Stephen King gets a lot of flack for his endings.
It’s been happening for years now. Opinion pieces have even been written on the topic, some of which the horror author has responded to himself. In the second chapter of the film adaptation of It, King made a cameo in a brilliantly meta scene in which he played a cantankerous shopkeeper, casually dismissing author Bill Denbrough’s offer to sign his novel copy by telling Bill he “didn’t like the ending” (the ending of the novel It was one of King’s most famously divisive). At this stage, the whole thing has pretty much become an in joke.
But actually, is this reputation for bad endings a deserved one? Is it really a recurring weak point in King’s writing?
Obviously things like this are subjective, but as a life-long King fan I’d say there are a few of his books where I’ve come away feeling a little let-down by the finale — but there are just as many, if not more, where the endings were simply brilliant.
I’ve rounded up some of my favourite Stephen King book endings below, and if you’re wondering where the obvious spoiler alert is here, each entry is divided into two sections, with the details of the endings kept to the second part in case you’re just here for the recommendations…
What’s it about?
Soon to be an Apple TV+ series penned by King himself, Lisey’s Story centres on the widow of famous author Scott Landon, who follows a series of mysterious clues left by her late husband after she begins the task of cleaning out his study. This breadcrumb trail leads the eponymous protagonist to discover a strange and frightening world that she’d previously repressed — a world that Lisey’s husband had known about since his own traumatic childhood, and which she must navigate while attempting to avoid the real-world threat of an obsessive stalker.
How does it end?
The exact reverse of the aforementioned Stephen King stereotype, Lisey’s Story starts slowly before building to a spectacularly imaginative (and surprisingly poignant) conclusion. All of the secrets are unlocked in this one, from the fact Lisey’s husband Scott was forced to kill his own abusive father when he was younger, through to his own death at the hands of an interdimensional monster that stalked his secret dream world at night. Everything ties together, right up to the final story that Lisey discovers her late husband has hidden for her — an emotional goodbye message, and some parting advice on how to keep the (very real) demons at bay.
What’s it about?
A bullied high school girl who is dominated and oppressed by her Christian fundamentalist mother unlocks a telekinetic ability — and decides to use it for revenge on her tormentors.
How does it end?
Happy endings are all very well and good, but sometimes you just want to watch the world burn. That is quite literally what happens at the end of this book, when Carrie White goes on a spree of destruction that starts at the high school that’s the source of so much pain for her (she sets it on fire), before heading back home for a final confrontation with dear old mum (Carrie stops her mother’s heart using the power of her mind). It’s not the cheeriest of endings, sure, but it’s a thrilling and fitting finale for this dark story.
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What’s it about?
The troubled relationship between drug addict Jamie Morton and faith healer Charles Jacobs, who embarks on a series of strange experiments using a special type of “secret electricity” he’s discovered. Revival charts their relationship over the course of decades, from Jamie’s childhood — and the sudden death of Charles’ wife and child — to their final nightmarish experiment together.
How does it end?
Revival might not be for everyone, but if you’re a fan of cosmic horror (as I am), you’ll probably love it. As Jamie learns during the final experiment that Charles ropes him into, all of the man’s work has actually been gearing up to one thing: discovering what awaits in the afterlife, so he can finally learn the fate of his wife and son. As we discover at the novel’s impressively brutal conclusion, though, it’s not some form of paradise or heaven; it’s actually a horrific, Lovecraftian nightmare realm where human beings are enslaved by ant-like monsters under the command of an ancient being called Mother that lives above the sky. Yikes.
What’s it about?
After crashing his car in a snow storm, famous novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by former nurse Annie Wilkes. Annie is a huge fan of Paul’s Misery novels, and it soon becomes clear that she isn’t planning to let him leave anytime soon.
How does it end?
The ending of Misery isn’t necessarily mind-blowing, but it is satisfying. It’s satisfying because the entire book is excruciatingly tense, and the final confrontation between Paul and Annie — when he finally, after months of suffering her torture, manages to get the best of her after burning a decoy copy of the book she’s made him write — is such a sweet relief from the nerve-shredding tension we’ve had to endure up until then.
What’s it about?
When a small town in Maine is suddenly cut off from the outside world by an invisible (and impassable) barrier, its inhabitants are forced to adapt to their claustrophobic new confinement.
How does it end?
Like much of King’s work, Under the Dome is really all about the characters — a story about ordinary townsfolk slowly turning on each other in an inescapable setting. But that being said, there’s still the central mystery of the dome itself. Where did it come from, and how did it get there? I was worried the answer to these questions might be disappointing in the end, if they were answered at all, but I was pleasantly surprised. As we realise at the book’s finish, the dome has actually been put in place by the spawn of some far-off, higher alien species that’s essentially treating the captured townsfolk like miniature toys; as human children might burn ants with a magnifying glass the aliens are playing a cruel game with the town, just to test the effects.
