Interesting facts about Stephen King. A talented person is talented in everything
Today I would like to talk about the world idol of horror fans - Stephen King. Not so long ago he turned 66 (I just want to add another six). During his life, he wrote more than 250 works, and many of his creations can now rightfully be called cult. Under the cut, I suggest you look at a few unknowns, but interesting facts from the life of a legend of world literature.
Today I would like to talk about the world idol of horror fans - Stephen King. Not so long ago he turned 66 (I just want to add another six). During his life, he wrote more than 250 works, and many of his creations can now rightfully be called cult. Under the cut, I suggest you look at some unknown, but interesting facts from the life of the legend of the world literature.
By the way, Stephen King does not like his "Kerry". He says he doesn't understand main character and does not believe some of the characters. The rights to this novel were sold by his literary agent to Signet Books for $400,000. These money helped the writer's family get out of poverty. First edition of Carrie, 1974.
In the works of King, one can often find analogies with his own biography. The novel "Misery" (1987), in which an abnormal nurse holds the writer captive (the film adaptation of this novel is one of the most successful adaptations King, with the inimitable Kathy Bates, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her role in this film), he wrote about himself in captivity to alcohol and drugs.
The Tommyknockers (1987) is an analogy novel, a cry for help. The voices in the head of the writer, who took possession of her will and invisible alien rulers of the mind. King joked that he had already drunk so much that he did not remember writing "Cujo" (1981), a novel about a St. Bernard who caught rabies. Since the late 80s, the writer has not drunk a drop of alcohol. Kathy Bates as Mad Nurse. One of the scariest shots from the movie Misery, 1990.
In 1999, Stephen King's life could have ended in automotive accidents. Rather, he himself did not get into an accident, he was hit by a van flying at breakneck speed, driven by a not quite normal driver named Brian Smith. At the time of the accident, he reached into the back seat to push his Rottweiler away from the meat fridge. The writer was rescued, and he even returned to normal life, although at first no one believed in such an optimistic outcome, especially the doctor who was the first to examine the writer after the accident. The most interesting thing is that Brian Smith himself is like a character who has descended from the King's pages, flying into reality to do away with the creator.
King, who is known to be a fan of rock music, for a long time played rhythm guitar in the all-writer Rock Bottom Reaminders rock band. Moreover, the group did not just gather in the garage of one of its members, but performed with concerts, had its fans and even brought in a certain income. In addition to music, writers discussed their literary achievements and ideas - such a versatile creative union.
In many of King's works, there are "winks" to the Regular Reader - a person who, without any doubt, exists in reality, for whom Stephen King wrote and still writes. Heroes one work, casually mentioned in another, bringing together various cycles and storylines, the unity of place and time - all these features of writing make the books written by him a single work - the life of a man named Stephen King.
Everyone knows the name of Stephen King. Usually he is presented as a really creepy dude who, with just his appearance, can scare the hell out of him. It may really seem so to some, but this writer is a symbol of our time (prolific, among other things). If you take all of his works and put them in one pile, then they could very well create a floor-to-ceiling column (especially if you include all versions of The Dark Tower). However, most people have seen movies based on Stephen King books, not read them. Almost every book is a ready-made script for a series or a movie. The next project, "Mr. Mercedes" proves that King's films come out as often as new works of the Master of Horror. But who is he in reality? Here are 25 of the most interesting facts about Stephen King that will show you a different side of him.
King and his wife have their own radio station
King - big fan rock and roll. The King family has three radio stations in Bangor, Maine: WKIT-FM, WZLO-FM and WZON-AM. On all the waves of Stephen plays quality music, they come to visit famous people and really interesting thoughts are often discussed, far from politics and vulgarity (and this is now a rarity).
Fan of the Red Sox
Stephen does not miss a single game of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. His fanaticism is so pervasive that he co-wrote one piece about the 2004 sports season with Stuart O'Nan.
The first version of "Carrie" ended up in the trash
Prior to fame, Steven tried to publish in magazines short stories, but he was not always able to write what would be interesting to publishers. At the time, he was writing the first version of Carrie, but found it too boring and threw it in the trash. Thanks to the efforts of his wife Tabitha, the novel nevertheless saw the light and made King famous.
He has two creative pseudonyms
In order to publish more novels a year, King began to use pseudonyms. As a result, seven novels were published under the authorship of Richard Bachman and one novella, the author of which is listed as John Senchen. After the fans figured out the author, he stopped using these names.
loves cameos
Most of King's works were filmed. And King played short cameos in 14 tapes. Only Stan Lee, who plays in every Marvel movie, can surpass him.
