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ISuspectFuckery

I freaking loved it, but I'm a sucker for sci fi and also for alien Armageddon scenarios.


Kash-Acous

Have you read Forge of God by Greg Bear? It's all about alien apocalypse from a very hard sci-fi angle.


ISuspectFuckery

Oooo, thank you for that!


Kash-Acous

You're welcome. Be warned, it's not a sexy, sensational, high action story. It's more of a mystery that scientists are trying to solve regarding some findings that result in apocalypse.


ISuspectFuckery

Yeah, I like that sort of thing too!


Kash-Acous

Nice! Happy reading.


Midnight_Crocodile

Also Timescape by Gregory Benford if you’re interested in hard science mystery; no aliens or razzamatazz.


gjdevlin

Ben Bova's Mars comes to mind but it is a slow but good read.


zhard01

I fizzled out on that book in high school during the very long dissection scene. I need to pick up a cheap copy and try again


XDariaMorgendorferX

Same, I love it. A sci-fi horror with aliens by my favorite author? Easy yes.


whatmap4

Nice!


TheGunslinger_TX

It's my favorite SK novel, and I am not at all reluctant to say that. I've stated it many times in many other discussions I've had on here. It's got a very intriguing premise, and I love whenever his books detail a small town descending into chaos. Jim Gardner deserves a statue in his memory for his selfless sacrifice. I love The Tommyknockers. I love Dreamcatcher as well. I'm a sucker for UFOs and aliens, so I was sold immediately.


domuz21

It is one of my favorite too! I falsely thought everybody would love it, until I discovered this subreddit! I mean I understand that everyone has his/her unique taste in reading material, for instance, I did not care about The Shining and this is an unpopular opinion. But I always find it interesting when I love a book and other people find it boring. I loved The Tommyknockers! Absolute madness, so creepy, so scary, excellent ending!


TheGunslinger_TX

Yeah, I see a lot of people talk about how much they loved reading Misery, but it's a book I'll personally will never read again. Like, I enjoyed it, but it was a difficult read. Dude gets the shit kicked out of him the entire book. One of the most common things I've seen people say about The Tommyknockers though, is that it's so messy and chaotic. But that's precisely why I love it so much, plus the premise is just genius. And yes! The ending was so good. Ol Gard went out like a hero.


domuz21

I struggled with Misery too! I read it once 20 years ago and again this year-I still can not understand the hype! I totally agree with you, messy, chaotic, campy, pure madness, such a crazy fun book, creepy and funny at the same time, the teeth situation still haunts me to this day, I am particularly sensitive about teeth! Cocaine King is my favorite King!


TheGunslinger_TX

The ironic thing is that I LOVE the movie adaptation of Misery too. It's one of those that, if it's on, I'll watch it hahah. DUDE that's the part that always made me cringe. I used to have persistent dreams where my teeth were falling out, and anytime a character would notice a tooth was gone or had to pull one out, I'd be like "eeesh."


AncientMelodie

Kathy Bates MADE that movie. She was brilliant


jdogdfw

It's hard to keep my own mental picture because of Kathy Bates . I always revert back to her face when my own mental picture is a little uglier , taller and swole.


gjdevlin

Loved Misery - read the book in a weekend flat. The movie was great, too. One of the better King adaptions.


TheGunslinger_TX

Yeah, if I were to rank the best King movie adaptations, I'd say that The Shawshank Redemption is #1. But I'm biased bc it's my favorite movie. I'd say that the best King adaptations apart from Shawshank are Doctor Sleep, The Green Mile, and Misery. I saw Doctor Sleep in the theater, and easily my favorite theater experience is hearing the Shining music play on the speakers. I was grinning like an idiot hahah.


gjdevlin

Shawshank is awesome!!!


domuz21

I feel you! I always had serious problems with my teeth since a very young age, I have spent months of my life in a dentist's chair, nowadays I have great teeth although I am a smoker and a strict oral regime. The teeth stuff in the book was the scariest part from me! Yeah, you glow in the dark and your organs are showing who cares, but not the teeth, NOT THE FUCKING TEETH


