How old were you when you started reading Stephen King?

[linkinjen2001]

i was 15 and my first was four past midnight, i had to read a book for english class and write a report on it. i picked up the book because i heard stephen king's books were scary. now im 26 and i have read all but five or so of his books and i loved them all! i wish i would have discorved his books sooner.

[scared_of_clowns]

i was 12 years old! and his books changed my childhood!
but i had to secretly read his books at that time, because i didn't want my parents to see the book and stop me from reading it, cuz it might be too "inapporopiate" :P:biggrin2:

[mrkchmbrs]

I think I was 36.......late to the game I know

[EMARX]

I was around 15 when I started. Compared to what is shown on tv and the net, starting with The Stand would be fine. Talk to them. If they're understanding it, there's no problem.

[Never]

My school librarian gave me Night Shift when I was 12. Graveyard Shift scared the crap out me and gave me nightmares about rats and bats and deep dark places for weeks. It was great.

I couldn't get enough of him after that

[waniger]

I was 16 reading "The Shining" over the course of a week at a cabin in northern wisconsin with my family on vacation...I had the loft bedroom to myself and read at night...it was memorable...both the book and the setting

[bio_chem06]

I'm a late bloomer...I read my first Stephen King book this past year...25 years I missed out at how awesome he is. I started with the Dark Tower series and I haven't read anything except SK just so I can get caught up...

[havealemon]

I read Carrie when I was 12 and IT when I was about 13. I turned out okay. ;)

[Roseasharn]

I was 10 when I read the gunslinger, I tried tommyknockers next. That one didn't work out. I read It at 12. I remember receiving it for christmas.
My best advice is that you look at what else she's reading. I probably wouldn't let my 10 year old read the gunslinger...but she's still reading the phyllis naylor shiloh books.
The Stand is actually really heavy, I just finished rereading it. There are a lot of sub-plots that I would think might not be appropriate for a 12 year old(depending, of course, on what they have been exposed to previously.) I would give specifics, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone else. If you would like to know some things that I would be concerned about or that you may want to prepare yourself for discussion about, you can message me. What's funny is tha tI think if I hadn't just read it, I wouldn't think twice about saying "yeah, go for it" but King's Books are not all made the same. And that one has some particularly muture audience sub-plots.

[Roseasharn]

I jeez, I just checked the date on the first message. That advice is probably way way way too late. Sorry!

[Lee Y]

I was 17 when I read my first King novel. which was his first....Carrie.

1974, junior in high school.....yeah I'm old!!! :biggrin2:

[merpcola]

I was in 6th grade (12, I think) and read Carrie in a couple of hours when babysitting. Oddly enough, I had seen The Shining the year before.

[J.P.]

I started with the Dark tower (Gunslinger) then stopped and went to The Cell and then back to DT again. I was 19 I think. Late start but I've been picking up more and more since then.

[kingfanalaska09]

I read The Green Mile when I was 10 and been reading his books ever since

[ladyraven]

i was 14...my 12 year old just read Cell..she loves him also and now we have one more thing to share as she enters those "lovely" teen years "yikes":smile2:

[hipmamajen]

It's so exciting that this thread is still going strong!

The child in question has turned 13 since the thread started, and is on a mad Dave Barry jag. :) I ended up letting her start The Stand, and she quickly decided it wasn't for her. She read The Shining, though, and loved it. She'll read more as time goes on, I'm sure.

Thanks to all for this great discussion!

[sidthekid27]

I was 10 or 11. In any case, I was in 5th grade and I watched "Misery" on TV one night and decided I had to read the book. I got in trouble, actually, because the teachers said that the book was not appropriate for elementary school so I kept it in my desk and snuck it down to the cafeteria every day at lunch. I was hooked. Wasn't gonna let them tell me I couldn't read that book, and it's still one of my favorites. :biggrin2:

[jtmanis]

I believe I read part of IT when I was much younger, but I'm not completely sure. Though recently I've started reading more of SK's stuff, and am currently 14.

