Legendary horror author Stephen King appeared on a talk show where he surprised fans by revealing his personal top five favourite stories that he’s written himself. Known for a career that spans decades and includes more than 60 novels and 200 short stories, narrowing it down couldn’t have been easy.
But the “King of Horror” gave a glimpse into the works that have stuck with him the most, from grotesque survival tales to deeply personal novels, and even his latest hit. Here’s a deeper look into each of the five stories that Stephen King himself holds closest.
Originally published in the 1980s and featured in Skeleton Crew, Survivor Type is one of King’s most disturbing short stories, and his personal favourite. The tale follows a disgraced surgeon stranded on a deserted island with no food and a suitcase full of heroin. As starvation sets in, he makes a grotesque decision: to keep himself alive by amputating and eating parts of his own body.
“I think maybe my favourite short story would be called Survivor Type,” King said on the show. “It’s about a physician who gets stranded on a little island. He’s smuggling heroin. He’s starving, so he eats himself piece by piece.”
Told through diary entries, the story is a raw, unsettling meditation on survival, addiction, and madness. Its horror is not in monsters or ghosts, but in the human capacity for self-destruction. It’s a masterclass in body horror, and King’s own endorsement of it gives the tale a haunting new weight.
(Image: Stephe King)
One of King’s most iconic novels, Misery tells the claustrophobic, chilling story of novelist Paul Sheldon, who is kidnapped and held captive by his number one fan, Annie Wilkes. She doesn’t just want a signature, she wants him to rewrite his novel her way.
“That was kind of fun,” King said of writing the novel. “Quite personal. It was a fun book to write.”
King has long acknowledged that Misery was inspired in part by his struggles with addiction and his complicated relationship with fame. It’s a novel about being trapped, creatively, physically, psychologically. For King, the writing process itself was liberating. It was also one of the first times he explored horror without the supernatural, and the result remains a terrifyingly real classic.
(Image: Viking Press)
Perhaps King’s most personal novel, Lisey’s Story follows the widow of a famous novelist as she uncovers the secret life her husband kept hidden, one filled with grief, trauma, and a magical realm called Boo’ya Moon.
“I like Lisey’s Story very much,” King said. “It’s a series now streaming on Apple Plus.”
Written after King’s near-fatal accident in 1999, the novel is a love letter to his wife, Tabitha, and a reflection on mortality, memory, and the creative process.
Though less mainstream than his other hits, King has often described Lisey’s Story as the one that means the most to him emotionally, and it’s clear that its intimate, haunting tone still resonates deeply with him.
(Image: Hodder & Stoughton)
Published in Different Seasons and later adapted into the beloved film Stand By Me, The Body is a coming-of-age novella about four boys who set out to find the corpse of a missing child. It’s a story about youth, friendship, and the loss of innocence, a departure from King’s typical horror fare.
“There was one called Stand By Me – The Body,” King said, referring to the novella’s original title.
Though it lacks the overt horror elements of King’s other works, The Body explores emotional terrors: growing up, dealing with trauma, and saying goodbye to childhood. Its timeless depiction of adolescent friendship has made it one of the most loved stories in King’s canon, and it clearly still holds a special place in his heart.
(Image: Simon & Schuster)
King wrapped up his list with his most recent novel, Billy Summers, a crime thriller about a hitman who only takes out “bad guys”, and who dreams of writing one last story before getting out for good.
“And Billy Summers, the current one,” King said with a grin, clearly proud. “Yeah, Billy Summers.”
More than just a hitman story, the novel is a meditation on redemption, war, justice, and the healing power of storytelling. As King gets older, Billy Summers feels like a culmination of many of his favourite themes, a blend of suspense, humanity, and emotional depth. That it made his top five speaks volumes about how close this latest work is to his creative core.
(Image: Hodder & Stoughton)