Prolific horror fable Stephen King move around 75 on September 21 , 2022 . If he ’s given to reflecting on his bequest , he should set aside some clip . Beginning with 1974’sCarrie , King has writtenroughly65 account book , not weigh nonfiction and unforesightful story assembling ; it’sestimatedthat more than 1 billion of his books are in circulation , including classics likeIt , The polishing , The Stand , and his magnum opus , The Dark Towerseries .
For more on these works and King himself , check out our collection of facts and small beer about the 20th C ’s biggest literary sensation .
1. Stephen King’s mother told him a real horror story.
Where does King ’s darkness spring from ? The generator has never really gravel to analyze it , as hebelieveswriters are the Cartesian product of witting will and not inciting incidents . But onepossible explanationmay have come when King was just 4 year old . Though he does n’t remember the incident himself , he was told by his female parent later on in sprightliness that he once go out with a acquaintance to spiel by some railway line track . King reelect home alone ; his friend had been run over by the train . “ old age later , ” King write , “ my mother secern me they had picked up the pieces in a caning basket . ”
2. He sold copies of his stories in high school.
King was a pic caramel growing up , and was prostrate to run home to compose storiesbasedon the Roger Corman pic he had just seen — effectively , novelizations . Using a mimeograph automobile , he sell copies of his piece of work for 25 centime to his class fellow , a prefiguration of the succeeder to issue forth .
3. King’s wife fishedCarrieout of the garbage.
After attending the University of Maine , King became an English instructor and publish in his spare sentence . One of his first attempts at a novel wasCarrie , about a untried woman who finds she possesses telekinetic powers — a ready to hand trait when school bullies push her too far . King was disappointed with the first few pages of the manuscript , however , and literally tossed them in the trash . His wife , Tabitha , recollect themand encourage him to finish the story . After dozens of rejections , he ultimately found interest group at Doubleday Publishing . Carrie , which arrived in bookstores in 1974 , launched King ’s vocation .
4.Carriewasn’t an immediate hit.
Though King was take over to find a publishing house forCarrie , the hardcover version of the book betray just 13,000 copies — which was a respectable number for a first novel , but not needs the commencement of a major literary hotshot . But then King ’s broker was capable to betray thepaperback rightsto Signet for a walloping $ 400,000 . The loud softcover version caught on , selling 1 million copies in its first year . The novel was adapted into thehit 1976 filmof the same name .
5. The ending of Brian De Palma’sCarriescared the hell out of King.
Viewers ofCarriegot a serious jump scare at the film ’s sexual climax when — spoiler alert — Carrie White ’s hand flare-up from her grave . The bit gave King a shock , too . “ When that hand get along out of the grave inCarrieat the ending , ” hesaidin 1986 . “ Man , I thought I was going to sh*t in my pants . ”
6. He couldn’t watch the television debut ofSalem’s Lot.
Billie Jean King adaptations have volleyed between moving-picture show and idiot box for decennium . For 1979’sSalem ’s Lot , base on his 1975 novel about a small town overproduction by vampires , King wasunable to viewthe ABC miniseries as it air . At the time , his residence in Bangor , Maine , had hapless tv set reception . rather , he watched videotapes at the local ABC affiliate post and later let out a pothouse to screen it for guests . ( He had a mixed - to - positivist review of it , bitch over the make - up but concede that “ considering the sensitive , they did a real undecomposed problem . ” )
7. King’s own movie debut wasn’t in a Stephen King movie.
While King has made several cameo in adaptation of his Holy Scripture and even had a sizeable role in 1982’sCreepshow , hisfeature acting debutwasn’t in a King - inspired work . He appear in 1981’sKnightriders , George A. Romero ’s film about a traveling crowd of jousting motorcyclist . King represent “ Hoagie Man , ” a sandwich - inspire spectator pump .
8. He got the idea forThe Shiningwhile on vacation.
King has said his stirring forThe Shiningcame from a holiday he take with his kinsperson to theStanley Hotelin Estes Park , Colorado . “ We buzz off up there the day before the time of year ended,”King said in 1989 . “ We check in while everybody else checked out … In the restaurant , all the tables except ours were covered with plastic and there was a forest of overturned chair legs . ” That experience lead him to Jack Torrance , a writer who loses his mind while snowbound at the Overlook Hotel .
9. His original screenplay forThe Shiningwent unread.
King adjust 1977’sThe Shiningfor the CRT screen for directorStanley Kubrick , who eventually made themoviein 1980 with Jack Nicholson . But Kubrick was apparently no great fan of King ’s , and he reportedly defy to read the script . Kubrick instead wrote his own with collaborator and novelist Diane Johnson .
