KING, Stephen

(1947-)

   US writer of HORROR fiction. With over 80 million books in print already-his first book was published less than 20 years ago-he is probably the most successful bestseller novelist in history; the example of his success has revolutionized the horror-fiction business, which is considerably more flourishing in 1990 than it was in 1975.At first he was attracted to sf, beginning with the unpublished novel The Aftermath (written when he was 16) and, commercially, with "The Glass Floor" forStartling Mystery Stories in 1967. Night Shift (coll 1978) collects much of his early short fiction, his main market then being Cavalier; it includes some grisly sf in the pulp style. He was perhaps diverted from a conventional sf career by the response of Donald A. WOLLHEIM to his first novel submission: "We here at ACE BOOKS are not interested in negative Utopias."SK has since concentrated on horror/fantasy with occasional sfgrounding, as exemplified by the focus on PSI POWERS, notably TELEKINESIS, in his first published novel, Carrie (1974), successfully filmed as CARRIE (1976). Other paranormal talents feature in The Dead Zone (1979)(precognition) and Firestarter (1980) (pyrokinesis), both also filmed (The DEAD ZONE and FIRESTARTER). While SK does not have the analytical approach of the HARD-SF writer, and is not especially interested in "explanations" of his GOTHIC creations, he has a down-to-earth qualitywhich gives even his purely supernatural fiction a true sf "feel"; he eschews the nebulous; he describes and specifies with some exactness.Under his own name SK has written two further novels which are sf by any measure (though both incorporate elements from other genres). The earlier andbetter is THE STAND (abridged from manuscript 1978; with text largely restored, rev 1990 UK), a long and intelligent story of the HOLOCAUST AND AFTER in the USA, beginning with the accidental release of a germ-warfarevirus by the US military; in the second half of the book a supernatural struggle between powers of light and darkness weakens the impact from an sf point of view, but the novel remains a very superior example of its genre, clearly owing something to George R. STEWART's EARTH ABIDES (1949), but not imitative of it. THE STAND (1994) is an unusually strong tv miniseries that deals well with this long and complex story. The Tommyknockers (1987) is gothic horror dressed in sf clothes, a lurid,eminently readable tale of an alien SPACESHIP buried for millions of years and now dug up, and of the effects it has on people nearby: sudden technological brilliance, physiological changes and a melding into a group mind. A four-hour ABC tv miniseries dramatization, also called The Tommyknockers, was broadcast in May 1993, and is available onvideotape.The Talisman (1984), with Peter Straub, is an uneasy collaboration in which two very strong individual voices seem to muffle one another; primarily a fantasy quest, it uses the sf device of PARALLEL WORLDS, as does the ongoing Dark Tower fantasy series by SK alone: to dateThe Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (1982), \#2: The Drawing of the Three (1987) and \#3: The Waste Lands (1991); different in tone from most of SK's work - and perhaps more demandingly inventive than usual - these have an undeniable mythic charge, partly because of the alienated-adolescent theme that runs through them. As the series continues, and especially in the third volume, it has looked more like sf and less like pure FANTASY, both in its post-holocaust imagery and in its use of a self-aware AI as a major threat to the protagonists.SK wrote four early novels (the first three before Carrie came out) subsequently published as paperback originals as by Richard Bachman: Rage (1977), The Long Walk (1979), Roadwork (1981), and The Running Man (1982). Shortly after the publication of a fifth, Thinner (1984), Bachman's cover was blown, and an omnibus edition of thefirst four out-of-print Bachman titles was published as The Bachman Books: Four Early Novels by Stephen King (omni 1985; vt The Bachman Books: FourNovels by Stephen King UK). The Long Walk and The Running Man are both fringe sf about futuristic sadistic sports events, the first a marathon walk where those who fall behind are shot, the second duelling to the death as a tv game show; the latter was filmed as The RUNNING MAN (1987).It is generally held that most films based on SK's novels, storiesand original screenplays are poor. In fact Carrie, The Shining (1980), The Dead Zone (1983), Cujo (1983), Stand By Me (1986) and Misery (1990) areall strong films, although SK dislikes the second. The Shawshank Redemption (1994), neither sf nor horror, is a fine prison buddy moviebased on a novella from Different Seasons. Fantasy/horror films aside from those already mentioned are Salem's Lot (tv miniseries 1979), Creepshow (1982), Christine (1983), Cat's Eye (1984), Children of the Corn (1984),Silver Bullet (1985), Creepshow II (1987), Pet Sematary (1989), Graveyard Shift (1990) and It (tv miniseries 1990). Return to Salem's Lot (1987) dir Larry COHEN is "based on characters created by Stephen King". Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), an anthology film based on the tv series of the same name, contains an adaptation of SK's "The Cat from Hell" (1977). The eight-hour tv anthology miniseriesThe Golden Years of StephenKing(1991) was a ratings flop, and was re-released on videotape in 1992 with a new ending and cut to 236 mins.The Dark Half (1991 but released 1993 because of Orion Pictures' financial problems), dir George ROMERO, isa valiant attempt to dramatize a not wholly satisfactory original. SK rightly repudiated the sf film The LAWNMOWER MAN (1992), allegedly based on a short story by him, as having nothing to do with his work, and won a lawsuit demanding that his name be removed from the credits. He wrote an original screenplay for the uneven vampire film Sleepwalkers (1992; vt Stephen King's Sleepwalkers). Children of the Corn II: The FinalSacrifice(1992) is a sequel to a film based on an SK story, but otherwise has no connection with him. Stephen King's "Sometimes They Come Back" (1993) is a 97-min tv movie adaptation dir Tim McLoughlin. Needful Things(1994), 120 mins, dir Fraser C. Heston is less satisfyingly apocalyptic than the original novel.One film adaptation of a story by SK - "Trucks" (1973) - was directed by King himself from his own screenplay: MaximumOverdrive (1986). Though not as bad as some critics stated, it flopped commercially. Technically sf, it has Earth passing through the tail of a comet that mysteriously gives self-awareness to MACHINES (trucks, lawnmowers, hairdryers, electric carving knives, etc.), which then revolt against humans. This paranoid fantasy is crudely made with very broad stereotypes, but at least one sequence, of a boy cycling through a quiet township littered with bodies, suggests latent cinematic talent.SK's occasional critical commentaries, the reverse of academic in style, are usually observant and interesting. Danse Macabre (1981), a study of horror in books, films and comics, won a HUGO for Best Nonfiction Book in 1982.SK's pungent prose, his sharp ear for dialogue, his disarminglylaid-back, frank style, along with his passionately fierce denunciations of human stupidity and cruelty (especially to CHILDREN), put him among the more distinguished of "popular" writers.

