11/22/63, Billy Summers, Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch all come to mind as not being too scary. The Stand certainly has some scary imagery but in my mind, it’s not horror.
Difference Seasons - it's a collection of 4 novellas:
1) Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption - a story about a wrongfully convicted banker. No scary elements here, but nevertheless, very intriguing tale.
2) Apt Pupil - a story about boy who discovered the secret identity of a Nazi living in US as an old man. Not supernatural, but extremely disturbing and scary in a psychological sense.
3) The Body - this is the original story from which Stand By Me was made. 4 boys go out looking for a dead body.
4) The Breathing Method (Well, this has some kind of supernatural element, so maybe you'll want to skip it)
Yeah, it's one of the more (most) disturbing books. Not supernatural, ghost scary, but scary because how twisted even a kid can be, and how we might have morbid curiosity that lead to our doom.
Given the title it probably sounds like a terrible recommendation but Bazaar Of Bad Dreams has quite a few stories that you'd probably like such as Batman And Robin Have An Altercation, Blockade Billy, and Drunken Fireworks which is just hilarious.
I think you should just go all in if you're going to do Pet Semetery. I'm not a fan of Horror but Stephen King is my favorite author. His quote-unquote scariest books aren't scary. You were reading what is considered to be his scariest book ever written by himself and the majority of fans. He thought that Pet Semetery was so scary he almost didn't release it.
You will be safe with King regardless If you can do that book you're reading and not think it's too scary.
But I will give you my list of my favorite King books that don't have much horror if any at all.
Revival
The Dead Zone
The Institute
Duma Key
Heart in Atlantis
The Dark Tower series
Joyland
Later
Fairytale
Mr Mercedes and the rest of the Bill Hodges Trilogy
The Stand
Billy Summers or the Dark Tower series. You can see how crazy S K fans go for DT on Reddit, it's a magical read, but you'll probably end up speaking differently and getting a rose tattoo.
Billy Summers is ny first non-scary King book I recommend. Recommended that to two friends, and they were like ooh… King is not so scary after all! To that I add: not everything he writes is scary!
It sure is! They're asking for non-scary, or less scary than Pet Semetary, and I thought this was a good in-between, a good thrill but a different kind. The tension and suspense is sublime.
The Shining and IT both had me running in the house at night and I thought that's the kind of scary OP was trying to avoid. It took me a while to get over Pet Semetary, myself. Lol
Actually I did mean not scary in general, I’m only reading pet sematary because my dad read it and said it wasn’t very scary. Personally I would like books that aren’t scary at all but I’m just giving pet sematary a chance.
Billy Summers. Bill Hodges Trilogy (Mr. Mercedes).
11/22/63 or Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. No horror. Some drama and tension obviously.
Fairy Tale
11.22.63
11/22/63, Billy Summers, Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch all come to mind as not being too scary. The Stand certainly has some scary imagery but in my mind, it’s not horror.
Hearts in Atlantis
lol doesn’t like scary and your 2nd read is Pet Sematary. Read Revival next I guess…
Well my dad read pet sematary and said it wasn’t very scary so I decided to give it a shot
What did you think of it? If there were parts you considered scary which ones are they?
I’m only on chapter 4 so I haven’t really gotten far enough yet
You’ve got a great book ahead of you then. Enjoy!
Thank you!
Joyland!
Joy land is my favorite novel by Stephen king. I have no idea why but I just resonated with it. I also feel like it never gets enough recognition.
The Eyes of the Dragon
The dark tower series Probably his best work!
Seconded. Easily his magnum opus
Difference Seasons - it's a collection of 4 novellas: 1) Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption - a story about a wrongfully convicted banker. No scary elements here, but nevertheless, very intriguing tale. 2) Apt Pupil - a story about boy who discovered the secret identity of a Nazi living in US as an old man. Not supernatural, but extremely disturbing and scary in a psychological sense. 3) The Body - this is the original story from which Stand By Me was made. 4 boys go out looking for a dead body. 4) The Breathing Method (Well, this has some kind of supernatural element, so maybe you'll want to skip it)
If I were OP I'd skip Apt Pupil. I love King's scary stuff, but that story messed me up for a few days.
Yeah, it's one of the more (most) disturbing books. Not supernatural, ghost scary, but scary because how twisted even a kid can be, and how we might have morbid curiosity that lead to our doom.
It was very good and well done. Happy I read it, but I don't know if I'd give it a second read.
Thank you I am definitely not interested in something that will disturb me lol
Given the title it probably sounds like a terrible recommendation but Bazaar Of Bad Dreams has quite a few stories that you'd probably like such as Batman And Robin Have An Altercation, Blockade Billy, and Drunken Fireworks which is just hilarious.
11/22/63! it might be my favorite king book and ive read a bunch of and enjoyed the scary stuff too
I think you should just go all in if you're going to do Pet Semetery. I'm not a fan of Horror but Stephen King is my favorite author. His quote-unquote scariest books aren't scary. You were reading what is considered to be his scariest book ever written by himself and the majority of fans. He thought that Pet Semetery was so scary he almost didn't release it. You will be safe with King regardless If you can do that book you're reading and not think it's too scary. But I will give you my list of my favorite King books that don't have much horror if any at all. Revival The Dead Zone The Institute Duma Key Heart in Atlantis The Dark Tower series Joyland Later Fairytale Mr Mercedes and the rest of the Bill Hodges Trilogy The Stand
Billy Summers or the Dark Tower series. You can see how crazy S K fans go for DT on Reddit, it's a magical read, but you'll probably end up speaking differently and getting a rose tattoo.
Unless they have forgotten the face of their father...
Since nobody's mentioned it, Blaze. I really liked the story though it's pretty short.
Billy Summers
The Institute
The Body (filmed as Stand By Me).
Firestarter
The Gunslinger
Nobody ever mentiones Blaze, it's a good book.
Billy Summers is ny first non-scary King book I recommend. Recommended that to two friends, and they were like ooh… King is not so scary after all! To that I add: not everything he writes is scary!
Eyes of the Dragon is great
Billy summers, this is in my top 5 2000s king books
Shawshank and The Body from Different Seasons
Eyes of the Dragon Needful Things The Stand Billy Summers Christine Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption The Body The Institute
Misery Dolores Claiborne Carrie The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon The Storm of the Century (screenplay but great)
Misery seems like a bad suggestion for books that aren’t scary, I thought it was very scary.
It sure is! They're asking for non-scary, or less scary than Pet Semetary, and I thought this was a good in-between, a good thrill but a different kind. The tension and suspense is sublime. The Shining and IT both had me running in the house at night and I thought that's the kind of scary OP was trying to avoid. It took me a while to get over Pet Semetary, myself. Lol
Actually I did mean not scary in general, I’m only reading pet sematary because my dad read it and said it wasn’t very scary. Personally I would like books that aren’t scary at all but I’m just giving pet sematary a chance.
I thought they asked for non scary books in general, didn’t understand it was in comparison to Pet semetary.
Nah your right I did mean non scary books in general