Person
Every book Grady Hendrix recommended on podcasts
Grady Hendrix appears on literary podcasts as an enthusiastic champion of genre fiction, horror writing, and the extensive bibliography of Stephen King. In his discussions, Hendrix offers passionate recommendations designed to guide both longtime fans and newcomers through King's massive output. He places King's later career novels—such as Revival, 11/22/63, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon—on the same tier as early classics like Carrie, The Shining, and The Stand. For readers seeking a gentle entry point into King's work, Hendrix strongly advocates for the novella collection Different Seasons, specifically highlighting the brilliant storytelling in the pieces that inspired The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me, while playfully advising readers to skip the darker novella Apt Pupil. Furthermore, Hendrix offers an emphatic, unqualified recommendation for Cujo, urging listeners to pick up the novel immediately. Throughout his podcast appearances, Hendrix combines deep genre knowledge with infectious enthusiasm, demonstrating how King's storytelling evolves across decades and continues to captivate readers through both terrifying thrillers and deeply character-driven narratives.
Books recommended by Grady Hendrix
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The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King is a gripping psychological thriller about a young girl named Trisha who gets lost in the remote wilderness and relies on her imagined conversations with Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Tom Gordon to keep her sane and alive.
Recommended“I think a book like Revival or 112263 or girl who love Tom Gordon or these late career very recent in terms books I'd stack any of them up against carry The Shining the stand”
Where to get it
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'Salem's Lot
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King is a chilling vampire horror novel that follows a writer returning to his hometown of Jerusalem's Lot, only to discover that the community is being systematically overtaken by vampires.
Recommended“give them it or Salem's Lot which I know you're not a fan of but I think the girl who love Tom Gordon probably is something that is why adjacent probably is a good entry point”
Where to get it
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11/22/63
Stephen King's imaginative time-travel thriller 11/22/63 follows an English teacher who discovers a portal back to the late 1950s and embarks on a high-stakes mission to prevent the assassination of John F.
Recommended“I think a book like Revival or 112263 or girl who love Tom Gordon or these late career very recent in terms books I'd stack any of them up against carry The Shining the stand”
Where to get it
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Apt Pupil
Apt Pupil is a dark novella by Stephen King included in his collection Different Seasons, focusing on a chilling relationship between a boy and a former Nazi war criminal.
Recommended“so if you're curious about stevenh King and would like a gentle introduction I strongly suggest going to different seasons and reading one of his novelas I would skip app puple”
Where to get it
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Cujo
Cujo by Stephen King is a classic horror novel about a loyal St.
Discussed“I mean look at Kujo right that's his book about fate uh Kujo is a good dog he just gets bitten by a bat it's not anyone's fault but he gets rabies”
Where to get it
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Different Seasons
Different Seasons by Stephen King is a celebrated 1982 collection of four distinct novellas that showcases the author's range far beyond traditional horror.
Recommended“so if you're curious about stevenh King and would like a gentle introduction I strongly suggest going to different seasons and reading one of his novelas I would skip app puple but the Shaw Shank Rita Hayworth and the Shaw Shank Redemption the body which Stand By Me is based on and the breathing method are all fantastic novelas”
Where to get it
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Full Dark, No Stars
Full Dark, No Stars is a collection of four dark and compelling novellas by renowned author Stephen King, exploring themes of retribution, morality, and ordinary people pushed to extremes.
Recommended“also he did full dark no stars which is four novellas that are also really quite good”
Where to get it
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Revival
Revival is a dark, haunting novel by Stephen King that explores obsession, faith, and the terrifying unknown, culminating in a chilling cosmic horror climax.
Recommended“I think a book like Revival or 112263 or girl who love Tom Gordon or these late career very recent in terms books I'd stack any of them up against carry The Shining the stand”
Where to get it
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Rita Hayworth and Shawshank redemption
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption is a celebrated novella by Stephen King, published in his 1982 collection Different Seasons, which famously inspired the classic 1994 film adaptation directed by Frank Darabont.
Recommended“but the Shaw Shank Rita Hayworth and the Shaw Shank Redemption the body which Stand By Me is based on and the breathing method are all fantastic novelas”
Where to get it
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Shawshank Redemption
Stephen King's compelling novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, originally published in the collection Different Seasons, tells the story of an unjustly imprisoned banker who maintains his hope and eventually engineers a brilliant escape.
