All hail the
the complete guide to stephen king
More than 50 years after his horror debut, when he scared the crap out of a generation of readers and movie-goers with 1974’s Carrie, Stephen King is just as prolific and potent as ever. HBO’s new series The Outsider is based on his 2018 book. It almost feels like his 1980s renaissance never ended. But that’s just a sliver of what the horror master has cranked out in his 50-year career. King's been so prolific, it's almost scary. Have a look for yourself.
king
Explore the decades
Story By Alyssa Mercante & Tom devoto | Design by Tri Vo
1970s
1970s HIGHLIGHTS
Technically King's fourth finished novel, Carrie was the first to be published, and was finished only after King's wife fished the first few pages out of the trash and made him reconsider.
Carrie
King's first book written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. He later let it fall out of print because of its all-too-prescient plot—a young man terrorizes his school at gunpoint.
Rage
1980s HIGHLIGHTS
Despite the film's success and legacy, King has called it "cold" and a poor portrayal of women. "Shelley Duvall as Wendy is really one of the most misogynistic characters ever put on film, she's basically just there to scream and be stupid and that's not the woman that I wrote about."
The Shining
In his 2000 memoir On Writing, King says he wrote Cujo while on a cocaine binge, saying that he "barely remembers writing at all."
Cujo
The first in King’s eight-novel magnum opus was illustrated by Michael Whelan, the first living person to be inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009.
The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
The graphic novel based on King’s five-story horror film collection featured interior illustrations by Bernie Wrighston, illustrator and co-creator of the Swamp Thing.
Creepshow
Originally titled “The Napkins,” King says that this is one of the only books of his that his daughter likes. “She has very little interest in my vampires, ghoulies, and slushy crawling things.”
The Eyes of the Dragon
King’s sole directorial effort was nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Director and Worst Actor (Emilio Estevez).
The novel's maniacal antagonist, a superfan who holds her favorite author hostage until he finishes a novel, is described by King as an allegory for cocaine: “She was my number one fan.”
1980s
1990s
1990s HIGHLIGHTS
Rob Wood designed this cover in under an hour after spending all weekend on another writer's book cover that was later rejected.
Four Past Midnight
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands
Rob Wood created a real-world set out of clay and wood that he used as reference to paint the cover.
Gerald’s Game
King had to dial back his criticism of Kubrick's film in order to get the director to sign off on this TV miniseries, which Mick Garris directed and King associate directed for ABC.
Illustrated by surrealist Dave McKean, known for his work on Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and a 1989 Batman comic.
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
The only King novel to be illustrated by Ned Dameron, a sci-fi artist who illustrated several of the Dungeons and Dragons books.
2000s
2000s HIGHLIGHTS
King says he "doesn't like Dreamcatcher very much." It was written in 2001 during his recovery from a car accident, while he was under the influence of Oxycontin.
Dreamcatcher
King developed this series, based on the Danish miniseries The Kingdom by Lars von Trier.
Kingdom Hospital
The film was shot with four possible endings, an homage to the original short story, which left the resolution ambiguous. Director Mikael Håfström ultimately chose one for the theatrical release, after scrapping the first ending when test audiences felt it was too depressing.
1408
2010s
2010s HIGHLIGHTS
King started crafting this JFK assassination revisionist history in the early ’70s but abandoned it, believing that such a historically heavy piece would require far too much research and authorial ability than he had.
11/22/63
The questionable child orgy scene from the novel was scrapped in favor of a blood oath in the film.
It
The conclusion to King’s clown-thriller franchise became his second-highest grossing film adaptation ever—only trailing the first It film from 2017.
It: Chapter Two
This Netflix film was based on a 2012 novella written by King and his son, Joe Hill.
and beyond
In the mid-1970s, still learning how to cope with fame and success in the aftermath of Carrie, King struggled to comprehend whether he hit the jackpot because of talent or luck. As an experiment, he decided to release a number of novels under a pseudonym, with extremely little marketing, to test his thesis. (Additionally, the prevailing sentiment in the ’70s was that authors should publish no more than one book a year to prevent market saturation—Bachman gave King the ability to circumvent that unwritten rule.) Using the name “Richard Bachman” as a tribute to Bachman-Turner Overdrive, King published five pseudonymous books from 1977 to 1984 before being “outed” as Bachman by bookstore clerk Steve Brown in 1985. Brown noticed similarities between the writing of the two authors, did some digging, and uncovered a note in the Library of Congress that listed all of copyrights for Bachman’s books as registered to King or King’s agent, Chuck Verrill.
the story of richard bachman
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king's cameos
While Stephen King’s works are ubiquitous, he rarely appears in the adaptations of his novels. He has, however, made a select few appearances on the silver screen. In Maximum Overdrive, the 1986 comedy-horror film loosely based on his short story “Trucks,” King makes a cameo appearance as a man at an ATM. King also directed the film—his only directorial credit (and one not very well received). Additionally, King made a cameo as “Johnny B. Goode” in the 2004 TV series Kingdom Hospital and as “Bachman” in 2010’s Sons of Anarchy. The latter is a reference to his pseudonym of the mid-1980s, Richard Bachman. King’s most recent appearance was as a pawn shop owner in It: Chapter Two.
The cameos
dabbling in music
In his career, King has worked extensively with the music industry—not to mention his own music career as a member of the rock supergroup The Rock Bottom Remainders (comprised wholly of other writers). In 1988, King collaborated with Blue Öyster Cult to record a spoken intro for the radio re-release of its single, “Astronomy.” In 1996, King helped Michael Jackson develop the story for his short film, Ghosts. The 40-minute music video won a Guinness World Record in 2002 for the longest music video in history, though it’s since been surpassed by Pharrell’s “Happy.” Finally, in 2012, King and John Mellencamp co-wrote a musical called Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. It debuted in Atlanta and starred Tony Award winner Shuler Hensley.
Dabbling in music
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