At a glance
| Born | September 21, 1947, Portland, Maine |
| Known for | Carrie, The Shining, It, The Stand, Misery |
| Active | 1974–present |
| Role | Novelist, short-story writer; directed one feature |
Overview
Stephen King is the reason a large share of American horror films exist. Carrie (1974) was the first novel. The Shining, It, Pet Sematary, Misery, and The Stand followed, and studios have been adapting him ever since. He is not a director. Maximum Overdrive (1986), from his own short story, is the one feature he directed, and he has treated it as a mistake made during a period of heavy cocaine use. On this site he is filed with the directors because the broken links point at his name the same way.
He lives in Maine, sets most of the books there, and has published under the name Richard Bachman. The novels are longer than the films. The films are what the wiki can link.
Career
King was teaching high school in Maine when Carrie sold. Brian De Palma’s 1976 film made the book famous in a way the paperback alone had not. Salem’s Lot, The Shining, and The Stand arrived in a rush. Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) is the adaptation King has argued with for decades. He wrote and produced a 1997 miniseries as a correction. Most viewers still mean the Kubrick film when they say the title.
The 1980s adaptations are a mixed shelf: Christine, Cujo, Firestarter, Children of the Corn, Pet Sematary (1989). Misery (1990), directed by Rob Reiner, is the one King has praised without the usual reservations. Kathy Bates plays Annie Wilkes. It (1986) was a novel about a town and a cycle. The 1990 miniseries and the 2017/2019 films are different cuts of that idea. Doctor Sleep (2019) continues the Kubrick film more than it continues King’s sequel novel, with King’s involvement.
He was hit by a van in 1999 and nearly died. The later novels — under the Dome, 11/22/63, the Bill Hodges trilogy, Holly — are not all horror. The horror ones still get filmed. He cameos often: a priest in Pet Sematary, a band member in Maximum Overdrive, a customer in It Chapter Two. The Bachman books, especially The Running Man and Thinner, were a second career he used when publishers wanted fewer King novels a year.
Works adapted on this site
- The Shining (1977 novel; 1980 film)
- Misery (1987 novel; 1990 film)
- Pet Sematary (1983 novel; 1989 film)
- It (1986 novel; 2017 and 2019 films)
- Doctor Sleep (2013 novel; 2019 film)
Trivia
- Carrie was accepted for publication after his wife, Tabitha, pulled the draft out of the trash.
- He announced his retirement in 2002 and then did not retire.
- Richard Bachman was exposed in 1985. The name is still used for some releases.
- He has said Kubrick’s Shining is a beautiful film that does not understand the book.
- Maximum Overdrive is the only feature he directed. He does not recommend it.
- The dollar-baby program let student filmmakers adapt his short stories for a dollar. He closed it to new deals in later years.