« Dark tower» is a link for all books of the author
King has sold over 350,000,000 copies of his books.
Such data only confirms the title of "King of Horrors". Perhaps new estimates will show that even this figure falls short of how many books are actually sold (and self-published and electronic versions are not taken into account).
Alice Cooper wanted to play Pennywise
In the original It miniseries, the evil clown monster was brilliantly played by Tim Curry. But initially it was planned to take a musician for his role, but he could not find the time due to busy schedule tour. Cooper constantly remembers this and regrets that he was not able to bring the clown to life.
48 novels, 84 short stories and 16 short stories
King's rule is at least one piece a year. And he never let himself and his fans down. For my creative career, King wrote 48 novels, 84 short stories and 16 short stories.
In the 80s, King suffered from alcohol and drug addictions.
At the height of his 1980s fame, King dabbled in drugs and alcohol. So he tried to deal with childhood trauma and a stagnant personality crisis. It got to the point where his family wanted nothing to do with him. Good news: together they managed to win bad habits almost killed a genius.
He is afraid to fly
Ironically, the "Master of Horrors" has a lot of phobias. One of them is the fear of flying. He is also terrified of not being able to create.
2000 words a day is the norm
King tries to write at least 2,000 words a day (about 5 sheets of text). That way he can write a novel in a couple of months.
He wrote the musical
King was inspired by Lovecraft
As King himself said, he thought about a career as a writer after reading Howard Lovecraft's short story "Whisperer in the Dark". This explains a lot.
Did with Mike Jackson a joint project
Not everyone knows that King and Jackson were talking and they had an idea to make a short film together called "Ghosts" (it was supposed to continue the idea of the hit "Thriller"). The audience assured: the end result was so bad that the creators decided to forget about it.
He hates "" Kubrick
Fans love both Stanley Kubrick's adaptation and original story written by Stephen King. However, the author himself calls the art house from the famous director " luxury cars from which the engine was removed. King considers the adaptation tasteless and just plain stupid.
The house looks ominous
King Manor looks almost like the home of the Addams family. Ghosts, werewolves, and ghouls can live in it. Neighbors say that better home not available during Halloween.
Dynasty of writers
The writer's wife, Tabitha King, also published several novels. Their children, Joe Hill and Owen King are also prolific authors. Owen married a writer.
As a child, I saw his friend die under a train
As a child, the King family lived near railway and he often played there with his friends. Once he saw how the composition caused the death of his friend. This left a mark on the author's memory and, according to many fans, was the reason for the desire to write horror.
It "is one of the favorite works of the king of horrors
In "It" King invested a lot of his childhood memories and fears, so he called this work one of the most significant. Later, he began to say that the first place with "It" is shared by the novel "11/22/63".
Wrote a comic
King wrote an entire X-Men comic book story arc. It was called "Heroes of Hope". The main goal of creativity is to help the starving children of Africa. Now copies of this comic book cost fabulous money.
Gives autographs only on his books
No one who writes letters to King asking for an autograph gets what they want. The signature of the author can be obtained only at the autograph session.
He was hit by a car
In 1999, King was hit by a 1985 Dodge Caravan. The case was won by the author. The van was bought from the unfortunate driver and King promised that he would smash this car with his own hands.
Banned his own book
King wrote the book Fury while still in school, but did not publish it until adulthood under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. After some events in the author's life began to repeat what happened on the pages of the book, King asked to remove the work from store shelves.
triskadekaphobe
King is afraid of the number 13. He is even afraid to say it. The author says that he will never stop at the 13th page of the text and will continue to write (or read) until he stops at the next one.
Recently released The Dark Tower and the reincarnation of It. Let's hope that King will continue to please us with new works, remaining a prolific author, giving new scripts to Hollywood.
The name of Stephen King needs no introduction. Ask anyone who Stephen King is and they will tell you - a horror movie. Horror book.
American horror writer. And the man who made an unreal fortune on this.
So that you understand what kind of money in question, I'll give an example:
In 1998, King was ranked #31 on the Forbes Top 40 List of Entertainers celebrity list. making about $40 million a year...
Not bad, right?
His books have already been published in hundreds of millions of copies, translated into most languages of the world. Stephen is rightfully considered the richest writer throughout the history of literature. Many of his novels have been made into films.