10. King really disliked Kubrick’s adaptation ofThe Shining.
While Kubrick ’s flick received widespread acclaim , Kingdisliked itfor a phone number of reasons . The heavy ? He feltJack Nicholsonwas miscast as Jack Torrance , the man who becomes increasingly cark while stuck at the remote Overlook Hotel . Nicholson , King said , seemed around the bend from the root .
11. So King made his own version ofThe Shining.
Long disappointed by the Kubrick interpretation , in 1997 Kingwrote his own versionofThe Shiningfor ABC . The limited series star Steven Weber ( Wings ) as Jack Torrance and Rebecca De Mornay ( Risky Business ) as his married woman , Wendy .
12.The Shiningwas adapted into an opera.
After two cinema adaptations , The Shiningwas turned into an opera . In 2016 , the Minnesota Operapresented their versionof Jack Torrance ’s saga in vocal kind with the full permit of King . ( It was composed by Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell . ) The opera house was perform for just one week .
13.The Lord of the Ringsinspired Kingto writeThe Stand.
First published in 1978,The Standis one impressive tome . Detailing the wake of a deadly computer virus and a devil - same entity known as Randall Flagg , it spans the country and feature a sprawling cast of characters . King has articulate he occupy brainchild from J.R.R. Tolkien’sThe Lord of the Ringssaga . “ Only instead of a hobbit , my hero was a Texan named Stu Redman , and instead of a Dark Lord , my baddie was a ruthless drifter and supernatural madman distinguish Randall Flagg , ” he said . “ The country of Mordor ( ‘ where the shadows lie down , ’ according to Tolkien ) was played by Las Vegas . ”
14.The Standwas originally much, much longer.
The Standoriginally saw print as a gigantic 823 - page novel , but that was actually the condensed version . King ’s publisher force him to cut some 400 Page ( 150,000 words ) because they worried the glue bind for the rule book would n’t hold up .
15.The Standwas eventually restored.
King oversee to get a complete rendering ofThe Standout in 1990 , with all excised pages fix . He also took the opportunity to exchange soda pop cultivation references in the book . Someone in the updated variation make aFreddy Kruegerreference , a character that had n’t existed in 1978 .
16.Cujowas inspired by a very real—and very scary—dog.
King’s1981 novelabout a rabid Saint Bernard terrorizing a mother and her son was inspire by an experience the source had while find his motorcycle from a mending shop class in Maine in the summertime of 1977 . On the lot was a jumbo , wild heel who seemed to take an immediate disliking to King , who describe the eye tooth as “ the biggest Saint Bernard I ever see in my life . ” Inspired , King started working onCujo . When it was afterwards adapted into a picture show , the dog flight simulator tried to convince producers to change the stock to a Doberman — Saint Bernards , the trainer debate , were n’t well trained . He lost the literary argument .
17.Cujohas just one chapter.
King ’s account book about a fanatical dog is just one long chapter . In 2001,King toldThe Paris Reviewhe prefer for this plan of attack to make the lecturer feel aggrieved . “ Cujowas a received novel in chapters when it was created , ” he said . “ But I can remember suppose that I wanted the book to feel like a brick that was heave through your window at you . I ’ve always think that the sorting of book that I do — and I ’ve got enough self-importance to think that every novelist should do this — should be a kind of personal violation . It ought to be somebody lunging right across the table and grab you and messing you up . It should get in your typeface . It should upset you , disturb you . And not just because you get grossed out . I mean , if I get a letter from somebody read , ‘ I could n’t eat my dinner , ’ my attitude is : fantastic ! ”
18. He doesn’t really remember writingCujo.
Long afterCujowas released in 1981 , King disclosed that he did n’t remember writing much of the script owe to his battle with alcohol and drugs in the 1980s . “ [ There ’s ] one novel , Cujo , that I barely recollect write at all , ” he wrote . “ I do n’t say that with pride or shame , only with a vague sensation of sorrow and passing . I care that book . I wish I could call back enjoying the good parts as I put them down on the page . ”
19. A poem inspiredThe Dark Towerseries.
The Dark Toweris King ’s defining work , a sprawling tale of a gunslinger in a supernatural worldly concern who act on the titulary building . King has sound out he was barrack to compose the chronicle after scan Robert Browning ’s 1855 verse form “ Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came ” while still in college . “ Browning never say what that tugboat is , but it ’s base on an even older custom about Childe Roland that ’s lose in ancientness , ” King said in 1989 . “ Nobody bed who compose it , and nobody sleep together what the Dark Tower is . So I begin off wondering : What is this tower ? What does it mean ? And I decided that everybody keeps a Dark Tower in their warmheartedness that they require to bump . ”
20. King wrote a children’s book that appeared inThe Dark Tower.
In 2016 , King releasedCharlie the Choo - Choo , ostensibly a children ’s book about a gabby Department of Transportation vehicle . Charlie is a Holy Scripture character in King’sDark Towerseries . The ( literal ) book was presented under the alias of Beryl Evans , with King copping to being the actual author in a roundabout way . “ If I were to ever write a children ’s Word , it would be just like this ! ” King tell .
