Stephen King

Stephen King is one of the most popular and prolific authors writing today. But what to do if you’ve read everything he’s ever written?

The problem is that no-one really writes ‘just like’ Stephen King. Librarian Joyce Saricks says, “His books transcend genre writing and offer us compelling, page-turning stories. Any description or attempt to classify his writing diminishes him and his power over our imagination. Those who dismiss King as a ‘genre’ [Horror] writer are missing one of the greatest storytellers of our time, a writer who skilfully combines appealing heroes and terrible villains with fast-paced stories drawn from our innermost nightmares and set in evocative landscapes.”

Below is our attempt to list some titles and authors who might evoke some of the same feelings and emotions as our Mr King, and within similar settings.

• Clive Barker
• Ramsey Campbell
• Jonathan Carroll
• Simon Clark
• Douglas Clegg
• Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere, Coraline, American Gods
• Charles L Grant
• Thomas Harris
• James Herbert
• Joe Hill: Heart Shaped Box, short story collections
• Shaun Hutson
• Peter James: Twilight
• Dean R Koontz: The Taking, and many others
• Richard Laymon
• Graham Masterton
• Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child: Relic, and the Agent Pendergast series
• Anne Rice
• Phil Rickman
• John Saul
• Dan Simmons: A Winter Haunting
• Peter Straub
• F Paul Wilson: Midnight Mass, and the Repairman Jack series

For more horror try

• Bram Stoker Award winners
• If you like horror …
• Search our catalogue for horror tales