Stephen King

NAME Stephen Edwin King. His best-known pen name is Richard Bachman, an alter ego whose supposed death he announced after readers discovered the connection. (1), (2)

WHAT FAMOUS FOR American novelist and short-story writer celebrated for turning ordinary places, people and objects into sources of terror. His best-known books include Carrie, The Shining, The Stand, It and Misery. His work also extends into crime, fantasy and drama, including the novella behind The Shawshank Redemption. He is among the most frequently adapted modern authors, but calling him history’s most-adapted writer would be misleading.  (3)

BIRTH Born on September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine. Although his fiction has travelled around the world, Maine remains the geographical and imaginative centre of much of his work. 

FAMILY BACKGROUND His parents were Donald Edwin King and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. Donald abandoned the family when Stephen was a toddler, leaving Ruth to raise him and his older brother, David. They experienced considerable financial insecurity, moving between relatives before settling in Durham, Maine, where Ruth cared for her elderly parents. She subsequently worked in the kitchens at Pineland, a residential institution. (1)

CHILDHOOD King began inventing stories at about six or seven, initially copying comic-book material before developing his own plots. Illness sometimes kept him home from school, giving him time to write. Horror comics, radio programmes and monster movies encouraged his imagination; even the forest fire in Disney’s Bambi frightened and fascinated him. (3), (4)

According to a story his mother later told him, a childhood playmate died beneath a freight train on a day when King returned home pale and speechless. King remembered nothing of the incident. Crucially, neither he nor his mother could establish that he actually witnessed the accident. (5)

EDUCATION He graduated from Lisbon Falls High School in 1966 and earned a BA in English at the University of Maine in 1970, qualifying to teach secondary school. 

At university he wrote a newspaper column, served in student government and became involved in opposition to the Vietnam War. The local bookmobile had already given him an informal literary education, allowing him to borrow adult novels without restriction. (1), (3)

CAREER RECORD 1967 Made his first professional short-story sale, “The Glass Floor,” to Startling Mystery Stories. 

1971 King began teaching English at Hampden Academy in Maine, writing during evenings and weekends while supporting his young family. 

1973, Doubleday accepted Carrie. A major paperback-rights sale enabled him to leave teaching and write full-time before the novel appeared. 

1974, Carrie became his first published novel, though he had written other novels beforehand. Its success began his transformation from struggling teacher to bestselling author. 

1975–1978 King established his reputation with ’Salem’s Lot, The Shining and The Stand, combining supernatural threats with recognisable American communities. 

1977, King published The Shining and released his first novel under the pseudonym Richard Bachman (Rage), a tactic used to publish more than one book a year without oversaturating the "King market". 

1982 In response to critics who dismissed his horror writing, King published Different Seasons, a collection of four dramatic novellas. Three of the four were adapted into major films: Apt Pupil, Stand by Me, and The Shawshank Redemption. 

1986–1987 King published It and Misery, two of his most enduringly popular novels. 

2000 Published On Writing, combining autobiography with practical advice for writers. 

2026 King continued publishing with Other Worlds Than These, returning to the interconnected fantasy worlds associated with The Talisman and The Dark Tower. 

APPEARANCE King stands approximately six feet four inches tall. His official biography describes blue eyes and fair skin, and he has worn glasses since childhood. His appearance has varied between clean-shaven, moustached and bearded, with his beard sometimes following baseball’s off-season rather than fashion’s calendar. (1)

Stephen King 2005 By bunkosquad / Michael Femia -

FASHION Comfort generally takes precedence over glamour. Interviewers have encountered him in jeans, trainers and novelty T-shirts rather than literary-celebrity finery. He has said explicitly that fashion and extravagant possessions do not particularly interest him, although cars are an admitted weakness.  (3), (6)

CHARACTER Despite his frightening fictional worlds, interviewers have described King as gracious, funny, candid and hospitable. He remains remarkably disciplined, but success has not eliminated insecurity: he has acknowledged worrying that a new story will fail or that he will be unable to finish it. (3), (6)

He has also freely admitted to irrational fears. In a 1984 newspaper essay, he identified himself as someone frightened of the number 13. In an earlier interview, he discussed sleeping with a bedroom light on; that is a documented historical admission, not proof of his present sleeping arrangements. (7), (8)

SPEAKING VOICE His interview style is informal, conversational and frequently earthy. He explains storytelling through everyday examples, jokes and anecdotes rather than academic terminology. Recorded readings also reveal his willingness to perform uncomfortable or grotesque passages from his fiction without adopting a grand literary manner. (3), (4)

SENSE OF HUMOUR King’s humour often combines the macabre with cheerful self-mockery. After Richard Bachman’s identity was exposed, the imaginary author was declared dead from “cancer of the pseudonym.” King nevertheless continued publishing supposedly rediscovered or posthumous Bachman material, allowing the joke to outlive its fictional victim. (9)

He once joked that, having written novels about two people trapped in a bedroom and then one person trapped there, his next logical project might simply be called “Bedroom,” with no characters at all. (3)