[Annarkie]

I was 8 or 9 when I read Firestarter...then I read the Dead Zone. I remembered Firestarter, but forgot the Dead Zone...so I just reread it. Pretty good but not my favorite. I'm reading The Green Mile to my 7yr old right now...omitting the bad words and paraphrasing some parts of course:smile2:
He's loving it!

[Darth Hidious]

I started at sixteen with The Stand.

[Speedygi81]

I started just two years ago in 2007.

To be honest, I thought Stephen was a scary guy and I never dared try his books. It was when Lisey's Story came out that I got a little interested; I read that one straight through.

[c13tex]

I read "The Dead Zone" back in high school, oh, around 1981 I believe, when I was 17....got hooked on SK then, still hooked now, will be hooked even after the day I die!

[lisaofthecoos]

Man, that is a tough question. I am pretty sure it was during Junior High, so probably around 12. I think Delores Claiborne was the first book I read. Read the first four Towers in high school, and am now currently trying to read all the books I haven't read in order. I skipped Carrie, don't really know why, and Cycle of the Werewolf, because it wasn't in stores and I really needed a book at the time. Started with Salem's Lot and I am currently reading IT. I am really into IT too. :laugh: So far I have read 24 of his books.

[photochik]

I was 13 and it was Christine...the movie had just come out and I picked up the paperback...my best friend at the time was christine so it was more of a goof how I stumbled into his books. After that it was Pet Semetary...after that I couldn't get enough!

[ellshaw]

I was 13 when I was introduced to Randall Flag in Eye of the Dragon. It and the Talisman quickly followed and of course I was hooked!

I think the stories where good clearly triumph over evil and have that fantasy edge to it like The Stand, Eye of the Dragon, The Talisman are good starters.

[Susanne]

I was 11 years old and my first book was Pet Sematary.

[thymeoperator]

i was 14, i read 'christine' first

[doughboyblue]

I was about 13 or 14 and I had already read John Saul before that. I liked the psychological horror of SK much better than the straight gore of Saul. SK storytelling was intriguing to me, not just an "eewe!" reaction. Whether your kids should read SK that young probably depends most on their maturity and you possibly helping them through parts. My daughter started reading SK about that same age, but she has a literary maturity beyond her years. I also knew which books had less sexual themes and adult language than others. (Wouldn't have allowed Gerald's Game:smile2:) We have many discussions about books and their themes, no matter who she is reading. I suggest reading books together if you are not sure of the theme and language of the book versus age level. It is also a great way to bond with your kids!

[Zgirlie]

I was 8 years old when I read Pet Sematary and I got kicked out of class for reading it during free reading period. Free reading, my ass! The book nazi even confiscated it! :glare:

[Noelani]

If I recall I was very young, maybe around ten years old or so. None of the books they assigned us at school really captivated me. I would breeze through those and I had a fascination for horror, compliments of my irresponsible parents ... so I'd seen so much crazy crap at the movies and on television I was halfway numb.

I can't recall the very first book I read by him, but I believe it was either Christine or Carrie. I did an SK, by writing a version of Christine at school, which my teacher really liked. I even illustrated it. Please don't sue me Mr. King. I didn't sell it!

Anyway once I started down that path, I couldn't stop. King is one of the best writer's ever, he can be exhausting at times; he's very wordy ... but it's all worth it. I've read some authors that are wordy, but take you around in head scratching circles with no real payoff (or maybe I'm not that smart).

[hipmamajen]

There are a lot of folks in this thread who were very young when they started reading Stephen King. That's just fascinating to me! And I love seeing all the people who started reading him recently, too, like they're finally finding their way into our happy family :)

This thread is a year old, isn't that wild?