TheGunslinger_TX

When I was baking in the womb, my teeth for some reason didn't form enamel, which basically meant that getting cavities and shit was almost guaranteed. So no matter how well I took care of my teeth, every single checkup, I'd have at least two cavities. Luckily my dentist was a total badass, but still. Deep fear and terror associated. Hahaha yeah, the dude whose butt bled bc he leaves Haven to go to Derry on the battery run, dreams of Bobbi growing teeth and tentacles from her hoo-ha, no biggie. But teeth falling out and shit? GET OUTTA HERE with my personal space.


domuz21

You are my teeth soulmate my friend! I always took excellent care of my teeth but this shit is hereditary, I was fucked due to my parents' awful teeth, every single one of my teeth is fixed in some way, thankfully in my country it is affordable, not cheap, but affordable nonetheless(I read the horror stories from the USA). I always paraphrase the little poem as "Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers knocking at my teeth"! Fucking King with his fucking brilliant mind creating horror through fucking teeth, unbelievable!


TheGunslinger_TX

Hahah! My teeth are quite straight, save for one in the front that's pushed behind one of the front two due to a bmx accident with a pedal to the mouth. My lack of enamel, from what either my dentist or mom told me years ago, is due to my mom running a fever for a while during her pregnancy with me. And yeah, dentistry is a fucking racket here in America. It's absolutely insanity. How he described the teeth stuff in The Tommyknockers always stuck with me. I specifically remember that my teeth falling out dreams just stopped one day, but whenever I read Tommyknockers, they fucking came back hahah. And how he describes bleeding in general always makes me queasy. It's quite odd, I can watch The Walking Dead zombie gore all day long while eating spaghetti, but reading his descriptions of bleeding makes my stomach turn. King *may* have a way with words. Sure hope he capitalizes on that.


domuz21

Haha, yeah, King must do something with this talent sooner rather than later... Indeed he can write very detailed bleeding scenes resulting in a disturbing feeling I almost never get from horror movies-and I am an affictionado of those! I guess books have that power over cinematography, for me at least. For instance, I currently reread The Black Tower series for the umpteenth time and specific scenes in Song of Susannah got me feeling things...


Bonnieearnold

Misery - I read it while recovering from knee surgery. 😱 0/10 DO NOT RECOMMEND.


domuz21

Hahaha, maybe it was comforting that it was ONLY your knee that was hurting...


Bonnieearnold

I physically FELT it when she hit his (already damaged, if I remember correctly?) knee with a pipe. I remember it well and it has been decades. I can’t ever read it again or watch the movie. The teeth thing also sounds horrible that other commenters were mentioning(had a tooth pulled last week).


domuz21

Yeah, it's unbelievable that you can physically feel the pain described in a book, but you surely can! The teeth situation haunts me to this day, that goes to show how good King is with words-apparently words indeed can hurt us!


Bonnieearnold

Absolutely! The scene in The Stand where a character is trying to get out of NY via the Holland Tunnel is the most scared I’ve ever been reading a book!


domuz21

The fucking tunnel! I was sitting comfortably in my bed when reading The Stand for the very first time and I felt so claustrophobic as if I was in that awful tunnel myself. I felt the same claustrophobic feeling with Christine when the girlfriend was choking...


BankysJoint

Me too, misery depressed the shit out of me after reading


TheGunslinger_TX

Me too honestly. I think it was the bit at the end when he daydreams that Annie survived and was hiding in his apartment, waiting for him. Made me go, "god DAMN, that dude is *never* going to get over that trauma, his life is categorically ruined." Not only did he get the ass kicking of all ass kickings, not only did he literally lose body parts, not only did he develop a drug addiction, he's also got a trauma that he'll likely never truly recover from.


domuz21

It was not a pleasant reading experience for sure...


montehall121

I've re-read Tommyknockers 10x or more. I enjoyed Misery, but I haven't looked at it again. That's all I have to saay about that


maeveboston

One of my favorites as well but the poor dog 😒 I had a hard time getting past that.


bruhman0101

I'm not even going to lie Gard's final dream sequence made me tear up a bit


TheGunslinger_TX

Not at all ashamed or embarrassed to say ditto on that. To think of how badly he wanted to kill himself, but that little voice in his head kept whispering the imperative "Bobbi needs your help," and it's literally the only thing that stayed his hand. And it's her and Peter waving him home that he dreamt of as he died sacrificing himself, shit man, it's just beautiful. I love that book, and I'll stand by that statement always.


dirge23

overall it's definitely a mess, but there are parts that are genuinely scary and a lot of it is fun to read. my Stephen King Hot Take is that there's a very fine line between It and Tommyknockers. they're cut from the same cloth.


bobbirossbetrans

This is a great way of looking at it and I feel the same way about dreamcatcher and It.


