I have read only about 5 or so of his books and seen a few of the movies, but the Stand is my favorite book by far. I need to read a few of his other books one of these days.

Wasn't that an Arnold Schwarzanegger movie? If so, where was that scene in the movie. I do not seem to remember that.

His masterpieces are Dolores Claiborne and Insomnia in my eyes.

Dolores has a great cynical humour and I liked heroine's pragmatic stance a lot and the weird relationship she had with her employer.
Insomnia fulfilled my readership's deepest craving for a long, rich book which would allow me to fully enter the imaginative world. The protagonist and plotline were both unique.

Four Past Midnight - It has "the Langoliers" my favorite story from him.

Just for everybody to know: we still can't settle our discussion with Spock (the Dreamcather debate book\movie ending debate).
Current version: one of us unknowingly shifted from another dimension. The only difference between this and mine\his dimension is Dreamcatcher's ending.

It was. It isn't. For the film, about the only things they kept from the book was the names "Benjamin Richards" as the protagonist/hero, and Killian, the corporate shmooze breaking every ethical rule in the book in search of ratings.

In the book, Richards had free run (literally) of the whole USA, was implanted with a tracking device, so the hunters knew where he was, and was "running" for money to give his....family some sort of medical operation to save their lives - he wasn't a cop, framed for a massacre....

At least, AFAICR...It's been about 25 years since I read it >.<

I like his short stories more than his novels, but of the novels, probably Needful Things (although it had a weak ending) and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (sorry, PaterAlf).

I think Tommyknockers is probably his worst.

From best to worst...

The Stand
Needful Things
'Salem's Lot
[Lots of stuff in the middle]
The last Gunfighter book
Tommyknockers

Haven't read them all. Really dug "Talisman" when I was an adolescent and "The Mist".
Hated "The Stand" (I think it's as bad as the movie, Robert McCammon's "Swan Song" is much cooler).
I actually think there is a part of Hell where all they have on television are Stephen King movies....It, The Langoliers, The Stand...yikes...

Probably a better message board topic: What's the shitiest Stephen King movie.
...you could debate that for a whole 7 decades...

This. I love minimalistic storytelling. I hate excessive fluff.

But all his bad movies, and there are many, are balanced by the best movie of all time - The Shawshank Redemption....;)

Shawshank is a terrific movie, and the Green Mile is pretty solid. I also enjoyed The Mist adaptation. So I guess I just like Darabont?

Shawshank and The Green Mile are the closest adaptation from book to screen I think there has been for Stephen King. Dolores Clairborne is also a good 'un.

He's had many many bad ones...;)

Movie adaptations of his books are the most horrible ones I have ever seen. Everytime it's announced there is a new one in production, I get afraid of result. Sometimes I wonder if he enjoys seeing his work butchered. :D

Luckily, I have resisted the temptation to see his new movies for years.

Was "The Mist" any good? It's tough to believe you could make that movie without a late 1970s early 1980s grocery store. That book seemed all about the late 1970s early 1980s.

I like to rag on "Maximum Overdrive" the most as it REALLY had a lot going for it when it was released. Young punk Emilio Esteves, a kickin' soundtrack from then cool AC/DC...but that movie really stank and went nowhere. Also, the choice of the lead character in "Christine" really made that movie lame.

Carrie is so very...Canoe Canoe!

The film ? Yes, it's very good. An improvement over the story (which wasn't bad to start with), with a different ending that King is jealous to not have thought of.