Take five minutes to read this story and you will find out what made Stephen King a successful and very rich man.
So what made Stephen King such an amazing success?
You will not believe! It was FEAR.
The beginning of Stephen's story did not bode well. But even then he turned out to be a winner in the game with life: his mother was barren, and no longer expected children. But one fine day he appeared :) It was on September 21, 1947 in the small and unremarkable town of Portland in Maine.
The father could not stand the addition of the family. According to one version, he immediately defiantly left, according to another, he quietly left the house for cigarettes after a couple of years - and no one saw him again.
True, 40 years later, Stephen found out that he lived nearby after that day, with a new wife and four children.
But back to Stephen's success story.
So, poverty, an incomplete family were the beginning. Subsequently, this was added own family, all the same poverty, three children and job denials.
And suddenly such a success!
He got lucky? May be.
But most likely, fear helped him in success - an all-consuming fear that settled in him back in deep childhood. Surprisingly, this inevitable feeling can provide a great incentive to success.
Stephen experienced his first fear when he was 4 years old - he witnessed how his friend died, who fell under a freight train. Death was terrible. Stephen suffered a severe shock.
After the unexpected departure of his father from the family, King's mother, Nellie Ruth, had to constantly look for money to feed the children - David and Steve. Steve was constantly ill, and from an early age, he, lying in bed, took a piece of paper and a pen in his hands and began to write his first stories.
Why wrote? Perhaps because he found literary tests of his father in the attic, and wanted to overtake him. And perhaps because the fantasy world helped to distract from the pain.
And after a while, something happened that finally predetermined his fate - in the attic of his own aunt, he found a box with fantastic comics. From that moment on, King began to write only about mysticism and horror. Topic found :)
By the way, many years later he was asked why he writes, King replied:
The answer to this question is quite simple, there is nothing else I would like to do. I started writing short stories because I love writing short stories. That's why I do it.
It is believed that as soon as you find the meaning of life, your main business, everything will go like clockwork.
Stephen was not so.
Yes, he began to write regularly for the student newspaper of the university where he studied, and in 1965 he made his first "real" money by publishing the story "I Was a Teenage Grave Robber." And during his freshman year, King even completed his first full-length novel, The Long Way.
But Stephen continued to be overcome by fear of failure, and when he nevertheless sent the novel to the publisher, he received a harsh refusal. He became very sad and left his novel for a long time.
King decided to forget himself in the army and go to fight in Vietnam, but the medical board declared him unfit to military service based high pressure, poor eyesight and flat feet.
The only thing that got him out creative crisis- this is the marriage to Tabitha in 1971 and the birth of two children after some time - the son of Joe and the daughter of Naomi, and then another third child - the son of Owen.
And King continued to write. It was very difficult - Steven had to work in the laundry, and then as a teacher in English. But this brought very little income, the family had nothing to pay for housing, food and the maintenance of children. Fear for the future of his family may have won, but King did not stop writing.
He put some manuscripts on the table, and some he dared to take to large publishing houses, receiving more and more refusals there, because "they are of no interest to anyone."
In general, the best that King received at this time was that his works were published in erotic magazines for men. When he showed his relatives copies of articles, he diligently covered up all the erotic pictures.
And so it came to one, just as failed, as it seemed to King, the book "Carrie", which he, in a fit of anger after another refusal, threw it into the trash.
However, this was noticed by him and his wife. She made him go back and pick up the book from the trash can and finish it. One gets the impression that the wife of Tabiti very seriously influenced Stephen. And he listened to her in everything :)
It was this very book from the trash that made King famous, and made it possible to say goodbye to a beggarly existence. Now he could feel like a real writer who can earn a living doing what he loves.
And here the second secret of King's success appeared - this is perseverance. He set a goal for himself to write 2,000 words every day. And he did not deviate from his norm for a day.
King also treated money with great respect, and measured the power of talent with it. Those. if a writer earns enough by his labor to eat, or pay for electricity, then he is well done. And if they don’t pay money, then the talent is still weak :)
Few writers could boast such a measure of writing talent. Maybe that's why so many writers have always lived in poverty?
Further, King's fame grows literally at a frantic pace - he writes new books that instantly sell out in millions of copies, dozens of publishing houses fight for his stories that were previously rejected, and box-office films are made based on his works.
But fears do not leave Stephen, so there were more than enough materials and ideas for books. Throughout his life, Stephen draws ideas for his horror films in everyday life. For example, once King and his family went to rest in a secluded hotel and took room 217 there. King was immediately haunted by horrifying visions, and the idea for The Shining was born.