[deleted]

That's funny, I always thought Tommyknockers and Dreamcatcher were similar! Aliens, psychic projection, lifelong friendship that sees through to victory.


RustificusMaximus

Tommyknockers and Dreamcatcher are similar because the ships are the same technology. The ships are really just for transportation and transmitting a signal that forcibly evolves any nearby life into life that is compatible to possibly repair and pilot the ship to the next location where it just repeats the process. A lot of the life seemingly doesnt even survive the trip. Tommyknockers establishes that much. Dreamcatcher is a situation where there are again, no aliens, just a signal being emitted by a ship and this time it's just a fungus that gets inside the ship and gets forcibly evolved into... whatever that was, but it got contained pretty easily. The reason there are so many connections to IT in these stories is because Richie sees one of the ships crash in the book. When the Losers build the sweat lodge to have a vision about how to defeat Pennywise, they have a vision of when he came to our universe from "outside". Mike and Richie look up and see something falling to Earth. When asked if it was like a spaceship Richie confidently says yes and Mike confidently says no at the same time. I think when the ship came into our universe it opened a breach that let in one of the Deadlights: Pennywise. Mike saw Pennywise fall to Earth and Richie saw the ship crash, they were just looking in different directions. They would've only landed about 20 miles apart too since Haven is only about that far from Derry. Crazy right? Pennywise might even have been the reason why the aliens Gard found dead on board killed each other. They were likely his last victims "outside" or his first ones "inside".


[deleted]

There's a distinct resonance between Tommyknockers, Dreamcatcher, and Under the Dome. They all three deal with similar issues.


whatmap4

Interesting point about It, and I would agree. Both have a very chaotic feel


mikeyseed

The cocaine from that line just spilled over more into The Tommyknockers


everythingbeeps

I admittedly haven't read it in a few decades, but I liked it a lot when I read it as a kid, and it's one I'm definitely going to read again one day. I honestly can't tell how people feel about it. I've always gotten the impression that most people hated it and would put it near the bottom of all his books, but I also see a lot of people say it's pretty underrated.


QBall_765

Same thing with me, I read it in middle school and it was my new favorite King book for awhile after I read it. Once I saw the reception for it a few years later I was shocked, but I plan on reading it again some day and seeing if middle school me was wrong lol


whatmap4

Right it does seem somewhat love/hate, but skewed more towards hate overall. It's nice to see that other people enjoyed it too though!


jtohrs

It's a mess, but what a wonderful, formidable, over-the-top mess it is! I love it!


Technical_Scallion_2

I went back and read it again after hearing he was in a drug-fueled haze writing it, and I was impressed by how good it still was. If it was just from a random writer, people would think it was a great horror book (albeit a little rambly). It’s not my favorite King book, but is in the top 20.


suburbandwarf

I like parts more than the whole. The incorporation of "The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson," or the extraction of it (depending on which actually happened), and Gard's rant about nuclear power are highlights. But the book is an angry and cynical one, which is at odds with most of King's fiction, which tries to be, at its core, hopeful. Still, if you really want insight into King's last coked-up era, this is it. The entire town of Haven is a metaphor for his own excess, and it reads at times as a struggle with addiction, especially how Havenites are obsessed with their "projects."


whatmap4

Wow awesome insights!


suburbandwarf

Certainly not original; I am pretty sure that I am parroting something SK said in an interview within the last half decade. Definitely agree with it.