21. King is a character inThe Dark Tower.
Beginning withThe Dark Tower V : woman chaser of the Calla(2003 ) , King appear as a character — novelist Stephen King — in the books ’ continuity . WhenThe Dark Towerwas planned as an Amazon television serial , would - beshowrunner Glen Mazzara saidthey intended to have the King character , ideally with King act as himself .
22. King paid for the rights to quote song lyrics inChristine.
Each chapter of 1983’sChristineopens with song lyrics , the better to put the temper for King ’s story of a cursed 1958 Plymouth Fury that befriends bullied teenager Arnie Cunningham . To check that he was lawfully protect , Kingutilizeda researcher and paid a reported $ 15,000 out of his own air pocket to secure the rights to repurpose the lyrics .
23. He wroteThe Eyes of the Dragonfor his daughter.
King took a rare raid into sword - and - sorcery fantasy withThe Eyes of the Dragon(1984 ) , a bookhe say he wrotefor his daughter Naomi , who once express an interest in dragons . It ’s one of the few King works never to be adapt for the screen , thoughattempts have been ongoingsince the nineties .
24. King’s son has a cameo inCreepshow.
The 1982 horror anthologyCreepshowcame about after King and director George A. Romero ( Night of the Living Dead ) decided to collaborate on a homage to the EC horror comics of their juvenility . King himself appears as Jordy Verrill , a rural husbandman who has a foreboding encounter with a meteorite . In the wraparound segments , the child seen reading the grislyCreepshowcomics is Joe King , King ’s son , who later read the pen nameJoe Hill .
25. King wanted Bruce Springsteen to star inMaximum Overdrive.
Maximum Overdrivewas an original King script about malevolent engineering run amok that King was given a chance to direct . The 1986 plastic film asterisk Emilio Estevez , but King was eyeingBruce Springsteenfor the lead role . Producer Dino De Laurentiis had no idea who Springsteen was and vetoed the idea .
26. He didn’t want to publishPet Sematary.
Sometimes , dead is n’t salutary . Pet Sematary , about a cemetery that can resurrect both animals and humans alike , come across print in 1983 . But King was so dismayed by what he had written — a tragical accident in the Quran prompts the Christ’s Resurrection of a unseasoned child , among other repugnance — that he did n’t really require to publish it . He relent only to finish out a book declaration with Doubleday and choose out of doing any publicity for it .
27. King developed an alias so he could publish more books.
After the success ofCarrie , King went on to farm a phone number of novels at a rate faster than the publication world could wield . King was told that by save too many novels , he was at risk of diluting his brand and have interview fatigue , so his publishers curb him to one Good Book per year . To sidestep that limit , King evolve theRichard Bachmanalias — Richard after Richard Stark , the nom de guerre of author Donald E. Westlake , and Bachman after the band Bachman - Turner Overdrive . “ Bachman ” release works likeRage , The Long Walk , Roadwork , andThe Running Man . To explain not get an source ’s photo , King adjudicate Bachman should have a facial deformity , which was also the intellect he give for declining interviews .
28. King’s alias was discovered by a bookstore clerk.
King might have continue with theBachmanscheme indefinitely if not for Stephen Brown , a bookstore clerk in Washington , D.C. who find Bachman ’s 1984 novelThinnerto be suspiciously business leader - esque in its prose . A funny Brown found that another Bachman title , madness , had a copyright registered to King . He phoned King ’s agentive role , who contacted King . The author decided to come clean and grant his confessional consultation to Brown . Publisher New American Library re - issued the Bachman titles using King ’s name , where they garnered significantly more attention .
Perhaps King require to be let on . InThinner , one character reference muses to another that “ You were set out to vocalize like a Stephen King novel for a while there . ”
29. He once published four books in a little over a year’s time.
After the Bachman episode , King apparently convinced the publishing Earth the market could wield more than one book per yr . Between September 1986 and November 1987 , he hadfour titles printed : It , The Dark Tower II : The Drawing of the Three , Misery , andThe Tommyknockers . ( Or five , if you count the reissuedThe Eyes of the Dragon , which was in the first place release as a limited edition in 1984 butreleased for the mass marketin 1987 . )
That does n’t mean he wrote them in short order . The Tommyknockers , for good example , was completed in 1981 . King really just wanted the books out of his draftsman and then contrive to take a two - year sabbatical , which he effectively did . His next book , The Dark Half , was n’t release until October 1989 .
