2 8 abd 09a 46b ÉÌSTEPHEN KING - THE STORY Ê---------------------------------- ÈË He's topical with the movies MISERY, GRAVEYARD SHIFT and THE STAND, every book he writes becomes a bestseller, many thinks he's the greatest horror writer ever, you've all heard his name : Stephen King. In this issue we will give you the entire story and give you the complete book- and movielist. Stephen King was born on the 21. september 1947, which means when you read this he will be 44 years. (Yes, we can fucking count, for God's sake. Ed.) He was born in Portland, Maine, not far from where he lives now, Bangor. Although he educated himself as a teacher, he disliked the job and work himself into a depression. In 1972 he began writing his first novel, CARRIE, about a girl with the psychic power to move objects. Half written, it was rejected by himself, but later rescued from the trashcan by his wife Tabita King, who is also a successful author. Two years later CARRIE was released and it became a success. Two years after that, the famous director Brian DePalma made CARRIE into a movie, with John Travolta in one of the leading parts (This was Travolta's first movie). Stephen King's fantastic life as one of the worlds most popular author had begun! ÊTo the top È In 1975 King's second book, 'SALEMS LOT, was released. 'Salem Lot is a small american town, who turns into a nest full of vampires. (Creepy stuff, eh? Ed.) Four years later the movie is made, with Tobe Hopper as director (later: director of Poltergeist). When SALEMS LOT was published, King was already working on another book, finally called THE SHINING. It's about a boy with the ability to "shine" ( = second-sighted) trapped with his psychotic father and ineffective mother in a snow-bound, haunted hotel. (Can't get much worse than that, can it? Ed.) In 1980 THE SHINING was made into film, with Stanley "2001" Kubrick as director and Jack Nicholson as the psychotic father. One year after the release of THE SHINING, in 1978, another novel were released . THE STAND is about a extremely contagious virus (No not a computervirus, you fucking morons! Ed.(again)), which is almost 100 % lethal, and on top of all there ain't no fucking cure for it! (Pardon our french, fuckers! Ed.) This book was re-released in an uncut version in 1990. The success would not end and King, inspired by this success, kept producing more books. To mention some of them : THE DEAD ZONE, FIRESTARTER, CUJO, PET SEMATARY, IT, THE EYES OF THE DRAGON, MISERY and THE TOMMYKNOCKERS. Every one of them became bestsellers. ÊEscape È In 1984 a new author, Richard Bachman, released his first novel, RAGE. It never became any success, and this and following books received little publicity, until Bachman released a book called THINNER. It's about a lawyer under a gypsy curse , which make him lose weight, a motherfucking lot of weight. THINNER became a great success, but shortly afterwards the publisher announced that Bachman had died of cancer. Finally, King, under big pressure from his fans, had to admit that Richard Bachman was his pseudonym. The reason for this was that King wanted to write in another fiction than just horror. After this the other four Bachman books soon became bestsellers. ÊWith Peter Straub È In 1984 King and another famous horror-writer, Peter Straub (Ghost Story), wrote a book together called THE TALISMAN. It was written using modems and by the time one of them had written a chapter, the other one continued it and vice versa. The result was staggering: An enormous success world-wide with over 1 million hardback copies sold. The story is about a boy on his quest to find a talisman, which is the only thing than can save his mother from dying. For those who enjoyed reading Lord of the Rings this book is a must! ÊShort Story-collections È Yes, Stephen King has also written short stories. His first collection NIGHT SHIFT was released in 1978 and was followed by DIFFERENT SEASONS in 1982 and SKELETON CREW in 1986. These short stories and others are also made into film. ÿ