Stephen King is a single of the most acclaimed and prolific horror and thriller authors of all time, and, like the most effective writers, he is also an insatiable reader who does not hold back on providing suggestions. King’s interests are vast and varied, and more than the years, he’s lavished praise on classic novels from bygone eras and modern writers just finding began in the book market. From referencing his preferred books in interviews, offering his thoughts for the blurbs of novels, and even providing shout-outs on his social media, there are numerous locations exactly where readers are probably to learn a recommendation for a excellent horror or thriller book from King.

Checking out some of the exceptional book suggestions by King is a excellent way for readers to broaden their horizons and learn some performs they wouldn’t otherwise have study. For these who like King’s books and are seeking for a thing new, the clear spot to appear for suggestions is from the man himself, as he’s been influenced by, completely enjoyed, or even wished he wrote numerous of these novels. From classic authors who have been writing lengthy just before King was born to modern day writers who grew up reading his function, King recommends numerous excellent horror and thriller novels.

10 The Great God Pan (1894)

By Arthur Machen

The Great God Pan is a fantasy horror novella by the Welsh writer Arthur Machen that was very first published in 1894 and went on to influence everyone from H.P. Lovecraft to Stephen King. A story of sinister woodland rituals, disappearances, and suicides, The Great God Pan was hugely controversial when very first published but has been recognized as a hugely influential function in the horror genre. In an interview on King’s web site, he described it as: “One of the best horror stories ever written. Maybe the best in the English language.”

The Great God Pan was a actually terrifying story written properly more than a single hundred years ago. With a story that began as an experiment on a lady, it quickly led to numerous mysterious events and deaths that forced readers to confront the cosmic horror of the universe. King stated that his novella N. from his story collection Just After Sunset is “a riff on Arthur Machen’s The Great God Pan…. Mine isn’t anywhere near [as] good [as the original], but I loved the chance to put neurotic behavior—obsessive/compulsive disorder—together with the idea of a monster-filled macroverse.”

9 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1955)

By Jack Finney

Although it was very first released nearly 70 years ago, Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney has not lost any of its remarkable relevance. Lauded by Stephen King as a story to be “read and savored for its own satisfactions” (through Simon and Schuster), Finney’s sci-fi horror novel had a lot to say about worry of the other, McCarthyism, and Cold War anxieties at the time of its release, but can be just as simply applied to modern fears. With a story about individuals getting replaced with emotionless duplicates, Invasion of the Body Snatchers gets to the heart of humanity’s psychological anxieties.

It’s no surprise that King has a soft spot for Finney’s novel, as Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ alien invasion story has a great deal in widespread with King’s book Dreamcatchers. Originally published below the title The Body Snatchers, Finney’s book has been adapted for the screen 4 occasions, which showcases the eternal relevance of its story’s themes. A actually fascinating study, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a excellent classic recommendation from King.

8 The Shrinking Man (1956)

By Richard Matheson

Stephen King described American fantasy, horror, and science fiction author Richard Matheson as “the author who influenced me the most as a writer” (through New York Times.) With this in thoughts, it is no surprise that King is a fan of Matheson’s The Shrinking Man, which, a great deal like King’s The Shining, methods appropriate into the heart of the psychological horror genre. While Matheson is accountable for other acclaimed horror performs, such as I Am Legend, The Shrinking Man foreshadows a great deal of the function that King would later create.

The Shrinking Man tells a terrifying story about Scott Carey, who, soon after ingesting a cloud of radioactive spray, finds himself gradually shrinking just about every day till he begins to waste away. The slow, unnerving horror of The Shrinking Man powerfully deconstructs American masculinity and middle-class fears throughout the 1950s. King highlighted the value of The Shrinking Man and Matheson’s function in his non-fiction book, Danse Macabre, which is about the horror genre.

7 The Haunting of Hill House (1959)

By Shirley Jackson

While Stephen King is generally swift to praise excellent modern performs when he finds them, he’s also a writer with a excellent appreciation for the history of horror. For this explanation, it is no surprise that King is fond of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, which he has referred to as a single of the finest horror novels of the late 20th century. As a single of the most effective-haunted property stories ever told, Jackson’s novel has been adapted for film quite a few occasions and serves as the basis for Mike Flanagan’s Netflix series, The Haunting of Hill House.

In King’s nonfiction book Danse Macabre, he wrote a lengthy chapter on “Horror Fiction,” in which he praised Jackson’s novel and explained the influence that The Haunting of Hill House has had on the horror genre as a complete. King cited The Haunting of Hill House, along with Henry James’ The Turning of the Skrew, as “the only two great novels of the supernatural in the last hundred years” (through Guardian.) King was also a fan of Flanagan’s adaptation and mentioned that though some elements of the story have been revised, he believed “Shirley Jackson would approve.”

6 Sharp Objects (2006)

By Gillian Flynn

Way just before American author Gillian Flynn received widespread recognition soon after the release of her novel Gone Girl, Stephen King had currently encouraged her debut Sharp Objects in 2006, calling it an “admirably nasty piece of work” (through EW). King took to the story of Camille Preaker, a newspaper journalist who should return to her hometown to report on a series of brutal murders. With lots of intrigue, mystery, and suspense, Sharp Objects is specifically the sort of book that would connect with a King reader, as it encapsulated a lot of what was excellent about his writing.

