Essay About Stephen King And Stephen Edwin King

Stephen King – the Master of Malice
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The Master Of Malice
“It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there
to write, remind yourself why it isnt in the middle of the room. Life isnt a support
system for art. Its the other way around” states Stephen King in his book On Writing
(94). Stephen King is a world-renowned author for his works in horror fiction, fiction,
cinema and television. He has published more than forty novels and written nine
screenplays (Adams 1). Stephen King draws a great deal of his inspiration from his
surroundings, his job and his life experiences.
Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. Stephen came as a
surprise to his parents, Nellie Ruth and Pillsbury King. Mrs. King was told she would
never conceive. The couple had adopted a son, David, Stephens older brother. When
Stephen was just a toddler his parents divorced. Nellie moved Stephen and David to
Indiana for a short time then to Connecticut. At the age of twelve, Stephens small family
moved back to Maine (Stephen King.com 1-2).
Stephen showed an interest in writing at a young age. When he was growing up
his brother would allow Stephen to write articles for “Daves Rag”, his brothers
independently published newspaper (Full Biography 2). Throughout his
childhood he would read articles from horror comics and become inspired. He began to
write short stories and sell them to his mothers friends for a nickel (King On Writing
15). Stephen graduated from Lisbon Falls High School where he was sought after to be
on the newspaper staff. Stephen sold his first professional story to Starting Mystery
Stories in 1967 (Stephen King.com 1-2).
Stephen King met his wife, Tabitha, while attending the University of Maine at
Orono. Tabitha and Stephen were married in January of 1971. The couple lived in a small
apartment; their only source of income was Stephens salary as a laborer at an industrial
laundry. In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching sophomore English in Hampden
Maine and working on short stories on the evenings and weekends. In 1973, his first
novel Carrie was published. Not long after that his second novel Salams Lot was
published. With the money made from the two novels Stephen and Tabitha moved to
Colorado on the fall of 1974. While there Stephen wrote The Shining, which is set in
Colorado. This novel cemented Stephens place as a popular horror fiction novelist.
Stephen and Tabitha moved back to Maine to start a family. They currently have three
children: Naomi, Joe and Owen (Stephen King.com 1-2 ).
In 1976, Stephen realized he had a problem. He was an alcoholic. He was also
addicted to cocaine. The problem only got progressively worse over the course of eight
years (Adams 6). The problem began to surface in his characters. “I began to scream for
help in the only way I knew how, through my fiction and through my monsters.” (King
On Writing 91-92). Today, King is clean and sober. His only problems are his fears of
insects, dark, death, closed-in places, rats, snakes and deformity. Also Stephen King has
a slight case of paranoia. (Full Biography 1)
In 1977, King began to write novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.
King made a whole life story for Bachman and told nearly no one that they were one in
the same. Bachman died of cancer in 1985. When asked why he did it King replied, “I
wanted to know what was in a name” (Full Biography 10). At the time of his death,
Bachman had published five novels: Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, The Running
Man and Thinner (9). Rage was actually written when King was 18. He drew the
inspiration for the book from his teen years (Adams 5).
On Saturday June 19 1999, at the age of 51 Stephen King was involved in an
almost fatal accident. He was on his daily four-mile walk when he was hit by a car. The
man who hit him was distracted by his dog and lost control of his car. King had to endure
ten hours of surgery to be repaired enough to be able to someday walk. At the present
time, King is well and able to walk (Full Biography 7). The accident gave King, if
nothing else new topics to write about. “You have to put your experiences to use for
you” (Adams 7). Kings negative experiences help to shape his writing carrier.
The settings within Stephen Kings writings are