Haven't seen the movie, but Stephen King the writer kinda fascinates me. I think he's quite a bit like Charles Dickens: he's a prolific popular-press writer with a knack for driving characters through dialogue, his best work involves relatively (or completely) powerless characters whose lives are manipulated by a powerful external agency (the dramatic arc of Dickens' and King's protagonists usually curves towards a realization that they do have power, and probably had it all along), and his narrative drive steadily accelerates through his books, so by the end, it doesn't much matter that the writing grows sloppier and less focused as the story progresses.

The Stand is generally considered to be his best work, isn't it?

A lotta people like it but it's not my favorite; it's more fantasy/adventure then horror/suspense. I like The Dead Zone, The Shining, 'Salem's Lot, and Cujo best. And the short story collection, Different Seasons, is pretty great. As a matter of fact, it might be the best of all.

I remember reading Pet Semetary and then a few years later discovering that my new best friend's cat looked EXACTLY like Church the cat had been described. Totally freaked me the Hell out, that cat. Every time I saw it creaking towards me, I wanted to run out of the house.

I prefer King in smaller doses, myself. The scariest of his books that I've read is Gerald's Game (synopsis). It has a quick, simple set-up, a slow and steady ratcheting-up of tension, and it climaxes with the most terrifying chase scene I've ever encountered in any medium. No shape-shifting alien killer clowns, however.

I saw 1408 in preview and thought it was pretty good. Not mind-blowing, but better than most of the crap that's coming out lately.

I've always been a big King fan, I think the less someone has read him, the more likely they are to criticize his writing abilities. He once submitted a short story to some prestigious writing contest (O Henry?) which had anonymous judging - the jury didn't know who wrote what - and he won.

My favorites are The Stand, the Dark Tower series and all of those ones that are interrelated (like The Talisman). I like that his characters and stories cross over into other books.

SassHat, he DID write the story that eventually became The Shawshank Redemption, one of the most highly regarded films of all time (just look at how high it comes on every film list). I love that damned movie.

And The Body, in Hugh Janus's mentioned Different Seasons became Stand by Me, which, given that I was 11 when that came out, became my OMGFAVOURITEMOVIE for years.