Recommended“but the Shaw Shank Rita Hayworth and the Shaw Shank Redemption the body which Stand By Me is based on and the breathing method are all fantastic novelas”
Where to get it
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The Body
The Body is a classic coming-of-age novella by Stephen King that follows four young boys in Oregon who hike into the wilderness to find a missing body, originally published in the 1982 collection Different Seasons.
Recommended“but the Shaw Shank Rita Hayworth and the Shaw Shank Redemption the body which Stand By Me is based on and the breathing method are all fantastic novelas”
Where to get it
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The Breathing Method
The Breathing Method is a suspenseful and atmospheric novella by Stephen King that was originally published in the acclaimed 1982 collection Different Seasons.
Recommended“but the Shaw Shank Rita Hayworth and the Shaw Shank Redemption the body which Stand By Me is based on and the breathing method are all fantastic novelas”
Where to get it
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The Shining
The Shining by Stephen King is a classic horror novel about a struggling writer and recovering alcoholic who takes a winter caretaker job at an isolated, haunted mountain hotel with his family.
Recommended“The Shining I always think is sort of like the big rush of full that full Sten King experience”
Where to get it
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Bag of Bones
Discussed“so Duma key he wrote a book a few years earlier called bag of bones that's very similar and the plot description could fit both of them”
Where to get it
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Carrie
Carrie by Stephen King is a classic horror novel about a bullied teenage girl who discovers she possesses telekinetic powers.
Discussed“I mean look at Carrie the first thing that happens the girl has her period um you didn't see that in a lot of fiction at the time”
Where to get it
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Dolores Claiborne
Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King is a psychological thriller and dark character study centered on a Maine housekeeper accused of murdering the wealthy elderly woman she cares for, while flashing back to abuse and survival.
Discussed“or Gerald's Game much more than Dolores Clayburn is a horror novel dor Clayburn I mean Jesus like is it hard yeah”
Where to get it
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Duma Key
Discussed“but Duma really gets overlooked I think King as he was recovering from this accident which was brutal and a really tough one this guy has had an accident in the book”
Where to get it
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From a Buick 8
Discussed“you and I are both fans of a book called from a buck8 yes which is a book that came out in the the early 2000s”
Where to get it
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On Writing
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King is part memoir and part practical guide detailing Stephen King's journey as an author alongside valuable advice for aspiring writers.
Discussed“in his book on writing he he writes this really beautiful passage about his desk and he talks about how when he got his office and we put in this big desk”
Where to get it
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Pet Sematary
Pet Sematary by Stephen King is a chilling horror novel that delves into grief, mortality, and the terrifying consequences of tempting fate.
Discussed“you never understand quite what the darkness and evil at the heart of pet cemetery say is but it is in there it is in the ground”
Where to get it
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The Colorado Kid
Discussed“you look at the Colorado kid which is a book in which like basically it's all about a mystery and at the end the solution of the mystery is nobody knows”
Where to get it
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The Stand
The Stand by Stephen King is an epic post-apocalyptic horror novel that chronicles the devastation of human civilization by a weaponized influenza strain and the subsequent battle between survivors aligned with forces of good and evil.
Discussed“if you read something like the stand those characters are really when you start that book those characters are some Thin grel”
Where to get it
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The Tommyknockers
The Tommyknockers by Stephen King is a science fiction horror novel about a Maine community whose residents are progressively altered and controlled by the otherworldly technology of an ancient alien spaceship unearthed in the woods.
Discussed“and then like a lot of people in my generation there came a book known as the Tommy knockers and I was just up upset and disappointed and sad”
Where to get it
Books Grady Hendrix wrote
- Paperbacks from Hell
- How to Sell a Haunted House
- My best friend's exorcism
- The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Looking Back at 50 Years of Stephen King | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 27 |
Other mentions (7: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I did paperbacks from hell I had a couple of novels under my belt and so my life changed tremendously in those five years”
“I think a book like Revival or 112263 or girl who love Tom Gordon or these late career very recent in terms books I'd stack any of them up against carry The Shining the stand”
“I think a book like Revival or 112263 or girl who love Tom Gordon or these late career very recent in terms books I'd stack any of them up against carry The Shining the stand”
“I think a book like Revival or 112263 or girl who love Tom Gordon or these late career very recent in terms books I'd stack any of them up against carry The Shining the stand”
“or Gerald's Game much more than Dolores Clayburn is a horror novel”
“at this point in his career he writes a cell he writes uh which is very much his reaction to 9/11 and the Bush Administration and all that”
“same as in bag of bones but Duma really gets overlooked”