[AllThingsServeTheBeam]

I was in 5th grade, so that would have made me 9 or 10. The first one was Pet Semetary, followed shotry by the Dark Half. Mom thought that it was morbid, and that I should read "nice things" like Nancy Drew. However, I kept on reading King and turned out none the worse because of it.:smile2:

[Utterpaj]

I started when I was in 7th grade, I was 13 .. I had to make a book assignment and I requested a scary book. So my teacher gave me Pet Cemetary by Stephen King. Since then he's been my favorite author. He's pretty much the reason why I started to read as much as I do today. He got me interested in books. So kudos to Sai King! :)

[king family fan]

I was pretty young. Actually ,I started collecting them shortly after. I am not sure there is a to young,when it comes to reading. kids now days aren't to into books .

[Walter o'Dim]

18
the book was it or the dark half of something from the school library

probably back in 07

instead of telling us what we had to read sometimes we got to pick what we wanted and if it werent for that i might still think reading is stupid

[kellykid]

I think I was 14 (it was sooo long ago lol) I read Carrie and got hooked. I have to admit I did not read any DT books until much much later though. I'm sure glad I did!

[fljoe0]

I was probably 17. I was in high school when The Shining came out and I remember there was a buzz about this book with some of the other kids so I bought it and was hooked. I remember I bought it in paperback so it had been out a little while. It is still my favorite SK book. Isn't it funny how often the first thing that gets you hooked on a writer or musical group is your favorite work by that artist. That would make a good poll question - How many of us like the first SK book we read the best.

[Hoofbeat]

I started reading SK when i was 12... :cool2:

[MorbidFixation]

I've been hooked since, like most people it seems, 12. I picked up Cujo (or maybe The Dead Zone?) for the "twisted, sick, bloody" stuff I'd heard about. Instead I just read a darn good book. At 16, I've now gotten to the point where it's rare for anyone to find Stephen King books that I don't have, except when they're brand new.

[SamanthaS]

I was around 16. My Mom gave me 'Desperation' to read. Around the same time I read 'The Tommyknockers'. I've read them both at least 3 times. I remember from earliest childhood my mom talking about SK. She always told me that when she was reading 'Pet Sematary' when I was around 3 years old, she could never finish the book. Now that I have two little boys, I understand what she's saying. Luckily I read it in full when I was still pregnant with my first! She's right I don't think I could deal with it now. SK was always a part of my life though, and I will continue to explore the depths! I love The King!!

[Silhouette86]

I was fifteen or sixteen. The reading of Stephen King novels started with "The Long Walk".

[Connie Reader]

I searched for this, but I can never seem to get the search functions at vbulletin boards to work for me! I lack some basic talent in that area, I guess...

Anyway, how old were you when you started reading Stephen King's books?

My oldest is 12, and she wants to read "The Stand." It seems awfully young to me, but then when I think about it realize I was about that age when I first picked up one of his books (The Dead Zone.) And, I'd like to think I turned out OK, mostly. :wink2:


Still, she seems awfully young to me.

I think you answered your own question, you were young when you started reading SK books and you turned out ok! :) I think it's a good thing because not only will you be trusting her to read mature material, but its something you can talk about together, something to bond the two of you. My kid is only 2, but I hope he falls in love with sai King's books in ten years!

[hipmamajen]

Thanks, Connie Reader!

I should probably write and update. This thread is about to have it's 3rd birthday, so a lot has changed since I started it :)

The child in question is now 15 and she has been reading SK for a while now. My next wave of children are 13 (girl-girl twins) and they both started just a few months ago.

There have been a few they started and decided were too scary, or they weren't interested in yet. The 15 year old has put away quite a few, though. It's been fun to discuss the books with her!

[flwrchld]

Pet Sematary was my first SK book and I was in seventh grade at the time.

[♥Faerie♥]

I was around 12 I think....came across IT at a friends house......

[Tinahorve]

I was 14 when I read Carrie. My son wants to read some Stephen King. He is 10. I think that's ok, but told him no on the Kubric version of The Shining- too much blood!

