Stephen King has labeled himself as the ‘Big Mac of writing’, as he is the name of entire genre because of his dark stories. In the 70’s, horror was not the most popular genre in literature, but Stephen single-handedly changed this. His novels, short stories, and films have become award-winning horror classics that generated the genre. Rolling Stones asked Stephen in an interview about his choice to write horror novels and how he entered one of the least respected genres of fiction. King responded:
Yeah. It’s one of the genres that live across the tracks in the literary community, but what could I do? That’s where I was drawn. I love D.H. Lawrence. And James Dickey’s poetry, Émile Zola, Steinbeck … Fitzgerald, not so much. Hemingway, not
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This decision led him to the University of Maine where he graduated with a degree in English and met his wife Tabitha Spruce. While in college he wrote for the campus newspaper and submitted short stories to all publications he thought might be interested in his work. He made his first sale as an author with his short story “The Glass Floor” for thirty-five dollars by Startling Mystery Stories. After graduation, Stephen accepted a position as an English teacher at Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine, in 1971. While teaching he still would write in his free time. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co. accepted the novel Carrie for publication and with a huge paperback sale provided him with enough money to quit teaching and focus on writing. Since 1974, when Carrie hit shelves, Stephen has sold an estimated 350 million books, and he's now worth hundreds of millions of …show more content…
He says that he would have a case of beer a night in the late 70’s, his drinking problem soon brought hard drugs into the picture as he admits to being a heavy coke user from 1978 until 1986. During this time period Stephen had three young kids at the time. Stephen also admits that the whole time is pretty hazy to him and that he just didn’t use it around people. How Stephen lived this whole secret life of a drug addict for years, all the while writing bestsellers and being a family man is very hard to understand but it goes to show the complexity of Stephen King. A few of his books correlate with his addiction to cocaine, for an example Misery is a book about cocaine, and in an interview with Rolling Stones, King states “Annie Wilkes is cocaine. She was my number-one
King, who has explored almost every terror-producing theme imaginable, from vampires, rabid dogs, deranged killers, pyromaniac ghosts, to telekinesis, biological warfare and even a malevolent automobile was known for his horror stories, and strange deaths.
Stephen King is one of the most influential authors of today. His award-winning novels and short stories are known world-wide. His many awards and nominations have created a space for him in the literary world. King is a true “Horror King”, for his books, turned movies, have scared millions worldwide. Stephen King has helped bring America to prominence through his many books, essays, and short stories.
In 1974 a book was published, there have been over 4 million copies of this book sold. This book is even in our school library! Guess what book this is. It’s Carrie by Stephen King! Stephen’s first book in fact was Carrie, but lets get a little more into the author before we get into that.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
Stephen King, a distinguished author of blood-curdling horror, writes novels and short stories based on his personal fears of everyday life (Kehoe). In the year of 1977, King created the pseudonym, Richard Bachman to publish additional books (Biography Today). The masquerading secret was so well-kept, no one knew until eight years later, when readers noticed the same writing style as King (Kehoe, Biography Today). Bachman’s first book, The Rage, was published in 1977 (Biography Today). Succeeding The Rage, Bachman published The Boogeyman in 1978 (Biography Today). In The Boogeyman, Lester Billings is a hard-working young man with three deceased children, a defenseless wife, and a guilty conscious.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When most Americans hear that name the first thing that comes to mind is his “Dream”. But that is not all he was. His life was more than a fight against segregation, it was segregation. He lived it and overcame it to not only better himself but to prove it could be done and to better his fellow man.
Wes craven is one of the most iconic figures in filmmaking. Mostly known for giving you and your parents nightmares. He revolutionized the horror genre with his terrifying characters and twisted plots the earned him the nickname the Sultan of Slash. But Wes didn't just walk into the film industry. After high school Wes went to Wheaton college in Illinois to earn an undergraduate degree in English and Psychology. He then went on to earn a master's degree in Philosophy and writing for John Hopkins University. His first real job was as an english teacher at Westminster college. He then went on to teach at a few more schools over the years. But nothing stuck, until he purchased a used 16mm camera as something to fill up his free time. He soon fell
evidence of Stephen King being very interest in horror showed in his work in his early
Stephen Edwin King was the son of Donald King and Ruth Pillsbury-King. He was born on September 21st, 1947 in the town of Portland, Maine. Stephen’s dad, Donald, abandoned the family when Stephen was very young. Stephen grew up with his hard working mother and his older brother, David. Stephen and his family moved around a lot throughout his childhood, but they finally settled in Durham, Maine when Stephen was eleven. Stephen was a student at Durham Grammar School, and he continued his schooling at Lisbon Falls High School and graduated in 1966.Throughout Stephen’s years in school he was an introverted child. He read many comic books and fantasy-horror fiction novels, and he loved to watch science fiction and monster movies in his free time. Stephen wrote many short stories while he was in high school, and he even won an essay contest. Aside from his schooling, Stephen was played on his high school’s football team and he was in a band called the MoonSpinners. After high school, Stephen went to the University of Maine to major in English. While in college, Stephen took many writing classes and continued writing his stories. He also wrote a column in the University’s newspaper. He tried to make money off of his writings, but since he got a small amount of income for his short stories he had to work other odd jobs as well. He graduated from the university with a B.A. in English in 1970. After graduating from university, Stephen married Tabitha Spruce whom he later had three children with, and he began teaching at Hampden Academy. In 1973 Stephen’s first novel, Carrie, was published, so Stephen quit his teaching job to become a full time author. Stephen has published many works since 1973.
King owes his success to his ability to take what he says are “real fears” (The Stephen King Story, 47) and turn them into a horror story. When he says “real fears” they are things we have all thought of such as a monster under the bed or even a child kidnapping and he is making them a reality in his story. King looks at “horror fiction...as a metaphor” (46) for everything that goes wrong in our lives. His mind and writing seems to dwell in the depths of the American people’s fears and nightmares and this is what causes his writing to reach so many people and cause the terror he writes about to be instilled in his reader.
Towards the beginning of the start of his career, he battled with alcohol and drugs, especially cocaine.
Writers have changed the lives of many people over the years. In times of situation that people do not want to be in, times of wars, poverty, near death experience causing one to be immobile, or even just to get out of this world the works they create gives people those opportunities to do so. Stephen King is a big contributor of his published works to people in every on every continent. He is a writer of both novels and short stories, a film director, actor and even screen writer of most of his novels that turn into movies, but is he mainly known because of his works in the genre of horror. Going from his first published novel, Carrie and one of his famous selling The Shining King have made history as the king of
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most influential writers of the horror genre in American history. His horror stories have impacted numerous authors and their stories over the years. Various people have tried to copy his way of writing style, but they have failed to achieve the success he did. Even though Poe is no longer living, his impact on American literature can still be felt today.
“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” said Stephen King. King showed all of his writers that is real for many people. King used that as motivation to write more and get better. Stephen king is a very talented author that used his childhood as ideas for his work. He wrote all his life from traveling with his parents to writing his dreams. King has gotten many awards for his
For such a successful writer, Stephen King really had no secret to his writing style. King has credited free writing for his best ideas. He also has a very down to earth way of looking at his fame. Stephen King would read for four hours, and then he would write for four hours or until he reached 2,000 words. In a Time magazine interview, King called this his nine to five approach and that he, “worked until beer o’ clock.” When asked where his ideas came from, King would often reply, “I have the heart of a small boy. . . And I keep it in a jar on my desk.” Also, he does not have just one particular way of writing horror, and what often sets off the terror in his readers most was the vast amount of detail portrayed.