What Makes a Stephen King Story Good? Character

 “I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event, 

which is to say character-driven.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

To this day I am amazed at how much I can still 'fall' into a Stephen King book. I am about halfway through Joyland and I can't believe how quickly the pages are turning.

I'm really enjoying the first person narrative of the story.

King's ability to make the main character relate to the reader on a personal level is tremendous.  It sucks me in every time.  I think that is the best aspect about King's writing; his ability to pull the reader into the story through the main character's perspective that before you realize it you're 50 pages in and caring more about what is going to happen to the this character than going to bed on a work night, or making supper for the family!

This is why I've been an avid reader of Stephen King since I was in High School so many moons ago, and why I am still a Constant Reader (and re-Reader) of his stories.