Flynn’s debut novel gained even additional exposure soon after HBO adapted Sharp Objects into an eight-element miniseries starring Amy Adams in 2018. It appeared that King had not forgotten the novel even 12 years later, as he tweeted about the show and mentioned, “Adora’s husband Alan gives me the creepy-crawlies.” For a man who came up with some of the scariest stories of all time, stating that a thing offers King the “creepy-crawlies” positive is a major compliment.

5 The Strangler (2007)

By William Landay

American crime novelist William Landay impressed Stephen King with his second novel, The Stranger, which King encouraged to his followers on X. King referred to as Landay “so fantastic he tends to make my teeth hurt.” The Strangler was a mystery thriller set in Boston in 1963, in which a serial killer casts a dark shadow more than the Irish-American Daley household. What begins with the suspicious death of a police officer in the line of duty quickly reveals itself as a story of betrayal, corruption, and household.

King also had sort words for Landay’s other function and referred to him as the writer most effective identified for Defending Jacob but also praised his debut function, Mission Flats. King’s recommendation came from a reader seeking for a unique sort of crime novel than what’s generally preferred, so King certainly thinks Landay is carrying out a thing exclusive. This signature writing style led King to state that Landay’s writing produced him really feel “pure envy.”

4 Life Or Death (2014)

By Michael Robotham

The crime thriller Life or Death by Michael Robotham tells the story of Audie Palmer, who spent a decade in prison for armed robbery and has endured beatings, stabbings, and threats at the hands of prison guards and inmates. However, Audie escapes the day just before he is supposed to be released, and everyone from the police, FBI, and even higher-profile gangsters attempt to hunt him down. But Audie’s not operating away he’s attempting to save a life.

Stephen King gave his recommendation to Life or Death (through Robotham) as described it as a “nerve-shredding thriller” that has “the heart and soul so often missing from lesser crime and suspense novels.” King mentioned it was a excellent pageturner that he “couldn’t stop reading,” though at the similar time, he “didn’t want Audie’s story to end.” In a compliment of extremely higher praise from an author of King’s caliber, he described Robotham as “an absolute master.”

3 You (2014)

By Caroline Kepnes

While most individuals may well assume of Penn Badgley’s portrayal of Joe Goldberg when they assume of You, the preferred Netflix thriller was adapted from a novel by Caroline Kepnes. Kepnes’s original novel was complete of suspense, major to Stephen King describing it as “hypnotic and scary,” as he encouraged (through Better Reading.) As a story of obsession and romance, You was an thrilling tale that brought to thoughts other obsessive literary characters, such as Annie Wilkes, the antagonist of King’s novel Misery, which similarly featured a character who took their infatuation with a different particular person a tiny bit as well far.

Kepnes was ecstatic at hearing that King enjoyed her novel and stated that she was “jumping up and down” and attempting to inform the individuals functioning in the Beverly Center Mall what occurred when she very first heard the news. ”They’re seeking at me like I’m crazy since it is a single of these locations exactly where individuals do not get excited and every person is attempting to be cool, and I’m like ecstatic,” Kepnes mentioned. Kepenes added that King’s function has had a major effect on her, and she highlighted the character of Brady Hartsfield from King’s Bill Hodges trilogy in specific.

2 Fever (2016)

By Deon Meyer

To have a book compared by Stephen King himself to a single of King’s greatest performs is an intense honor, and this was specifically what occurred to South African writer Deon Meyer. In 2017, King took to social media to inform his followers that they have “a nice surprise coming” and jokingly added, “no, not Brexit.” as the South African novelist Deon Myer’s most recent book Fever was about to be released. King mentioned Fever was reminiscent of his book, The Stand, and compared it to the equally thrilling novel The Passage by Justin Cronin.

Fever is set in South Africa soon after a deadly virus has swept the nation and killed most of the population. A shockingly relevant story released just a couple of years just before the COVID-19 pandemic, Fever explored equivalent themes to King’s The Stand, which also centered on a deadly pandemic. Told by means of the eyes of a 13-year-old boy and his father, Fever actually added humanity to its post-apocalyptic story.

1 The Plot (2021)

By Jean Hanff Korelitz

The Plot is a mystery thriller by the American novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz that Stephen King referred to as “one of the best novels I’ve ever read about writers and writing” (through Korelitz.) As a hugely psychological and suspenseful book, it produced sense that King connected with its story about a after-promising novelist, though the protagonist Jacob Finch Bonner’s life went on a unique trajectory and was teaching without the need of obtaining published something new in years. After a single of Bonner’s students dies without the need of finishing his masterpiece novel, he cannot assist but steal the function for himself.

What follows is a story of deceit, plagiarism, and struggles to hide the truth, which Stephen King referred to as “insanely readable and terrifying.” King lastly added that “the suspense quotient is through the roof,” lavishing his influential praise on The Plot. HBO plans to adapt Korelitz’s novel into a miniseries, as they had previously accomplished for her book You Should Have Known, which was renamed The Undoing for tv.

Sources: Stephen King, Simon and Schuster, New York Times, Guardian, EW, Michael Robotham, Better Reading, Jean Hanff Korelitz