Stephen King, one of the most established authors in the world today, is by no means an unfamiliar author, maybe unfavoured in terms of writing style for some, but definitely not in terms of fame. A person who champions reading as a prerequisite to better writing, he writes 2,000 words a day and has sold more than 350 million copies, many of which have been adapted to various film types. With plethora of awards under his belt, every single of King’s fans would want to explore every single work that he’s done so far, including some of the short stories that he has published. The best part about this is that some of his work under this category are available for free.
Richard Bachman, a pseudonym used by King to test out if his popularity was solely based on his already influential name or simply because of his talent in writing. Turned out the latter was the winner. King was working as a janitor in a high-school, where he got the idea of the prom scene in Carrie. After Carrie, it was just a matter of time before a long list of books were published.
N. by Stephen King
Art and Cover by Alex Maleev.
King claims writing as a part of his destiny and says that “there was nothing else I was made to do”. This includes the genre he’s so passionately into, which gives him the terrifying title of King of Horror. Richard Matheson came in as the author who influenced him the most as a writer, with Ray Bradbury coming in as another strong impact to his work. Other notable influencers in King’s writing style and ideas are H. P. Lovecraft, Bram Stoker, Joseph Payne Brennan, Shirley Jackson and many more.
“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” – Stephen King
The short stories below are mostly available for online reading only, except for some that allow you to download in PDF format. Additionally, “N.” is a multi-part graphic video series, viewable from Youtube, so put on your headphones and enjoy the experience.
- Herman Wouk Is Still Alive
- Little Green God of Agony (Comic)
- A Death
- Premium Harmony
- Harvey’s Dream
- Cookie Jar
- Wild Swimming by Elodie Harper (Stephen King short story competition winner.)
- N. (Multi-part graphic video series.)
- Survivor Type
- Children of the Corn
- The Mangier
- The Cat From Hell
- The Crate
- The Boogeyman
Little Green God of Agony by Stephen King
Art by comic artist Dennis Calero.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this compilation and the mini-adventures that you’ve embarked upon through these bites of stories. If we’ve missed out any free short stories by King, feel free to leave your comment below and we’ll update the list immediately. Also let us know what kind of resources and compilations you wish to see next, not limited to free online stories, but free ebooks, or even videos. Happy reading!
On a different note, if you want to know more about Stephen King and his works (which you should already :D), do check out a set of videos about him. While you’re there, feel free to browse around more of our bookworm videos.
- Everything You Need to Know About Stephen King – The King of Horror
- Are Stephen King Books Hard To Read? Contrary To Popular Belief, They’re Easy & Fun To Read
- 10 Reasons Why You Should Read Stephen King’s IT and Get Scared!
- Stephen King’s IT – 70 Book Cover Design Variations
- Or just view all of the above through a playlist
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