Steven King: Master of the Macabre

by Marjorie Dorfman | More from this Blogger

27 May 2006 05:37 AM

Born in Portland, Maine on September 21, 1947, his father who was a merchant seaman, deserted the family in 1950 when Steven was only three years old. His mother supported her two sons (Steven and his brother, David) by working odd jobs. By the age of six, his eardrum had been punctured several times, which was a painful experience he would always remember. He began playing in an amateur rock band, editing the school newspaper, "The Drum," and writing stories while attending high school in Lisbon Falls in Durham. In 1960, he submitted his first short story and received his first rejection notice. (There wouldn't be many.) His second story, "In A Half World of Terror", was published in a horror fanzine. In 1970, he graduated from the University of Maine and in 1971 married writer, Tabitha Spruce. The couple have three children two boys and a girl) who are all grown and living on their own.

From 1971 to 1974, King worked as an instructor at Hampden Academy, earning les than $7,000 a year. His first novel, "Carrie" (1974), had been thrown into the garbage and rescued by King's wife who urged him to finish it. As a hardcover, it had only moderate success, selling about 13,000 copies, but Signet paid $400,000 for its paperback rights! The story was made into a film in 1976, and after "Salem's Lot" later that same year, King became known as a major American horror writer.

His next commercial success was "The Shining," the idea of which derived from an extended holiday in Colorado and a visit to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. He was unhappy with the film version, which was directed by Stanley Kubrick, and he himself turned the story into a television miniseries in 1997, some twenty years after the release of the film.

Bangor, Maine, has been King's home for most of his career. His life has had its share of difficulties; he has battled with and won an alcohol and drug addiction, and was terribly injured by a truck in the summer of 1999. He continues to enthrall his adoring public and his genius for the macabre lives on.

What are some of YOUR favorite Stephen King stories? Please share.

Learn more about Marjorie Dorfman

Marjorie Dorfman is a freelance writer and former teacher originally from Brooklyn, New York.

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