   PN

   Other works: 'Salem's Lot (1975); The Shining (1977); The Monkey (1980 chap); Cujo (1981); The Raft (1982 chap); The Plant (1982 chap); Creepshow (coll 1982); Different Seasons (coll 1982); Pet Sematary (1983), one of SK's finest works; Christine (1983; text differs slightly in UK edition); Cycle of the Werewolf (1983; exp as coll with film screenplay "Silver Bullet" 1985); The Eyes of the Dragon (1984; rev 1987); Skeleton Crew (coll 1985; exp by 1 story 1985); It (1986; the 1st edn was the German translation as Es (1986)); Misery (1987); My Pretty Pony (1988 chap); Dolan's Cadillac (1989 chap); The Dark Half (1989 UK); Four Past Midnight (coll 1990); Needful Things (1991); Gerald's Game (1992); Nightmares and Dreamscapes (coll1993); Insomnia (1994).Nonfiction includes: Nightmares in the Sky (1988), a book of photographs by "F-Stop Fitzgerald" with minimal contribution by SK; Bare Bones: Conversations on Terror with Stephen King (coll 1988);Feast of Fear: Conversations with Stephen King (coll 1989).

   About the author: Fear Itself: The Horror Fiction of Stephen King (coll 1982) ed Tim UNDERWOOD and Chuck MILLER; Stephen King: The Art of Darkness (1984; rev.1986) by Douglas E. Winter; The Stephen King Companion (coll 1989) ed George Beahm; many others, including at least 10 from STARMONT HOUSE.

   See also: CINEMA; CLICHES; DISASTER; DISCOVERY AND INVENTION; EC COMICS; ESP; FRANCE; INTELLIGENCE; MEDIA LANDSCAPE; MUSIC.