30. He basedIton “The Three Billy Goats Gruff.”
It , King ’s 1986 novel and one on the myopic leaning of his unspoilt work to engagement , is about an evil entity who reelect to the fictional town of Derry , Maine , every 27 year to terrorize baby . King has said he based the tale on “ The Three Billy Goats Gruff , ” a Norwegian fairytale about a trio of billy goats who negociate with a bridge troll . Derry would be the bridge ; under it would be sewers where Pennywise the clown lurks .
31. King regularly sells the rights to his short stories for $1.
If you ’re a budding filmmaker and require to adapt a King short write up without trying to make a commercial profit , the author might make a pile with you for just $ 1 . That ’s how much King turn on for what he dub his “ dollar baby ” in an elbow grease to give a break to young talent . Among those who have taken King up on his offering is Frank Darabont , who adapted King ’s narrative “ The Woman in the Room ” in 1983 . Darabont later write and place 1994’sThe Shawshank Redemption , found on a King novelette .
32. Some of King’s rare works were destroyed in a flood.
In 2018 , bookstore possessor Gerald Winters of Bangor , Maine , lost some of his inventoryafter it was destroyed by a burst organ pipe . Among the items damage were several rare books and manuscripts by King . The author say he would reach out to Winters to see if he could aid supervene upon the titles .
33. King still wears a $7.50 wedding band.
Despite earning a fortune from his workplace , King was in no fussy rush to replace the wedding party bandpurchasedwhen he married Tabitha . The band cost $ 7.50 . King was still wearing it as of 2003 , some 30 year after the wedding . ( His married woman , he said , lost hers . )
34. He made a guest appearance onSons of Anarchy.
King was a major rooter of the FX motorcycle seriesSons of Anarchy , andagreedto make a guest appearance in a 2010 installment play a biker named — what else — Bachman . King was in Los Angeles , where the show was being shot , at the metre he got the call . “ I wish to playact — not that I ’m much good at it , but I distrust most writer do — and a figure of factors issue forth together,”King write on his website . “ I was in Los Angeles , whereSOAfilms , to swallow a library award ; creator Kurt Sutter assured me that he ’d save me a suitably filthy part ( in various films I ’ve been stick trifle a series of mentally challenged country hayseed ) ; most important of all , he said he ’d put me on a bitchin Harley . How could I say no ? ”
35. He once created a G.I. Joe character.
King ’s influence on pop finish has gone place you might not expect . In the 1980s , King ’s boy , Owen , was a big fan of theG.I. Joecartoon and play franchise . Kingthoughta fun father - Word undertaking would be create a Joe character . Together , the two machinate of Crystal Ball , a villain who could interpret psyche . King sent the idea to Hasbro , which create the bod in 1987 . The caller subsequently identify another character , Sneak Peak , “ Owen King ” after the author ’s son .
36. King considered writing a novel about Jason Voorhees.
King , a majorFriday the 13thfan , said he once contemplatedwriting a book about the notorious hockey - masked killer , which would be told from Jason ’s level of view . “ The best new estimation I never write ( and believably never will ) isI Jason , the first - person tale of Jason Voo[r]hees , and his diabolic fate : stamp out over and over again at Camp Crystal Lake , ” King twinge . “ What a satanic , existential fate ! ” King subsequently declared it a “ legal thicket , ” which is most likely the understanding he never pursued the idea in earnest .
37. He is a huge fan ofBreaking Bad.
Writing forEntertainment Weeklyin 2009 , King whistle the praises ofBreaking Bad , the 2008 - 2013 AMC drama about unlikely drug kingpin Walter White and his Albuquerque chalk imperium . “ God sanctify those guys ! ” King wrote , refer to AMC . “ As a result , this modest canonic - cable television service internet is now propagate the best scripted show on telecasting . Your Uncle Stevie may not handle much forMad Men , but he has never seen anything like [ Breaking Bad ] on the tube . The only thing that comes close isTwin eyeshade . ”
38. He (almost) collaborated with Steven Spielberg.
The listing of spectacular Steves in amusement is wide-ranging . ( Never forget Steve Guttenberg . ) In the 1980s , two of the liberal nearly mould together . King and directorSteven Spielbergwere originallygoing to workonPoltergeist , the eerie 1982 movie Spielberg executive - produced about a phratry terrorized by life . Spielberg take in King to help with the story ; King was move and could n’t respond , so Spielberg had to move on . The duo also spill about adapt King ’s 1984 collaboration with Peter Straub , The Talisman , but it has n’t yet fall to fruition .
