The first lines in Stephen King books set the stage for the stories that follow. Over his long career, King has written opening sentences that are funny, informative, scary, and downright odd. But which one is the best?
Is it the simple statement about the gunslinger following the man in black through the desert in The Gunslinger, the novel that begins his epic eight-novel fantasy cycle? Is it the more in-depth breakdown of the Boston Globe reporter's surroundings in The Colorado Kid? Is it the random gurgles and moans that kick off Misery? Or is it something else entirely?
There's certainly not a shortage to chose from. Check out the list below to view every first sentence from King's novels and vote up your favorite ones!
- 13,145512
The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years - if it ever did end - began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain.
It - 23,088701
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - 31,730383
The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted.
The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon - 41,702434
YOU'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE.
Needful Things - 51,131308
People's lives - their real lives, as opposed to their simple physical existences - begin at different times.
The Dark Half - 61,546451
Jack Torrance thought: Officious little pr*ck.
The Shining - 71,110306
She sits in the corner, trying to draw air out of a room which seemed to have plenty just a few minutes ago and now seems to have none.
Rose Madder - 8974263
On the second day of December in a year when a Georgia peanut farmer was doing business in the White House, one of Colorado's great resort hotels burned to the ground.
Doctor Sleep - 91,362403
Once upon a time, not so long ago, a monster came to the small town of Castle Rock, Maine.
Cujo - 101,011282
I have never been what you’d call a crying man.
11/22/63 - 11935257
No one - least of all Dr. Litchfield - came right out and told Ralph Roberts that his wife was going to die, but there came a time when Ralph understood without needing to be told.
Insomnia - 121,064303
Almost everyone thought the man and the boy were father and son.
'Salem's Lot - 131,023302
This happened in 1932, when the state penitentiary was still at Cold Mountain.
The Green Mile - 141,056317
Louis Creed, who had lost his father at three and who had never known a grandfather, never expected to find a father as he entered his middle age, but that was exactly what happened...although he called this man a friend, as a grown man must do when he finds the man who should have been his father relatively late in life.
Pet Sematary - 151,028310
This is the story of a lover's triangle, I suppose you'd say - Arnie Cunningham, Leigh Cabot, and, of course, Christine.
Christine - 16764223
Pere Don Callahan had once been the Catholic priest of a town, 'Salem's Lot had been its name, that no longer existed on any map.
The Dark Tower: The Dark Tower - 17857271
On September 15th, 1981, a boy named Jack Sawyer stood where the water and land come together, hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking out at the steady Atlantic.
The Talisman - 18714216
The event that came to be known as The Pulse began at 3:03 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on the afternoon of October 1.
Cell - 19670200
By the time he graduated from college, John Smith had forgotten all about the bad fall he took on the ice that January day in 1953.
The Dead Zone - 20772273
"ASK ME A RIDDLE," Blaine invited.
The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass - 21666230
SSDD, it became their motto, and Jonesy couldn't for the life of him remember which of them started saying it first.
Dreamcatcher - 22530181
Somewhere, high above, the moon shines down, fat and full - but here, in Tarker's Mills, a January blizzard has choked the sky with snow.
Cycle of the Werewolf - 23553192
News item from the Westover (Me.) weekly Enterprise, August 19, 1966: RAIN OF STONES REPORTED.
Carrie - 24613223
umber whunn yerrrnnn umber whunnn fayunnn These sounds: even in the haze.
Misery - 25493170
From two thousand feet, where Claudette Sanders was taking a flying lesson, the town of Chester's Mill gleamed in the morning light like something freshly made and just set down.
Under the Dome