The man sure can spin a good yarn. I always think of him like the person you know who is absolute best at telling a tall tale around the camp fire, riveting everyone’s attention. Is it technically perfect writing all the time? Nope. Is it trying to be fancy literature? Nope. Is it telling a story that holds onto your attention, leaving you sitting in a car listening to an audiobook for half an hour after you arrive home? Yep! He’s a storyteller supreme. Some criticize him for weak endings, but he will sure drag you all the way to that ending.

I enjoy a variety of his writing. Growing up, I only thought of him as a “horror writer”, because that’s what made it to film. Then I found The Eyes of the Dragon in the library (which is a fantasy novel), and discovered that Mr. King can write more than horror. I truly enjoyed Hearts in Atlantis, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Tower, and his “Hard Case Crime” books The Colorado Kid, Joyland, and Later. Joyland really is a great little gem of a book.

Then, his writing drew me into some of his horror works after all. Things like Firestarter (loved), Carrie (didn’t love), The Shining (loved), and Salem’s Lot (solid and interesting for it’s place in vampire fiction). I also enjoyed his more recent book The Institute as well.

I’m not his biggest fan, and I see issues in the details of his writing from time to time (far too many hours spent in Literature classes), but I have tremendous respect for him as a storyteller, and as a writer who can capture the effect of a good storyteller so well so much of the time. To me this overcomes the criticisms some make of his work.