39. The author isn’t bothered by bad adaptations of his movies …
For everyShawshank Redemption , there ’s aDreamcatcher(2003 ) . But King is n’t hang up on the quality of his adaptations . “ When I was in college , I read something that stick in my judgement from James M. Cain , who didThe Postman Always Rings TwiceandDouble IndemnityandMildred Pierce , ” KingtoldVulture in 2017 . “ He did an consultation near the end of his life where the reporter said , ‘ They ruined your Holy Writ for the movies , ’ and Cain snapped his brain around and pointed at the bookshelf and said , ‘ No they did n’t , they ’re all justly there . ’ In a way , the Holy Scripture is untouchable . ”
40. … Unless that movie isThe Lawnmower Man.
New Line’sLawnmower Man , starring Jeff Fahey as a humble - I.Q. individual who benefit tidings via virtual reality , was released in 1992 but bore hardly any resemblance to King ’s light story of the same title . ( The tale was about human beings hired to cut pot who begins eating it . ) King sued the studio so his name would betaken offthe marketing fabric , which New Line agreed to do — then it was discovered they had left his name on videotape cases , leading to a contempt of motor hotel charge .
Despite his objections , Kingthoughtthe motion picture was OK by itself . “ I recall it ’s moderately good , ” he said . “ [ But ] my name should n’t be on it . ”
41. King has only ever walked out of one movie in his entire life.
An fervid photographic film buff , King appears to have a love for all genres — except transforming robots . In 2022,King write on Twitterthat he has only “ walked out of only one movie as an grownup . ” The film was 2007’sTransformers , the Michael Bay - take aim adaptation of the toy and cartoon series .
42. He is part of a writer rock band.
In 1992 , Kingdebuted as a guitaristfor the Rock Bottom Remainders , a troupe of writers that was part musical act , part promotional exercise . Over the years , various members of the Remainders have admit Matt Groening , Amy Tan , and Dave Barry .
43. King (briefly) retired in 2002.
In 2002,King told presshe was “ done writing books ” once he wind up piece of work on the five that were in various stages of completion . “ You get to a point where you get to the edges of a room , and you could go back and go where you ’ve been and essentially recycle stuff , ” he said . “ I ’ve seen it in my own oeuvre . mass when they readFrom a Buick 8are going to thinkChristine . It ’s about a automobile that ’s not normal , hunky-dory ? you’re able to either continue to go on , or say , ‘ I left when I was still on top of my game . ’ I left when I was still holding the ball , instead of it have me . ” The author , of course of action , went on to write dozens more championship .
44. He was an early e-book adopter.
In 1998,King offered a short story , “ tantalise the hummer , ” for $ 2.50 online . hearten by its success , he laterpublished an online horror storytitled “ The Plant ” about an subtle botanical giving to an ail publishing house that switch success for human shape . King considered it an experiment in the nascent due east - publishing world . Rather than saddle for a download , King asked reader to voluntarily cough up $ 1 to $ 2 for each launching . Though King eventuallyoffered six parts totality , he never finished the work , citing that not enough people(about one-half ) pay up for his campaign .
45. His scariest fan encounter involved a bomb.
In 1998,King told Entertainment Weeklythat a rooter once broke into his home toting what looked like a very fishy package . “ I infer the scariest affair a reader ever did was that he break into our house and said he had a dud , ” King said . “ It was a bunch of paper clips wired up to pencils … . ”
46. He has a favorite opening sentence.
King considers the introductory sentence of a book all important to its overall atmosphere , connection with a reviewer , and success , which is why he said he often labors over them for months or years until they ’re on the dot veracious . In 2013 , he toldThe Atlanticthat the best first line he ever pen was for the 1991 bookNeedful Things , about a man who can seemingly gain special item for everyone in Ithiel Town .
“ You ’ve been here before , ” it scan .
“ All there by itself on one page , inviting the reader to keep reading , ” King say . “ It suggests a intimate story ; at the same time , the strange intro brings us outside the realm of the ordinary . And this , in a means , is a promise of the book that ’s go to add up . ”
47. A Colorado newspaper turned down King’s offer to become a movie critic.
AfterCarriewas released in 1974 , King was on his way to a professional writing life history but not yet a family name . He decided to pitch a Boulder , Colorado , newspaper , The Daily Camera , onbecoming their resident flick critic . ( King was survive in the country at the clock time . ) “ I work cheap , ” he write . ( By the 1990s , King’sper - book advancewas roughly $ 15 million . ) The report turned him down . “ We did n’t have a job for him , ” editor Laurence Paddock said in 2016 .
