According to Stephen King, “an opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.”
And you have to admit that this man knows how to get the ball rolling. I think that is one of the main reasons why he has been one of my favorite writers since I was a kid. I would always get hooked from the first line and I did not care whether I had to stay up all night to finish the book.
So without much ado, here are, what I think, are the best opening lines from King:
1. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”
Anyone who is a King fan would immediately know that this was going to be number one. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this is one of the best opening lines to any book ever.
It has everything a great opening line should have. It immediately catches your interest. Who is the man in black and why is the gunslinger following him?
And BAM! You are in the middle of the chase. How can you not get hooked instantly?
Along with all the questions you want answers to, the line also gives you an idea of what you are getting into. You know it’s going to be a western and you know it’s going to be a chase, a journey. And the balance of the questions it raises and the information it gives you is what makes it so compelling.
2. The Shining
Jack Torrance thought: Officious little prick.
On the surface level, it sort of feels like a light-hearted opening to a book. Some might even think it says something about Ullman’s character. But I don’t think that is what King is doing here.
We are in Jack’s mind and the very first thing that we learn about him, right at the beginning of the novel, is that this is a man with anger issues. And that is what King wants us to know about his guy.
So from the very start of the story, he is letting us know what kind of man Jack Torrence is and I think it was necessary to do so for us to see that it was not just the hotel and its ghosts that caused the horror that comes later on in the book.
From the very first line, we get the foreshadowing of what kind of man he is and what part he plays in the events of the book.
3. 11/22/63
“I have never been what you’d call a crying man.”
Personally, I find this opening a bit ironic because I cry every time at the end of the book. This is an extremely sad book and this stoic reassurance that starts the prologue feels like someone telling themselves to be brave.
This is another one of King’s openers that just grab you. I mean how can you read this line and not want to know what happens next. Especially since you have been warned that whatever is going to happen is not going to be very cheery.
4. IT
“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.”
I love the use of the word “terror” here. It just evokes an idea of something extremely horrible. Also stating that “it ever did end” creates a monster in our head that will probably not be vanquished at the end of the book. So the opening creates such a huge expectation of what the monster is going to be, and my friend Pennywise the clown surpassed every one of them.
This is a great line to set the atmosphere of the book. Something terrible and wicked has been happening for almost three decades and the handmade boat lets you know that even children are not safe from this.
5. The Mist
“This is what happened.”
Stephen King attributes this opening line to Douglas Fairbairn’s Shoot. According to King, while the line does not actually say anything, it provides “a voice, and an invitation, that’s very difficult for me to refuse.”
This is a very basic opening line. It gives you the feeling that the narrator of the story is going to tell you the facts of the matter and you can take them at face value. The fact that the narrator has to state this so clearly at the beginning means that there is a chance we won’t be inclined to believe him. So we know straight off the bad that we are getting into something out of the norm or supernatural. And that is exactly what happens in The Mist.
6. Doctor Sleep
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.
The unexpected sequel to The Shining obviously starts with the ending of the first book. But not Jimmy Carter catching strays for no reason!
The opening simply reminds us that The Overlook Hotel which traumatized us for decades is long gone. So, from the first line of the book, it tells us to expect something completely different from the first book and it is a nice chance to be honest.
While not as scary as the first book, the sequel feels cozier. Even though the monsters are stronger than before, the isolation of the first book is gone. And while it can’t compete with the first book, I think King is telling us from the very first line that it isn’t trying to.
So that was the list. If you want more horror book recommendations, you can check out our list here.
