King, Stephen (1947-…), is a popular American author of horror and suspense fiction. King’s fiction demonstrates his brilliant storytelling talent. He skillfully introduces horrifying or suspenseful events into a recognizable everyday background. Many of his stories show his ability to get inside the minds of children and adolescents.
Many of King’s novels deal with the supernatural. For example, the main character of Carrie (1974), his first novel, has the ability to move objects with the power of her mind. Vampires appear in Salem’s Lot (1975). A haunted hotel is the setting for The Shining (1977). The boy in the novel, now an adult, is a central character in the sequel, Doctor Sleep (2013). The Stand (1978, revised 1990) describes a battle between good and evil that takes place after a plague has wiped out most of the human race. Bag of Bones (1998) is a ghost story. Several of his supernatural novels are set in the small fictional Maine towns of Castle Rock and Derry. They include The Dead Zone (1979), Cujo (1981), It (1986), The Tommyknockers (1987), The Dark Half (1989), and Needful Things (1991).
Several King novels explore realistic suspense instead of the supernatural. Among these novels are Misery (1987), Gerald’s Game (1992), Dolores Claiborne (1993), and Rose Madder (1995). King has written a group of fantasy novels known as the “Dark Tower” series. The series begins with The Gunslinger (1982). It continues with The Drawing of the Three (1987), The Waste Lands (1991), Wizard and Glass (1997), Wolves of the Calla (2003), Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower (both 2004), and The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012). He also wrote the “Bill Hodges” trilogy, named for its central character. The trilogy mixes a detective story with science fiction and consists of Mr. Mercedes (2014), Finders Keepers (2015), and End of Watch (2016). Holly (2023) is a spinoff novel that features another character from the “Bill Hodges” trilogy.
King has written many other novels. They include Insomnia (1994), Desperation and The Green Mile (both 1996), Dreamcatcher (2001), and From a Buick 8 (2002). Among his later novels are Cell and Lisey’s Story (both 2006), Duma Key (2008), Under the Dome (2009), 11/22/63 (2011), Joyland (2013), The Institute (2019), Later and Billy Summers (both 2021), and Fairy Tale (2022). King and the American horror author Peter Straub collaborated on two novels, The Talisman (1984) and its sequel, Black House (2001). King and his son Owen collaborated on the thriller Sleeping Beauties (2017).
King’s short fiction has been published in many collections. Early collections include Night Shift (1978), Different Seasons (1982), Skeleton Crew (1985), Four Past Midnight (1990), and Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993). Among his later collections are Hearts in Atlantis (1999), Everything’s Eventual (2002), Just After Sunset (2008), and The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015). He analyzed horror literature and films in Stephen King’s Danse Macabre (1981). A collection of his essays and short fiction was published as Secret Windows (2000). King also wrote On Writing (2000), a memoir. King and the American author Stewart O’Nan co-wrote Faithful (2004), an account of the Boston Red Sox’s 2004 season. That season ended with Boston winning the 2004 American League pennant and the World Series. Much of King’s fiction also reflects his love of baseball, including the novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999) and the short novel Blockade Billy (2010).
Stephen Edwin King was born on Sept. 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine. He was a schoolteacher until the success of Carrie permitted him to write full-time. King also has written suspense novels under the name Richard Bachman.