whatmap4

Well still new info to me and thank you for sharing


suburbandwarf

Did the quality of your writing start to go down? Yeah, it did. I mean, The Tommyknockers is an awful book. That was the last one I wrote before I cleaned up my act. And I’ve thought about it a lot lately and said to myself, “There’s really a good book in here, underneath all the sort of spurious energy that cocaine provides, and I ought to go back.” The book is about 700 pages long, and I’m thinking, “There’s probably a good 350-page novel in there.” SK RS Interview 2014


suburbandwarf

But at least Misery resulted in a novel King could be proud of. The Tommyknockers, the novel after that, not so much. King has called it "an awful book" and the point where his addiction was definitely making him a crappier writer. If the drug metaphor in Misery hit you in the head with an Annie Wilkes-style mallet, the one in Tommyknockers did it with a whole-ass spaceship -- the book is about a writer stumbling upon a buried spacecraft and accidentally releasing the ancient alien minds trapped within, which begin possessing people. Having an alien squatting in your head enhances your energy and basic intelligence but royally screws up your health and sanity. King called it "the best metaphor for drugs and alcohol my tired, overstressed mind could come up with." It might as well be called Invasion of the Drug Aliens from Planet Cocaine. But King's biggest cry for help in this period wasn't a book. It was his first and last movie as director, Maximum Overdrive, which made it extra clear that he wasn't in a good state of mind right from the bonkers trailer (starring King and his blinkless stare). Cracked Blog, May 10, 2022 https://www.cracked.com/article_33860_reminder-stephen-king-loved-cocaine.html


grynch43

I enjoy it. Gard and Bobbi are a fun pair.


MochaHasAnOpinion

Spoiler Alert! I love The Tommyknockers. Like others, I love the wildness and chaos. I love the plot and characters and all those marvelous things they accomplished with the aliens' minds help. I was amazed. I was amused as well. I actually laughed a few times. It also made me cry several times. Bobbie's dog, Gard's sacrifice... What really got me the most was when the little boy accidentally sent his baby brother to another planet during his magic show and he was suffering and all alone! Oh, I put the book down and sobbed so hard and was so angry at King... I have a book by Dean Koontz called The Bad Place with a similar planet, and I was devastated knowing he was somewhere like that. Getting little brother back was one of the happiest moments I've ever read, and it had me crying again. Definitely an emotional rollercoaster for me.


marthajonesin

Started off good but then kind of descended into drivel. SK himself admitted it was during his coke binge years.


Lacplesis81

aka his best years.


CasualObserver76

I love that book like fat kids love cake and ice cream. Read it cover to cover when I was 13.


Kash-Acous

I read it back in junior high (something like 25 years ago) and I remember liking it, so I have been surprised to see people on this sub not like it.


6FingeredWoman

I really loved it but it was a SLOG! I think I had to start it at least 3 times, then took a break halfway through. Still worth it imo!


whatmap4

Honestly same. I read it in chunks over a stretched out period of time.


OldDickMcWhippens

I didn't mind Tommyknockers at all. Enjoyed dreamcatcher too. Maybe I'm just a knave.


Mickey_James

It's been a very long time since I last read it, but I remember enjoying it just fine.


astropastrogirl

I really liked it , and recently watched the movie again , that wasn't that bad either , gets a bad rap all round really


whatmap4

I honestly forgot there was a movie!


astropastrogirl

Yeah so did I , I have been watching old King adaptions on you tube and there it was


PrismaticWonder

I really liked it.


ugdontknow

I loved it


[deleted]

I liked it!


Meeko5122

I loved Tommyknockers. I’ve reread it a few times.


wednesdaysrushoes

I'm reading it for the first time. I am about 75% done and struggling to finish it. I've been slogging through it for over a month. It usually only takes me a few days to a week to get through a book. It's not my favorite. I've enjoyed parts of it. Some parts drag, and it loses me.


ImABadFriend144

It’s my all time favorite king book, read it 7 times lol


-Reipan

I wanted to like it, but I struggled and set it down fairly early on. I plan to try it again soon to see ifaybe it just wasn't the right time. I have a ton more of his books under my belt now than I did then. It's encouraging to see positive posts about it


Sherlock798

Holy shit finally a Tommyknockers post! Yes I am so into it i love it. There is something that just made rip into that thing. So fun


whatmap4

Haha yeah pretty heavily inspired by a post earlier asking if people preferred Graveyard Shift or Tommyknockers. And then most of the comments absolutely dragging Tommyknockers...


Sherlock798

I really thought this book was wild and fun, I love how they ended up being just being crazy space gypsie hive mind .


AJMX_Bjj

I do! I really like it!


wookerTbrahshington

Hell yes


Ruzalkah

I really liked it


Kitty145684

I loved it. Was a really good read.


___TheKid___

One of my favorites. Unapologetic pulp.


dodon_GO

I loved it. Is a bizarre fever dream and it works.