RELATIONSHIPS King met fellow writer Tabitha Spruce while both were students working in the University of Maine library. They married on January 2, 1971 and have three children: Naomi, Joseph and Owen. Their early married life involved laundry work, teaching, doughnut-shop shifts and considerable financial strain. Tabitha has remained an important first reader, practical supporter and independent novelist. (1), (6)

Author Joe Hill, Stephen King's son, went ten years of successful independent writing before announcing his relationship to his dad. Even his agent remained unaware for eight years, although Hill told him before the general public knew. (10)

Hill in 2007 By jlassen - https://www.flickr.com

MONEY AND FAME Doubleday paid a $2,500 advance for Carrie. The paperback rights subsequently sold for $400,000, of which King received half under his publishing agreement. The important distinction is that this was a rights transaction, not a verified estimate of his eventual personal fortune. (3), (11)

King values wealth chiefly for the freedom it provides: supporting his family, buying books and music, and continuing to write. He and Tabitha have supported libraries, scholarships, medical institutions and other charities, often preferring donations to attract little personal publicity. (1), (6)

FOOD AND DRINK King has expressed a preference for tea over coffee and a liking for anchovies on pizza. 

His hospitality can be thoroughly ordinary: a Paris Review interviewer received roast chicken, several salads and key lime pie. 

Alcohol, however, became a destructive addiction rather than a harmless accompaniment to literary life. (3), (6)

MUSIC AND ARTS Rock music is one of his great enthusiasms. He particularly admires Bruce Springsteen’s songwriting and has singled out Nebraska as a favourite album. He also collaborated with John Mellencamp on the musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. (6)

King played guitar with the Rock Bottom Remainders, the literary band associated with writers including Amy Tan and Dave Barry. He regards his musical ability more modestly than his writing talent: guitar-playing is something he enjoys, whereas storytelling feels like his natural occupation. (1), (6)

WRITING CAREER Stephen King has accumulated enough literary honours to fill a small haunted mansion, including the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2003, the National Medal of Arts in 2014, and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. Yet his career began with a novel he very nearly consigned to the rubbish bin. Carrie, his first published novel, was inspired in part by two girls he knew from school: one was bullied for wearing second-hand clothes, while the other grew up in an intensely religious household. Both died young, one by suicide at 14 and the other from an epileptic seizure.

King initially gave up on Carrie and threw away the first few pages. Fortunately for the future of horror literature, his wife, Tabitha, retrieved them from the bin. She liked the idea and offered to help him with the female perspective, a useful contribution given that the story centres on a teenage girl with telekinetic powers and a particularly disastrous prom night. Thirty publishers rejected the manuscript before Doubleday accepted it. The paperback rights then sold for $400,000, transforming the struggling schoolteacher's prospects and launching a career that would make him one of the world's most successful authors.

King's fictional universe is almost as crowded as his bibliography, with characters and places occasionally wandering between books as though they have missed their train home. It and The Shining, for instance, share a connection through Dick Hallorann, the Overlook Hotel's head chef in The Shining, who also appears in It. Hallorann's presence is one of the threads linking King's stories into a larger fictional world, where even a minor character may have a life beyond the book in which you first meet him.

Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film adaptation of The Shining produced one of horror cinema's more amusing real-life twists. In King's novel, young Danny Torrance encounters terrifying events in Room 217. Kubrick changed the number to Room 237 at the request of Timberline Lodge in Oregon, whose exterior stood in for the Overlook Hotel. The lodge's management reportedly feared that guests might be reluctant to book the real Room 217 after seeing the film. Timberline did not actually have a Room 237, so the change seemed a sensible precaution. It rather backfired: Room 217 subsequently became the lodge's most requested room. Apparently, a little cinematic terror is no obstacle when people can sleep in the very room that inspired it.

LITERATURE King reads widely rather than respecting a strict division between “literary” and popular fiction. His youthful reading ranged from crime novelist Ed McBain to Jack London and Thomas Hardy. He has defended accessible storytelling against critics who assume that commercial success automatically indicates inferior writing. 

His often-quoted working target of 2,000 words daily belongs to the routine described in On Writing, not an immutable lifelong rule. Later interviews document a slower pace, although regular reading and writing remain central to his working life. (3), (6)

NATURE Maine’s woods, lakes, roads and small settlements supply much of King’s fictional landscape. Familiar surroundings become unsettling precisely because they are recognisable. He has also expressed concern that technological power and the consumption of natural resources are advancing faster than humanity’s ability to behave responsibly. (1), (6)

PETS A family tragedy helped shape Pet Sematary: King found his daughter Naomi’s cat, Smucky, dead beside the road. The family buried the animal in a nearby pet cemetery. Naomi’s grief, together with the dangerous traffic outside their home, contributed directly to a novel about bereavement and the temptation to reverse death. (3)

