Hey guys! I made a goof in reference to Pennywise. Obviously I meant Coulrophobia and not Agoraphobia. But none of you likely read this, so it is what it is. Thanks for watching!
I read revival earlier this year. And man for a newer sk book let me tell ya, blee me away. Great story, great character development, and most importantly, great ending. Jacobs deff need to be on this list if you read this book. I put it up there with my top 10 sk books easy.
Well I never knew that was what the fear of clowns was called, I came for the books and I walk away newly educated... Mike you are a chest of wonders.. 😏 (edited after realising how sarcastic it sounded, still not sure 🤔)...
Unrelated but I just saw that the Elric series is being reissued in hardcover end of this year and onward. In case your wallet needed more of a beating 😂
Interestingly, the only book of Steven Kings I have ever read is Needful Things, and Gaunt was just the star of the show. His last words in the book were a great reference. I know I know, I need to read more King!
Needful Things might be my favourite King book to be honest! The way Gaunt manipulates people into doing the most horrific things is bone chilling - because history - and unfortunately the present - shows that it’s too easy to be reality! Like you said - the real monsters in King books are the humans! And Salem‘s Lot is the scariest book I‘ve read!
As a teen Carrie made sense to me. I was the weird girl people tormented. What she did at the end wasn't right. It was however in my opinion not surprising. There's only so far a person can be tortured at school and at home before they hurt someone else or themselves.
Martin Sheen as Greg Stillson is one of the most delightful casting decisions in any Stephen King adaptation. And I'm very glad to see Leland here, Needful Things is my favorite book by King. I just love how it starts so small and just keeps escalating.
Love this list. On my own list I'd add Big Jim Rennie from Under the Dome, Jessie's dad in Gerald's Game, and Tak from The Regulators (and Desperstion). I also really like Randall Flagg's character in The Eyes of the Dragon. You see how manipulative he is.
I haven't read anywhere near as much King as you have, but of what I've read: 1. Pennywise 2. Randall Flag 3. Lord Barlow 4. Rose the Hat 5. Jack Torrence 6. Blaine the Pain 😀
When vampires were about eating, not dating. Made me laugh so hard.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 i agree with your order for the most part though! I think I will re-read Salem's Lot. And you finally got me to try and finish WoT. I stopped at book 7 so I'm starting over from 1 and hoping to read them all. Especially since you're giving Malazan (my fav fantasy series) a read.
I agree with most of your list. Villains I would include would be Norman the psycho in Rose Madder, any number of the "doctors" from The Institute and the dead Gage from Pet Semetary- although that is entirely debatable! I do think that The Institute is a criminally underrated novel imho.
About the jack and the overlook thing, i think the overlook is the villain, jack is the hand of the villain, the thing that entity uses to mess with the physical world
Hey Mike! Love the list! Just wanted to say coulrophobia is a fear of clowns. Agoraphobia is the fear of places or situations that cause panic, helplessness or embarrassment.
Great top 19 list there Mike! The one that's missing for me would have to be Gasher from The Waste Lands... what a creepy dirty villain he is!!! Made my skin crawl! Also... The Library Policeman...eek!!
I remember the clown from Poltergeist being the scary clown inspiration for my generation. Another SK villain is the Library Policeman. Not the supernatural one, but the person. What makes him so scary is that there are real people out there who do what he did, and sadly more than we’d like to think.
Honorable mention Frank Dodd...he shows up in Dead Zone....and I always liked the idea that his spirit takes advantage of the Cujo situation. Helps tie together Castle Rocks history in my mind.
If you reread the part where Cujo attacks the Sheriff, the Sheriff thinks of the dog as Frank Dodd. I don’t recall if he sees Franks ghost or it’s just a near death hallucination but it stuck out to me because I read Dead Zone and Cujo back to back.
Great video Mike! I don't read King (I've read IT, Pet Sematary, and maybe one other), but I enjoy these none the less. Quick thought, though. "Agoraphobia" is the fear of wide open spaces, and "coulrophobia" is the fear of clowns. Thanks again for all the wonderful content!
You know what story you have never spoken about? The short story Grandma in Skeleton Crew. That story scrared the ever loving crap out of me when I was a kid. I know it gets lost amongst his many short stories, but that one is a gem and get's overshadowed by The Mist in the same volume. I mention this, because ol' Grandma is something else and makes my list.
I swear: watching your videos gives me the feeling that I'm with a good friend, enjoying coffee, and having a great conversation over literature. You and your channel are both amazing and I can't thank you enough for such wonderful content. As for your list, I agree with you for the most part though am left eager for your favorite heroes/ anti heroes list.
agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces. coulrophobia is clowns. Flagg's my number one as well. Out of curiosity, where would you put Tak? I'd probably put him almost at number ten
Agoraphobia is the fear of situations that may cause discomfort or embarrassment. Maybe that could be a circus for someone hahaha. Coulrophobia is what you're thinking of
I have a love/hate relationship with King. I love his concepts but I hate how far he goes with some of them. It's just too much for my taste I tend to like the adaptations better than the books with most of his stories.
Ah, this makes me want to re-read some Stephen King! I was glad to see Annie Wilkes and Pennywise at the top. Of course, Randall Flagg is #1. Just a great villain. I have not read Doctor Sleep yet (seriously need to fix that), but I enjoyed the movie. Rose the Hat was a damn scary villain, and her actress was fantastic. Great video, and thanks for sharing 😀
Love Blaine the Mono! It really is such a unique character. Artifically intelligent train in a post apocalyptic world that loves riddles and is contemplating suicide. I mean there's so much to unpack and its all great.