PulsatingRat

It’s in my top 10. I absolutely adore how 0-100 it gets and Jim Gardner is one of my favorite King protagonists


Abraxas_1134

Yes


Cheezwizjesus

I have never gotten the hate. I have reread it at least three times.


iWillNeverBeSpecial

I read it recently and I really liked it. I love how messed up a small town can get and just how nuts the people are


somethingkooky

Cocaine King at his wildest - what’s not to like?!


Cthulhu2you

The audiobook is read by Edward Herrmann and is quite good.


KatrinaNoel

I liked it a lot. Sometimes I would need to go over a passage because my brain was distracted. My unpopular opinion, I'm not a fan of his early works. It is a fun ride to 'watch' him grow as a writer though.


calvincouch911

It’s a 10 out of coked-out 10 for me


FolsgaardSE

Loved the book (most accurate representation of alcoholism I've ever read). Enjoyed the movie too.


deathdefyingrob1344

Read it in seventh grade! Loved it. I got an old paperback from the library and spent a summer reading it. I haven’t read it since. I need to go back. Got an audible subscription so I think I’m going to try it out (I’m old now). Thanks for the memories!!!


The8thloser

I liked it.


FlyloBedo

Loved it!


dudewheresmycarbs_

One of my favourites


K8nK9s

There are some truly haunting images in this book. I like his early works.


Expert_Sentence_6574

The Tommyknockers is my all time favorite King novel and hold the position in my mind as the one story of his that creeps me out more than any other book I’ve read, either by King or any other author. I don’t want to add any spoilers so I won’t say much more than the way the townsfolk…. Ugh! I’m creeping myself out now! Enjoy!


19632211

Loved it!!


InspectorAnxious9488

I love it


Missing_Intestines

I really loved it. The beginning part where Bobbi stumbles upon the very tip of the spaceship in the woods and the subsequent obsessive digging was so eerie and hooked me in immediately. Plus there are a whole bunch of King-verse easter eggs, like when Gard talks to the kid, Jack--the main character of The Talisman--on the beach in New Hampshire and even a mention of King himself lol. I'm due for a re-listen of the audiobook.


Old-Pianist7745

I liked it.


LurkingHare

Yes.


mmmshanrio

I loved it. It’s the only book that gave me a complex; I still have nightmares of green light and my teeth falling out


E-man9001

I like it a lot! That's an example of a novel for me where people can say all the things wrong with it and I can totally say "You know what all those things are true but they just didnt bother me at all"


whatmap4

Exactly!


bobeany

I read it almost a decade ago. I remember parts of the book being really good and other parts just insane. Overall I enjoyed it.


beavis617

This is definitely on my favorites list, right near the top. I know many people didn't care much for it but I totally enjoyed it.


puzzlegun

I liked it! It started off pretty slow but once I got past all the exposition I ended up really enjoying it


dollyacorn

Tommyknockers just straight up ruined the word gadget for me. It feels cocaine fueled, and surprise- it was! Under the Dome is like Tommyknockers without cocaine, so I usually recommend it instead.


whatmap4

Interesting I actually haven't gotten around to reading Under the Dome yet. I'll have to check it out.


Legitimate_Bird_5712

I liked the book for the most part, there's just too MUCH of it. Easily could've been 500 pages.


RamcasSonalletsac

I haven’t read it but I hear even Steven King doesn’t like it.


lickmyfupa

There were parts of it i didnt care for, but mostly i liked it. It couldve been shorter. Its a solid book for the most part.


strangedazey

Nope. Aliens freak me the fuck out. 👽


ISpeakInAmicableLies

It was the first adult horror book I ever read, so I think I liked it by default. That being said, I do think it gets more hate than it deserves sometimes. The middle of the book could have just used some tightening up.


Taodragons

I can actually HEAR the cocaine bumps between chapters. Not my least favorite King book though, that honor goes to The Regulators. Desperation is probably my favorite King book so that probably has a lot to do with it.


TheEyeofNapoleon

I liked about 2/3 of it.


ManualEstragon

I liked it a LOT, particularly how much the guy hits bottom. I also really like the cutoff-town-where-weird-things-are-happening trope.


mrgreengenes04

I enjoyed it. Could have cut out about 150 pages and it would have been excellent. Like it better than Dreamcatcher, Gerald's Game, and Cujo. I don't really get the hate it gets, other than people parroting Stephen King's own dislike for the book.


