Stephen King

1947–, American writer, b. Portland, Maine. Influenced by the 19th-century Gothic tradition, especially the works of Poe, King's fiction reveals the macabre and horrific potential of everyday situations and experiences.

Noted for their cinematic style, many of his novels and stories have been turned into successful motion pictures, some with screenplays by King, e.g., Pet Sematary (1989, film 1992), Carrie (1974, film 1976), The Shining (1977, film 1980), Misery (1987, film 1990), Needful Things (1991, film 1993), Dolores Claiborne (1992, film 1995), Dreamcatcher (2001, film 2003), and the novella A Good Marriage (2010, film 2014).

His other novels include Rose Madder (1995), Bag of Bones (1998), the fantasy series The Dark Tower (7 vol., 1982–2004), Cell (2006), Lisey's Story (2006), Duma Key (2008), Under the Dome (2009), the baseball-themed Blockade Billy (2010), the time-traveling 11/22/63 (2011), Doctor Sleep (2013, a sequel to The Shining), the hard-boiled detective novel Mr. Mercedes (2014), winner of an Edgar award, Revival (2014), and Finders Keepers (2015), the second of a promised trilogy begun by Mr. Mercedes, and a book that, among other things, examines the writer-reader relationship.

The novella Riding the Bullet (2000, film 2004) was released as an electronic entity, to be read on an e-book reader, personal digital assistant, or computer, and a subsequent novel, The Plant, was electronically self-published and released in six installments on the Internet in 2000. His On Writing (2000) recounts his life, his craft, and a near-fatal accident. King's novels, short stories, screenplays, and essays have made him one of the world's best-selling authors.

from CREDO: King, Stephen: The Columbia Encyclopedia