Stephen King Summer 2025!

The 5th annual SKS starts June 1 🤡

Laura Tremaine

May 27, 2025

Transcript

The 5th annual Stephen King Summer starts June 1 and I am so excited to embark on another summer celebrating the world’s greatest living storyteller.

**Scroll down for this year’s selections and our full summer schedule.**

But first….

Why Stephen King?

Because his books are the best. He’s been my favorite writer since the 4th grade. But this man who has published over 65 books and 200 short stories has also sold over 350 million copies and surely doesn’t need us to champion his work.

Except it’s about something deeper than that. The demographic I belong to - mid-life women - largely avoid Stephen King and other writers like him. They avoid horror. They don’t want to be scared. They think the genre is low brow.

But I am passionate about women reading more horror. I’m not trying to scare you, I just think you’re missing out on some of the best stories ever told. Horror stories are creative, complex, often funny, almost always thoughtful, and are incredibly culturally relevant. If you’ve never dipped into the horror genre, I promise you that it’s not what you expect.

Listen to me talk more about my passion for horror and my evangelism for women reading horror on the 10 Things To Tell You podcast with Meredith Monday Schwartz in Ep 239: Horror for Beginners

Reading horror is not like watching a horror movie. I hate horror movies. The visuals give me anxiety. I don’t like jump scares. But reading horror is a whole different thing. You understand the message better when you’re not freaking out. And horror stories always have a message. So don’t dismiss horror books because you don’t like it on the screen.

Also, and importantly, “horror” is a really wide genre. It ranges from graphic violence to psychological terror and I don’t like either of those extremes. I tend toward the psychological, I like fantasy elements, and humor is a bonus. I don’t mind feeling a little spooked, but on the whole, horror novels are way less likely to keep me up at night scared than thrillers or true crime will. The horror books I like are smart, layered, and usually involve some sort of cultural commentary.

Which always brings me right back to Stephen King.

If you’ve never read Stephen King, I’ve created two podcast episodes just for you:

Ep 121: Stephen King Starter Kit

Ep 222: Stephen King Starter Kit Part II (What To Read and What To Skip)

Since Stephen King Summer launched in 2021, we’ve read 10 books together. My favorite book club discussions over the years have been about IT, Misery, and Dolores Claiborne. All of our past book club discussions are available in the archive to listen to for Secret Stuff members.

This year, we’re reading two novels:

THE SHINING, a Stephen King classic from 1977 that is very different from the cinema masterpiece (that King famously hated) and UNDER THE DOME, a 2009 science fiction story that King nominated on his own ballot for the best books of the 21st century.

One classic, one more modern. One horror, one sci-fi. One about an individual’s spiral, one about a community trapped.

By the end of August 2025, you will have a better understanding of Stephen King and his place in the literary landscape.

We’re also doing three watchalongs:

While horror on the screen clearly isn’t my favorite, you can’t study Stephen King without watching the adaptations of his work. These are also fun because anyone who doesn’t want to commit to reading a book can still participate in the watchalongs.

We’ll be watching the 1983 cult classic Christine, Episode 1 of the 2020 series The Outsider, and the 2019 film Doctor Sleep (which is a sequel to The Shining).

All of these are available to rent for under $4 each on multiple streaming platforms, including amazon and Apple TV.

Mark your calendars for each of our Stephen King Summer gatherings:

Each book club meeting will be recorded and available for replay for those who can’t attend live. We don’t record the movie watchalongs.

Still need to hear a little more? There’s an audio explanation at the top of this page you can click play on OR find it under Secret Stuff by Laura Tremaine in your favorite podcast app.

If you’re still got questions about how Stephen King Summer works, I’ve compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions and answered that you can read HERE.

Need to think about it? You can always find all the Stephen King Summer information in the navigation bar of the main Secret Stuff page.

Already in and just looking for merch? Check out the Secret Stuff merch shop to grab your Stephen King Summer sweatshirt or coffee mug. (Totally optional. Just fun!)