The protagonist of the novel is a semi-crazy alcoholic writer who arrives with his family at a swanky empty hotel to spend the winter there. And under the influence of alcohol, or due to the evil "will" of the hotel, the writer stops writing and begins to kill everyone. Brr.. How did his family endure such stories?
To better write the image of an alcoholic, King himself began to drink alcohol, and then drugs. And then the wife came to the rescue again. Or she, or vices. Stephen, as always, obeyed, and did away with bad habits.
And the book was made into a film that received two Oscars - the best award in cinema.
The Kings got everything they dreamed of - a big own house, cars, possibility of rest abroad, good school for children.
Now Stephen King, like many wealthy people, is actively involved in charity work and often gives interviews, talking about his secrets of success. Or rather, he has no secrets from readers: fear is what created the writer Stephen King.
Congratulations on the 70th birthday of the writer Stephen King, whose literary horror films have captured us for decades, and we also publish 10 facts about this brilliant man.
Photo by Pascal Potier/Zumapress.com/Russian Look
1. World Champion
Over 50 novels, 100 short stories, dozens of non-fiction books and screenplays, countless essays and columns have made Stephen King the most famous author modernity. Sold 400 million copies of his books in 40 languages! He got all the major literary awards United States, except Pulitzer. Hiding at times under the pseudonyms John Sweeten (1972) and Richard Bachman (1977-1985).
2. Frontman
"We give our audience a kick in the ass," King says of the rare amateur performances. rock bands The Rock Bottom Remainders, of which he is the guitarist and vocalist. In addition to him, the necessary tone on the stage is set by such famous authors like The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, Amy Tan, Scott Thurow and Mitch Albom. funny stories from the life of the King and Kº group are told in e-book hard listening.
At the age of 18, he began to drink, constantly increased the turnover and in the early 80s he became addicted to alcohol and drugs.
3. Origins
Stephen King was born September 21, 1947 in Portland, largest city state of Maine. When Stephen was two years old, his father left the family. Mother grabbed any job to make ends meet. After graduating from university, King had a hard life himself. The teacher's salary was not enough, so he worked as an ironer in a laundry, lived in a camping van and wrote short stories. After the publication of the novel "Carrie" in 1973, financial difficulties were left behind.
4. Addiction
According to King himself, at the age of 18 he began to drink, constantly increased his turnover, and in the early 80s he became addicted to alcohol and drugs. His wife insisted on rehab at the clinic. The result was successful: since 1985, King has not taken a drop in his mouth. "I'm still going to be an alcoholic for the rest of my life," says the writer, who works just as obsessively: every day, even on weekends.
5. Discipline
Interestingly, King set himself a writing "quota" of 2,000 words every day. It doesn't stop until it's done. If he did not make up the norm, he makes up in the following days. And the author’s favorite phrase: “Sometimes I myself wonder why I write such horror.”
6. Horror
Death and madness in King often lie in ordinary things, places, people and situations. Neighbors, cars, clowns, policemen and dogs turn into maniacs, monsters and ghosts. In the suburbs, forests, provincial wilderness and in the psyche of his characters, the most terrible abysses lurk. Why are such stories needed? “Horror literature is an exercise in death, it helps you to know your fears,” says the master.
7. Personal life
The writer lives with his wife, Tabitha, in Bangor, Maine, an industrial city that looks as bleak as if it had stepped out of the pages of one of his novels. The couple have been married for 46 years and have three children. Sons Owen and Joe are writers, and daughter Naomi is a clergyman. Tabitha does too writing. She has published eight novels. In 1999, Stephen King was hit by a minibus, the writer received severe injuries. After that, he wanted to end his career, but his family convinced him to continue writing.
Trump should know: Obama never left The White house! He's in the closet! He has scissors!
8 Trump Tweets
“Really, folks, this is embarrassing,” King wrote in an anti-Trump tweet, comparing the presidential administration to the characters in Tom Arnold’s movie “Big Family.” He later ridiculed Trump's report that Barack Obama was listening to him. telephone conversations. King imitated the style of the current president: “Trump should know: Obama never left the White House! He's in the closet! He's got scissors!" When Trump blocked him on Twitter over the summer, King wrote: "Might have to kill myself now."