48. He didn’t like James Patterson’s idea for a book about King being murdered.
In 2016 , author James Pattersonannounced intentionsto writeThe Murder of Stephen King , a tongue - in - brass mystery about the author ’s fictional dying . Patterson later walked it back , saying he was unaware King had endure actual death threats over the years . King was evidently no fan of Patterson ’s even before the book materialized , once calling him a “ terrible writer . ”
49. King once lost an entire manuscript.
In 1982 , Kingcompleted workonThe Cannibals , a novel about some apartment occupier trammel in a building complex who continue to eat one another . The 500 - page holograph was subsequently lost . When itturned upwith only a handful of pages missing in 2009 , King make over it intoUnder the Dome .
50. He was once accused of ripping offThe Simpsons.
Under the Domewas an evolution of the mind first demo inThe man-eater , this time with a Ithiel Town dead under the command of a orphic absolved bonce that appears overhead . Though King had been crop on the estimation for long time , some referee observed it bore resemblance to the plot of 2009’sThe Simpsons Movie , where Springfield is encapsulated in a alike mode . “ Several internet writers have speculated on a perceive law of similarity betweenUnder the DomeandThe Simpsons Movie , where , consort to Wikipedia , Homer ’s town of Springfield is isolated inside a large glass dome ( probably because of that pesky atomic power plant),”King write on his web site . “ I ca n’t speak in person to this , because I have never seen the movie , and the law of similarity came as a complete surprise to me … For the skeptic , this extract should shew that I was thinking dome and closing off long before Homer , Marge , and their amusive brood came on the shot . ”
51. King co-wrote an episode ofThe X-Files.
The inevitable ‘ 90s mash - up of King and the strike sci - fi seriesThe X - Filesdrew motley reviews . In 1998 ’s “ Chinga , ” FBI agents Mulder and Scullyinvestigate a trivial girlin Maine whose dame may be behind some violent encounters . King ’s playscript was reportedlyheavily rewrittenbyThe ex - Filescreator Chris Carter . Some fan relish their twisting on the evil dolly trope , while others receive it wanting .
52. King helped getEvil Dead IImade.
King was a huge fan of Sam Raimi’sThe Evil Dead , the 1981 cult classic about a group of friend ( includingBruce Campbellas the moronic Ash ) frustrate by demons in a remote cabin . After call it “ the most fiercely original horror flick of the year , ” King’sendorsementhelped pull together the pic a lot of attention . But King also aided the 1987 sequel , Evil Dead II : utter by Dawn . When King hear the product needed funding , he enlisted producer Dino De Laurentiis , who was funding King ’s directorial debut , Maximum Overdrive .
53. He wrote a musical with John Mellencamp.
In the late 1990s , King begin collaborate with musician John Mellencamp and T Bone Burnett onGhost Brothers of Darkland County , an eerie stage musical that wasoriginally conceived by Mellencamp . It ’s loosely based on an apocryphal story Mellencamp heard about two buddy who began push over a woman in the thirties . One blood brother wound up dead , while the other drive into a lake with his squeeze . Mellencamp believe his cabin was obsess by their spirits . King write the story while Mellencamp care the music , a process that took the two roughly 13 years to complete . The show debut in Atlanta in 2012 and has seen intermittentproductionssince .
54. King bought the minivan that hit him.
None of King ’s stories can agree a candle to his real near - decease experience in 1999 , when a Dodge Caravan strike him as he was walk along the side of the road in North Lovell , Maine . King suffered serious injury , includinga chipped spine and a fractured hip joint ; he said medico debated cut off his offend wooden leg , which had been broken in nine position . ( The machine driver , Bryan Smith , said a dog in the van distracted him ; his license was freeze for one year . ) King later directed his attorneys topurchase the vanand claim he ’d be take a sledgehammer to it , though hisreal motivemay have been simply to keep the ghastly collectable off eBay .
