Stephen King
"We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones."
Stephen King is one of the most famous authors in the world, and is known as the ‘King of Horror’. He has sold more than 350 million books, and is a staple on best-seller lists every time he publishes something new.
Just some of his most notable works include It, The Stand, the Dark Tower series, Mr. Mercedes, The Shining, and Pet Sematary. King has also penned On Writing, a release that’s part memoir and part writing masterclass from one of the biggest names in the business.
Overall, King has won countless awards, including the 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2007 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America, and the National Medal of Arts in 2014. Many of his works have been adapted for television and film, and his contribution to modern horror and mystery simply cannot be understated.
Meet Stephen King
Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. He made his first professional short story sale in 1967 to Startling Mystery Stories. In the fall of 1973, he began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co. accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write full-time.
Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to a number of charities including many libraries and have been honoured locally for their philanthropic activities. Together, they have three children, including Joe Hill, who has carved a reputation for himself as a lauded horror writer in his own right.