10 Best Non-Horror Stephen King Stories You Must Read

Whilst appropriately published by Hard Case Crime - a publisher specialising in modern pulp/noir crime thrillers and reprints of mid-century classics - Joyland is still unmistakably a Stephen King story. It was published in 2013, too, proving that King still knows how to write from the perspective of teenagers, despite being in his 60s at the time of writing.

Devin Jones is a 17 year old university student who takes a summer job at a local amusement park in North Caroline - the titular Joyland.

Spending his time doing the dirty jobs doled out to him and his fellow teenager workers, he also makes some close friends and gains the respect of the older park employees, including a fortune teller who tells him of a young boy gifted with psychic power (The Shining, anyone?) that he'll soon meet.

This development also coalesces with the a murder mystery he uncovers regarding a number of dead girls murdered through the US at similar family attractions, and Dev's growth from young boy bewildered at what path he should take in life, to young man still bewildered at the sometimes cruel absurdity of life, but with hope in his heart.

There's a touch of the supernatural - what self-respecting amusement park doesn't boast a haunted ghost train ride? - but it's a story firmly routed in the aches and pains of adolescence. And murder. Can't forget the murder.