55. The author’s fans made sure his blood needs were covered.
56. He owns three radio stations.
Rock ‘ n ’ rolling lover King has scooped up three music and talk stations in and around his native Bangor , Maine , via his umbrella companyZone Radio , including Hellenic rock stationWKIT , adult option station WZLO , and retro euphony channel WZON . ( King in reality purchased WZONtwice , first in 1983 and again in 1993 after the post came up for cut-rate sale during bankruptcy proceedings . )
57. One of King’s scariest passages may have come from a short story …
The “ shivery ” thingKing has ever writtenis certainly loose for public debate , but many Constant reader agree that “ Survivor Type , ” a short account from King ’s 1985Skeleton Crewcollection , is a all the way - cutting off contender . In the tale , a man who survives a sheet clank and find himself stranded on an island resorts to auto - cannibalism to endure , which top to the following handing over :
“ I ’ve amputated my left foot and have bandaged it with my pants . Strange . All through the operation I was slabber . Drooooling . Just like when I visualize the gull . slaver helplessly . But I made myself wait until after dark . I just counted backward from one hundred … twenty or thirty times ! Ha ! Ha ! Then … I kept tell myself : dusty joint beef . Cold joint beef . dusty joint beef . moth-eaten knock beef . ”
58. … Or it might be fromGerald’s Game.
Anotherhorrific King passagecomes fromGerald ’s Game , a 1992 thriller in which a woman discover herself handcuffed to a bed and desperate to escape after her husband dies abruptly .
“ The handlock was move because the skin it rest on was moving , sliding the manner a heavy object on a rug will slide if someone deplumate the rug . The ragged , round cut she had inscribed about her articulatio radiocarpea widen , pull wet strand of tendon across the gap and creating a red bracelet . The skin on the back of her hand began to scrunch and crowd ahead of the turnup , and now what she conceive of was how the coverlet had looked when she had fight it down to the bottom of the bottom with her pedaling understructure . ”
59. King received the National Medal of Arts from President Obama.
In 2015 , King washonored by President Barack Obamawith the 2014 National Medal of Arts for his contribution to come out finish . King say he was “ stunned and thankful ” for the awarding .
60. He plans to open a writer’s retreat.
The house next to King ’s imposing Bangor , Maine , mansion — originally buy by King in 1980 — underwent a zoning change in 2019 . That ’s when the Bangor City Council grant permission for the property to become a writer ’s retreat for up to five author at a time . In 2019 , King’swebsitesaid the project was still a few years from windup .
61. Stephen King wrote an issue ofX-Men.
In 1985 , Kingcontributeda three - Thomas Nelson Page storey toHeroes for Hope asterisk the X - Men , a Marvel comedian produced for charity in the fight against world hungriness . King collaborated with illustrator Bernie Wrightson on a story feature mutant Kitty Pryde and a villain name Hungry who is strengthened by the negative emotions due to dearth . Other writers featured in the number included Stan Lee and George R.R. Martin . ( King latercollaboratedwith Scott Snyder onAmerican Vampire , a Marvel comic series that debuted in 2010 . )
62. He hates adverbs.
“ I consider the route to hell is paved with adverb , and I will shout it from the rooftops,”King wrotein 2000 ’s memoirOn Writing . “ To put it another way , they ’re like blowball . If you have one in your lawn , it looks pretty and unique . If you give way to root it out , however , you find five the next day … fifty the day after that … and then , my brothers and sister , your lawn is totally , completely , and profligately covered with dandelions . ”
63. King had to stop giving out Halloween candy.
King ’s boding prim home in Bangor was a popular destination for locals taking their kids trick or treat each Halloween . ( The Kingsoffered kidsthe options of candy or pencil , the better to advance vernal writer . ) But by 1994 , the King family had to stop participate owing to the number of hoi polloi who showed up . According to King , one year 1400 revelers appeared . King assume out a newspaper ad in theBangor Daily Newsadvising his homeshould be excrete over . “ We ’re sorry , but the Billie Jean King will not be giving out trick - or - treat confect this yr , but wish you all a happy and safe Halloween , ” the notification read .
64. There are five novelists in the King family.
Is write talent genetic ? Or is living in a house full of record a foster environment for bud author ? Either way , writing has become afamily businessin the King home . Stephen ’s married woman Tabitha , is a novelist ; so are sons Joe and Owen , as well as Owen ’s wife , Kelly Braffet . ( His daughter , Naomi , is a Unitarian Universalist minister . ) King had all three of his kids understand books aloud in the eighties so he ’d have homemade books on tape available for trips .
65. King does not like crows. Or ravens.
According to Joe Hill , who spoke withThe New York Timesin 2013 , his father is not a fan of sealed bird coinage . “ Ravens freak him out , crows freak him out a little bit,”Hill said . “ They ’re forerunner of death . ”
66. King’s favorite novelist is Don Robertson.
Robertson , the generator ofThe Ideal , Genuine ManandParadise Falls , is the novelist King once singled out as hisfavorite of all timefor his “ all over bearing of the gist ” in his prose . King is such a fan , in fact , thathe publishedThe Ideal , Genuine Manunder his own Philtrum Press imprint in 1988 and contribute a 14 - page introduction .