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What’s it about?
After discovering a doorway that leads to the past — specifically the year 1958 — English teacher Jake Epping goes on a mission to stop the assassination of JFK.
How does it end?
An excellent blend of sci-fi, romance, and historical thriller, 11/22/63 comes to a head when Jake successfully prevents Kennedy’s assassination, but in doing so causes the death of Sadie Dunhill — a woman he’s met in the past and fallen in love with. Just to add to the misery, Jake finds that when he travels back to the present day, the world hasn’t improved as he thought it would — it’s actually gotten significantly worse, with his hometown in ruins and the U.S. plagued by radiation and earthquakes. After going back in time to reset his actions, Jake then returns to the present and goes to visit an 80-year-old Sadie. She doesn’t recognise him, because in this timeline they’ve never met before, but she experiences déjà vu when they share a poignant dance.
What’s it about?
After a sudden accident sends him into a five-year coma, Johnny Smith wakes to discover he can tell what will happen in someone’s future just by touching them. But when he crosses paths with upcoming politician Greg Stillson, he sees a nightmarish vision that pushes him to act.
How does it end?
Haunted by images of a nuclear apocalypse, Smith acquires a gun and attempts to assassinate Stillson. He misses and is shot by bodyguards, but during the attempt Stillson is photographed picking up a child and attempting to use them as a human shield. As Smith lies dying he touches Stillson one final time and sees that his actions have changed the course of the future, with the photograph effectively ending the man’s career in politics.
What’s it about?
After a new virus wipes out over 99 percent of the population, society is left in tatters. The remaining survivors, depending on their nature, are pulled in two different directions: some are drawn to an evil man called Randall Flagg in the west of the U.S., while others congregate around the 108-year-old Mother Abigail in Boulder, Colorado. It soon becomes clear that a final battle is on the horizon.
How does it end?
Books don’t always have to end with a mind-blowing twist or big reveal to be effective. The Stand‘s ending works purely because over the course of 1,000+ pages, we get to know the characters so well. Like George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, we really care about the people at the heart of the story — and when our favourites start dying, it’s genuinely painful. Fortunately, unlike some of King’s other tales, The Stand has a note of hope at the end. At one point it’s looking like one of the protagonists, Stu Redman, isn’t going to make it, but while other key characters end up dropping around him, he somehow manages to come back from the brink. The story ends with Stu, his partner Frannie, and their children starting a new life together in Maine, with the message being that humanity, despite the odds, will find a way to carry on.
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What’s it about?
Elderly former prison guard Paul Edgecombe tells the story of John Coffey, a death row inmate convicted of the rape and murder of twin girls. John’s horrendously violent crime seems to be at odds with his gentle nature, though, and he’s also revealed to have the mysterious ability to heal people just by touching them.
How does it end?
It’s a bittersweet ending. On the one hand, John is able to use his gift to cure the prison warden’s wife of terminal cancer; on the other, he’s put to death for a crime he didn’t commit. The final twist, which he reveals to Paul before he dies, is that the girls were actually killed by another inmate, “Wild Bill” Wharton, who has been sentenced to death for a different crime. The reason Coffey was found with the victims’ bodies was that he tried to use his powers to heal them — but he was too late to save their lives.
What’s it about?
Spanning multiple worlds and volumes, this epic series follows Roland Deschain, a Clint Eastwood-style gunslinger on a quest to reach the Dark Tower — a legendary structure that supposedly exists at the centre of all space-time. Deschain’s world appears to be crumbling around him, and he hopes that he’ll find answers (and possibly a way to fix everything) when he reaches his goal.
How does it end?
How do you end a 4,000+ page series that’s all been building towards one final, inevitable, multiverse-sized mystery? Going in, this one seemed almost destined to be underwhelming. It seemed like it would be impossible to end such a monumental story on a satisfying note. But I have to say, I think King pulled it off. The nature of time itself, and parallel realities, are a big focus in this series, so it’s horribly fitting that when Roland finally reaches the summit of the tower, and the final door in his quest, he doesn’t unlock any higher secrets or answers — he simply emerges back in the desert, right where he began his quest in the series’ very first instalment. He’s trapped in some kind of nightmarish, circular time loop. The series’ very final line — “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed” — is the same as its very first.
Want more Stephen King recommendations? Here are some books to read depending on what mood you’re in, here are some of his best novellas, and here are some of his best short stories.