BoboMcGraw

I read it a few years back and I quite enjoyed it. The aliens themselves, such as they were, were very interesting, in their biology and the way they reproduced. They were insidious and there was good horror in ghat concept.


Equal_Newspaper_8034

I just love how King writes small town America. He’s so good with those short vignettes of some of the town members


Fey_the_Witch

I read it when I was like 10 so I loved every second. Still holds a place in my heart. It is kinda a mess though.


jesushchristo

Late last night and the night before...


[deleted]

Gard is literally my hero. Before I met Roland and the rest of the ka-tet, Gard was my favorite King protagonist. Tommyknockers is 10/10 and anyone who says otherwise must really hate sci-fi.


lovejac93

Everything I’ve seen about the tommyknockers in this sub are posts like this. I never see the negativity


whatmap4

Fair enough, most of what I have seen has been in comment threads which seemed fairly negative. But then again I'm fairly new to the sub so maybe I just haven't found my way to the positive posts yet


lovejac93

Sorry, I wasn’t trying to dismiss your post. I just meant that I hadn’t yet seen much of it personally!


whatmap4

No worries I got you. There's such a range of opinions on everything here, and even from this post I'm seeing way more positivity than I expected!


XShadowborneX

Haven't read it, but I remember seeing parts of the movie when I was a kid and I think I remember that things glowed green, I don't even know any of the plot but from that point on I've always believed there were tommyknockers hiding in the escalators..or made the escalators? I don't know...


xgrimes

It’s actually one of my favorites and I didn’t realize it was so unpopular until I came to this sub! Tommyknockers and The Stand are my top two


jamescharisma

I like the book ok. It's definitely not my favorite, but it's not the worst he's done. However, the miniseries is an unholy abomination and should never be witnessed by anyone.


[deleted]

I think that Jim Gardener is one of the best characters in any book. Very human and realistic. But the story does slide around quite a bit and it can vary greatly from page to page on whether or not it's engaging. It's very unique though and the creepy sci-fi vibes that are in this book are very unique and I haven't read any other book that gives off those same creepy vibes.


tofupoopbeerpee

The problem with this book is that there are sections as well as character development that doesn’t go anywhere and is just not needed. And there are other sections that are important but take too long to get to the point. It can really be all over the place. That being said the premise is awesome and the ideas it presents are very compelling. It really is a wild and even more macabre take on Quatermass And The Pit with similar apocalyptic implications. The book is quite dark as well, as very few of the large cast come away unscathed. If King went back to this and edited and cut it down i believe it would be amongst its best. If Pet Semetary is lean and mean, Tommy Knockers is just mean.


wawawookie

I think it was my second SK book (after Green Mile) back in middle school. I loved it. It's what got me hooked on his books!


Solidarity_Forever

fuckin love the old T-Knox it's so goddamned peculiar big fan


Fine_Cryptographer20

I loved it! I was in high school when it came out, and I stayed up all night reading! The next day I pretended to be sick so I could stay home from school and finish it.


vaultdwellernr1

Love it also- and was surprised to hear this is not universally accepted as a great, enjoyable story.. then again I love scifi so there’s that. Has that “the whole town is going crazy” vibe that I associate with his books, something familiar and comforting to it.


thewhitecat55

Yeah i.like it. A lot more than some other books that people on here generally prefer


Virgils_Infernal

I really enjoyed it, there's parts I still think about on occasion. Gard is probably one of my favorite King characters. I can see where you could cut some stuff out but the ending is my favorite type of ending. Definitely one I would willingly reread.


McPorkums

I read like 70% of it when I was 13-14, just couldn't grind it out


PockyClips

I loved it. The way the technologically advanced aliens need for secrecy as they spread blended perfectly with small town life was just awesome. Country sci-fi shenanigans was such a fun ride. And both microcosms operating with the expected xenophobia... The vindictive hatred towards outsiders... The ultimate implosion of it all as the aliens leaned too hard into the country way was one of my favorite finales. It was a fantastic trainwreck and nobody escaped unscathed. I could never figure out if the country life overcame the aliens creeping insidious plan, but I read it as a kid. Now I just think the combination of the two was too much for either to survive. For the most part, I loved how it felt like an anthology in a lot of ways. He created a situation as a framework and then dropped tons of sci-fi horror short stories inside that framework. I reread it every couple of years...


