The one I like was posted at Lilja's Library. He notes that it is a French edition.
A book cover should make you want to read the book! Even The Stand, with good fighting evil, had the ability to draw you in. But just the authors names on a cover in big print is not exciting.
Here are some dumb book covers:
So, some questions here:
1. How do some book covers make it out of a staff meeting with the artist? "Yeah, I was thinking I'd paint some green glowing stuff and it could shoot out under the book title." Exec cries, "YES! We'll sell millions!"
2. With a cover as super lame as Insomnia, why do we need two? Did people buy two editions of the book for that cover? I hope not!
3. Christine is kind of cool -- but wouldn't a car have been better?
4. I'm not sure what's happening with The Dark Half. Does anyone know? It looks like the cover for. . . nothing.
5. How come so often the foreign editions of the books are so much better? Lilja devoted an entire section of his huge website to the foreign covers. (Check it out HERE)
Here are a couple I like:
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| The Talisman Slovak source: Lilja's Library |
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| The Stand (uncut) Swedish source: Lilja's Library |
The worst ever are probably the original hardbacks for "Night Shift" and "Danse Macabre," which may as well have been written on a piece of blank paper.
ReplyDeleteYou're right! Those were bad.
ReplyDeleteSome of the paperbacks are pretty bad, too. However, they are always updated. It seems first eiditons deserve some. . . artistry.
And yet so many of them don't receive it. "The Bachman Books" and "Just After Sunset" are another couple of examples of lousy jacket designs. And I use the word "designs" VERY loosely.
DeleteI liked the cover for Under The Dome and 11.22.63 a lot.
ReplyDeleteBut, speaking of book covers. . . what in the world was up with Carrie ? That's not Carrie on the cover! They had a drawing they needed to do something with? I like much better The Shining, which introduces you to the family before you start reading.
Yeah, "Carrie" is a puzzler. It's not bad, it just doesn't represent the novel at all.
Delete"Duma Key" is another winner. There are as many good ones as bad ones; maybe even more.
The Dark Tower books had great artwork, consistently. Really like the cover for Gunslinger.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree! Many SK books have been very artistic--but what happened to the art team for Insomnia. Did they go on strike and leave the art department to six year olds--wait six year olds could do better!
ReplyDeleteI think for me the worst cover ever on a Stephen King book was on the hardback edition of Full Dark, No Stars, the one that featured what seemed to be a naked lady bending over with a hand on her head against a dark background. Such an image had nothing to do with the tales in the book, and just seemed so out of place to me. Even the lady at the counter when I bought it commented that it seemed very uncharacteristic of a King book to have such an image on the cover.
ReplyDeleteI’ve also never been a fan of the mass market Signet paperback covers, the one that usually featured the name Stephen King in a colored band at the top and then had the title and some image below it. They just didn’t seem that creative to me.
I'm not a fan of the cover to FDNS, but I feel like I need to defend it a bit. I definitely wouldn't say it has nothing to do with the stories.
DeleteThe image is of a naked woman holding her hand out, presumably to keep someone away. This certainly has resonance with "Big Driver," and I'd argue that all four of the stories are about men doing terrible things to women. So to my mind, the cover is quite appropriate.
My problem is that the idea wasn't executed very well. The idea is there, but it's not terribly clear.
Coudln't agree more about Full Dark, No Stars. The CD edition was very nice, though.
ReplyDeleteNotice the difference in a cover by Richard Bachman. The STORY title is highlighted. Many book covers of SK books put his name HUGE -- in case the Constant Reader was unaware the book was by stephen King. It smacks or arrogance; the assumption by the publisher that we will ONLY read that story because it is by Stephen King -- not because it is a good story. Also, what author really wants his name bigger than the title of the book?
ReplyDeleteThe cover for 11/22/63, with it's provocative back cover is one of the best, and it almost commands the potential buyer to read it for many reasons, not all of them to do with fiction, but history.
ReplyDeleteThe best King cover I've ever seen, the one that sums up my idea of him and his fiction, is the cover for Nightmares and Dreamscapes.
The freaky scarecrow in the middle of a country road at dusk wearing a Castle Rock sports jersey somehow encapsulates all that's best in his work for me, there's just something archetypal in it.
A good book on King cover art "Knowing Darkness: artists inspired by Stephen King" featuring cover and book illustrations by Mike Whelan and Bernie Wrightson among others, including Wrightson's gonzo illustration of Collie Entragian from Desperation. However, it costs a pretty penny, $201.01 on amazon.
Which is a shame as that book looks like it could go a long way to answering any question on illustrations in King's works.
ChrisC
I've got a copy of "Knowing Darkness." It is one of my prize possessions, and I thank my dear mother for loaning the money to buy it.
DeleteIf you've got the money for it, it's well worth having.
John Saul's cover art is some of the best in the horror publishing industry. His books are much lighter on plot and character than King's, but I enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I bought the bulk of the SK paperback books I have now, they were all of a similar design - the ones where they would have a color scheme of black and another color and then the picture on the front would be a real simple design of some important element from the book. Needful Things had the Elvis sunglasses, Christine had a bloody tire track turning into a skull, you know. So my bookshelf looked like all these books were a part of a series or something. When I go out to used book sales and stuff now, I always look for covers that I don't have to jazz up my bookshelf.
ReplyDeleteI actually loved the FDNS hardcover! I thought it was perfect for what all four stories were about, and though it was simple, it was a really dark, intriguing cover - much different than any other King cover.
the spanish paperback editions of the last 80's first 90's of Stephen King novels by Plaza-Janes must be the worst covers in the history of book publishing
ReplyDeletebetter not see them just after eating...
http://img1.mlstatic.com/libro-maleficio-autor-stephen-king-editorial-plaza-y-janes_MLA-O-88829909_2024.jpg
http://bimg2.mlstatic.com/s_MLA_v_F_f_141987475_2531.jpg
http://pictures2.todocoleccion.net/tc/2012/05/22/31866165.jpg
http://repositorio2.masoportunidades.com.ar/ARG01/88/1/10948375/fotos//10948375_3_2011411_18_24_48.jpg
Craptastic!!!
I don't know why Stephen King hasn't sued the publisher
Francisco
Wow. Those really ARE bad.
Delete