My Favorite Author: Stephen King

Sarah Vincent//Blog Writer

 

Spoiler Alert: Many Stephen King novels are discussed in this article. There are details in here that explain the ending of some, along with major plot points.

 

If you’ve ever read a book or seen a movie, you probably are aware of the work of Stephen King. He is a novelist who writes primarily horror fiction and has taken over the horror genre. Writers all over are aware of his success, and if he endorses someone, it’s that person’s lucky day.

I first begged my parents to let me read Stephen King when I was super young. They thought that it would be too much for me, and that the language would be hard to follow. I first picked up Carrie. If I was to read him finally, I wanted to pick the first book that he ever wrote and start there.

My initial understanding of Stephen King was that he wrote all about horror. Probably ghosts and vampires (which he does) and blood and gore. Yet when I actually read several of his books, I found that he didn’t write the typical horror novel that I was expecting. It was my first introduction into what horror could be, and I fell in love with it.

Stephen King knows how to take a reader and verbally show them some of their worst fears. Carrie was about a girl who was completely controlled by her religious mother, who had to go through high school without understanding her body, and not being accustomed to other people. But, she also was telekinetic and that is just a casual part of her in a very normal world. In Cujo, the idea of a lovable dog becoming rabid and mauling a small child and a mother is not the traditional monster story, yet he makes it its own story that is unlike most others. The scariest part of this story is not that there is a rabid dog lurking around outside of their dead car, but that there is nowhere that this mother can go to save her child. When they finally do get rescued, you realize that you’ve been reading about a mother who has gone into a hysteria and has been spending days trying to keep her already dead son alive.

Stephen King has not only written what feels like hundreds of books, but he has helped in the making of his books’ movies. He has had at least 72 of his books turned into movies or TV series, and producers are still making them. There is something that has stuck about Stephen King, and I think it has to do with his ability to capture fear and horror in new and unique ways. After reading several of his books, I can say that there are no two that are alike unless they belong to a series. Most of King’s ideas are crazy, and they are so imaginative and interesting that it’s a wonder how he comes up with so many stories.

On a non-book related note, Stephen King is also known for his voice in politics. He is one of the most well-known authors, and he seems pretty untouchable. He is constantly tweeting things about the way that the country is being run, and is not afraid that what he says will effect him. He is an activist, much like his wife, and he knows that he has a certain power because of who he is. This kind of eliminates his fear of speaking out, because he knows that his books will still sell, and people will still like him. I think that this just adds to the many reasons why I love him. He uses his power to speak for other people who don’t have a voice. He fact checks Donald Trump on the daily, and he and other prestigious authors like J.K. Rowling have a lot of fun poking at the government.

King is also always coming out with new projects, whether they may be collaborated stories or working on a new book that he has planned. He is always promoting the genre of horror. I wholeheartedly believe that if an up-and-coming horror author wants to make it in the genre world of horror, an endorsement from Stephen King could change their lives, because once he says that he enjoyed your book, then you have made an impact on him, therefore it is possible to make an impact on other people.

For people who like horror, or are interested in new ways horror can be shown, I suggest picking up a Stephen King novel. If you go into any book store ever, there will be books by Stephen King. Every book that you pick up will be different from the last, and you will find that fear finds its way to you, even if you try to ignore it.