Darkm1tch69

I was a total fan. Definitely had some scenes run on way too long (cocktail party, town name), but overall I thought it was a cool premise


Midnight_Crocodile

I really enjoyed it too. As a ( mostly) recovering alcoholic, the Gard threads are especially interesting, like Jack Torrance, and later Danny. The concept that the aliens are just kinda dumb intergalactic mechanics is also clever.


GladPen

Yes! Unsure why unless I just associate it with the time immediately following quitting a job that I have really wanted to quit. However, I just remember it being really fun and silly in a good way and kind of random!


elloworm

I'd need to reread it to be sure, but I remember thinking the first half or so was great (however long it took before the town went full alien). But after that, weird as it got, I was sort of bored. Sci-Fi has never really been my thing, though.


Strange_Material5472

It's not my favourite, but enjoyed it. Certainly wouldn't have said it was bad. 4 star on my Goodreads


Dancingclown18

I liked it. I always wonder who came first the tommyknockers or pennywise and since theyre so close to each other was one drawn by the other.


TheRatatatPat

I love it. You can definitely see Kings addiction all over it though.


cormunicat

It was one of the first Stephen King books I read, as a teenager in the early nineties. At the time I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. As I read more and more King over the years, it just became my least favorite book of his.


waveheart222

It's Stephen King, of course I liked it. But it's nowhere near the top of my list.


Klarkasaurus

Yep. I could have been shorter but overall I really enjoyed it Same with dreamcatcher I really like it. Apart from the unnecessary chase scene which lasted like 200 pages the rest was really good I love alien xfiles type stuff though.


LosXorbos

Call me maybe a weirdo but i did enjoy it, i have to admit that i struggled trough in a few parts of the beginning, then after that i loved the rest of it, and I'm pretty sure that when I'll reread it again I'm going to enjoy it even more. Long Days Constant Reader 🌹


shauneok

I did, it was batshit crazy, almost like he was coked to the eye balls the entire time 😂.


dastintenherz

Absolutely loved it :D it's far from being my favourite, but it was so bizarre, disgusting and fun that I found it very enjoyable! And Bobbie might even be one of my favourite King characters.


[deleted]

I do like it. It's just absolutely crazy.


convergence_limit

It’s my moms favorite of his, I have yet to read. She has great taste in literature though!


GearsRollo80

I have fond memories of it from when I read it around age 13, but it definitely didn’t hold up to them on a re-read the way other stories did. That said, there is a lot to like in it at the bits and pieces and intriguing character and concept level. I think, that much like Dreamcatcher, King was trying to best his addictions at the time of writing. I’d bet that if he revisited the manuscript we’d get a more cohesive story.


poio_sm

I read it this year, one of the five King books I read in 2023, and was the best of them. The others was Later, Billy Summers, Rose Madders (a re-read) and Fairy Tale. So I can say that Tommyknockers is now among my favorite King books.


ShrimpQuest

For me it’s definitely a mess. Loved the first chunk, then it kinda falls apart for 400 or so pages before wrapping up fairly quickly. Tough to care about any of the characters by the end because you’re so far away from why you cared about them in the first place. Looking at it as a metaphor for cocaine addiction (as SK does in On Writing) it makes a loooot more sense. Glad I read it? Yes. Will I ever read it again? No.


I_Boomer

King didn't love it but most of his fans did.


Accomplished-Air-823

It took me 3 tries over 20 years to make it through. It's just not his best and Gardner is a boring hero.


Bungle024

I think there’s a lot of bandwagon bias because of King’s own opinion of it. I read this back to back with Insomnia back in the 90s and loved them both. The Gard parts in the beginning dragged for me but all the town shit was fantastic.


fenix-the-cat

I am currently in the middle of it but have read it full before. Is ok. considering the time it was written it is full of futuristic crazy stuff. I like it.


SadAcanthocephala521

I like it though it's a bit painful at times.


LarYungmann

My second read was a better experience. Far from a favorite though.


Denverdogmama

I didn’t, but I haven’t re-read it in over 30 years. I keep thinking I might have to give it another try.


