When an author has as big a bibliography as Stephen King, as a fan and avid reader, it can be hard to break away from their work. Readers often find themselves looking for King’s unique style in other authors, and often, even though the inspiration is there, the character development and scares just aren’t up to par with the master of literary horror. Over the last five decades, King’s writing has been some of the most influential to both horror writers and filmmakers alike, and while King is generally very uplifting of other horror creatives, finding another author to scratch a similar reading itch as King can be difficult.
However, some writers have done a fantastic job of encompassing King’s style, mixing it with their own unique voice, and creating something that gives readers a new, distinctive feel, while still perfectly folding in their love and inspiration from King’s work. Of course, they do it without ripping King off, and create engaging, horrifying stories, often with a coming-of-age feel and fantastic character depth and development. With the spooky season in full effect, there’s no better time than now to break away from the norm and expand to other horror authors, many of whom King has publicly recommended.
7Joe Hill – Author of Horns, The Fireman, NOS4A2, & The Black Phone
There’s no better place to start than with Stephen King’s own flesh and blood, his son, Joe Hill. Hill has had his books published since 2005, when he won the Bram Stoker Award for 20th Century Ghosts, the book of short stories that contains “The Black Phone.” He’s released four novels, including Horns and NOS4A2, which have been adapted into a film and TV show. His apocalyptic sci-fi horror book The Fireman draws a lot of similarities with King’s The Stand, and later this month, he’ll release his fifth novel, King Sorrow, about a group of kids who summon a dragon to their small town.
Related: Joe Hill Discusses ‘Abraham’s Boys’: “Natasha Kermani Crushed It” (Exclusive Interview)
Hill’s deep focus on his central characters and ability to create such detestable villains bring a strong King vibe to his books. Many of his characters feel like they belong in King’s books. In fact, in several of Joe Hill’s books, references are made that they take place in the same universe. The Stand’s Nozz-A-la cola is referenced in The Fireman, and a map is shown in NOS4A2 that includes Pennywise’s Circus in Derry, Maine.
6Nat Cassidy – Author of When the Wolf Comes Home, Nestlings, & Mary
Actor-turned-novelist Nat Cassidy may have started on the screen, but his true calling has shown itself in his absolute genius at writing horror novels. Named one of the best horror writers of this generation by Esquire, Cassidy has a knack for extremely vibrant and gory brutality at a neck-breaking pace. Like Stephen King, Cassidy likes to make a reader think they know the direction of a story, just to go off the rails and hit them with a wild, supernatural twist.
Cassidy’s pacing is typically quicker than Stephen King’s, but it’s often a harrowing ride that, after introducing the characters in great detail and depth, the reader doesn’t want to get off. Cassidy has become incredibly popular, especially since his 2024 book, When the Wolf Comes Home was released, and is a regular at the top of many modern horror readers’ lists. So much so, Cassidy was referred to as “The Stephen King of Tiktok” by the Line-Up. Cassidy is also a contributing author for The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand, which is a brand-new book of short stories that take place in the same world as King’s dystopian goliath.
5Catriona Ward – Author of The Last House on Needless Street, Sundial, & Little Eve
While Catriona Ward doesn’t typically weave the supernatural into her stories, her focus on psychological horror, especially within family and close, personal relationships, has all the reminders of King’s most popular non-supernatural stories, like Gerald’s Game or Dolores Claiborne. Ward is known for her twisty, unexpected plot turns and her deep emotional dives into her characters. She even goes a little meta with her books sometimes.
Ward is a Shirley Jackson Award winner for her book Little Eve, and she won two British Fantasy Awards for Best Horror Novel for her debut novel, Rawblood, and The Last House on Needless Street. Her next book, titled Nowhere Burning, is a Rocky Mountain mystery thriller, and releases in February 2025. Like Nat Cassidy, Ward also has a short story in The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand.
4Keith Rosson – Author of Coffin Moon, Fever House, & The Devil by Name
Keith Rosson brings a layer of brutal punk and heavy metal themes to his neck-breaking-paced horror books that are often seen in earlier Stephen King (and Richard Bachman) novels, like Christine, The Running Man, and Rage. Rosson moves back and forth between characters from chapter to chapter, developing each with just enough information to keep the reader yearning to learn more in the next one. Like many of King’s books, Rosson introduces a crime element, often wrapped and bookended by some kind of supernatural occurrence, be it vampires, demonic hands, or cryptids.
Related: Author Keith Rosson Talks ‘Coffin Moon’, Love for Horror, and Praise from Stephen King (Exclusive)
Rosson has been on the rise as of late, with both Stephen King and Joe Hill publicly praising his books on their social media. About Fever House and The Devil by Name, King wrote, “Fever House and its sequel were “exciting, suspenseful, horrifying, and written at a flurry-of-punches pace.” King also loved Rosson’s newest release, Coffin Moon. Time and time again, Rosson has talked about his love for growing up on King’s writing and the influence the horror master has had.
3Ronald Malfi – Author of Small Town Horror, Bone White, & The Narrows
If there is one author on this list that doesn’t get nearly enough attention or love, it’s Ronald Malfi, especially for someone who has been writing fantastic horror novels for 25 years. He was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in 2011 for his novel Floating Staircase, but his best works have come in the last 10 years or so. Malfi’s ability to weave between the past and present with his characters, developing them deeply, and connecting the reader to even the flawed ones, is very King-esque. Malfi does a fantastic job of both making his books feel like a Stephen King story, while giving them his own, unique, descriptive voice.
Malfi reminds one of King with his settings, too. The Narrows feels like it could be another story in the ‘Salem’s Lot universe. Small Town Horror encompasses that coming-of-age, seaside feel of Storm of the Century and Joyland. Aside from maybe Joe Hill or Richard Chizmar, Malfi’s writing is the most like King’s on this list. He also contributed to The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand.
2Rachel Harrison – Author of Play Nice, Cackle, & Black Sheep
Rachel Harrison may be the youngest author on this list, but she writes with an intuition and understanding of human nature like a novelist who has been writing books for decades. Like King, she perfectly blends the horrors and insecurities of humanity with the supernatural to craft a nail-biting story that doesn’t always work out for the often-flawed protagonist. Readers may not always love everything about her main characters, but that’s how you know they’re real.
Granted, Harrison’s writing feels a little more playful and modern than King’s, but that comes with the difference and territory of moving away from the writing of a 79-year-old man. However, like King, she’s quite prolific, writing seven books in five years. Her most recent book, Play Nice, has been lauded as one of her best.
1Richard Chizmar – Author of Chasing the Boogeyman, Memorials, & the Gwendy Trilogy
Not only does Richard Chizmar have a story in The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand, but he’s also one of the few lucky authors who has gotten to collaborate with Stephen King on multiple novels: The Gwendy trilogy. Chizmar grew up as a massive King fan, and after a lifetime of studying King’s work and writing his own novels, sometimes, especially when the two collaborate, it becomes difficult to tell when King’s writing ends and when Chizmar’s writing begins.
Related: Exclusive: Author Richard Chizmar Talks ‘Chasing the Boogeyman’
Chizmar showed he could hold his own with Chasing the Boogeyman, as the writer’s incredibly unique crime-horror novel was a New York Times bestseller. The Bram Stoker Award-winner has his own horror literary magazine, Cemetery Dance; has most recently released a found-footage style horror novel titled Memorials; and saw a re-release of Widow’s Point, a novel he wrote with his son. Outside of Joe Hill, Chizmar is the closest you’re going to get to Stephen King’s style.
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