I'd say even though technically i've only finished one book of his, I know enough of all his works from over the years, that I could at least assure you read IT. First of all it would be good to start with his one of his older works, For the most part if you do take my advice and read IT disregard the movie, while the movie in my opinion is very scary and actually a good film but like all movie adaptions it's only really loosley adapted.So keep this in mind, while yes IT is a horror novel, and at some points might make some people uneasy it's not really about the Clown Pennywise. It's about the kids, they are focus of the novel as well as there adult versions, the book is very deep and complex and only has few moments throughout the 1000+ pages to actually be keep you awake at night scary. The novel has really good themes of basically just growing up, and having to deal with life on your own despite the forces and evils of the world (which is only my cheesey way of putting it) So I managed to read it in a week, and being that you seem to be one of the most literate users on the forum, I would bet it's a book you would enjoy.Either way, perhaps you would try reading one of his books that was based on your favorite film adaption of it, thats what I did with IT, and it makes the experience much more so. King has a very detailed way of setting everything up, the reason I would testify his novels are so scary is because of the realism of the writing. Not realistic as: "The woman got on the bus and noticed the driver was fat, and on first sight the rows directly across from her seated a few suspicious men." His style would be more like: "The middle aged woman approched the bus, you would see her as the type of woman with lines on her face from depression, or possibly even a widow, and as she made the first few steps into the bus, the first thing that came to her attention was the face of the driver, old and pudgey, but not too old. He seemed to have three chins and would easily be mistaken for a smoker, but in the reality of it all, he had three kids. Little did she know what terrible thing would occur that night in her ...Yeah I only made that stuff up on the spot by the way. I know he has a few novellas that aren't horror but still as intriguing, perhaps a mystery novel such as The Colorado Kid. Surprisingly most of his short story collections contain some of the most gruesome stories, even more unsettiling than IT. So I would still recommend IT, it could be a book to read at night, but not just a book to read anytime you have the chance. You have to be able to set aside the time to fully read the book for what it is, but if you do, I would be jealous of you to have the opportunity to read that novel for the first time with so many mysteries and possibilites.