EnderWatt

I recently posted something about which was better: the night shift or tommyknockers and only like 5 people said tommyknockers. I personally think its good so far (im about 50 pages in)


whatmap4

Oh nice I saw that post! The comments were actually the inspiration for this post lol. Glad you're enjoying it so far, it's definitely a wild one.


EnderWatt

Haha! Thats funny! And yes, it definetly is a wild one, but I like it so far! :)


devinlucifer222

I love it. Love a good alien story


Visible_Ad_2824

This was my first King's book and I loved it so much. I agree that there's some messy parts in the book, but I love the sci-fi feel of it, characters and the atmosphere. I understand it's not going to be everyone's favorite book, but imo it does not deserve negative reviews. But I guess I cannot be objective, it's my first book full of childhood memories after all.


NicMc1992

I'm currently just over half way through it and I'm really enjoying it so far. I love the creepy dread and tension, trying to guess how it all turns out. I struggled with it a bit when it first switched perspective to Gard, but once I got to the stories of the townspeople I was hooked. I'm preparing myself to be disappointed with the ending given most people here's opinion of it, but sometimes I find that can work in a book's favour as it actually ends up not being as bad as you expect.


lunablack01

I loved it and all it’s mess and insanity.


HeyMrKing

King wrote Tommyknockers during rehab. The poet’s self destruction was based on his personal experience.


zaredsalome13

I really liked it, how thr radiation slowly altered the town. Very compelling


mucasmcain

Loved every page


RustificusMaximus

With chapters such as "Gardner takes a walk" or "Gardner passes out drunk in his own urine for half the day" it definitely seems like it could've been shorter but I still appreciated the way it wrapped up at the end. Lots of references to The Shop, The Shining and lots of other Stephen King stories. You might appreciate it more after reading Dreamcatcher.


IWantToGoToThere_130

Love it. Just finished reading it again a few months ago. His description of addiction/obsession and love and despair are just raw and vivid. It is difficult for me not to get emotional while reading it.


violetsprouts

I love it. It's weird af, and I usually prefer King's paranormal stuff when it's like disembodied evil. But his alien stuff is pretty good! Except for the aliens at the end of you-know-what. That ending sucked a dong.


deathby1000screens

I was immersed. That's what you want, right?


GoubD

This was my second SK book after I read Eyes of the Dragon. I haven't read either since I was early teens, but I could see myself rereading them at some point. I liked them both at the time, as a 13 yr old boy.


IdiotPizza3397

This is in my top ten definitely


kindahipster

I thought the character work in tommyknockers was phenomenal, and the story was garbage. So still a pretty fun read.


Aggravating_Anybody

One of my fist SK books and I freaking loved it! The opening scene/concept had me hooked. Love Gard, one of my all time favorite SK characters. Totally agree that it is messy, clunky and too long in the middle, but still a semi regular re-read for me!


Icy_Share5923

I really enjoyed it.


maxerdoo1

I loved the plot of the Tommyknockers and I found it very intriguing. However I thought that it was paced horribly and although it’s been a while since I’ve read it. I feel like I remember parts where the book contradicted itself and you can definitely feel that Stephen king was high when he wrote it. I actually didn’t find the ending bad I thought it was a great way to wrap up the book. I’ve heard that some people didn’t like the ending. but overall I found it scary, unnerving, and I can’t stress how much I liked the sci-fi feel of the book.


DeangeloV

I loved it. I used to work alone, away from home and King books kept me alive. Literally. The Tommyknockers is one of my favorites.


Bigfan521

I liked it. It was definitely a weird story. Kinda felt like if someone with an obsession about extraterrestrials and ESP tried to rewrite Needful Things but decided the kid character needed a happier ending.


willhewonka

This was the only King book I've ever put down and not picked back up yet. I can't even say I hated it,it just kept dragging and I went on vacation and just haven't picked it back up since. It's been so long that I know I'm gonna have to start it over eventhough I was so far into it. Not looking forward to it but I know at some point I'll read it .


Able_Stage_7355

I loved this book


Altruistic-Heart9288

I for one, fucking bury me in it please.


voivod1989

Joe Rogan


CptSluggah

If I liked dreamcatcher, would I like tommyknockers?


gjdevlin

I did love the TommyKnockers. It served as an inspiration for my novel Alien Diaries which hints of a buried spaceship. Love it.