Horror's greatest master, Stephen King, has been exploring the netherworlds of fear and death since the publication of his first novel, Carrie, in 1974. As an author, King not only focuses on things that go bump in the night but he also throws in things that go bump in our psyches.
King started on the road to scary stories early, becoming something of a connoisseur of '50s horror films. His interest was first piqued by a collection of fantasy novels that had belonged to his father. (Daddy deserted the family when Stephen was a tot.) King started writing when he was still a child, and as a teenager he sold a couple of short stories to a mystery magazine. But it wasn't all blood and guts: the young Stephen also played in a rock band and for his high school football team. After completing his education, King briefly taught high school English. When Carrie pushed him into the big time, King was just 27 years old. His brand of storytelling captured the public imagination right away, and he proved he was no flash in the pan with his next two books, 'Salem's Lot, a modern vampire story, and The Shining, about the queen mother of haunted houses. Besides living a quiet family life in Maine, King has resurrected his youth long enough to form a band, the Rock Bottom Remainders, with fellow authors Dave Barry, Amy Tan, Robert Fulghum, Matt Groening, and Roy Blount Jr. In June 1999, King was out for a walk near his home and was severely injured when the driver of a minivan lost control of his car. He suffered a broken hip and a punctured lung, but since then has resumed writing and keeps his fans informed of his recovery on his official Web site.
In recent years, King has been experimenting: he's published his first audio-only book (Blood and Smoke), his first serial novel (The Green Mile), a short-story collection about the boomer generation (Hearts in Atlantis), an ambitious literary novel (Bag of Bones), and a largely nonsupernatural novella about a lost child in the woods (The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon). With Riding the Bullet, he goes back to his pure-horror roots, and he hasn't lost his touch. King's gift is to convey the terrors of childhood (the Bullet is a "revolving scream machine" at the amusement park Thrill Village) and the unspeakable things that lurk beneath everyday reality--in this case, Maine at night, when shadows flicker ambiguously, trees writhe "like spontaneous dancers at a tent show revival," and grave markers poke up out of the mist. Even the crisp rustle of a nurse's skirt at the hospital where Alan's mom's fate hangs in the balance packs a horrific punch. The devil is in the details, they say, and it's the vivid sensory particulars that make this nightmare come to life.
Date of Birth: September 21, 1947
Place of Birth: Portland, Maine
Education: University of Maine, bachelor's degree in English
Humble Beginnings: The manuscript for Carrie, his first bestseller, was submitted to a publisher only after his wife fished it out of the garbage, where it had been tossed by the disheartened author. He received a $2,500 advance for it.
Sharing the Wealth: King spent $1 million to build a baseball stadium for the teenagers of Bangor, Maine
The Many Films Inspired By: Stephen King
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