A name now synonymous with horror, Stephen King’s incredibly prolific career began over five decades ago with a book about Carrie White, a girl who possesses telekinetic powers — and he hasn’t stopped terrifying readers since. King has published an immense bibliography, including over 60 novels and novellas and more than 200 short stories. With that many titles under his belt, how has he managed to keep things fresh and maintain the moniker of the ‘King of Horror’ (pun intended) for over 50 years?
Early Life and Literary Influences
King was born in Portland, Maine on September 21, 1947. An avid reader from youth, he began writing at the age of six, initially taking inspiration from pulp novels and comic books. King has credited I Am Legend author Richard Matheson as one of his greatest influences, particularly on his own vampire tale Salem’s Lot. Gothic horror staples such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, along with science fiction classics including Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes and H.P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu and The Colour Out of Space, also helped develop the terrifying and otherworldly elements that have become the pillars of King’s writing.
Authentic Characters and Small Town Settings
Another aspect of King’s work that makes it much more accessible and grounded within the genre is the authenticity of his characters and settings. King recognizes realist writers such as John Steinbeck and Charles Dickens for inspiring the small town Americana present in his novels Revival and It, to name a few. This quality provides King’s stories with a greater sense of plausibility, setting them apart from his more excessive horror contemporaries Clive Barker and Dean Koontz, among others.
A Genre-Spanning Bibliography
Despite tackling every subcategory of horror, King has not limited himself to that genre alone, crafting stories for just about any type of reader to enjoy. Classic King novels The Shining, Christine and Pet Sematary offer up supernatural scares, while Misery and Cujo rely on a more grounded sense of terror. King has also written a handful of suspenseful thrillers like the Bill Hodges trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers and End of Watch), Hardcase Crime novels The Colorado Kid, Joyland and Later, as well as standalone stories including Billy Summers and The Shawshank Redemption. Are you a fan of science fiction? Novels such as The Long Walk, The Running Man, Dreamcatcher and 11/22/63 may be exactly what you’re looking for. Perhaps you’re more interested in fantasy; King has got you covered with the stories Fairy Tale, The Talisman, The Eyes of the Dragon and his epic 8-book series The Dark Tower. King has also penned a number of screenplays including Creepshow and Sleepwalkers, taken on directorial duties for the film Maximum Overdrive, and even made several cameo appearances in the over 80 films and television series based upon his work.
Size, Fears, and the King's Enduring Legacy
One of the most impressive qualities of King’s writing is that size is completely irrelevant to the caliber of his stories; he can pack just as much into a 235 page short story like The Mist (featured in the collection Skeleton Crew) as he can into the 1,150 page behemoth The Stand (Complete & Uncut Edition). Whether it’s a childhood apprehension of spiders or an unshakable phobia of the dark, King expertly utilizes his own fears to effectively terrify his audience. So in honor of the man’s birthday, grab a Stephen King book, check your closet, and – whatever you do – don’t let your feet hang off the edge of the bed while you read.
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