Stephen King

Stephen King 1947-, American writer, b. Portland, Maine. He writes horror stories influenced by the 19th-century Gothic tradition, especially that of Edgar Allan Poe . His novels, short stories, screenplays, and essays have made him one of the best-selling authors in the world. King takes everyday situations and experiences and reveals their macabre and horrific potential. Noted for their cinematic style, many of his novels and stories have been turned into successful motion pictures, some with screenplays by King, e.g., Pet Sematary (1989, film 1992). His novels include Carrie (1974, film 1976), The Shining (1977, film 1980), Misery (1987, film 1990), Needful Things (1991, film 1993), Dolores Claiborne (1992, film 1995), Rose Madder (1995), Bag of Bones (1998), Dreamcatcher (2001, film 2003), a seven-volume fantasy series entitled The Dark Tower (1982-2004), Cell and Lisey's Story (both: 2006), and Duma Key (2008). His novella Riding the Bullet (2000, film 2004) was released as an electronic entity, to be read on an e-book reader, personal digital assistant, or computer, and a subsequent novel, The Plant, was electronically self-published and released in installments on the Internet beginning in 2000. In his On Writing (2000), King describes his life, his craft, and a near-fatal accident.

King, Stephen (1947– ) US novelist and short-story writer. King is a master of the modern horror novel. Many of his books, such as The Shining (1977) and Misery (1987), have been made into successful films.

King, Stephen (1947–), born in Maine and educated at its state university, early became and has long continued to be a very popular novelist of science fiction and horror stories, including Carrie (1973), The Stand (1978), The Dead Zone (1979), Pet Sematary (1983), and The Dark Half (1989). King is ultra prolific, publishing a book a year, nearly all bestsellers, the most recent of which include Bag of Bones (1998), The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999), Hearts in Atlantis (1999), Dreamcatcher (2001), From a Buick 8 (2002), and several new volumes in his popular Dark Tower series. In 2003 he was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.