67. He has never read Jane Austen.
reference a want of interest in relationship or love story titles , King — at least as of 2015 — has never picked up anAustenbook . “ I do not say this with either pride or shame ( or preconception , for that matter),”he said . “ It ’s just a fact . ”
68. He got a Maine newspaper to reinstate its book reviews.
After thePortland Press Heraldin Maine decide to stop publishing local book reappraisal from and by Maine authors in 2019 , Kingmounted a Twitter protestonline . After acquire 100 new digital subscriptions off of the resulting attention , theHeraldchanged path and retained the review .
69.Carriewas (briefly) a musical.
Can a teenager ’s struggle with intimidation and telekinesis make for a rousing degree production ? audience found out in 1988 , when King’sCarriewasstaged as a Broadway melodic . The show was choreograph by Debbie Allen and starred Linzi Hateley in the title role . review were pitiless , with one critic calling it “ disgustful ” and another dubbing it “ dreck . ”
70. He thinksStand by Memight be the best adaptation of his work.
“ I thought it was true to the record book , and because it had the emotional gradient of the story,”King toldRolling Stonein 2014 of his reasons for enjoy theRob Reiner movie . “ It was moving . I retrieve I scared the Irish bull out of Reiner . He establish it to me in the showing room at the Beverly Hills Hotel . I was out there for something else , and he said , ‘ Can I come up over and show you this movie ? ’ And you have to remember that the movie was made on a shoelace . It was hypothecate to be one of those thing that open in six theaters and then maybe disappeared . And rather it went viral . When the picture was over , I hugged him because I was displace to tears , because it was so autobiographical . ”
71. King coached a Little League team to a state championship.
Billie Jean King is an avowed Boston Red Sox lover who bang the game of baseball well . In 1989 , hecoachedhis son Owen ’s Bangor West team to a country Little League championship in Maine , along with passenger car David Mansfield , Neil Waterman , and Ron St. Pierre . King later built a $ 1.2 million stadium that wasdonated to the city of Bangorand used for country schooltime sports .
72. King wroteThe Running Manin one week.
Though it did n’t see photographic print until 1982 under the Richard Bachman pen name , King wroteThe Running Manin the span of a calendar week back in 1971 . “ February vacation week,”he toldThe Guardianin 2013 . “ I was blank live , I was cauterize . That was quite a week , because Tabby was trying to get back and forth to Dunkin ’ donut and I had the kids . I spell when they catnap or I would stick them in front of the TV . Joe was in a pen . It seemed like it snowed the whole workweek , and I write the book . Could n’t betray it . ” The claim was later made into a 1987 motion-picture show starringArnold Schwarzenegger .
73. He once wrote “twin novels.”
In 1996 , King releasedDesperation , a novel about an evil sheriff who nobble the residents of a Nevada town . Around the same time , “ Richard Bachman ” releasedThe Regulators , a novel featuring many of the same characters but in different circumstances .
“ One sidereal day I pulled up in my drive after going to the marketplace and the Voice say , ‘ DoThe Regulatorsand do it as a Bachman book and habituate the characters fromDesperationbut allow them be who they ’re going to be in this story,’”King write on his website . “ These books were an chance to essay the idea of using characters as a repertory company . There are some handing over that are word - for - word the same in both book and there are also little jokes . It ’s just like actor who doHamletone night andBus Stopthe next . ”
74. He once starred in an American Express commercial.
One cause King might belong to to that exclusive club of authors with placeable faces is the commercial message he did for American Express back in 1985 aspart of a serieson people whom viewers might not immediately recognize . ( Jim DavisofGarfieldfame and part actor Mel Blanc were also featured in the muscae volitantes . ) King later said he regretted doing it . “ If I had my life story over again , I ’d [ have ] done everything the same,”he told Neil Gaimanin 1992 . “ Even the speculative bits . But I would n’t have done the American Express ‘ Do You Know Me ? ’ TV ad . After that , everyone in America knew what I looked like . ”
75. Sometimes readers don’t believe King can write anything but horror.
One of King ’s favored anecdotes about being stamp as a horror author come by way of a woman he once encounter in a grocery stock . The stranger , King said , go on to harangue him about his gruesome prose . “ I was in a supermarket down here in Florida , and I came around the corner and there was a woman coming the other way,”King told the BBCin 2021 . “ She pointed at me , she said , ‘ I recognise who you are ! You ’re Stephen King ! You write all of those frightful things . And that ’s hunky-dory . That ’s alright . But I wish uplift things , like that movieThe Shawshank Redemption . ’ And I enjoin , ‘ I write that ! ’ And she said , ‘ No you did n’t . No , you did n’t . ’ ”
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