Into the Mind of Steven King

By: Nicole Shalit

At one point or another, we have all read the books, or seen the movies written by world renown author Steven King. Here is a brief summary of his literary contributions to the world.

Steven King was born in 1947, and married Tabitha Srouce in 1971. They met in the stacks at the University of Maine’s library. Fall of that year, he found a teaching job. The Kings have three children: Naomi Rachel, Joe Hill, and Owen Phillip, who have given them three grandchildren.

King first started writing occasional articles for men’s magazines. His first professional short story, named “The Glass Floor”, was published in Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Over the next few years, he became a teacher and continued to work on his writings at night and over the weekends. In 1973 King his first novel “Carrie” was chosen for publication. By the end of that year, he had written his next novel which went through many name changes before landing the name “Salem’s Lot”. In 1975 “The Shinning” found its way to the bookshelves.

To date King has written 46 novels, many of which have now been made into movies. He has also written a number on screenplays and short stories.

In 1974 the novel Carrie was found on the bookshelves. This book is about the odd girl in school. Carrie was never popular, she didn’t have stylish clothes, and she was the constant bud of jokes. She soon learned that she could move things with her mind by concentrating on them. When a school jock asked Carrie to the prom as an act of kindness, his friends decide to play a joke that would forever change all of their life’s. In 1976 this novel was made into a movie.

In 1982 he wrote a short story named “Apt Pupil” which was published in his book “Different Seasons”. The story is about a boy and an old man’s hideous past. In 1998 this story was created into a full length movie.

The novel “It” was released in 1986. A promise made twenty-eight years ago reunites seven childhood friends in Derry, Maine, where they battled an evil creature that prayed on the local children. Not being sure if they vanquished the creature they promised they would all return at the first sign of trouble. After kids start disappearing, they all come together to form a plan. The movie came out in 1990. It was too long for one tape, and had to be split onto two.

He also wrote the movie “Secret Window” which was released in 2004. Mort Rainy, and author, and his wife have separated, and he moves into their cabin in the woods. While he is taking some time off, he gets a strange visit from John Shooter who claims Rainy copied one of his books. This movie was written from a short story in King’s book “Four Past Midnight”.

His work hasn’t stopped. In the past year, eight of his writings have been made into movies. 1408 is now in theaters, and three movies are in pre production. He also has a series, The Dead Zone, which started in 2002. To date there are 80 episodes and it is currently in its sixth season. There are also two TV miniseries that are in the works.

You can go to any store where you can find books and movies, and you are almost certain to find the works of Steven King.

Below is a list of Steven King’s written work, between the years of 1974- present.

 