[muskrat]

I was probably Ten when I read Pet Semetary, and I've never looked back. (well, maybe glanced over my shoulder a couple times lookin' fer creepy-eepies)
I remember cryin' when lil' Gage got creamed by the semi. Heh, whatta sissy. I remember reading Misery in a one night sitting (one LONG night, mind you), man, I couldnt put the darn book down. Probably read 'Salem's Lot five times before I was 12. It was all my MOM's fault--she pushed King on me (thankee sai, old mother)...now I can't get her to read anything. She's too busy watchin' Glen Beck (?)...

[ItFan]

I started with Carrie when I was 19 and haven't looked back since. Pretty much non-stop SK since then.

[Barlow73]

I think I was 13 or 14. My best friend and I forged our parents' signatures on the library memberships forms. We though we were well past the books in the kids library in Cork city, Ireland and we just had to join the adult library!! I remember we went in to the adult library got the forms and went out to our parents who just happened to be parked outside........

Anyway, the very first book I borrowed was The Shining, and 2 weeks later I went back to borrow it again and read it for the 3rd time.
Since then (I'm now 37) I have been a huge fan of SK. I went through a few years of not reading any of his books, and I only started reading The Dark Tower series in the last 2 years! But through it all he has always been my favourite author. I just started Song For Susannah last night.

I know he checks out the MB from time to time, and I just want to thank him for giving me a lifetime of enjoyment, creeps, and restless nights..........
Thank you from the bottom of my vampiric heart.

Barlow

[pet]

Hello to all ... it's my 1st post here :smile2:

Well, I was 34 when I saw Carrie at movies ... and after awhile I started to read "The Stand" ... it was a long long time ago :sad:

[vickita]

The summer that I was eleven I read Carrie. I've been reading SK ever since.

[Spade]

I think the first one I read was the Long Walk at 14 or 15.

[tower-obsession]

I think I was 10... my first SK book was 'Salem's Lot. I still have it, minus the dust jacket.

[Cthulhu4u]

I started in about 1983, so that would have made me 11.

[jenniegeo]

I was in fifth grade, and so about ten. I remember my mom being upset and the librarian being upset and then I remember being scared of everything in my house for weeks! I was shocked by the swears and adult themes but have been hooked ever since!

[randallFlaggfan1]

I'm pretty sure that I read Misery when I was 13 or 14...

[skyrow]

When I was 13 I read "Bag of Bones". Right now I'm the ripe old age of 22 so let's see, over nine years now. It feels like longer.

[Connie Reader]

When I was 13 I read "Bag of Bones". Right now I'm the ripe old age of 22 so let's see, over nine years now. It feels like longer.

22 was a great age.
cheers!

[CoolhandLocke]

I think i was 13 or 14 & am 34 now, so i've been at it awhile lol.. I think it was some of the short stories in the old horror anthologies from the 80's. I would stay at my Uncles sometimes who was a massive bookworm & King fan. I'm actually jealous he has ALL of the first editions Hardcovers or at least everything since the early 80's i believe.

[milkguy420]

10, i started with The Gunslinger. been a slave to the King for the past seventeen years.

[Anna Rose]

i was eleven when i read my first SK book...it was Desperation. i will always remember it...good times! i got it for 75 cents at a thrift store :) my first true love :))))

[Lyn From Lynn]

Hi every one ! Quite intro lol I'm Charlotte 17 from Belgium ( yes you know the little country near France ^^ )

I'm not sure I remember how old I was but I was between 10 and 12. What I remember is the book ^^ Salem's lot ^^ ( I don't know if it's the right title in english ^^ )
What a book ! And soon I descoverd "It", "Carrie" and so on ! I really love those books ! I'd like one day to meet Stephen King because he seems so nice and smart ^^ But I think I'm getting away from the subject so I stop here ^^


kiss every one :p

Emotionally or biologically? There's a big difference. Biologically I was 29. Emotionally, I was 12 and that may be stretching it.

[randallFlaggfan1]

10, i started with The Gunslinger. been a slave to the King for the past seventeen years.


Oh, WOW, you couldn't have began with a better book, Milkguy! The Gunslinger ROCKS!