Hey, everyone, I'm thelitcritguy. I co-host the horror movie podcast Horror Vanguard, have been a regular guest on Revolutionary Left Radio, and make Youtube videos on culture and aesthetics. I write on horror, capitalism, and cultural criticism (you can read my last piece here https://readpassage.com/the-horror-of-capitalism-squid-game-and-the-gothic-trap-of-debt/)
Ask Me Anything!
What was your first experience with horror? For me, I think it was local old stories, where the protag literally sells his soul to the devil for money(and lets his mother get ripped apart by dogs) and lumberjacks get cursed for cutting down the oldest trees.
Okay, when I was like 12/13 I was allowed to read anything I wanted at the school library. However I found it, I picked up a copy of an old paperback, which showed a deserted cabin on the front. The title was "Misery" and I was absolutely hooked. Not the best Stephen King novel but I think that's almost certainly were it all started.
Thanks for the answer. What is, for you, the best king novel? I read a few, but found that none of them really stood out. The only ones i remember clearly are Cujo, Salem and the one where the guy gets thinner.
This is a very personal answer and probably wouldn't be one that lots of King experts would agree with, but I think Carrie is very different from the (excellent!) film version but is both very terrifying, and like much of the best horror, deeply almost painfully sad.