15 Stephen King stories ranked from heartwarming to horrifying

The Eyes of the Dragon (Cover image via Viking)

4. The Eyes of the Dragon

Besides delving into more realistic evil, Stephen King has also dipped a toe into the world of fantasy. The Eyes of the Dragon, first published in 1984, is one of the more overtly fantastical works in his canon. It’s set in a sort-of medieval time period, like some classic high fantasy, and deals with good and evil, not to mention outright magic. There’s even an evil magician, Flagg, who has become a bogeyman in many of King’s other works.

The Eyes of the Dragon is set in the kingdom of Delain, ruled by King Roland. Alas, however, Roland has deluded himself into thinking that the royal magician, Flagg, is an okay guy. Flagg, meanwhile, is power-hungry and thoroughly evil. He’s mostly interested in plunging the kingdom into a millennia-long reign of blood and anarchy. Metal as heck, to be sure, but not exactly a friendly form of government. Guess it doesn’t matter when you’re more like a malignant spiritual tumor than a human being.

The novel reads like a dark fairy tale. King Roland dies, along with his loving wife, early on in the story. Their oldest son Peter is set to take the throne, helped by the fact that he’s clearly the favorite of the common folk. However, Flagg does his thing and frames Peter, who then goes into exile. The throne is left to his younger brother, Thomas, who is promptly intimidated into letting Flagg make all the decisions.

Everything turns out mostly fine in the end. Peter is returned to his rightful place at the head of the kingdom, while Thomas and his butler Dennis set out to find the escaped Flagg. However, in true Stephen King fashion, Flagg’s evil is never quite gone, as we’ll see in other novels.