10 Underrated Stephen King Books You’re Missing Out on

Everyone knows The Shining, It, and Misery—but even lifelong fans overlook some of Stephen King’s most daring work. Across five decades and more than 60 titles, the Master of Horror has written books that quietly rival his blockbusters in imagination, heart, and sheer strangeness. From lost Bachman manuscripts to surreal Florida hauntings, these 10 picks prove that some of King’s best stories never got the spotlight they deserved.

10. Gerald’s Game (1992)

When a woman’s romantic weekend turns deadly, she’s left handcuffed to a bed with no one coming to save her. The novel is one of King’s most psychological and claustrophobic stories, exploring trauma, hallucination, and survival. Gerald’s Game was long considered “unfilmable” until Mike Flanagan’s acclaimed 2017 Netflix adaptation proved otherwise—a feat King himself publicly praised.

9. Blaze (2007, as Richard Bachman)

Originally written in the early 1970s and shelved for decades, Blaze follows a small-time crook with a kind heart whose kidnapping plan goes wrong. King rediscovered the manuscript in 2006, revised it, and released it under his Bachman pseudonym as a literary time capsule. Fans have noted its similarities to Of Mice and Men, one of King’s favorite novels.

8. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999)

A 9-year-old girl gets lost in the woods with only her Walkman and Red Sox radio broadcasts to keep her company. The novel’s simplicity is what makes it so terrifying—King strips away monsters to explore faith, fear, and endurance. King, an avid Red Sox fan, uses a real-life former player as the eponymous imaginary hero. 

7. The Colorado Kid (2005)

Set in a small Maine town, two veteran journalists share an unsolved mystery with their intern: a man found dead with no clues, no suspects, and no answers. King intentionally leaves the case unresolved, calling it a “story about stories.” The novel later inspired the Syfy series Haven, which ran for five seasons.

6. Revival (2014)

When a young boy befriends a charismatic preacher, neither realizes their bond will lead to cosmic horror decades later. What starts as a gentle coming-of-age story spirals into one of King’s bleakest endings—an homage to Arthur Machen’s The Great God Pan, a story H. P. Lovecraft adored in his time. King once said he wrote Revival because he wanted to write “a balls-to-the-wall supernatural horror story, something I haven't done in a long time,” making it one of his most thematically complex works.

5. Duma Key (2008)

After a near-fatal accident, a man moves to a quiet Florida island and begins painting visions that come true. It’s a story about creativity, trauma, and the healing power—and danger—of art. Duma Key (2008) won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel and the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel. It’s often singled out by critics as one of King’s best works in recent memory, exploring creativity, trauma, and recovery through supernatural art.

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4. From a Buick 8 (2002)

In rural Pennsylvania, a group of state troopers guards a mysterious car that seems alive. Sometimes it hums, sometimes it glows, and sometimes things crawl out of it. Described by critics as a spiritual companion to Christine, King’s novel trades the killer car for something far stranger—a gateway to another world. A film adaptation has been trapped in development limbo since 2005, with multiple directors attached over the years.

3. Hearts in Atlantis (1999)

Told through interconnected stories set during the Vietnam era, Hearts in Atlantis trades horror for haunting nostalgia. It’s King at his most literary—exploring the loss of innocence, the draft, and the lingering ghosts of childhood. The 2001 film adaptation starred Anthony Hopkins and a young Anton Yelchin, though it only adapts part of the book’s sweeping narrative.

2. The Long Walk (1979, as Richard Bachman)

Long before The Hunger Games, King imagined a dystopia where 100 boys are forced to walk until only one survives. The story is sparse, philosophical, and disturbingly prescient about reality TV and endurance culture. Written while King was still a college student, The Long Walk remains one of his most enduringly discussed early works. Filmmaker André Øvredal was originally developing an adaptation but is no longer attached to the project.

1. Lisey’s Story (2006)

After her husband’s death, a widow uncovers the magical and terrifying world he kept hidden. It’s one of King’s most personal novels—he’s said it was inspired by his wife, Tabitha, and his near-fatal 1999 accident. Lisey’s Story later became a 2021 Apple TV+ miniseries produced by J.J. Abrams, with King writing every episode himself.