I don't know if you have read "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Wallpole before, but you should. It's credited to be the first "gotchic" novel. It very clearly has influenced the genre and writers like Stephen King and lovecraft. The monsters are never as scary as people.
@@mikesbookreviews it's a weird story, and a classic. So it makes for a wild and potentially confusing ride depending on how many classics you've read (written in the 1700s). With that being said, it is damn good!
I would say Cujo is the antagonist, but not a villain. He was just a good boy who got sick. Come to think of it, the same might apply to Jack Torrence. He was an antagonist but the Overlook was the real villain.
Cujo is not a villian. The Overlook Hotel >>> Jack Torrence. If Jack was not in the Overlook, he would not be as frightening. The Overlook had a myriad of horrors that had nothing to do with Jack.
My unlisted favorites are: Tak the Outsider, Cthun, Mother of the Null, Dandelo, Atropos the Leatherheads, Mordred Deschain, The Big Coffin Hunters, Gramma & last but not least Mr. Munshun.
This is the video that put me over the edge... I am now a proud patron! Love all the videos Mike - currently reading the Blade Itself because of your channel!
My number one...that Patrick kid from it... I never went over the moon for that novel like many people did but I thought that villain was the darkest thing that he ever created
Great list! Annie, Flagg, Cujo, all my faves! Just finished my second reading of IT last month and Pennywise in all his horrific forms is quite the villain. One character that I'd like to shed light on was Norman from Rose Madder. I don't know if you've read it or not, can't remember you speaking about the book, and it's been years since I did, but he was one that stuck with me. I could say Tak, but maybe he was an entity like Pennywise? I'm not sure. Haven't read those since the late 90s, and would be books I wanna revisit some day. Ooh! And dead Gage, too. I'd characterize his villaindom the same as you did with Cujo. Instead of rabies, it was sour soil (or wendigo?)
To add to what you said about Salems' Lot not being in many peoples lists, I've read 12 of his books so far and my top 5 goes as follows. 1. IT 2. Waste Lands (at this point the latest King book I've finished) 3. Salems' Lot 4. The Shining 5. The Gunslinger IT was my gateway to stephen king also.
Man I’m pumped for needful things, it’s one I’ve always really wanted to read but didn’t have time, well that will change soon! Im definitely reading it on the reread. Thanks for the vid mike you are good at getting me hyped up for some Sy-King 💪🏼
Yeah, Needful Things is so disregarded by people. I love it, in fact it's in my top 5 of Uncle Stevie's works 😊 and Ace Merrill is a fantastic villain, I was so disappointed he was left out of the 1993 adaptation...I think Kieffer needs to reprise his role if they re-make it 😉
My gateway to Stephen King, was my mom, she gave me her copy of The Bachman Books when I was eight, and then The Stand, followed by IT when I was 12, Randall Flagg shows up in Eyes of The Dragon
I want to ask a question but dont want to be misconstrued: with Jack Torrance and the injury he inflicts on Danny, i have always felt that his actions make him kinda irredeemable but i was born in 1993 and have grown up in an era that is hyper-sensitive to that kinda thing... am i influcting a modern morality on something that was more accepted in that time-period? Not saying either view is right but would the 70s be more forgiving?
I think Jim Rennie from Under the Dome should’ve made the list. Another piece of shit human villain. He’s right there with Greg Stillson from The Dead Zone
95% agree RF is by far the best character King ever wrote, everyone else on the list is great…..except that stupid train I hated Blane. I almost gave up on the tower because of just how corny, lame, and distracting I found the mono. The tower series is still my favorite king work I liked the meta stuff where he entered the story I liked the ending I loved everything else in the series, except Blane I get what he was doing I can even see it as a nod to Tolkien with the riddles I just found it so cringey (to speak in the language of the times) I almost didn’t want to pick up wizards in glass and continue it. Glad I did it became one of my favorites books after I trudged through the conclusion of of the cheesy train.
My top 10 villains Honorable mentions: Gage, Overlook Hotel, George Stark, Tak from Desperation 10. Barlow - Salem’s Lot 9. Margaret White - Carrie 8. Greg Stillson - Dead Zone 7. Percy - Green Mile 6. Cujo 5. Leiand Gaunt - Needful Things 4. Annie Wilkes - Misery 3. Brady Hartfield - Mr. Mercedes he is so well don. He is the reason Mr. Mercedes is one of my favorite King books 2. RF - The Stand 1. Pennywise - It the only antagonist in a book that actually ever scared me
Gage was tough to cut off, for sure. In the end I felt the Wendigo was more to blame for that. But it's such a fine line to walk when discussing if a character is actually the villain (i.e. Jack Torrance & Carrie White).
The Shining is a very good book that Stanley Kubrick took and made into a great movie you could build a master class on film making around this movie alone. Stanley Kubrick knew the book would not make a great movie and Stephen King's ego couldn't handle it. He would have liked the movie if he didn't write it. Big fan of Stephen King his books are great read everyone of them he is my favorite living author.
His creativity has nothing to do with drugs. I believe drugs attract the creative type because pain and trauma is the true catalyst. A catalyst that will eat most alive. The drugs are to relieve the pain their art demands.
Great list. I’ve always hated clowns so by the time I read IT Pennywise was just my confirmation bias. I completely agree with you mentioning Cujo. Although I love dogs, I’m afraid of big dogs and they are all potential Cujos to me until proven innocent. 😂
So many books so little time. I guess it aint so bad that movies and shows arent doing it for me cause theres lots of books to read. Believe jt or not i have yet to read a king book
