King of Horror – Stephen King

Stephen King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels.  He is commonly known as the King of Horror and has sold more than 350 million copies of books.  His books have also been adapted into film and television series as well as comic books.

Where did Stephen King grow up?

Stephen King was born 21 September 1947 in Portland, Maine, America.   His father, Donald Edwin King, was a travelling vacuum salesman after World War II.   He came from Indiana.  His mother, Nellie Ruth King married Donald in Scarborough, Maine on 23 July 1939.   King’s father abandoned the family when King was two years old, leaving his mother to raise him and his older brother David alone.  She suffered great financial strain at times and relied heavily on relatives for assistance.  When King was 11, the family moved to Durham, Maine where his mother worked as a caregiver in a local residential facility for the mentally challenged.  Kind was raised Methodist but lost his religious beliefs in high school.  He, however, still chooses to believe in the existence of God.

King graduated from the University of Maine in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in English.  He met his wife, Tabatha Spruce, at the Fogler Library after a lecture by Professor Burton Hatlen.  He had been participating in a writing workshop at the time.  They wed in 1971.

After university, King acquired a certificate to teach high school but struggled to find a teaching position.  To support his family, he started selling short stories to men’s magazines like the Cavalier.  He was later hired as a teacher at Hampden Academy, Maine.

What was Steven Kings first book to be published?

Although Stephen King had written 4 novels prior to this, Carrie was the first novel published in 1973.  It was published through Doubleday publishing house.  It had started off as a short story for the Cavalier, but with his wife’s encouragement, and her borrowed typewriter, he finished the novel version.  It was the break King needed and Doubleday editor William Thompson wrote a telegram to King stating something to the effect: “Carrie Officially A Doubleday Book. $2,500 Advance Against Royalties. Congrats, Kid”.  A telegram was used as the King’s phone was out of service on this day.    The story later became a horror film.

What awards has Stephen King received?

Stephen King has received many awards listed below:

Bram Stoker Awards

World Fantasy Awards

British Fantasy Society Awards

Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters awarded my National Book Foundation

He also received awards for his contribution to literature for his entire bibliography:

World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement 2004

Grand Master Award (2007) from the Mystery Writers of America

National Medal of Arts 2015 from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts

The Dark Tower books series

What started as a single book called The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, later developed into a series of interconnecting stories known as The Dark Tower Series.  This series began in the 1970’s.  It is about a gunslinger, Roland Deschain, who pursues the Men in Black in an alternate universe.

Books belonging to this series:

The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger 1982 – Available on Bakgat Books

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Tree 1987 – Available on Bakgat Books

The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands 1991

The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass 1997

The Dark Tower IV S: The Wind Through The keyhole 2012

The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla 2003

The Dark Tower VI: Songs of Susannah 2004

The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower 2004

The Dark Tower Concordance 2012

Other Steven King Books featured on Bakgat Books:

The Insomnia

Rose Madder

The Dead Zone

Elevation

Green Mile

Carrie

 Books Available on Bakgat Books: