draw you into a story is just about without match in my experience. I just wish he'd picked a genre that I actually like.