YA superstars Stephenie Meyer and J.K. Rowling both attracted the critical eye of Stephen King this week. King generated more than 700 comments when he bashed the author of the Twilight series in an interview–saying she “can’t write worth a darn.”

While promoting his new book, Stephen King Goes to the Movies, King sat down with USA Today, unloading his opinions about other popular writers. Here’s a juicy excerpt:

“Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. … The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good … Somebody who’s a terrific writer who’s been very, very successful is Jodi Picoult. You’ve got Dean Koontz, who can write like hell. And then sometimes he’s just awful. It varies. James Patterson is a terrible writer but he’s very very successful.” (Via.)