HOBBIES AND SPORTS King is a devoted Boston Red Sox supporter. He co-wrote Faithful with Stewart O’Nan, recording the team’s triumphant 2004 season. Baseball and writing have sometimes overlapped: during his recovery from the 1999 accident, he took manuscript pages to Fenway Park and edited between innings and pitching changes. (3)

King wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey at a book signing in November 2004

He has also enjoyed tennis, guitar-playing, films and television, praising programmes including Breaking Bad and The Americans. (4), (6)

SCIENCE AND MATHS Scientific details can place useful limits on his imagination. While writing Cujo, King investigated rabies and discovered that its incubation period prevented one proposed development from working. His principle was straightforward: when reliable facts contradict the plot, change the fiction rather than distort reality to preserve it. (3)

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Raised Methodist, King attended church and summer Bible school as a child. As an adult, he distinguished personal belief from organised religion, which he considers capable of manipulation and hypocrisy. He has described belief in God as a deliberate choice and a source of strength, particularly in maintaining sobriety, while remaining uncertain about an afterlife. (2), (6)

POLITICS King is a Democrat and an outspoken participant in public debate. His concerns have included gun violence, civil liberties, inequality and environmental responsibility. He accepts that political statements can cost him readers, arguing that disagreement with an author’s politics need not prevent someone from enjoying the author’s fiction. (2), (6)

King campaigning for Gary Hart in 1984

SCANDAL His career has generated controversy more through his writing and opinions than through conventional celebrity scandal. Literary critic Harold Bloom attacked the decision to honour him with the National Book Foundation’s medal. King regarded such hostility as evidence of an entrenched prejudice against popular fiction and genre writing. (6)

MILITARY RECORD King did not serve in the armed forces. After university, a draft-board examination classified him 4-F, medically unfit for military service, because of high blood pressure, restricted vision, flat feet and punctured eardrums. His opposition to the Vietnam War had already developed during his student years. (1)

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS King struggled severely with alcohol and cocaine. In On Writing, he admitted barely remembering the composition of Cujo. That is more accurate than claiming he remembered nothing or remained blacked out throughout its creation. He also described writing The Tommyknockers with cotton swabs in his nose to control cocaine-induced bleeding. (12)

He later interpreted Misery through his addiction: Annie Wilkes represented the cocaine that appeared to be his greatest supporter while imprisoning and destroying him. His recollections make clear that professional productivity did not mean he was functioning safely or happily. (6)

On June 19, 1999, a van struck him while he walked near his Maine home, causing devastating injuries, including fractures and a collapsed lung. Tabitha arranged for the vehicle to be purchased to prevent its exploitation as memorabilia. Although King imagined smashing it himself, it was quietly crushed instead. (3), (4)

HOMES King’s residences have included Bangor and Center Lovell in Maine, and a winter home in Florida. The much-photographed Victorian Bangor house became a landmark for readers, but its sinister-looking exterior should not obscure the ordinary family life conducted behind it. He has generally preferred Maine to more fashionable centres of celebrity life. (1), (6)

King's home in Bangor By Julia Ess 

TRAVEL A move to Boulder, Colorado, in 1974 helped produce The Shining. During their Colorado period, Stephen and Tabitha visited the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park as its season was ending. The nearly deserted hotel and its long corridors provided an unusually productive setting for his imagination.  (3)

In 1977, the family attempted a year in England, but returned to Maine after approximately three months. His travels have repeatedly supplied material, yet his strongest geographical attachment has remained to his home state. (1)

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA King played the unfortunate Jordy Verrill in Creepshow and made cameos in adaptations including Pet Sematary and It Chapter Two. He also appeared as himself in The Simpsons. His directorial venture, Maximum Overdrive, reached cinemas in 1986. 

He has remained famously dissatisfied with Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, particularly its treatment of Jack and Wendy Torrance. By contrast, he has praised Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. (6)

Frank Darabont obtained the Shawshank adaptation rights for $5,000. King never cashed the cheque; he eventually framed and returned it with a humorous message suggesting Darabont keep it available for bail money. The source story was a novella, not a full-length novel. (11)

ACHIEVEMENTS King has sold hundreds of millions of books and helped make horror a central part of contemporary popular culture. 

His honours include the National Book Foundation’s 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, numerous Bram Stoker Awards and an Edgar Award. 

His charitable support has also benefited libraries, education and community institutions. 

Sources: (1) Stephen King’s official website: Biography, appearances and awards (2) Stephen King’s official website: Frequently asked questions (3) The Paris Review: The Art of Fiction No. 189 (4) NPR: Stephen King’s Fresh Air interviews (5) Joseph Maddrey: King’s childhood railway account and Stand by Me (6) Rolling Stone: Stephen King interview (7) Le Nouvel Obs: Extracts from King’s 1983 Playboy interview (8) The New York Times: Stephen King’s articles, including his 1984 essay on fearing 13 (9) Wikipedia: Richard Bachman (10) Associated Press: Joe Hill’s family connection revealed (11) Montana Senior News: Carrie’s paperback-rights sale (12) The New York Review of Books: King of High & Low