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What is the Stephen King Challenge?

When the dreadful Covid-19 virus arrived in the UK, locking down the country and closing our schools, shops, libraries, restaurants, and pubs, I decided to make something positive out of it. The Stephen King Challenge was born. All of King's novels, novellas, short stories, scripts, essays, articles, and everything else, in chronological order (or as close to it as I could get), each one reviewed and discussed to keep me on track.

I know I'm not the first to try this, and I've no doubt I won't be the last, but my hope is that perhaps a couple of people will read some of my reviews and be inspired to pick up a King they haven't read, or revisit an old friend. Perhaps they might even take up the challenge themselves.

Who am I?

My name is Beth, and I am a Constant Reader. I started reading Stephen King when I was nine, and have bought first edition copies of his books since I was old enough to afford them.

The first King I ever read was Carrie, which I stole from the bookshelf of my friend's father. He later caught me reading it in my sleeping bag, and let me take it home. I still own the same copy, a film release paperback with images from Brian De Palma's movie on the back cover. Oh, the nightmares impaled Piper Laurie gave me that year...

My favourite King novels (pre-challenge, at least) are It, Rose Madder, and Duma Key. I would really love to be the eighth member of the Loser's Club.

In normal life I am an English teacher who fairly regularly gets in trouble for recommending King to her students. I live in North London with my husband and our little girl.


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