Which King novels are "Dark Tower related" books? (no spoilers please)
 

With the Dark Tower series finishing up soon, I started reading what I thought were all Dark Tower related books, in order, so I could have the whole picture. The ones I thought were related are:

All DT books
The Stand
Eyes of the Dragon
It
Talisman
Insomnia
Sisters of Eluria (novella)
Hearts in Atlantis
Black House
Salem's Lot

However, I picked up the new DT book today and noticed in the bibliography that there are many more "Dark Tower related" books.

My questions: Are all of these books really related? Are they tied into the series by more than a hint or a throw away character? Will reading each of these make the Dark Tower series better in any way?

If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it. Just don't post any spoilers. I'm only on Dark Tower 2 and don't want to know what happens next.

Thanks!

Yes they are all related but if you don't read them you won't miss anything. Its all sort of a Six Degrees thing, its fun to say ok thats so and so from another book.

If you go to the Darktower.net, they have a nice little "roadmap" about how to read all the books related to DT.

here's the link, http://www.thedarktower.net/connections/roadmap.php

Seems really helpful actually.

Only a few books are heavily related ... most of the rest just have a character or situation that pops up somewhere in the DT series.

Ouch. That's a lot of reading if I choose to go that route. Not sure if it's worth it...

Actually it's more than worth it. It's like Stephen King is rewarding the reader for tagging along throughout the years.

^^ Exactly. I don't think you will get the same amount of enjoyment if you just take that list and read them all before the Dark Tower series. It will seem like more work than fun. More like a "oh, that is so and so" or "isn't that a reference to?" kinda thing.

What I think will be more interesting is re-reading the DT related books AFTER book seven. See how many clues there really are.

This is exactly what I'm thinking. I bet they are "related" only briefly now, but I can see King making them much more important at the end.

I have nothing but time, so why not read 'em?

Re: Which King novels are "Dark Tower related" books? (no spoilers please)
 

I would definately consider all of these books crucial to getting the full picture.
Others aren't so important. For example: Dreamcatcher and Tommyknockers both mention Pennywise the clown from It, which is DT connected. However, that one-sentence reference is the only connection in either one of the novels. Hardly worth reading to catch such an insignificant connection.

Also there's a brief meeting of Gard and James Sawyer in Tommyknockers, it's not crucial but it's neat especially if you read both back to back for the first time.

Although it's not officially part of the DT universe isn't there something in Pet Semetary that's loosely connected to the dark twer?

BTW I just read Skeleton Crew, what story or stories relate to the Dark Tower?

I was thinking all are a bit related. Some of King's children like Danny Torrence (the shining), have 'the touch.' But aren't bold in the list of DT related books in SoS.

i'm going to have to give that a go. thanks

Short Story - The Little Sisters of Eluria- tells a tale of Roland the Gunslinger in the world of the Dark Tower. Its in a book called Legends Volume 1 edited by Robert Silverberg.

^^ It's also in Everything's Eventual by Stephen King, featuring14 short stories, all by him.