9. Screen adaptations
20 novels and 25 short stories of the writer were adapted for film and television, which allowed King to become the most filmed author of our time. Films based on the works of King received dozens of Oscar statuettes and nominations for this film award (Kerry, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile"). Directors Brian De Palma, Rob Reiner, John Carpenter and Stanley Kubrick became stars thanks to King's work. As well as actors Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates, John Travolta and Nancy Allen.
10. Tonight at the cinema
Already in 1990, a television movie was made based on the cult novel of the horror king “It”. In 2017, the demonic clown Pennywise with balloons began hunting children again. With fast-paced footage and masterfully choreographed shock sequences, the horror becomes real. A film based on King's fantasy epic The Dark Tower was also released.
He has written and published more than 50 novels (seven of them under the pseudonym Richard Bachman), a huge variety of novels and stories and scripts. Stephen King- multiple winner and winner of more than 20 prestigious national and international awards in literature and cinema. More than a hundred films and television films have been made based on his novels, novellas and stories, including such masters as Brian de Palma, John Carpenter, George Romero, David Cronenberg and Stanley Kubrick. More than 350 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide. The figure, you see, is impressive.
"Evening Moscow" brings to your attention a selection of interesting facts from the biography of the "King of Horrors".
America's Most Mysterious State
Interestingly, so many of King's works take place in his home state of Maine, which he considers "the most mysterious state in America." When Stephen was two years old, his father left the house for cigarettes and was never seen again. He just walked out - and disappeared almost forever. It was not until the 1990s that King found out that his father had simply left for another woman, a Brazilian beauty, with whom he lived very close by and died in 1980.
Football, horror and rock and roll
At school, King was very fond of horror films of the 50s, played in football team(American football) and rock and roll band. So the hobbies of the future famous writer were the most versatile. He graduated from high school in 1966 and entered the University of Maine, graduating in 1970. In 1971, he married Tabitha Spruce, whom he met and befriended at university and who shares his family joys and grief to this day. Stephen sold his first story to a special detective magazine when he himself was still a schoolboy.
Fanatics have occupied King's attention since childhood
At the end of 1950, the attention of eleven-year-old Stephen, like most Americans of that time, was captured by a series of bloody fanatics committed by 19-year-old maniac Charles Starkweather and his 14-year-old girlfriend Caryl Fugate (together they killed 11 people in Nebraska and Wyoming). Steven has collected a whole album of newspaper clippings about Starkweather's crimes. At that time, King was also very interested in the work of the famous "mystical" writer Howard Lovecraft.
There was no penny, but suddenly Altyn
After graduating from University, King could not find Good work The family was in great financial difficulty. He worked in the laundry and as an English teacher. But young Stephen did not leave writing and in 1974 wrote a novel "Carrie"(recall that it is about an outcast girl, who, as they say now, "trolled" the whole class, but the girl eventually took revenge, and how), although at first he threw it unfinished in the trash. His wife, Tabitha, found him there and made him finish it. King received 200 thousand dollars for him and in the future he could already live very decently, without needing anything. Currently Stephen King is officially the richest writer in the history of world literature.
King's forbidden book
In the late 1970s, under the pseudonym King Richard Bachman published his early romance called "Rage". The book was withdrawn from sale after the Kansas real cases shooting at school. A juvenile delinquent who killed three of his classmates found a copy of this book, after which King himself decided to completely withdraw the book from sale.
"Tommyknockers" as the fruit of an altered consciousness
In 1999, Stephen King, while walking his dog, was hit by a minivan and seriously injured. And he even announced the end of his work, but changed his mind, only slowed down the pace of writing books. Interestingly, two years after the accident, the driver who hit King died of a drug overdose. Meanwhile, King and himself in life had big problems with alcohol and drugs. He later admitted that he hardly remembers how he wrote a huge novel. "Tommyknockers"(The plot of the novel for those who have not read: Bobby Anderson finds a strange metal object in the forest, the dimensions of which, according to preliminary calculations, are huge. Following an inexplicable impulse, Bobby begins to dig it up and discovers spaceship that has been on Earth since time immemorial. The ship affects Bobby: under its influence, she excavates all day long, forgetting about sleep and food, while simultaneously building various amazing devices (mind reader typewriter; an engine that allows the tractor to fly, etc.). With the help of his family and doctors, the writer managed to overcome these addictions. Since the late 80s, he has been leading a purely sober lifestyle.
Not a day without a line
Interestingly, King set himself a writing "quota" of 2,000 words every day. It doesn't stop until it's done. If he did not make up the norm, he makes up in the following days.
