Been slowly working my way through much of King's work of late (along with quite a few other writers). It's interesting how he has shifted in some respects but also remained quite consistent in others. I sometimes wonder how much of his having been pigeonholed as a horror writer is down to struggling to find a category for his work.
Granted there are seriously disturbing aspects to his books at times but quite often the themes and ideas are actually more fantastical than horror, it seems to me. You've got books like Carrie, the Dead Zone and Firestarter that are all about psychic powers. Talisman and the Dark Tower could more accurately be classified as fantasy. To an extent the same can be said for The Stand.
Cujo is an absolutely fascinating piece of work for me. The focus on the dog by so many folks ignores the plethora of monsters that inhabit the novel. It's almost like a psychological thriller.
In defence of the Dark Tower I would say that the first novel is probably the weakest (at least of those I've got through so far). Once the Gunslinger picks up with his fellow travellers it becomes far more interesting. Of course it is going to be interesting to see whether this holds for the last few books ...
Granted there are seriously disturbing aspects to his books at times but quite often the themes and ideas are actually more fantastical than horror, it seems to me. You've got books like Carrie, the Dead Zone and Firestarter that are all about psychic powers. Talisman and the Dark Tower could more accurately be classified as fantasy. To an extent the same can be said for The Stand.
Cujo is an absolutely fascinating piece of work for me. The focus on the dog by so many folks ignores the plethora of monsters that inhabit the novel. It's almost like a psychological thriller.
In defence of the Dark Tower I would say that the first novel is probably the weakest (at least of those I've got through so far). Once the Gunslinger picks up with his fellow travellers it becomes far more interesting. Of course it is going to be interesting to see whether this holds for the last few books ...