Title	Type	Year
1408	Short Story	2002
All That You Love Will Be Carried Away	Short Story	2002
Apt Pupil	Short Story	1982
Autopsy Room Four	Short Story	2002
Bag of Bones	Novel	1998
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet	Short Story	1985
Battleground	Short Story	1978
Beachworld	Short Story	1985
Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2)	Short Story	1985
Black House	Novel	2001
Blaze (Written as Richard Bachman)	Novel	2007
The Body	Short Story	1982
The Boogeyman	Short Story	1978
The Breathing Method	Short Story	1982
Brooklyn August	Short Story	1993
Cain Rose Up	Short Story	1985
Carrie	Novel	1974
Cell	Novel	2006
Chattery Teeth	Short Story	1993
Children of the Corn	Short Story	1978
Christine	Novel	1983
The Colorado Kid	Novel	2005
Creepshow I	Comic Book	1982
Crouch End	Short Story	1993
Cujo	Novel	1981
Cycle of the Werewolf	Illustrated Novel	1984
Danse Macabre	Non-Fiction	1980
The Dark Half	Novel	1989
The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger	Novel	1982
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three	Novel	1987
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands	Novel	1991
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard & Glass	Novel	1997
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of The Calla	Novel	2003
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah	Novel	2004
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower	Novel	2004
The Dead Zone	Novel	1979
The Death of Jack Hamilton	Short Story	2002
Dedication	Short Story	1993
Desperation	Novel	1996
Different Seasons	Story Collection	1982
The Doctor’s Case	Short Story	1993
Dolan’s Cadillac	Short Story	1989
Dolan’s Cadillac	Short Story	1993
Dolores Claiborne	Novel	1992
Dreamcatcher	Novel	2001
The End of the Whole Mess	Short Story	1993
Everything’s Eventual	Short Story	2002
Everything’s Eventual	Story Collection	2002
The Eyes of the Dragon	Novel	1987
The Fifth Quarter	Short Story	1993
Firestarter	Novel	1980
For Owen	Short Story	1985
Four Past Midnight	Story Collection	1990
From a Buick 8	Novel	2002
Gerald’s Game	Novel	1992
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon	Children’s Book	TBD
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon	Novel	1999
Gramma	Short Story	1985
Graveyard Shift	Short Story	1978
Gray Matter	Short Story	1978
The Green Mile 1: The Two Dead Girls	Serial Novel	1996
The Green Mile 2: The Mouse on the Mile	Serial Novel	1996
The Green Mile 3: Coffey’s Hands	Serial Novel	1996
The Green Mile 4: The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix	Serial Novel	1996
The Green Mile 5: Night Journey	Serial Novel	1996
The Green Mile 6: Coffey on the Mile	Serial Novel	1996
The Green Mile	Novel	2000
Head Down	Non-Fiction Story	1993
Hearts in Atlantis	Story Collection	1999
Here There Be Tygers	Short Story	1985
Home Delivery	Short Story	1993
The House on Maple Street	Short Story	1993
I Am the Doorway	Short Story	1978
I Know What You Need	Short Story	1978
In The Deathroom	Short Story	2002
Insomnia	Novel	1994
It	Novel	1986
It Grows on You	Short Story	1993
The Jaunt	Short Story	1985
Jerusalem’s Lot	Short Story	1978
L.T.’s Theory of Pets	Short Story	2002
The Langoliers	Short Story	1990
The Last Rung on the Ladder	Short Story	1978
The Lawnmower Man	Short Story	1978
The Ledge	Short Story	1978
The Library Policeman	Short Story	1990
Lisey’s Story	Novel	2006
Little Sisters of Eluria	Short Story	2002
The Long Walk	Novel	1979
Luckey Quarter	Short Story	2002
Lunch at the Gotham Cafe	Short Story	2002
The Man in the Black Suit	Short Story	2002
The Man Who Loved Flowers	Short Story	1978
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands	Short Story	1985
The Mangler	Short Story	1978
Memory	Short Story	2006
Misery	Novel	1987
The Mist	Short Story	1985
The Monkey	Short Story	1985
Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1)	Short Story	1985
The Moving Finger	Short Story	1993
Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut	Short Story	1985
My Pretty Pony	Short Story	1993
My Pretty Pony (limited edition)	Short Story	1989
My Pretty Pony	Short Story	1989
Needful Things	Novel	1991
The Night Flier	Short Story	1993
Night Shift	Story Collection	1978
Night Surf	Short Story	1978
Nightmares & Dreamscapes	Story Collection	1993
Nona	Short Story	1985
On Writing	Non-Fiction	2000
One for the Road	Short Story	1978
Paranoid: A Chant	Short Story	1985
Pet Sematary	Novel	1983
The Plant	Serial Novel	2000
Popsy	Short Story	1993
Quitters, Inc.	Short Story	1978
The Raft	Short Story	1985
Rage	Novel	1977
Rainy Season	Short Story	1993
The Reach	Short Story	1985
The Reaper’s Image	Short Story	1985
The Regulators	Novel	1996
Riding the Bullet	Short Story	1999
Riding the Bullet	Short Story	2002
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption	Short Story	1982
Road Virus Heads North, The	Short Story	2002
Roadwork	Novel	1981
Rose Madder	Novel	1995
The Running Man	Novel	1982
Salem’s Lot	Novel	1975
Secret Window, Secret Garden	Short Story	1990
Secret Windows	Non-Fiction	2000
The Shining	Novel	1977
Six Stories	Story Collection	1997
Skeleton Crew	Story Collection	1985
Sneakers	Short Story	1993
Sometimes They Come Back	Short Story	1978
Sorry, Right Number	Short Story	1993
The Stand	Novel	1978
The Stand, The Complete and Uncut Edition	Novel	1990
Storm of the Century	Screenplay	1999
Strawberry Spring	Short Story	1978
Suffer the Little Children	Short Story	1993
The Sun Dog	Short Story	1990
Survivor Type	Short Story	1985
The Talisman	Novel	1984
The Ten O’Clock People	Short Story	1993
That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French	Short Story	2002
Thinner	Novel	1984
Tommyknockers	Novel	1987
Trucks	Short Story	1978
Umney’s Last Case	Short Story	1993
Uncle Otto’s Truck	Short Story	1985
The Wedding Gig	Short Story	1985
The Woman in the Room	Short Story	1978
Word Processor of the Gods	Short Story	1985
You Know They’ve Got a Hell of a Band	Short Story	1993